MANAGEMENT
SHARING YOUR STORY
Engaging your audience with a great story
Good storytelling is a valuable tool when it comes to promoting your school and attracting new staff. SIMON HEPBURN, from Marketing Advice for Schools, shares his advice for those looking to create their very own happy endings
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isiting a school is always an interesting experience. I remember one where a group of pupils rushed out of a side door wielding swords and axes as I passed – on their way to recreate the Battle of Hastings for a history lesson, of course! This is just one example of the interesting stories that happen in all schools. These stories are key to important goals such as recruiting new students, engaging parents, attracting new staff to work in your school and even applying for grants. But the challenge is finding and sharing them in the most effective, organised, and efficient ways. Here are my tips: BUILD YOUR RESOURCES If you’re responsible for communications in a school, there will always be lots of competing demands for your time and you may not be able to get out and about and find out about the great things happening in your schools. But there are methods to help you pool resources. It helps to think like a journalist and find the people in your school who do know what is happening such as heads of year or those in charge of the school diary or trip planning. You can then catch up with them regularly – do
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make sure to look well ahead in these discussions. Create a school media team. Identify a group of students who can find stories for you. This works in both primary and secondary schools, where I’ve found students know as much if not more than teachers! They can also help you record the stories as well. Make sharing ‘good news’ part of school life. I worked in a school where the final point of any department meeting was a discussion of the interesting and successful things that were going on in the subject. This was then reported back via formal minutes, allowing office staff to identify potential stories. It also helped with staff morale! UNDERSTAND YOUR AUDIENCE Once you’ve started identifying stories, you can feel that you must tell them all, but it is much better to focus on a smaller number of big stories and tell them in more depth. Focus on stories that will engage the stakeholders you are targeting. People are far more likely to share a story if their child or a friend or family member is involved. Wholeschool productions, team sports and trips are good example