Ten tips for finding a story in a school
In a school, simple summaries of events will always be sent your way by proud staff, like a football team win or a great academic achievement. But how can you dig deeper to find story topics that resonate with your brand, are unique to your community, and show a different side to the school everyone knows?
Here are my top ten tips for finding your special stories:
- TALK to people every day: teachers, students and parents. Find out what is happening.
- KNOW education. Do you know the difference between personalised learning and self-guided learning? What’s trending? Who practises this method in their classroom?
- VISIT classrooms to see learning in action.
- Discuss where CHALLENGES lie for the school, with senior management – stories can solve problems.
- Create OPPORTUNITIES for people to tell their own stories – let them know that the school’s social media sites are *their* platforms to share their ideas.
- TEACH people to tell their stories: share examples of good stories from other industries.
- Know your CHAMPIONS. Which staff are always innovating and willing to share with you?
- MOBILISE your students. Support the kids to produce manageable projects, such as ‘Humans of X School’.
- INVITE submissions to your inbox. Encourage staff to email or text photos when they are out of the school on excursions or camps.
- ACCEPT there will be quiet periods and use these to plan for the future by looking back and forward to old and new stories.
