School is so important. The school years that children have can be some of the best days of their lives. For teachers, it’s the place of work where they must be comfortable and confident. The leadership team need to believe in everything that is in place. Whilst for the governors, the place needs to run properly and operate smoothly. Education settings are so important to the community, the Government and for some, investors. In a world where appearance is everything, branding a school is integral. Let’s look at what you need to consider.
First Impressions Count
Just like in every part of life, first impressions count. You only get one chance to make a first impression and most of the time, people judge that situation within the first few seconds. You need to look at your school from the outside. What would someone arriving at the school for a meeting make of the place? What would a new student arriving on their first day think they are stepping into? You must consider those parents who are looking at education settings for their children? First impressions count and you need to ensure that first impression connects with the brand you want the school to be.
Your Literature & Signage
We mentioned that you must look at your school from the outside, but the inside is just as important. Once you have people in the school, everything must feel right. You can’t lure people in with amazing appeal and then drop the ball once they cross the threshold. Signage without school, the colours on the walls, even the fonts used on the door plagues. Everything says something and when you want to create an impression, these details must be considered. The same can be said with the literature you are sending out from the school to other organisations. Maybe newspapers, businesses and media outlets. Think about everything from letterheads to the homepage of the website. Consider bespoke packaging so recipients get to know you from the look and feel of what they are receiving.
Consistency Is Key
With so many people working at a school, it can be easy for things to be overlooked and for teachers to do things one way, whilst reception staff or the leadership team are doing it another. There must be consistency. This is key. When you have branding, being consistent is so important to drive that brand home. You cannot have changes or deviations from that because what comes out of the school needs to be constant. It must be the same day in, day out, week in, week out. Even term in, term out. From the breakfast club to the after school club! If there are branding changes, they must be shown throughout the school. When you ignore consistency, you set yourself up to fail.
As you can see, the brand of the school goes deeper than just the sign at the entrance. When you create depth throughout the school, with buy in from every department, you create an education brand which is well known, relatable and eventually speaks for itself.