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Leathesellers'

Industry
School federation

Location
UK

Services:
School media relations, Public affairs, Stakeholder engagement

Sparrowhawk Communications supported the Leathersellers' Federation of Schools with their consultation to become a Multi-Academy Trust.

 

This involved commissioning - and overseeing - a website design company for the consultation website, briefing a videographer for a short film and drafting reactive and proactive communications to stakeholders, including community groups and local media.

We highly recommend Sparrowhawk Communications for all forms of communications - internal and external. They are experts in communications for the education sector and provide a personal, responsive service.

Paula Ledger

Executive Headteacher

the Leathersellers' Federation of Schools

 

School Laboratory

Aquila Diocese of Canterbury Academies Trust

[ Multi-Academy Trust ]

Industry
Multi-Academy Trust

Location
UK

Services:
Communications and school PR strategy, Media relations, Copywriting, Content marketing and SEO, Stakeholder research

The 16 academies within Aquila Diocese of Canterbury Academies Trust are spread across a large geographical area and located in a mix of urban, rural and coastal settings.

 

The Trust commissioned Sparrowhawk Communications to grow its public profile, respond to ongoing media requests and review its processes so that success stories could be communicated in a more timely, proactive and strategic way across the Trust and beyond.

Our school leaders are naturally time-poor

and we really appreciate having Sparrowhawk Communications on hand to offer strategic communications advice and deal with media requests.

Annie Wiles

Chief Executive

Aquila Diocese of Canterbury Academies Trust

 

Business Conference

Leathersellers' Federation
of Schools

[ School federation ]

GovernorHub

[ Education Support Service ]

Industry
Education Support Service

Location
UK

Services:
School media relations, Public affairs, Stakeholder engagement

GovernorHub, which supports more than 100,000 school governors, trustees and clerks, commissioned Sparrowhawk Communications to promote its new report into the pay of school governance professionals and clerks.

 

GovernorHub discussed its objectives, target audiences and time frame and Sparrowhawk Communications drafted a press release, a list of key stakeholders and an opinion piece. Sparrowhawk liaised with education media and stakeholders and secured coverage in HMWK Magazine, Education Today and Working Mums, as well as public support from stakeholders, such as the National Education Union.

Sparrowhawk Communications got to grips with quite a difficult and nuanced subject really quickly and knew how to make it really compelling to the uninitiated audience.

Jo Phillips

Marketing Manager

GovenorHub

 

Music Class

Caroline Chisholm School

[ All-through 4-19 school ]

Industry
All-through 4-19 school

Location
UK

Services:
School communications strategy, Communications audit, Stakeholder research, School prospectus writing,
Brand and style guide

Caroline Chisholm School is an oversubscribed all-through 4-19 school in Northampton. It aims to be within the top 10% of schools nationally by 2025 for a wide range of measures.

 

The school commissioned Sparrowhawk Communications to provide recommendations on how it could communicate its vision and ensure its communications were more consistent and engaging. 

 

Sparrowhawk spoke to the school's leaders, teachers, support staff, parents and governors and carried out research on schools in the local area. After producing a communications and PR strategy, Sparrowhawk also created a brand and tone manual for the school.

Having previously commissioned Sparrowhawk Communications to produce a communications and PR strategy and a brand manual, the school gave Sparrowhawk a brief of rewriting its prospectus to reflect the fact that it was an all-through school, rather than a primary, secondary and sixth-form. The new prospectus has successfully started to attract prospective parents.

Sparrowhawk Communications has helped us review our communications and tell a more consistent and engaging story.

 

It has also helped us spot opportunities to distinguish ourselves from others and celebrate our successes.

Kunjan Sembhi

Admissions and Marketing Manager

Caroline Chisholm School

 

GovernorHub
AQUILA
Caroline
Two people talking on camera

Life Lessons

[ Education Resource ]

Industry
Education Resource

Location
UK

Services:
Media training

Life Lessons supports secondary schools to deliver outstanding relationships, sex and health education (RSHE). Their evidence-based approach makes it accessible for pupils to discuss topics in the classroom and for teachers to act as facilitators. Their materials include a video library of short clips featuring young people from all over the UK talking about topics from nutrition to making new friends and mental health. 

 

The Government has commissioned a review of RSHE guidance and Life Lessons wanted to be as prepared as possible for media interviews. Sparrowhawk Communications gave media training, which included a run-through of a broadcast media interview.

Media training has given us the confidence we need to put ourselves forward to speak publicly about the topics we are most knowledgeable about.

Jamie O'Connell

Co-Founder

Life Lessons

 

Life Lessons
STEER-project.jpg

STEER Education

[ Education Technology Company ]

Steer

Industry
Education Technology Company

Location
UK

Services:
Communications and PR strategy; Public affairs and Campaigns; Media relations; Media training

STEER Education helps schools measure, track and improve the mental health of eight to 18-year-olds. The company commissioned Jessica to come up with a strategic communications plan to raise its profile among schools, education policy-makers, mental health advocates and parents. 

