Whether you are soon to become a tech unicorn, a charity that has received major funding and is about to expand or a school that has seen significant year-on-year pupil increases – growing organisations have many reasons to celebrate.
But it is important to remember the caveat that with growth comes increased reputational risk. Greater visibility, a rising profile, evolving stakeholder needs and growing employee numbers all contribute to a heightened exposure to reputational threats and media scrutiny for growing organisations.
Policy debates are not new for senior leaders; on the contrary, many heads often enjoy entering the fray. However, with political pressure mounting on multiple fronts, the sector is somewhat beleaguered and many schools have understandably lost their appetite for making headlines.
In this blog we will cover how schools should manage these important policy debates, the risks, and mitigation measures that can be put in place for potential media approaches.
The New Year has kicked off with a new Ofsted chief in town, promising that the inspectorate will show more “empathy” going forward.
Given the tragic suicide of primary school head Ruth Perry, it was the very least Sir Martyn Oliver could offer as he introduced himself in a round of media interviews.
September saw the latest instalment of the Alder Intelligence webinar series and the first of our termly education webinars, ‘Protecting your reputation: trends, best practice and lessons from recent cases’. Having advised on some of the most significant education news stories over the last year, Managing Director Tim Toulmin and Specialist Education Partner Sue Bishop […]
A proactive PR strategy can help set a school up for success. Getting good news out there helps catch the eye of prospective parents, attract talented teachers and staff, and build pride throughout the school community. Most importantly perhaps, it also helps build what we call ‘empathy capital’. This means that if something goes wrong […]
Negative online content can be a source of stress for staff, pupils the wider school community and stakeholders. Along with taking an emotional toll, the content can also pose the threat of long-term reputational damage to the school. Below are three examples of the sort of issues we advise on, along with some tips about […]
The Sunday Times this week reported that independent schools are being urged by the new chair of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC) to be as transparent as possible with parents when allegations of sexual assault are made against staff or pupils. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/private-schools-urged-to-reveal-sex-abuse-claims-to-parents-ns72p2pg5 It is the right sentiment but often difficult to do in practice. […]