ALL PUBLICITY IS GOOD PUBLICITY!
Successfully marketing your school to potential staff and business partners can reap huge rewards, says Howard Rose
S
taff retention is a big issue for school leaders, and surveys show that a negative perception of the
teaching profession is affecting the number of graduates going into teaching. So, how do you make your school standout so as to attract – and retain – the best teachers? In the past it may have been
enough to have a Good or Outstanding Ofsted mark but now, as in most businesses, you need to do something different to make people want to work for you.
Added incentives When you hear people say that they work for a good company it is often based on the level of benefits the company offers. For schools, these
could include: n A salary sacrifice car scheme n Free tea and coffee n Free breakfast on INSET days n Staff of the month award (£50
voucher) n A Christmas shopping day n A subsidised staff meal (two per
year) n Team-building days n A discount or cashback scheme n Private healthcare n Stress and relationship counselling n Private medical including physio
and weight management n Residential trips
38 AUTUMN 2018 FundEd These benefits all cost money
but you have to weigh this up against staff absences, people off on long-term sick and the time and effort it takes to fill an empty post, as well as the cost to advertise it. Offering these extra incentives could put you way out in front when compared to a competitor. Marketing your school and
showcasing your work in the wider community is vital. It also has
massive benefits when it comes to seeking sponsorship from potential business partners. At the end of the day you are a business, whether you like it or not, it’s just that you offer a different kind of service, and your children are your product. Seeing press articles with happy,
smiling children doing innovative and inspiring things will set you apart from others when potential staff are doing their research to see what sort of school you are. And recognising that you are a successful, forward-thinking school with a healthy budget that is further supplemented by fundraising and sponsorship should seal the deal! So when I am asked ‘should
schools really run as a business?’ the answer is always a very simple but resounding ‘Yes!’ If you don’t start to adopt basic business practices then you are at risk.
Shout about it! How much time you dedicate to publicity will be different for every individual and you will find that there is a natural flow with times when you have lots to shout about and others when there is very little. I try to get at least two articles
a month published. If I have two or even three articles in one week
Year 5 pupils looking at sediment as part of their Rivers Project, with Jess
Duffell from BAM Construction
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