How often are you really proud of the pupils in your school? I’m guessing it is at least several times each week, if not daily.
Our experience has shown us that, even across schools of all shapes and sizes, one of the most powerful deciding factors for prospective parents in choosing a school, are the pupils themselves. Meeting them on an Open Day or during a visit can often be a ‘clincher’ in a family’s decision-making process. They see confident, polite, articulate, curious and happy children and naturally think, “WE want this for OUR child.”
It therefore makes sense to put pupils front and centre of your marketing on a regular basis.
Video is a great way of doing this as it can give prospective parents an authentic taste of how and why children flourish at your school. Plus, despite in-person visits cautiously springing back up in some schools, we know that parents are continuing to have a ‘digital first’ approach to investigating prospective schools for their children, and video is a key part of this.
Here are five great pupil video ideas to get you started:
1. ‘Spotlight On The Head’ videos
Pupils interviewing your Headmaster or Headmistress are sooo good for pushing the cuteness factor and driving engagement. Pupils can ask the Head 3-5 questions – from What they love most about their job, to what they think are the best bits about their school to what their favourite book is. Of course this gives the Head the green light to wax lyrical about their school too so ticks the box of cuteness and school promotion all in one go.
2. ‘Behind the scenes’ videos
People love a good ‘nose’ into usually ‘unseen’ areas. ‘Behind the scenes’ pupil-led videos are perfect for this. They could include footage such as your school’s facilities (perhaps areas that prospective families don’t usually get to see), or insider views of your school kitchen e.g. pupils asking the catering staff “What’s for lunch today” while they prepare the food, or a pupil-librarian chat about the latest books added to the shelves. Do these and watch your engagement soar!
3. Q&A videos
You’ve got a new maths teacher? Great, let’s introduce her to the school community via a quick Q&A – the pupil (holding the phone and filming) asks just two or three questions such as “What’s been your best teaching moment so far?”, “Which is your favourite day of the school year?” or even some quickfire queries such as, “Netball or rounders?”, ”Laptop or tablet?”, “Running or walking?”. Again, great for adding a dollop of authenticity to your marketing as well as showing off your great teachers.
4. How To… videos
Let your pupils show off the skills they have learned and provide some top tips for parents at the same time. This involves a staff member talking through a (very brief) activity, while a pupil demonstrates it, such as how to kick a drop goal, how to draw a face, how to tie a school tie… the possibilities are endless.
5. Time-lapse videos
If you’re feeling really confident with your video skills, introduce time-lapse (available on most phones’ camera settings). This is a great way to demonstrate a longer process but in a short timeframe such as pupils creating an artwork, doing some coding or carrying out a science experiment.
So there we are.
Five pupil-led video ideas that will keep your communications fresh, relevant and appealing to prospective families and their children. Not only this, but your pupils will love the opportunity to be involved, they’ll learn new skills to boot and their enthusiasm and creativity is infectious too!
The Stickman team help school leaders, bursars, and marketing and admissions managers to boost revenue via powerful and simple marketing strategies.
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Emily & the Stickman team
