Buried in end-of-year school magazine production?
It’s a time-consuming task, but does it really help you with recruitment or retention?
It’s that time again — the end-of-year school magazine deadline looms, and you’re chasing write-ups, hunting for photos and trying to pull together something presentable before the end of term.
But here’s the question: does it actually matter?
Let’s be honest. Most end-of-year school magazines are vanity pieces. They look good, make some feel warm inside, but from a marketing standpoint, they rarely move the needle. They don’t drive enquiries, book tours or help with pupil retention.
Still, year after year, time, energy and budget go into making them — resources that could be used on tactics that truly support recruitment, retention and reputation.
This isn’t cynicism. It’s strategy. If your end-of-year school magazine doesn’t advance your school’s goals, then it’s not marketing. It’s just decoration.
That’s why our Summer Sizzler Training Offer exists. It’s built to help you break the cycle and focus on high-impact, time-efficient marketing that actually works. We’ll help you rethink what celebration looks like, how to package achievements, and how to get your School’s story in front of the people who matter.
So before you lose another week to magazine madness, ask yourself: Is this really the best use of your time? Or is it time to work smarter?
Below are some ideas that we’ve seen great success with:
- Montage video (maximum 2 mins):
Use an app like Quik, CapCut or InShot to create a short video, set to music, showcasing the year’s most memorable moments. This will stir emotion, create a connection and bring a rich year to life without taking up your precious time. A ‘talking to camera’ introduction from the Head will also grab attention.
Watch an example video montage below of Emily’s visit to the COBIS Conference:
- One-page digital timeline
Or consider a beautifully designed digital timeline to showcase the year’s highlights. You can use rich visuals, wow statistics, and group together by term to flow through the year naturally. There are useful templates for timelines in Canva, or save even more time by using an app such as Visme or napkin.ai. This can then be shared with current and prospective families as a downloadable PDF. The template below, created in Visme, can be edited to your specifications.
- Issuu
If you wanted to stay with a magazine format, a digital version of the magazine, published on a platform like https://issuu.com/ can offer massive savings on printing and distribution costs and can also be easily edited after publication if necessary. A digital magazine is easier to share via email and can also be promoted across social media channels to a wider audience.
For more tips and ideas of school marketing activity that really works, check out the Summer Sizzler Training Offer that we have on our school marketing course
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