MAT Communications: 4 Questions We’re Always Asked

Today, multi-academy trusts face increased competition and more so than ever before, need to stand out from the crowd and demonstrate their true value. Key to this is effective communications but unfortunately, many trusts are not equipped with the know-how to develop and deliver a MAT communications strategy.

At Eduprise, we work with multi-academy trusts across the UK to enhance the quality of their MAT communications. In this blog, we’ve answered some of the most common questions we are asked by MATs about communications. If you work in a MAT, read on to find out more.

Why Are Communications Important for a Multi-Academy Trust?

Good MAT communications play a crucial role in helping multi-academy trusts to grow and excel through regular engagement with key stakeholders, both internally and externally.

– Understanding your audience is essential for any trust before putting a strategy into place and it’s important to note that this not only includes parents and staff but also prospective parents, potential hires, and the wider community. Think about who you are communicating with before putting pen to paper.

– Effective communication enhances the reputation of a trust with both internal and external audiences. For example, effective internal communication builds morale among staff and contributes toward a working culture that focuses on achieving common goals. Combining this with an engaging recruitment campaign will help to establish your trust as an employer of choice for educators in the area.
– External communications enable trust leaders to regularly communicate with the outside world. For example, this could involve keeping parents updated on their child’s learning, essential to making them feel involved. Word of mouth is often a decisive factor when parents are choosing a school, so keeping current parents satisfied can impact admission numbers in years to come.

If you’d like to know more about communicating effectively with parents, take a look at our guide to parental engagement.

How Do We Maintain Good Communications as Our Trust Grows?

The key to maintaining effective communication across a number of schools is to have processes and infrastructure in place that are built to accommodate growth.

Implementing a clear communication process ensures that everyone within a trust understands how to share good news and keep in contact with parents, stakeholders, and the local community.

With a common set of policies, templates, and best practices, trusts can more effectively release, manage, and monitor school communications. This infrastructure can then be put into place at every school that joins the trust with minimal downtime.

Why Should Our Trust Be On Social Media?

In our digital age, most people have at least one social media account. For a multi-academy trust, it is important to recognise that social media is an established, prominent channel of MAT communication, used by staff, parents and older children, so you cannot afford to leave this out of your MAT communications strategy.

Through platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, trusts are able to disseminate important information, communicate directly with the wider world, and — most significantly— share the good news and success stories happening across their schools more widely. Being contactable through social media helps a trust to appear open and accountable, while consistent social media messaging serves to enhance the public perception of your trust.

If your trust is struggling to make an impact on social media, take a look at our blog, 3 Ways Your School Can Immediately Improve Its Social Media Presence.

How Do We Get Journalists to Publish Press Releases About Our Trust?

The first thing to consider is the newsworthiness of your story. Put simply, if your story does not appeal to a large audience, or is not relevant to the readership of a publication, it will struggle to be published. Newsworthiness can be determined by reflecting on the editorial voice and news values of the publication you are seeking publication in. Key criteria include timing, scale, proximity, prominence, and human interest. Our team consults closely with trusts on this topic; if you’d like to learn more about having your stories published, get in touch.

When you are certain your story is newsworthy, the next thing to consider is the structure and quality of your press release. It’s important that the release is written to a high standard, using clear and easy-to-follow language, and written in the third person. Finally, any good quality and story-appropriate imagery you are able to send along with the press release will significantly increase the chances of it being published.

Whilst it is impossible to guarantee that a press release will be used, removing as many barriers to publication as possible gives your story the best chance of being published.

If you’d like to find more about the relationship between schools and the press, take a look at our article about how schools can use the press to manage their reputation.

Got a Question? Get in Touch

If you have a question about MAT communications that hasn’t been answered in this blog, or you want to find out how Eduprise can help to improve your trust’s communications, send us a message — our team will be happy to answer any queries you have.