Efficiency savings
being supportive of your staff and building a sense of collaboration and camaraderie can pay dividends. Offering incentives to existing staff for promoting your vacancies to their networks can save a fortune on advertising or agency fees, as can using social media platforms. Also ensuring that your school takes part in local and national competitions will help raise your profile to potential teachers. But think about the wider community too. How well does the school fit into local life? Do you invite the local press in when you have a sporting success, a new classroom or an author visit? The Internet though, is where you are most likely
to find your next classroom staff. Katie Newell from eTeach says, ‘Our candidates tell us that they research schools thoroughly on social media and online websites before completing an application form.’ So it’s vital that you use your website and social media pages to draw attention to more than just your school’s academic and sporting achievements. This is the place to be clear about your school’s ethos and vision, and to show how it values staff. So make sure any awards, such as the Teacher Development Trust Quality Audit or the Investors in People accreditation, are visible, and include photos of team-building outings or video testimonials from existing staff. Consider creating separate pages or even a separate site aimed at potential staff, and encourage them to get in touch, even when you don’t have a suitable vacancy. Newell says that being continuously open
EXPERT ADVICE MARKETING YOUR SCHOOL
TO IMPROVE RECRUITMENT With the recruitment challenges facing schools it is more critical than ever to ensure your school is well placed to attract new talent. Investing time and effort into considering recruitment when developing your marketing strategy can reap considerable dividends, especially when you consider the costs associated with supply staff and advertising with a recruitment agency. Drawing on his experience of great practice by schools
Read Justin Smith’s feature on
writing a school vision and marketing your school – complete with templates. Go to
funded.org.uk and search ‘marketing’.
to applicants is a necessity, stating that an online education board pays for itself. ‘Many schools are missing a trick when it comes to embracing the technology available to widen their advertising reach cost-effectively. By using an unlimited advertising subscription education job board such as
eteach.com, schools can invite applicants to their talent pool all year round, giving them contacts to draw on when a vacancy arises, instead of paying unplanned agency costs.’ It’s never good to say goodbye to
valued staff, but remember that it’s also a unique learning opportunity. A good, honest exit interview will tell you a lot about what you did right, and what you can work on so that, hopefully, in the future those goodbye presentations will be the very rarest of occasions.
throughout the country, Justin Smith provides tips for ensuring your recruitment marketing hits the spot: n Articulate your key messages. What makes your school an attractive proposition? How are you addressing the reasons why teachers are leaving the profession? n Highlight staff opportunities for career progression – leadership pathways, CPD, etc. n Use case studies. Personalise your recruitment by showing examples of how staff are progressing in your school – demonstrate the investment in CPD, career progression, leadership opportunities. Real-life stories carry so much more impact! n Is your school part of a MAT, cluster or federation? Illustrate the opportunities that exist to work across a range of settings and environments. n Foster a culture of wellbeing, support and flexibility. Is a desire/willingness to engage in CPD really supported by the school? Is time given to take part in CPD during the day rather than twilight or end-of-term sessions? n Do you offer any other benefits, such as healthcare insurance or gym membership discounts? n Highlight your school’s ambitions. You may have aspirations to develop your campus or replace that old teaching block – demonstrate strategic forward thinking and investment. Perhaps you are considering joining a Teaching School Alliance or becoming a MAT – ambitious aspirations are attractive to ambitious people. n Update your website. Simple navigation is critical. Have downloadable application forms, regular updates and case studies. An embedded video is a more powerful way to engage with potential new staff than pages of text. Short ‘Talking Heads’ video clips of staff – perhaps an NQT and a senior leader – are really effective. n Social media is a cost-effective marketing tool. Over 60% of schools manage Facebook accounts, while Twitter users are predominately under the age of 35 (your NQT target audience). Some 30% of web time is spent browsing social networks, so ensure your web platforms are tablet-friendly. Above all, try to empathise with staff when it comes
to what’s creating those stress trigger points. Is it really beneficial to run a CPD session on the afternoon of the last day of term? Does that get the best out of people? I doubt it. When it comes to recruitment and retention, you really do reap what you sow.
n Justin Smith is Managing Director of Chameleon Training and Consultancy (
chameleon-training.co.uk), providing marketing and income generation support to the education sector.
20 SUMMER 2018 FundEd SUMMER 2018 FundEd
IMAGES: MICROVONE; SHOWVECTORSTUDIO/
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