 

As part of the stakeholder and media elements of the plan, Jessica used the fact that STEER has data from more than 15,000 secondary school students at 92 schools. She identified a clear media strategy, spotted newsworthy angles, drafted media materials and liaised with national media outlets, including radio, TV and podcasts. She also briefed STEER's spokesperson, ensuring he was well-prepared before each interview, compiled a list of political stakeholders and drafted correspondence to them.

 

The result was coverage across a wide range of national media, including all the main education titles. The coverage spanned several pieces in The Times, The Guardian, The Spectator, The New Statesman, ITV, TES and The Sunday Times. In total, the coverage had more than 972,000 views and more than 1,600 online engagements. Contacts were made with an education influencer with more than 50,000 followers, a prominent MP, a mental health social enterprise and a high-profile children's charity.

It's been tremendous to see the quality and breadth of coverage Jess secured.

It's been fascinating watching her shape our

report into content that is accessible to so many readerships. That so many media outlets picked up our report, and used Jess's carefully crafted copy shows that she knew just what they were looking for.

Very well done, and thank you.

Andrew Pearson

Chief Executive

STEER Education

 

HEART-Acedemies-project_edited.jpg

HEART Academies Trust

[ Multi-Academy Trust ]

Heart

Industry
Multi-Academy Trust

Location
UK

Services:
School communications and PR strategy; Media relations;
Public Affairs and campaigns; Communications audits and Stakeholder research

HEART Academies Trust is a growing Multi-Academy Trust in Bedford. The Trust commissioned Jessica to devise a communications strategy to ensure it was more widely known in its region and among prospective and new members of staff and parents.

 

Jessica worked closely with the Trust's Chief Executive and wider team, as well as the headteachers of its schools. She conducted a communications audit and recommended processes that would make communications easier and more effective. She suggested a range of tactics to raise the profile of the Trust among the target audiences. To date, she has drafted and helped secure more than 12 pieces of coverage.

Working with Jessica has transformed our external communications. We knew we were doing a really good job transforming young lives, but we never told people how well we were doing. Jessica has been able to pick out the real positives from our organisation and expand on them to a wider audience.

 

Not only has Jessica transformed how we communicate, but she has also worked closely with staff to upskill them as well.

I have recommended Jessica to other CEOs, as she has made my life easier.

David Morris

Chief Executive Officer

HEART Academies Trust

 

Classmates

The Mercian Trust

[ Multi-Academy Trust ]

Industry
Multi-Academy Trust

Location
UK

Services:
Copywriting, Content marketing and SEO; School communications and PR strategy

The Mercian Trust, a Multi-Academy Trust, approached Jessica to advise and work on communications about their merger with Q3 Multi Academies Trust.

Jessica prioritised the key messages, drafted communications to a wide range of stakeholders and wrote the content for a magazine to mark the merger.

Jessica has proven to be a very capable communications support at a demanding time for Mercian Trust, working flexibly to meet tight deadlines for the magazine copy as well as drafting key communications for the Trust.

 

Jessica has taken on board the vision and ethos of the Trust and ensured that these are supporting the communication strategies and regular stakeholder communications throughout this merger.

Tony Dennant

The Mercian Trust

 

Mercian
Since-911-memorial-image.jpg

SINCE 9/11
 

[ Education Charity ]

University-Alliance-project.jpg

University Alliance

[ Higher Education Membership Organisation ]

Case Study
University Alliance

Industry
Education Charity

Location
UK

Services:
Positioning and media relations; Public affairs and campaigns

Education charity SINCE 9/11 was set up because no pupil at school today was born when 9/11 happened and very few know what took place on that fateful day. The charity sends speakers into schools and produces resources to help teachers initiate discussions about extremism, terrorism and our national security.

 

SINCE 9/11 engaged Jessica to ensure that as the 20th anniversary of 9/11 approached, the world's media knew about the charity and the important role it played in educating young people. 

 

Jessica achieved international coverage across five countries with an event that marked the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks and research carried out in partnership with UCL. She secured high-profile pieces on, among others, Sky News, BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 4's Today programme, The Telegraph and TES.

 

Jess is unquestionably the best PR I’ve ever worked with. She just got us more media than I'd ever thought possible,  from everywhere, from print to radio to TV News. Her secret? - 100% hard work, her enthusiasm, her experience and her professionalism. I could go on and on ...

Peter Rosengard

Education Entrepreneur

SINCE 9/11

 

Industry
Higher Education

Location
UK

Services:
Positioning and media relations; Training sessions in PR and
communications

Ahead of COP26, Jessica worked with University Alliance - the voice of professional and technical universities in the UK - to promote their Powering Climate Action on Climate Change campaign.

