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PUBLIC SCHOOLS
PROMOTING
YOUR
SCHOOL
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The problem is, we are not always very good at telling people about
what we are doing and how we are doing it.
This document offers you hints and tips to help you promote your school.
It is not a definitive list, but contains a range of ideas to help you get
started.
Throughout this kit you will see references to the School Promotions Unit
intranet site at detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/schoolpromotions.
This site is full of valuable practical advice, samples and case studies of
best practice to assist schools communicate more effectively with their
local communities.
The site will be regularly updated with new case studies from schools
who are demonstrating how planned and sustained promotions can
bring results.
Ros Bastian
roslyn.bastian@det.nsw.edu.au
W detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/schoolpromotions
detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/schoolpromotions
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Culture of success
Success is what every parent wants for their child, so your school
messages, presentation and style should always reflect this. Whatever
your challenges or needs, you can foster a culture of success which will
be evident in all of your communications and interactions.
detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/schoolpromotions
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Market research
■ Who are the target audience(s) for your promotional strategy? (i.e.
parents, teachers, businesses, community groups)
There are a variety of ways you can get information from your school
community, starting from informal chats at school events through to
more structured approaches such as questionnaires, focus group
meetings or one-on-one interviews.
The School Promotions intranet site has tips on how to conduct research
plus some samples of questionnaires that you may wish to use or modify
for your own purposes.
detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/schoolpromotions
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Communication audit
■ Does all of your material have consistent and clear branding? (i.e.
does it represent your school in a professional manner)
■ Is it easy to understand?
■ What feedback have you had regarding the way you communicate?
This process will help you to be clear about what you are doing well,
what could be done better, what is missing and what new approaches
are needed. It will help clarify where you want to go.
detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/schoolpromotions
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A promotional plan is an important tool in ensuring that you get the most
out of your promotion dollar so you are not throwing good money after
bad. It is easy to produce a brochure, but if your brochure does not
clearly reflect your key messages and does not appeal to your target
audience, it will not work and it is a waste of money.
Before you outline your promotional strategy, you should spend some
time thinking about your school’s current situation.
■ Are there any factors that may negatively impact upon your school?
(threats)
■ What are you trying to say about your school? What do you want
people to think when they refer to your school? (key messages)
Complete a promotions
plan for your school
before you start
detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/schoolpromotions
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It has been especially developed for the school environment and assists
you develop a concise, strategic and action-based plan.
The key thing to remember is that a promotional plan does not have to
be a long document. It could just be a few pages which map out what
you want to say about your school and how you want to say it.
detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/schoolpromotions
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Print materials
■ school brochure
■ school prospectus
■ school newsletters
■ newspaper advertisement.
You can always contact me or the School Promotions Unit for advice on
how to use the template, for feedback on your proposed designs and
content or advice when using local expertise in design and printing.
detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/schoolpromotions
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Events
Here are some ideas to get the most promotional mileage from your
school events:
detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/schoolpromotions
Page 10 of 16
■ Maximise attendance
Run events at times which will attract as many attendees as possible.
Consider scheduling your event to enable working parents to attend.
■ Take photos
Ensure that digital photographs are taken at all events for easy
uploading onto the school website. Remember to get an authority to
publish approval from parents/caregivers for all students
photographed.
Create excitement
and anticipation for your
event
detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/schoolpromotions
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Website wonders
detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/schoolpromotions
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detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/schoolpromotions
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Here are some ideas that might be worth considering for your school.
□ what is the first thing people see when they walk into the
front office?
■ Work in partnership
Think about working with other public schools in your area for
community events, media articles and promotional material. This
could have many cost saving benefits and will also highlight the value
of continuity in education in a public school K-12. It might be useful to
produce a group of schools brochure, for example, to hand out at
promotion opportunities, to the tourism office and leave in the local
library, community areas and even your local real estate agent.
Visit the School Promotions Unit intranet to see samples of collegial
group promotions.
detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/schoolpromotions
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■ Advertising
This requires homework. Find out whom you want to target, what they
read, watch, or listen to, and assess how effective your advertisement
will be before you do anything. When you have done your research
develop an advertisement with impact – one that gets your message
across to the people you want to reach.
■ Promotion on hold
Change your telephone on hold music to a promotional message for
your school. Doorbell chime music doesn’t say anything about your
school and can be annoying.
(Note: The School Promotions Unit is currently trialling a provider of
this service. Please contact me if you would like to know more about
this.)
■ Signage
Can people find the principal’s office easily? Is your school
signposted properly on all sides? Does your school’s changeable sign
carry information that is reinforcing the messages of quality and
Use advocates to
excellence you wish to convey?
speak positively for
your school
detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/schoolpromotions
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■ Customer service
How are your visitors treated when they enter your school? This is
important. Make sure that all of your staff understand the importance
of saying hello and offering to help visitors.
■ Encourage feedback
Create a feedback form and put it at your reception counter. People
like to see that you care about what they think.
■ Public image
What does your uniform look like to the outside world? Are your
students in full school uniform and do they look neat and tidy? Are
your teachers and front office staff professional-looking?
A friendly welcome
builds goodwill
detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/schoolpromotions
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■ Get involved
Community involvement is a two-way street. If your school is seen to
be helping your community, then people will be more inclined to get
involved with your school and think good things about you.
Ros Bastian
detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/schoolpromotions