Marketing in the community

Cooks' jobs saved by head's school dinner scheme

Two cooks at an English village primary school have had their jobs saved after the headmistress decided to serve school dinners to adults.
Cooks Heather Manahan and Janet Pudan were both told their jobs were at risk after the meals budget at Wittersham Primary School, in Kent, came under strain.

But the two cooks will now keep their jobs after scores of villagers phoned the school to book tables at the lunchtime sittings arranged by the head.Headmistress Judith Thornton said she was forced into coming up with the imaginative scheme - said: "The problem was that if we couldn't break even with the school meals then we were going to have to release staff and bring meals in for the children.

"So we put a flyer in the village magazine asking if people were interested in having back to school dinners.

"We got an immediate response."

Parents, former teachers, pensioners and other residents of the village soon inundated the school with requests for a sit down lunch at the 155-pupil school.The menu of traditional school favourites - costing £3 for a main meal and pudding - was so successful that a waiting list for diners has had to be drawn up. To read further, click here

Schools to take fees on credit

Private schools bracing for sharp falls in numbers during the recession are going to extraordinary lengths to hold on to students. There has been a surge in parents requesting fee reductions — and some schools are even offering credit to struggling families.

Schools traditionally shy away from providing loans, as this requires licensing by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and regulation under the Consumer Credit Act.

However, Wellington College, in Crowthorne, Berkshire, which is registered by the OFT, is allowing parents to spread out fees — even after the child has left. In return for the loan, Wellington may secure the debt against the family home.

If parents defaulted on the loan, the school could repossess their home.
To read further click here.

People to rate services from schools

Backed by the UK Government, people will be able to rate schools, hospitals and police offers online.

The rating scheme is part of plans announced by Gordon Brown to make public services more responsive to the needs of parents, patients and consumers.

Each school will have to produce a single "report card" detailing not only its exam performance but also parent and pupil satisfaction ratings.
Ministers are considering grading each school on an A to E scale or giving each school a traffic light rating. A national education website may be set up to provide parents with all the relevant information.

The scheme will be launched in 2010 for secondary schools and 2012 for primary schools. Parents are also likely to be provided with personalised, regularly updated information on the performance of their own children.

The new schools ratings are part of plans to set up a series of consumer websites to allow people to comment on the quality of service they receive from public services. The public service ratings could be used to determine funding in future.

The Prime Minister also announced plans to allow professionals switching to become teachers to be trained within six months. It currently takes at least a year.

The plans were attacked by teaching unions who described the fast-track training as a "gimmick" which was "demeaning" to existing teachers.

How things have changed. A couple of years ago a website was launched in Australia to rate schools and teachers to considerable angst and concern by teachers and schools as this was seen by many as potentially harmful to reputations with no right of reply or verification.

Independents lower selection criteria as they feel the pinch

Several independent schools in the UK have been forced to lower their entry standards in order to attract pupils during the recesssion.

Others are sending handwritten letters to individual Year 6 pupils to whom they are offering places in a bid to appeal to the children directly.

Jill Berry, president of the Girls' Schools Association, insists that such measures are rare and potentially counterproductive.

"It's not in anyone's best interests for children to be accepted by a school where they would be unhappy," she said. "If a school isn't the right place for certain children, the economic situation doesn't change that. It's about education, not just money."

The heads of several high-profile schools have sent handwritten letters to 11-year-olds, accompanying the offer of a place. In them, they try to convince parents and pupils of the benefits of attending their school. Other schools are emphasising the uniqueness and value of each child during admissions interviews.

Rowan Kitt, marketing manager for North London Collegiate School in Middlesex, says the letters were simply a marketing device. "The girls themselves are more involved in the decision-making process now (in taking up places)," he said. "So it was about engaging with them, being warm and making them feel welcome. We're vastly oversubscribed, so it wasn't financially driven." (Extraced from TES online 13/3/09).

School Marketing Awards

The Inaugral School Marketing Awards by the Centre for Marketing Schools is an international competition to recognise and encourage excellent promotional communication that showcases the quality features of a school.

Entries for either or both of the two categories, the Prospectus Competition and the Website Competition which will be announced at the School Marketing Aforia in Adelaide on 12 & 13 August 2009. Entry forms and critera are available from: www.marketingschools.net or office@marketingschools.net

UK Private school offers laptops to woo parents

To see the original article click here

A new professional association for school marketers was launched in February 2009.

Executive director of the association, Dr Linda Vining, said the marketing profession has matured to a stage where marketers around the world want to be connected.

“Other school professionals have professional associations to which they belong, but in school marketing we have been on our own as individuals up until now.”

Membership of the association is free and is open to those involved in school marketing, admissions, friend and fund raising and community relations.

“We have a lot of specific information to talk about, ideas to share and questions to raise, and the school marketing association will provide a forum to do this,” said Dr Vining.

It will also provide information on resources, courses, and conferences. The regular newsletter School Marketers Network will be delivered regularly to all members.

One of the big events on the calendar for 2009 was the School Marketing Aforia which was held in Adelaide in August. Delegates to this unique 2-day niche conference visited a different host school each day and examined best practice in marketing first hand.

Host school on day one was Aberfoyle Park High School - a progressive government school in South Australia that is setting the pace with school-business partnerships and effective outreach programs. Keynote speaker was Wendy Teasdale-Smith, president of the Australian College of Educators (SA), who talked about marketing government schools.

On day two, a completely different school welcomed delegates to their school. Westminster School is a K-12 day and boarding school with a very effective development office, marketing office and separate events co-ordinator. Right in the middle of the school is a working farm for Agriculture Studies with a focus on the farm as a business. It is in the farm classroom that we had lunch and enjoyed the commercial wines made by Westminster students from vines grown on the school farm. You can buy bottles of wine to take home and also fresh farm produce grown by the students, sold at the farm shop.

“Australia is a leader in school marketing, so this is an excellent place to examine innovative strategies,” said Dr Vining. “With our small population and easy mobility, schools have to be smart and progressive to attract and retain students in a very competitive marketplace.”

To join the school marketers professional association send a request with your contact details to office@marketingschools.net Membership is free.

For information on the School Marketing Aforia go to www.marketingschools.net

Vegetarian Scholar Wanted

In the UK a leading public (private) school insists on an unusual condition for a £1500 discount on fees.

Great scholars have taken up places at the finest educational establishments in the UK on the basis of an array of talent, academic, artistic or athletic, but rarely has an honour been bestowed on someone purely because they are vegetarian.
Wycliffe College in Gloucestershire, has on offer a scholarship for a sixth-form vegetarian student. The successful student will get a £1500 discount of the annual fees. The school says it's an attempt to honour their finest traditions and original ethos. To read more about this unique scholarship click here.

While the offer is quite genuine and in line with founder George Sibly's ethos for the school which began in 1882, this is a unique and clever way to gain good publicity for the school in the national press.