Welcome back to a new school year – perhaps the first for many where school marketers can see a real sense of normality? If you’re in that position, watch my talk on storytelling below to see how you can use the resources in your school to take the initiative, and then scroll down to the bottom of the email to see some new ways a School Media Team can help!

That said, 2023/4 will have its challenges. One for many schools is the ‘teacher recruitment crisis’, a clear marketing and communications issue now! Read down for our suggestions for changing recruitment adverts and more in response. There’s also a quick summary of the impact of the latest UK safeguarding legislation (KCSiE 2023) on marketing and communications.

Finally, in response to feedback, Marketing Advice for Schools’ training has a different look this year. We now offer shorter problem-solving courses and longer planning workshops, as well as inexpensive short audits that let you see how parents and prospective staff see you. And we’re looking forward to sharing some great new partnership programmes later in the year. 

As always, do get in touch if you need personal help with any marketing or communications issues in your school, trust or school supplier. 

Best wishes

Simon Hepburn 

Founder, Marketing Advice for Schools

Call +44 (0) 161 241 2315 or click to book a chat via Calendly.

PS – the new Threads social media platform is now available on desktop which is a huge improvement – find us at www.threads.net/@marketingadviceforschools and www.threads.net/@schoolmediateam

Get marketing going by telling stories

It’s the new school year – time to start sharing what makes your school great and different from others! One way to do this in a sustained way is through focused storytelling – the subject of my recent talk in the Independent Schools Portal’s summer social media webinar series. 

You can click here to see the whole talk here or look at the summary picture above. You can also click here to view the whole series of ISP talks here, including excellent advice on podcasts, video creation and using Canva for design. 

If you’d like help setting up your social media or creating a communications plan for the year, do check out our new training offerings.

Words you don’t need when you’re recruiting teachers…

When you look at job adverts for most professions, the biggest complaint you can make is usually that they can be a bit boring and over-focused on specific skills and experience. But you can’t say that about ads for teachers, most of which seem to have been written by people who have been forced to watch Robin Williams in ‘Dead Poets Society’ too many times! 

Our article looks at the top words used in error in recruitment adverts (the first is ‘outstanding’) and suggests an alternative approach to adverts and more!

Click to read the full article here…

If you’d like help finding great teachers and other staff, click here to check out our Recruitment Insight Report and compare the cost to just one advert that doesn’t work!

KCSiE – key safeguarding points for this year for marketing and communications staff in schools (in England)

Most teachers in England will spend part of their start-of-year training sessions looking at the latest Government guidance on safeguarding. The 2023 version of what is known as ‘KCSiE’ is also relevant to those involved in marketing and communications, although there isn’t a huge change from 2022. 

Here are the key areas to consider…

1. There’s a new emphasis on filtering and monitoring Internet content in schools to protect students and staff. This may affect staff using their own or school devices to record and share stories, or children undertaking research as part of a School Media Team. You can download the specific advice on ‘meeting digital and technology standards in schools and colleges’ here.

2. In the section on safer recruitment, schools are now expected to inform shortlisted candidates that they may be searched for online as part of due diligence checks. This emphasises the need for those working in schools to be careful about online posting and managing their online reputation. 

3. There are some changes in terminology – for example ‘children missing from education’ has been replaced with ‘children who are absent from education for prolonged periods and/or repeated occasions’, while ‘vulnerable’ in the context of vulnerable children has been replaced with may be ‘susceptible’. These may need updating on a school’s website or key policy documents. 

4. There are enhanced expectations of schools letting their facilities outside school hours to ensure children are safeguarded. This may be an issue for marketing professionals or school business leaders in charge of income generation. 

The full document ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education 2023 – statutory guidance for schools and colleges’ can be found here – all staff should be aware of its content.

New School Media Team lessons

Creating a School Media Team is a great way of finding and creating content for your website, social media and more – as well as helping your students develop essential skills for future jobs. 

Over the summer we’ve added three more lessons to help them with photography, writing and sharing content (in a safe way!). And there are more on the way!

Find out more about the lessons by clicking here…