The principals of PR

As competition for pupils intensifies, marketing videos and Internet Websites are among the tools schools use to sell themselves.

As the July floods washed into the Waikato, devastating farmers, the principal of Aria School shifted into marketing mode.

Shane Ngatai organised parents to make muffins and coffee to sell to motorists trapped by a huge landslide on state highway three.

The baking raised $800 for the 65-pupil school, 14km south of Piopio.

And, says Ngatai, who took over as principal 21 months ago: "We promoted the hell out of Aria School."

This solo father and former restaurateur returned to teaching five years ago and has marketed Aria School with the same energy he invested in his three Hamilton restaurants.

A weekly school newsletter is sent to radio and the local newspaper, which usually publishes one story a week about school activities. The newsletter also goes to 160 homes in the area.

An Internet Website about the school has attracted two teachers, one Canadian and one Japanese, for short stints.

Although students do not have to wear a uniform, the school has a "corporate look" -- a tracksuit which is worn on field trips.

Next year teachers may also have a corporate look. They are being encouraged to wear denim shirts, embossed with the school logo, and jeans.

Aria School's story is being echoed throughout the country as a growing number of schools use marketing as a way to improve their visibility -- and sometimes their viability.

The trend is also a result of the no-zones policy, giving parents greater choice of school for their children.
Increased competition for pupils means schools must decide how best to promote themselves.

A sign outside the school is now too unsophisticated this close to the millennium. Instead there are signs on the back of buses, and some schools buy space in newspapers to advertise their attributes.

Many have Internet Websites, which usually contain the school's prospectus and charter and give details of sports and music options.

"Schools are seeking more and more different ways of conveying information about themselves to communities," says the President of the Secondary Principals' Association, Allan Peachey. "In a way that was one of the obligations of Tomorrow's Schools.

"Some are into very active marketing to make the community aware of particular educational programmes, others are using it to lift their profile or reputation. Sometimes it's just because of the sheer battle for students."

Principals are more aware of the value of getting the school's success stories into the media, he says.

But not all schools are enthusiastic about marketing. Some principals say they would prefer to spend funds on buying new equipment rather than on paying for glossy newsletters or flash uniforms.

The principal of Clover Park Middle School, Ann Milne, says her Otara school has been forced to spend more on advertising this year due to competition from other schools.
Buses are taking children from south Auckland to Howick, in east Auckland.

She says the hardest struggle is to change people's perceptions, especially after many schools in her area have received negative publicity.

"That public perception takes a long time to change. Any school outside the community is considered better than anything in, so they bus them to schools that have far worse Education Review Office reports than we've got."

Milne says she resents having to spend money on brochures and radio and print advertising, especially because the school does not receive any extra for marketing in its operations grant.

"It's money that you take from somewhere else." She would prefer it were spent on resources for children and classrooms.

That view is not shared by Shane Ngatai, who says principals who fail to value marketing are short-sighted.

"There's that saying you have to spend money to make money, and we need bums on seats to survive."

Dr Linda Vining, an Australian expert on marketing schools who gives seminars on both sides of the Tasman, says the survival of many schools depends on how many pupils they can attract.

When she set up the Centre for Marketing Schools in Sydney eight years ago she found most schools resistant to marketing. Government policies in both countries, however, have forced school staff to change their attitudes.

Principals are the most likely to grasp the significance of marketing, she says. "But there's still a strong resistance from classroom teachers because they feel that marketing is crass and about selling yourself. Teachers don't like that -- teachers prefer to work with children."

But she says promotion should be a team effort aimed at portraying the school in the best light.

One of her seminars tells everybody involved with the school, including the gardener, about the need to be an ambassador.

"The gardener might be the only contact parents of potential students have with the school -- he can set the tone."

Schools, like businesses, need to ensure that the staff are able to deal with issues and fulfil what the school promises in its prospectus.

Dr Vining says schools are great at saying they will cater for students' individual needs yet are the first to say nobody else has complained if a parent is concerned about an issue.

Glenfield Primary's principal, Jill Larson, says the school developed a marketing strategy last year which complements a five-year plan.

A key part of the North Shore school's strategy is ensuring parents are happy with the way the school handles difficult situations. If parents make a complaint, it is investigated, and the parents are contacted two weeks later to make sure they are satisfied with the way the complaint was dealt with.

People may be are philosophically opposed to marketing schools, but she says that if they have a "quality product" then they have something to boast about.

The school, which has had a 75 per cent growth in its roll over the past four years, is not promoting itself to get more pupils.

Mrs Larson says the goal is to let parents and the rest of the community know that Glenfield Primary is proactive and offers quality education.

The image projected by the school starts even before five-year-olds are enrolled.

A marketing video is sent to parents of prospective pupils outlining the features of the school. When the child turns five the school sends a birthday card with a photo of the class the child will be in.

Other signs of a school image are in the stationery and a style guide, which provides rules for written correspondence. "We're after consistency, so that when people see our logo and name in print, people think that's a good school."

But she says marketing goes way beyond a glossy prospectus -- "We're all there for good quality programmes for children."

"If you treat it like a business and put in good strategies then children grow up with a philosophy that education is important. That's the spin-off."