If you haven’t read McCrindle‘s latest education report, Building Thriving School Communities, you should. It’s insightful and challenging; and it has plenty of implications for school marketing.

Here are three eye-opening statistics along with my thoughts about what we can do about that as school marketers. 

Parents of Gen Alpha are 1.7x more likely than parents of Gen Z to have increased their expectations on schools to support student wellbeing

There are at least three clear implications for school marketers as you respond to this shifting expectation. Let’s think about it through the Enrolment Journey framework:

Discovery – Tell authentic stories of your school’s work in wellbeing. 

Tour – Include a wellbeing-specific handout at every school tour (and have your Head of Wellbeing present at the tour, while you’re at it).

Onboard – Make sure your onboarding procedures account for both administration required, as well as opportunities for deep human-human connection with your new families. The safer they feel, the more likely they are to trust you, and the more impactful your wellbeing structures will be. 

36% of parents chose to send their children to a non-government school because of their ‘focus on morals and values’ – 2.3x more likely than parents in government schools

This is an interesting statistic, because it doesn’t directly implicate religion – there’s a broader sense amongst parents that non-government schools are a good choice if morals and values are a priority. My challenge to schools is to see this as a driver for articulating what those morals and values are. Clearly, this resonates with parents. So, the clearer you can be about the articulation of your morals and values are, the more parents are going to be compelled by your offer.

There are many subtle variations that you might not have considered. For example:

  • Morals and values = good behaviour, polite and respectful
  • Morals and values = humble, servant-hearted leadership
  • Morals and values = being true to oneself, discovering the potential within
  • Morals and values = driven by the virtues and values of your faith

I could go on. What resonates with your school’s vision, mission, values, programs, ‘vibe’? Tell those stories well.

42% of teachers chose their current school because they ‘wanted to make a positive impact’

Teacher retention and attraction. I’m hearing this be an increasing concern amongst schools. You are no longer just marketing to families, you are marketing to future staff. According to McCrindle, almost half of teachers are driven by making a positive difference. This should absolutely be included in your marketing strategic plan. How are teachers making a positive difference in your school?

Make sure you are regularly talking about these things on channels like LinkedIn, and presenting them through engaging mediums on your jobs and careers pages on your website.

More thinking to come on this soon…

Make sure you pick yourself up a copy of McCrindle’s Building Thriving School Communities!