How To Successfully Market Your School

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“Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care”

Theodore Roosevelt

I love this quotation and when it comes to defining your marketing strategies and positioning your school, this should sit at the heart of how you think and what you do. Some of us operate in Primary Schools in isolated rural communities, others within huge MAT’s in urban conglomerations but we share the same passion and commitment to do the best we can for our children. It’s easy to lose sight of this when labouring over strategic approaches to income generation or devising cunning new ways to engage on social media platforms.

But what do we actually mean by Marketing in the education arena? There are many definitions of course but perhaps my favourite would be that offered by David & Ellison (1997) – “The means by which the school actively communicates and promotes its purpose, values and products to the pupils, parents, staff and wider community.” There are two key words here; purpose and values. So, ask yourself, do you really understand your school’s purpose and values?

There are many of course who doubt the value of marketing our schools. And to be fair, if we indulge in ad-hoc and wasteful campaigns then we deserve to invite scepticism and doubt. On the other hand, if we’re clear on what we’re looking to achieve and are able to demonstrate a return on our investment, then we have nothing to shy away from and the results can be overwhelmingly positive.

It is really important to have a strategic approach, a plan which can be costed and evaluated. It’s equally important to get away from thinking of marketing as an isolated activity (an advert, a poster) – marketing is something that all stakeholders should be aware of and appreciate. Students, staff, parents and governors – they are all stakeholders in the schools and as such should be considered as “brand ambassadors” – engage with them and they can be very powerful advocates of your school brand. We should avoid the natural (and understandable) kneejerk and panic stricken reaction to the issues faced and instead look to deploy an approach which sits alongside the over-arching school improvement plan. Placing some additional advertisements in the local newspaper is the cherry on the cake (so to speak!), whereas school leaders should look for the cake ingredients first – defining key messages, clarity on our branding and identity and understanding our purpose.

Your marketing plan may look to address some or even all of the following:
•Defining Brand and Values & promoting key messages
•To manage Reputation – reinforcing or modifying?
•To attract and retain the best staff – talented staff help drive standards
•For Communications/PR/Media/Crisis Management – business continuity, press releases
•To sustain or recruit more students – why your school? Key messages and USP.
•To attract funding and support – sponsors, funders, commercial engagement. Aligning of values.
•To engage with alumni/former students – £1bn+ donated to UK Universities by alumni in 2017.

I often refer to “Start With Why” from Simon Sinek’s Ted talk – Simon extols the virtues of defining your “why” and articulating that to your community, rather than focusing purely on the “how” and the “what”. This works for us in education; we operate in an emotive, human-centric environment – the language and tone we choose is critical when it comes to crafting emotive connections with your audiences. Astute school marketeers should also recognise the part culture has to play.

Peter Druker, the renowned management consultant once claimed “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. But how can we measure and articulate our culture? One way might be to run a small “brand mapping” exercise –pulling together a set of shared core values, involving students and staff. This is a very worthwhile exercise and will underpin your key marketing messages. Staff and students are ambassadors, engage with them first.

Remember Marketing and Income Generation go hand in hand – strategic marketing can help define and articulate key benefits to potential supporters and position your school so that it’s attractive to investors. Similarly, if you’re fully aware of the contents of your Income Generation plan then you can segment your target audience(s) and approach them accordingly. These two strategies need to synergise and support one-another – take the Independent/Private School sector – there’s a good reason why development, communications and marketing staff generally sit beside one another!

Developing sustainable partnerships with other organisations can be very fruitful and deliver real benefits to your school. Soft outcomes could include work experience opportunities, guest speakers and valuable insights into the world of industry.

Either way, marketing your school in a coherent and structured way can reinforce your reputation as an institution worth investing in.

The above is a guest blog from Justin Smith, the Managing Director of Chameleon Training and Consultancy

www.chameleon-training.co.uk

How To Incorporate Science Into Outdoor Learning

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Dynamo bike with energy charts

The whole reason of outdoor learning is, of course, to take lessons outside of the classroom and as this is an area of specialisation for our company, we have developed a unique idea which can help school children understand some basic principles of curriculum based science whilst also actively engaging them in their studies.