 

She advised on the content that would be of interest to national media and worked closely with University Alliance and its members to obtain the relevant information.

 

By successfully pitching stories about the campaign to journalists, she secured a reach of more than 400m households with coverage in Euronews, The Independent, Press Association, Newsweek, RTE (Ireland's public broadcaster), University Business and Times Radio.

 

Jess has outstanding contacts covering sustainability and education in the national media and knows what journalists are looking for. She helped us bring our campaign to our key audience and also ran helpful sessions for us on PR and comms.

Laura Foster-Devaney

University Alliance

 

Dignity-project_edited.jpg

Dignity Project

[ Thinktank ]

Dignity

Industry
Thinktank

Location
UK

Services:
Stakeholder engagement; Copywriting

The Dignity Project is a campaign for respectful international development. It advocates, conducts research, trains and builds tools.

 

Dignity Project approached Jessica with a research report on the growth of the mutual aid movement.

 

Jessica advised on which stakeholder organisations and journalists would be interested in the thinktank's reports and produced media materials to accompany the research.

 

Jess was attentive, responsive and fast in supporting our work. She grasped a new topic and expressed it eloquently. I'd gladly work with her again.

Tom Wein

Political Researcher

Dignity Project

 

Classroom

The Pinnacle Learning Trust

[ Multi-Academy Trust ]

Industry
Multi-Academy Trust

Location
UK

Services: School communications and PR strategy; Media relations; Communications audit; Stakeholder relations; Copywriting, content, marketing and SEO

The Pinnacle Learning Trust is a growing Multi-Academy Trust in Oldham. It includes Oldham Sixth Form College, The Hathershaw College, Broadfield Primary School, Werneth Primary School and, from April 2024, Alexandra Park Junior School.

 

Jessica supports the trust with its communications and PR. This has included creating content for internal and external channels and raising the trust's profile through media relations.

 

Jess has provided our trust with superb support, helping us to raise our profile and enabling us to respond effectively to challenges. She brings a great deal of experience and expertise, in addition to supporting us in numerous practical ways.

 

Jess has helped us to build a substantial range of case studies and content, clarifying our strengths and celebrating our successes. Her positivity is contagious and our trust is better placed as a result of her involvement.

Jayne Clarke

Executive Principal

The Pinnacle Learning Trust

 

Pinnacle Trust
Writing-madarin-script-with-a-brush.jpg

Kensington Wade

[ Independent School ]

Industry
Independent School

Location
UK

Services: School communications and PR strategy

Kensington Wade is the only immersive Mandarin school in Western Europe. The London prep school commissioned Sparrowhawk Communications to devise a communications and PR strategy to further raise its profile in the UK and overseas.

Jessica’s sector knowledge and considered advice have been invaluable in helping us to create an appealing communications and PR strategy. She gets straight to the heart of the assignment and delivers added value from the outset.

Matt Alexander

CEO

Kensington Wade

 

Kensignton Wade
UFI-Tech
Car Mechanic with Tablet

Ufi VocTech Trust

[ Vocational Technology ]

Industry
Vocational Technology

Location
UK

Services: Copywriting

Ufi VocTech Trust enables adults to gain and maintain the skills they need for work by supporting the development and use of vocational technology.

The organisation commissioned Sparrowhawk Communications to write content for the VocTech Future of Skills Award. Entrants to the award were asked to share their ideas about how technology can help overcome the current challenges in the UK's skills system.

Sparrowhawk were an amazing asset to our team, helping pull some pretty detailed content into a series of articles that were accessible and interesting with minimal input from me. I feel like we’ve only just scratched the surface of their skills and I look forward to working together again soon.

Thomas Heiser

Head of Communications

Ufi VocTech Trust

 

Engineering Class

The Key Group

[ Education Support Services ]

Industry
Education Support Services

Location
UK

Services: Communications and PR strategy; Media relations

The Key Group, a leading provider of technology and content to more than 20,000 schools and trusts, commissioned Sparrowhawk Communications to manage the media relations for its report on how many pupils do work experience.

Sparrowhawk Communications achieved widespread media coverage, including on BBC Breakfast, BBC News at One, The Times, the Press Association, Yahoo News UK, The Mirror, The Independent, The Educator, Educate magazine, radio stations, regional media publications across England and an opinion piece in Schools Week.

The coverage reached an estimated 1.2m views, with 2,340 engagements and an average Domain Authority of 60.

The Key Group commissioned Sparrowhawk Communications to publicise our report on how many pupils do work experience. We were delighted by the results. Sparrowhawk achieved coverage on BBC Breakfast, the Press Association, The Times and leading education titles.

 
We were also very happy with how Sparrowhawk Communications worked with us. The consultancy gives good advice to the education sector, works at speed and is enthusiastic and flexible.

 

We recommend them to the sector.

Nicola West Jones

Director

Insights and External Relations

 

The Key Group
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