That question can feel a bit daunting, can’t it?! It can feel very personal. How is your school/trust perceived in your local area? And further afield? How would you like to be perceived? And do those two match currently?

Sometimes schools, or new/developing trusts, need time out to consider these questions. And if not everyone is coming from a marketing background it can also feel a bit uncomfortable for some. For teachers they may shy away from the idea of the school having a ‘brand’ as this is often associated with commercial business. But the reality is that a brand is your identity. And schools always have an identity of some sort. A projection of who they are and what they do. A vision of aims and future goals to help everyone steer the ship together.

Branding guidelines are a huge support in getting that identity out into the world – from your website all the way through to when a member of staff delivers a talk at a conference and uses your branded PowerPoint slides. You want people to think about your core ethos whenever they see your name and logo out and about. And you want them to see that come through consistently at every outward-facing opportunity. Importantly, you also want all members of the team to see why that is important and to feel like they are all singing from the same hymn sheet.

The branding of your school or trust is not just about which colour scheme you have, or how your logo and tagline are used. Branding goes much deeper into what sits behind all of the elements you can see, to really dig into the values and strengths which lie beneath the surface.

In today’s education landscape, schools and trusts are operating in an increasingly competitive and scrutinised environment. Whether it’s attracting pupils in areas with falling rolls, recruiting quality staff, or building community support, your public image plays a huge role. Parents are making decisions based not just on Ofsted/ISI reports or league tables, but on how a school feels. How it communicates. Whether it seems confident and clear about who it is and what it stands for. A strong brand helps schools stand out, and more importantly, stay true to their purpose.

More trusts are also growing across regions. In that process, a consistent, shared identity helps to build trust, cohesion and a sense of belonging across multiple sites. It’s not about forcing everyone to look identical. It’s about creating a shared visual and values-led language that supports collaboration and pride.

We work closely with schools and trusts to develop brand identities and then build these into your website, school app, and branded uniform items as well as helping you to create brand guidelines for all staff to use to ensure your outward appearance matches what lies behind your doors.

A branding workshop is a really key element of beginning this journey into putting your best foot forward at every opportunity. We not only work direct with the staff but we find out about how people see you in the community. And we look to what you want that perception to look like in the future.

We consider elements such as:
–  Your brand’s personality
–  Your brand’s strengths
–  Your brand’s weaknesses
–  Your brand’s heritage
–  Your brand’s core values
–  Your brand’s aspirations
–  Your brand’s visual identity elements – symbology & shapes

Our designers then work to create a visual identity which matches your vision and values, and we work with you to incorporate that across your outward facing marketing and branded items to ensure the consistency which is so important in the current schools market. 

We can then work closely with you to support implementation of the branding across the school/trust with everyone on board with the vision. Get in touch to find out more about how we can elevate your ethos to your brand identity.