The concept is teaching children about how kinetic energy can be created by human power and this is done by our special dynamo bikes and packages which the children have to pedal in order to produce electricity. There are two kinds of systems we can work with:

The first is the Bicycle Hub Generator which replaces a traditional rear wheel with a highly efficient and frictionless motor. It also includes a solid training stand to convert AC to DC and the average power output over a period of time is usually around 5-70 watts per person

The second is the A-Frame Generator which is a compact, collapsible and super efficient generator. A simple and compact way to generate power, these are ideal for use in schools where portability is key or space is limited.

Both bikes have a special in-built dynamo system which touches the back wheel and as the wheel rotates, it turns a magnet inside a coil – thereby turning mechanical rotation into electric power. And the faster and harder they pedal, the more energy they are creating. As part of this system, we supply an LED panel which shows the children how many watts of power they are producing whilst they pedal and they can then use this information to relate back to a wall panel which features every day household items and how much energy is required to power them. So for example, they can appreciate how hard they have to pedal to boil a kettle! These bikes systems can be used for a host of other applications:

Extreme Tea Challenge

An energy awareness challenge; Extreme Tea is a simulation of the amount of human power required to boil water.

A scale of temperature runs between two giant LED ‘thermometers. In a head-to-head challenge, each cyclist must generate the equivalent amount of human energy required to boil a predetermined amount of water (usually between 10-30ml). The first to arrive at boiling point and fully illuminate their thermometer wins.

Fun and competitive, but also educational; the challenge touches on subjects of the Key Stage 2 science curriculum as it introduces the topics of energy transfer

Micro-Cinema

A battery-free, portable and 100% human-powered cinema/sound system that runs on the energy generated by just one or two cyclists and incorporates an all-in-one ‘plug & play’ unit with built-in sound, media player and projector.

Ideal for screening educational films in and out of the classroom, it can also be use as a portable sound system / P.A for school events.

Bulb Board

A demonstration of how much human energy needs to be generated to light four 60 Watt light-bulbs. The Bulb Board is an oversized interactive circuit board with giant switches and incandescent light-bulbs.

Children are encouraged to throw the switches as their classmates pedal to effectively demonstrate the increased resistance as the electricity is shared between bulbs and the cyclists can experience its effects directly.

A pictorial-style circuit diagram introduces the children to basic circuits, symbols and electricity.

With built-in Watt Meter and LED display to encourage pupils to learn to take readings and collect data. This can be paired with a graphic/banner to relate the children’s energy output to household appliances. I.e if John generated 300 watts, this is the amount of power required to operate a food blender.

This system explores the subjects of the Key Stage 2 science curriculum; energy types and transfer; conductors; resistance; electricity.

Smoothie Maker

A great way to promote health, nutrition and sustainable energy. Using the energy from a single person, our custom built Smoothie maker blends proportionally to the speed you pedal. The more electricity you generate, the smoother the result!

All of these systems promote science in an interesting, engaging but fun way as well as promoting eco awareness/sustainability and healthy living (which are the basic tenets of the Eco Schools Programme).

These packages can be seen in action on the various videos we have filmed at schools.

For further information, please contact the Hideout House Company on 01832 275902 or email: info@hideouthouse.com

 

 

Recycled Plastic Is The Future of School Playground Equipment

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recycled plastic play equipment

I used to have a company called Timberline which manufactured a whole range of play equipment and outdoor classrooms for schools in the UK and as the name of the organisation would suggest, everything we produced was made out of timber. That was a few years ago now.

Then recently on my many visits to see schools up and down the country, I began to notice in the playground that a lot of picnic tables/BBQ tables were no longer made out of timber (as we used to supply them) but out of recycled plastic instead. Some I saw were even in bright primary colours to add a bit more creativity to them.

I happened to be on a trip to Germany seeing a potential distributor over there who took me round a few schools and kindergartens and again I noticed that in every school I went to in that area of Germany they had playground equipment also manufactured out of recycled plastic. I managed to track down the German company who manufactured ad supplied this and after undertaking some due diligence found out that this company’s turnover had increased seven times over a period of just three years! Seven times. And for love nor money could you find a product in their range made of out timber – not even a component.

And that is why we have just developed a new range of trim trail school playground equipment made of out the same material as that afore-mentioned German company. And do you want to know why this is the future? This material has so many additional benefits over and above timber such as it doesn’t rot or decay, it is made from recycled plastic bottles (so instead of filling up landfill and the world’s oceans with this wretched stuff we get to use it in a more positive way and help the environment along the way – pat yourself on the back for that one Eco Schools), it lasts about 10 times longer than timber so some real savings here for a school, children cannot get splinters off it, it is a lot harder to vandalise than timber, you can easily dig the posts into the ground without any fear of eventual rot setting in below the surface and it doesn’t degrade or discolour with UV light.

