THEMES

Celebrating Schools Day

You can register for this now at:
www.celebratingschoolsday.com

A group of teachers and educationalists have launched “Celebrating Schools Day” – which will be held on 15 July 2008.   It is a day that allows your school to get some free positive publicity, should you wish.

The idea is simple.  Every summer the media run a series of negative educational stories – often centred around the fact that standards in exams are falling, along with declining literacy and numeracy levels in primary schools.  

Such stories are, of course, all made up, and although ministers and others come out and defend schools the newspapers treat such comments as excuses.

So the plan here is to get in the retaliation first and have a day which celebrates the good things in schools – a day which occurs before the negative summer stories emerge.

In the coming weeks the Celebrating Schools Day committee will be sending press releases to every local paper and radio station in the UK to tell them about the Day and inviting them to contact their local schools for stories of the year.

The idea is that a week or so ahead of the day all interested schools should send a press release to their local paper commenting on some of the great things that have happened during the year in the school.

This can include anything that the school and the pupils or students value – such as special achievements by pupils, money raised for charity, expeditions, work in the community, and indeed the fun and celebration of the leavers’ ball and other such events.

We’ll be putting more ideas and details here in the coming weeks – but I would urge you to make a note of this option now, because there is very little time between now and the big day.  It would be a shame if your local paper received a press release from another school in your area for the Day, and not one from your school.

Celebrating Schools Day is being sponsored by Book-Builder, the company that publishes School Yearbooks.  They will be building a website that allows pupils and students to post their own positive memories and recollections of the year.   There is more about Book-Builder on www.yimple.com or by phoning 0845 388 9901.

You can receive all the latest news on school PR and fundraising activities by joining the Schools PR newsgroup.  Just send us an email and write the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

Visitors

It is vital that visitors to your school should get a positive experience – whether they are visiting to demonstrate a new piece of equipment, repair the photocopier, or to look around prior to opting for your school for their child.   

Here’s a list of the main topics to consider regarding visitors

• Is there someone on duty who can guide in anyone who is in the area but can’t find the street?
• Are the signs clear for car parking, and for how to get to the school office?
• Is there a working system for the visitor to announce his/her arrival at all times during the working day?
• Is there any chance of anyone getting lost – and if so are there signs to find a way back?
• Is the school office always available to answer questions?
• the waiting area  pleasant, clean, and moderately quiet?
• Is there a trophy cabinet to look at? 
• Are there boisterous and noisy children near where people will wait? 
• Are there magazines to occupy the visitor if there is a delay?
• Do visitors have to bend over to speak through a window into the school office? 
• Does the receptionist give clear and helpful guidance as to what is going on? 
• Are visitors kept waiting without explanation?

Communication

Few schools consider communication as a theme in its own right.  Yet there is the method of communication to consider (email, phone, text messaging, letter) and also the style of communication.  Is there a style of writing to the outside world that is approved and accepted?  Are there regulations as to who can write, and what they can say?

Good communication with parents can bring huge benefits enabling you to keep them on your side as you strive to do the best for your school and your children. Click here to read more on this topic.

Trips and visits

Pupil days out can be a huge success or an unexpected disaster.  Everyone works hard to make sure that everything goes smoothly, so it is doubly annoying when something goes wrong.   But quite often  when something does go wrong it is simply because of a lack of foresight and planning.

Consider these situations:

The school trip is delayed on the way back from a day out.  Parents are left waiting at the school for over an hour with no information available.   Parents who have appointments, other children to collect, food to prepare etc, can be frustrated by such an experience, but it could easily be overcome if the school has a system of sending bulk texts to mobile phones so that everyone has updated information. 

A child gets separated from the school party, and unsure what to do phones home to say “I’m lost”.   The parent then panics.  The parent may at that point rush in the car to the place where the school is visiting or phone the school office (who may have no knowledge of what is going on).   However if the children all were issued with simple arm bands carrying the teacher in charge’s mobile number, and if the parents are told this precaution is being taken, then all problems can be avoided.

The school has a policy of using the cheapest operator for each trip, on the grounds that they don’t like asking parents for too much money.  As a result coaches are used which are more liable to break down, and have rougher rides which can involve more children being ill.   Whereas payment of slightly higher amounts to another company could result in more reliable journeys, for an extra cost of perhaps just £1 per parent.   Sometimes going for the cheapest is a false saving.

Attendance

Remember that when you create documents for the school website you are talking both to existing parents and to those who are considering sending their children to the school.

Attendance is an issue in two ways.  Firstly, if you have a very high level of attendance then it is worth recording this fact.  Secondly there will be the policies on what happens when the pupil or student is off school.

By focussing on this issue you can make it a PR point – because parents who care about the school and about education will want to see that the school takes its role very seriously.

Explain not just what the parent should do in the light of any sort of absence, but also explain why you use this system, and the fact that if you don’t hear you will phone the parent (which is why you need a daytime phone number).

Environment

Any change to the school’s environment is worth noting by way of PR and marketing.  Pictures of the old and new can be taken, and the story of the improvement told.  If you can find some ex-pupils who remember an old building (which you are now upgrading or demolishing) when it was first built, even better.

Contact Information

Schools PR and Marketing Services

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