Polam Hall School is a mixed all-through school located in Darlington, County Durham, England. Polam Hall was founded as a Quaker “boarding school” for girls. It is now mixed-gender and inter-denominational but still retains its Quaker traditions and ethos.
The campaign aimed to raise the profile of Polam Hall School as a leading educational establishment in the North of England.
Our objectives were to develop advertising and marketing strategies across trade and regional platforms, promote the school’s boarding facilities and provide communications support for its free school application in 2013.
Working closely with Polam Hall School, its governors and teaching team, we developed a wide range of marketing and communications materials to support the school’s profile, admissions activity and wider reputation.
This included creating adverts and editorial content for both trade magazines and local and regional press, ensuring the school was visible across the platforms most relevant to its target audiences.
We also supported the development of a new school website, working alongside external developers and updating website copy to better reflect Polam Hall’s offer, values and ambitions.
Alongside this, we produced promotional materials including prospectuses, banners and leaflets, liaising with photographers, designers and other specialists to ensure all assets were professional, consistent and engaging.
Our work also included supporting school events such as open days, as well as developing branded materials including van wraps for the Polam Hall School minibus.
We supported many of the objectives of Polam Hall through the use of their social media accounts, in particular Facebook and Twitter. We chose to focus on these platforms as they offer greater accessibility to interact and connect with both businesses and members of the public.
We post photographs and information about events and information at the school, for example where students are going on schools trips in order for general public to have a better understanding of the school and for parents and friends to see.
We also post information about education that is topical, and interact with the local community.
The Free School message was pushed through the social media, directing anyone who was interested to the website for more information. One of the ways we made the announcement of the successful application was through the social media, by which time many students, Polam Hall parents, former students and members of the local community were following the accounts. We always receive brilliant feedback via social media.
Through targeted media relations, we helped Polam Hall School build its profile across both regional and education-focused press.
Our PR activity included writing and issuing press releases around key school events, developing case studies that highlighted individual student achievements and supporting communications around the school’s successful free school announcement.
Alongside school news, we also supported the Headmaster’s profile through thought-led and reputation-building pieces in sector-focused publications.
Through targeted PR and media relations, we secured coverage for Polam Hall School across regional and education-focused publications.
Stories included school events, student case studies and communications around the school’s successful free school announcement, with placements appearing in The Northern Echo, The Darlington & Stockton Times, Darlington Today, Darlington Monthly, Education Direct, Pathfinder Magazine and Durham Times.
We also supported the Headmaster’s profile through editorial opportunities in sector-focused titles including Independent Schools Magazine, Raring 2go!, PS Magazine and Attain Magazine.
This helped raise awareness of Polam Hall, strengthen its reputation within the education sector and increase its visibility among prospective families and local audiences.
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