For further information on this range, please contact the Hideout House Company on 01832 275902, email info@hideouthouse.com or visit the website www.hideouthouse.com

recycled plastic play equipment

Package F

Ways Your School Can Earn Money From The Hideout House Company

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We know that budgets are tight at the moment and a lot of schools are now looking to commercial opportunities/sponsorship etc in order to raise non school budget ancillary income. So we would like to help in this respect too and there are a couple of programmes we are running at the moment.

Firstly if we were lucky enough to be given an order from you, we would pay your school or PTA an introductory commission of 3% to any new business which you introduced to us (assuming of course the referral turns into a firm sale). If we can also send another interested party to your school to have a look at the product we supplied you, we would pay you a fee for your time to help with this.

And if you are able to feature our product on your school website with a photo (usually this is on the school news section of the website or the PTA pages) and with a mention of our company with a website link, then we can look at giving you a discount.

And we have some products which you could use for interesting PTA events such as our pedal powered disco or cinema. We would set up a certain amount of special dynamo bikes which the children, staff or parents have to pedal in order to produce electricity to power  up the film or music system. And if they stop pedalling, so does the power supply! So you could organise a novel pedal powered film night, charge people to come along to watch it and get everyone sponsored who is pedalling (like you would a sponsored bike ride).

And although not directly linked to us, you must always remember that you could gain some useful lettings income from our bigger enclosed classroom buildings by renting them out to the local community or local businesses.

For further information on these promotions and others, please contact the Hideout House Company on 01832 275902 or email: info@hideouthouse.com

 

 

The Mobile Outdoor Classroom

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I always find that the best ideas come from people telling you the same problem time and time again and especially when they cannot find a solution to it. Such is the case in this instance – we are always approached by schools and other educational establishments who are wanting an outdoor classroom provision of some kind but want it installed quickly and want to know if it can be moved at a later date. But when I say outdoor classroom, I am referring to a building which is fully enclosed and can be used all year round  – as opposed to the classic open-sided, gazebo style of outdoor classroom you find so often in school playgrounds.

These buildings are typically used or required for a whole host of reasons and applications – extra nurture or break out space for more intimate one and one teaching or emotional well-being sessions between pupils and teachers; outdoor learning space; library; meeting room; staff room; after school club; community room/space etc

And nearly always the requirement is for a building which is no more thirty square metres in internal floor space, needs to be heated, needs to be insulated and has electrics. And in some cases a WC is required. We are able to supply and install/build these on site with our traditional range of enclosed outdoor classrooms but here again, we can borrow from our other leisure side of the business where we supply mini lodges to holiday parks and other sites. These buildings are all pre-manufactured units which come already manufactured and pre-assembled directly from the factory and are brought to site on the back of a low loader truck. They are then craned into position (as above image)

The great advantage to a school is that on-site time is minimal in this respect. Assuming a pre-prepared base is down (or if we are siting onto an existing hard surface such as a tarmac playground no base is required at all) and services are running to site (electricity etc), a school can be up and running in a matter of days. As opposed to a couple of weeks if we were having to build on site. And there is no need to get in other local trades such as a plumber or electrician as the internal electrics, heating, lighting and sockets will have already been fitted in the factory.

And we are able to fit external decking areas for extra teaching space.

And as these deemed to technically be mobile units (like the bigger mobile classrooms supplied by the likes of Portakabin), they can be moved to another site or location at a later date if so required.

For more information, please contact the Hideout House Company on 01832 275902 or email: info@hideouthouse.com

School Grant For Healthy Living, Mental Wellbeing and Physical Activity

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We were recently approached by a school in Lincolnshire who informed us of a new capital grant which has become available for a minimum of ten thousand pounds and which has to promote key areas including healthy living, mental health/wellbeing and physical activity.

They approached us because they were thinking of having some sort of outdoor shelter or classroom for their forest school activities but on further reflection and thought, we have taken this a lot further to help this school meet the above criteria and put them in a good position to receive this grant funding.

We suggested one of our fire pit and cooking shelters  – this unit has a central fire pit and cooking unit which has a flue that goes all the way up to the roof so that it is entirely safe for a school environment. Children can therefore use this facility to cook their food on (and light fires which is all part of the forest schools programme) and thereby promoting healthy living. Also there is some quite considerable research which shows that cooking is very good for mental health issues and is used to relieve anxiety and stress.

