When the Government published its white paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving, last week, one thing became very clear – schools are no longer being viewed as isolated institutions, writes Kirsty Green.
Instead, they are being seen as something different – civic anchors which are embedded in and accountable to their communities.
This is something I’ve seen before when I worked within universities who embraced their role as anchor institutions bringing together knowledge and infrastructure to meet the skills and innovation needs of the country.
Now, in order to meet the needs of our children, schools are being asked to root themselves in the everyday lives of children and their communities.
This follows the white paper’s conclusion that “a vision for education that stops at the school gates has failed to deliver the opportunities children need”, a statement which makes the direction of travel from the UK Government clear: that education is relational.
It is connected to families, sports clubs, employers, local services, charities and neighbourhood networks.
It lives beyond the timetable.
Community at the core, not the edge
For schools and multi-academy trusts, this shift has significant implications.
Many trusts we work with have always seen themselves as part of the fabric of their local areas.
They host community events, partner with local businesses, work closely with families and support networks and provide safe spaces, employment opportunities and leadership beyond their core educational offer.
We report on this activity in the PR for our schools every day, and Ian Dewes, CEO of Odyssey Collaborative Trust, alluded to this civic role in a blog last week when he noted all the schools within his trust are all in one city – Derby – and within a 10-minute drive of each other.
Now, the white paper is embracing this, and this civic role is becoming explicit policy expectation.
Community engagement is no longer a “nice to have”. It underpins pupils’ attendance and sense of belonging, how you recruit and retain staff, how your Trust grows and the public’s confidence in it.
In short, community is becoming strategic.
The communication gap
The challenge for schools who are already working closely with the villages, towns and cities they are rooted in, is that much of this work happens quietly.
Trusts are deeply embedded in their communities, but the full scale of their contribution is often unseen outside school walls. Leaders are focused on delivery and staff on pupils, so while the impact is real, it is not always visible.
In a landscape shaped by social media, politicised debate and increasing scrutiny, silence is not neutrality. If schools do not articulate their role in community life, others will define it for them.
Just doing it isn’t enough. Schools need to talk about doing it too.
Strategic PR extends the community
If community is becoming strategic, communication must be too, and this is where PR comes in.
It’s a misconception that PR is merely about highlighting successes. When communication is consistent and values-led, it does so much more than that. It builds reputational resilience.
It helps anchor institutions to communicate their mission, their contribution and their values clearly and consistently.
We help our schools and Trusts do this every day, from stories about schemes which transform students’ attendance and readiness to learn, or setting up a Hub to share its SEND expertise with mainstream schools
When done well, communication like this encourages collaborations, attracts high-quality partners and reinforces public trust.
It shifts the narrative from “a group of schools” to “a driver of community opportunity”.
Goodwill in a time of crisis
In addition, in times of challenge, whether operational, political or reputational, schools with strong community relationships are better protected. There is goodwill, context and understanding.
Community cannot be built in a crisis, but instead must be cultivated long before a crisis occurs.
Strategic PR ensures that schools are not only doing the right work, but that their communities recognise and understand it and that this work builds reputational strength.
The new white paper has made things very clear: PR is no longer a luxury, it is a strategic priority, and the need for this activity has been sharpened by the role publicity plays in Ofsted inspections.
Before they arrive at a school, inspectors now conduct only one hour of desk-based research, going online to look at the school website and searching for news coverage and other information in the public domain.
It means PR that generates regular coverage and keeps the website current is directly contributing to inspection readiness in a way it wasn’t five years ago.
Spotting stories that resonate
This is exactly where a PR campaign adds disproportionate value, not just in getting media coverage, but spotting the stories that exist in daily school life that leaders are too close to see, and in understanding which stories resonate with which audiences.
Want to know more? Then later this month we’re hosting a breakfast event especially for schools and education suppliers, to bring them together and share ideas on PR and publicising their community work.
Being held as part of the @M.E.E.T. event on March 18 at Reach Conference Centre , our breakfast session will see Penguin PR’s Sarah Newton 🐧 interview @Sarah_Clark CEO of Derby Diocesan Academy Trust DDAT about how she has used PR strategically to amplify her Trust’s work in the community.
To find out more and to register your interest, visit https://lnkd.in/emFjD59q
