Get ahead for the Open Day season

With the summer break upon us, thoughts turn to the Open Day season, and how to encourage potential students and their families through your doors.

This is your chance to really sell your school – the pay-off for the past year’s promotional activity (and budget) that has made sure your school’s name is familiar to those families you are most keen to attract. Now is the time to convert that raised awareness into full classrooms, and the open day is a vital step that warrants careful planning.

It’s not an easy task, but the aim of the open day is to give visiting families a snapshot of your school – its ethos, its approach to the academic and co-curricular programmes and extra activities, as well as a feel for the school campus, the learning areas and resources, dining hall, boarding if applicable, outside space and even the drop-off and car parking arrangements. Parents’ eyes and ears are open and in fact mtm’s parental research shows that most parents make up their minds about the suitability of a school for their son or daughter on the strength of their own first-hand experience of the school. The key is to be co-ordinated and to plan well in advance.

Booking ahead to shout about your open day to the general public in the local press is of course essential, but it’s also worthwhile dropping a personalised line in plenty of time to the parents who are already on the school’s radar – those who may have requested a prospectus over the past year, whose child may have come along to an activity day held at your school, or the members of clubs and societies with whom your school has established a tie. Keeping good contact information throughout the year is crucial as these families are likely to be your school’s target market.

Ads and invitations must always make clear the schedule for your open day. If you’re planning a welcome by the head perhaps, or talks by members of staff and pupils throughout the day, then the timings for these must be publicised well in advance so that parents do not miss out. Alternatively, a less structured day should also be flagged up – parents may be disenchanted to find that they have made an early start for no reason.

It’s likely that a certain amount of orchestration will be necessary if visitors are to leave your open day with the desired impression of your school. Changes to the timetable might be required to avoid the less spectator-friendly activities and perhaps substitute for those your school is known for, or ideally offers uniquely in the area.

Briefing the main players in your open day is vital. Speakers, young and old, may benefit from guidance and ideally your approval of their script to make sure they are all ‘on message’. Student tour guides should be thoroughly prepared, not just with recommended routes, but also the answers to any questions parents are likely to pose, as well as information on your school’s particular areas of pride to drop into the conversation whenever appropriate. Presentation is also an important matter to parents – your older students are a peek into their younger child’s future, so make sure every pupil looks like a young person a parent could be proud of.

Vitally, all involved must know the arrangements for recording visiting parents’ contact details, so that their positive impression at open day can lead to the registration of their child to join your school.

To find out how mtm can help your school plan for an effective open day, just call 01502 722787 or email james@emrsolutions.co.uk.

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