The shelter itself is also a good place where children can have some “time out” and “break-out nurture” space on their own and with their teachers in a tranquil setting that is away from the main hub-bub of everyday school life.

And then we needed to address the physical activity issue and here we have a cunning plan! We can supply some special electricity producing bikes which the children have to pedal in order to create power (so physical activity box ticked!) but we have a smoothie making package too. The bikes are connected up to a smoothie blender machine so the faster they pedal, the quicker the smoothie gets made. And if their smoothies have fruit and lots of good things in there, we are also encouraging healthy living and eating.

If you would like to know how we can work alongside your school and think a little out of the box, then please contact the Hideout House Company on 01865 858982 or email: info@hideouthouse.com

4m x 4m open sided shelter with

 

Treehouse Outdoor Classroom

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treehouses for schools

Treehouse round a tree connecting to elevated treehouse

We have just completed a unique treehouse outdoor classroom for Marnel Infant School near Basingstoke. The school originally approached us looking for an outdoor classroom which they could use for their outdoor learning sessions. It had to be big enough to cater for a class of 30 and it had to be totally enclosed so that they could use it all year round. And it had to be interesting in order to fully engage the children!

The original discussions started off with us supplying one of our standard octagonal cedar clad outdoor classrooms which we were going to enclose with French doors and window upper panels and some additional eco options but it soon became obvious that the school had more adventurous plans.

By the main school entrance, there is an area which was suitable for what the school wanted to build – namely an enclosed outdoor classroom which is built around an existing tree in the middle which is then linked by a 10m long elevated walkway to a 5m treehouse elevated off the ground on stilts. This is also totally enclosed on all sides and has French doors to the front elevation so can easily be used all year round.

We have also supplied an additional “mud kitchen” for their forest schools activities which has opening and closing louvre panels on one side (which allows the building to easily adapt to the weather), barn doors to the front elevation and windows on the back to make use of the natural daylight and setting. Like the treehouse outdoor classroom, it is also manufactured out of premium grade cedar with a cedar shingle tile roof.

The school are already reporting that both the treehouse outdoor classroom and the mud kitchen are a great success with the children who love the fact that they can enjoy their outdoor learning in such a unique and special setting.

For further information, please contact the Hideout House Company on 01865 858982, email info@hideouthouse.com

Rectangular outdoor classroom with polycarbonate windows and louvre panels

Outdoor Shelters for Forest Schools

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fire pit and BBQ cabin

The forest schools programme and initiative in the UK is definitely gaining momentum as we do now receive quite a few enquiries from schools who are looking for outdoor shelters for forest schools which they can use in these designated areas.

A common request is to provide for some sort of outdoor shelter or outdoor classroom provision where the children can seek refuge from the elements when so required or which the forest school practitioner can use as an outdoor learning & teaching base. And as making and building fires is a major part of this initiative, we have developed our very own fire pit shelter and outdoor classroom where you can actually have a fire pit in the middle. These tend to be open-sided structures although we can partially enclose them with either solid infill panels or roll-up/roll-down canvas panels to enclose some further protection. The smoke from the fire exhausts through a special ventilation hole in the roof with a special roof cap to stop rain getting in.

But we have been asked also for a facility where as well as lighting fires, the children would also like to be able to cook somewhere and ideally in a building which is fully enclosed so that it can be used all year round. And if you can have some desks in there as well, all the better!

So we are pleased to now be selling stylish outdoor shelters for forest schools cabin which come in different sizes to suit different class sizes or forest school groups and which have a special central fire/BBQ cooking facility where a fire can be lit to both heat up the cabin and to cook on. It is also possible to have internal benching and desks in the cabin as well and in this instance a flue positioned above the fire allows the smoke to easily escape. So this product offers up the ideal solution for a forest school – it allows children to make fires (and thereby also provide for internal heat if “off grid” which these sites usually are), it allows them to cook, it provides for shelter for all year round use and it can be an outdoor learning resource with desks and tables.

There are some options available – firstly the sizes as they come in 10m2, 14m2, 17m2 and 25m2 variants. On some of these models, you can have either sloping walls or straight, there are a couple of colour choices of felt shingle tiles for the roof, internal benches and desks, seating cushions, LED lights and bases. Our prices always allow for delivery and installation.

For further details, please contact the Hideout House Company on 01865 858982 or email: info@hideouthouse.com

www.hideouthouse.com

 

 

Insulated all year round use outdoor classrooms and shelters

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modular classroom with larch cladding

We have taken the traditional open-sided, gazebo style outdoor classroom – in all its sizes and shapes including octagonal, square and rectangular – and adapted it for the many and varied uses that an educational establishment now demands. Typically due to the nature of the need or requirement, the building needs to be totally enclosed and in many cases fully insulated for all year round use.

Schools use these type of buildings for a whole host of reasons and in the past we have supplied them for the following:

  • Outdoor learning hub & classroom
  • Library
  • Temporary classroom
  • Sensory room
  • Meeting room
  • Community room
  • Nurture or break-out room
  • Prayer room
  • Quiet study room

The majority of outdoor classrooms that we supply to schools are below 30m2. And there is a reason for this and that is that they do not need to be passed through building control for approval so it is just makes the process a bit simpler and in some cases, cheaper. But that is not to say that the enclosed outdoor classrooms are not built to the exacting standards that building regs would require.

Dependent upon the use and application, it is also possible to fully insulate these buildings and we therefore have two levels of insulation packages to suit different needs, usage levels, budgets and most importantly whether a school intends to heat the building as well. But we also use either cedar or Siberian larch both externally – the roof is also attractive cedar shingle tiles. All timber is a natural insulator anyway but cedar has additional thermal properties which make it the best natural insulator of all softwoods – so its excellent thermal properties can make for some savings if the building is being heated. If it is not being heated however, then insulation still works in two ways – keeps out the heat in the summer and keeps in the heat in the winter!

There are many options to choose from in this range. Firstly the shape as they are available in octagonal, square and rectangular formats. As they are modular, it is very easy to have your own walls, windows and door configurations and specifications. Other options include double glazing, an attractive atrium roof to allow in lots of natural light from above, laminate flooring, the afore-mentioned insulation packages, internal partitioning, timber sub-frame base for uneven ground or grass installs and various eco initiatives such as renewable energy power and rainwater harvesting systems.

For buildings above 30m2, we are also able to offer these in a modular form and typically this size of outdoor classroom allows for WCs, a small lobby area and a kitchenette facility.

For more information on our outdoor classroom and modular school buildings range, please visit our website www.hideouthouse.com or contact us on 01865 858982 or email info@hideouthouse.com

 

Why You Should Buy Trim Trail Play Equipment Made Out Of Recycled Plastic

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There are so many times that I have visited schools and seen picnic tables made out of recycled plastic sitting on the school playground. Not just one but typically quite a few of them. You then ask the school staff why they purchased them and the response is always the same – they simply just last a lot longer than the traditional timber ones, they will never rot or degrade and more importantly they don’t require any on-going maintenance.

And in the same vein, there are the same amount of schools I visit where I see trim trail playground equipment covered in out-of-bounds hazard tape as per below.

And when you ask why this is, again the answer is pretty standard. The play equipment is no longer safe because it is starting to rot or the rounded timber has cracked so badly that the children are getting loads of splinters or are putting their fingers into the gaps. So it falls upon the site manager to constantly maintain it or as in a lot of cases, the trim trail equipment is simply condemned because it is beyond repair or is simply uneconomic to do so.

So I got to thinking that if you consider the above, why not therefore manufacture and sell trim trail recycled plastic play equipment made out this wonderful material? It has so many benefits by doing so and these are some of them:

  • It requires very little or nil maintenance as recycled plastic does not rot, corrode or decay
  • It does not splinter or have “shakes” like traditional timber does when it naturally dries out
  • It is very hard to vandalise (less flammable than timber) and graffiti and is resistant to algae and insects
  • It is hard wearing and durable – you can expect a lifetime five times than that of timber
  • UV resistant and available in different colours
  • It is eco friendly as it manufactured 100% out of recycled plastic bottles

But of course, it is a little bit more expensive than traditional timber but if you factor in the above benefits, it actually represents very good value for money especially when you consider its extended lifespan and reduced (none) on-going maintenance costs.

Our recycled plastic trim trail play equipment range incorporates stepping stones, log weavers, balance beams, net climbers, wobbly log bridges, A frame climbers and chin up bars.

For further information, please call the Hideout House Company on 01865 858982 or email: info@hideouthouse.com

www.hideouthouse.com