Slide 2
As I was thinking about the Early Years Project in general and more specifically this presentation ,I was reviewing what I knew about successful schools and ,successful leaders
Why do some schools have a waiting list while another school down the road has places available ? Why are some school leaders more effective than others at achieving full enrolment ?

As I show parents around schools that I have led and am proud of they often ask how will they know if it is a good school. My answer used to be...It is the feeling you get when you walk around the school and see the children and teachers It is hard to pút into words . The interaction between children and adults...happy smiley faces

When I listened to a Ted Talk by Simon Sinek´s about his Golden Circle model . a light bulb went off in my head. The Why is the feeling. the Why is always placing the child at the center of any decision.

Sinek studied many organisations and individuals and looked for reasons why some were successful at promoting growth and others were not. In his Ted talk he uses Apple ,the Wright brothers and Martin Luther King as examples of a company and an individual who were successful at promoting growth in areas that others were not.

Most individuals and organisations start from the outside in
They know What they do
They generally know How they do it
However they often do not know Why ..purpose the cause

What Successful organisations and individuals had in common was that they started with the Why…. People don't buy what you do they buy why you do it

I believe this is an effective model for schools in general and specifically the Early Years

It is also a good model to get my ideas across about growing the enrolment of the EYC







Start with the why. Ted Talk by Simon Sinek
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA

Slide 3
Why
What is the why what do we believe in ? What is the purpose for being here?
The AIS mission highlights realising potential within a caring community so students can flourish

To enable our students to realise their potential through exceptional opportunities, within a nurturing community which equips them to flourish in life and to make a difference for good.

That links with my own belief that a quality Early Years Education is essential to help develop a well rounded human being for the challenges they are going to face.

It is the foundation for all future learning and develops the character traits that are essential .
The why is not only important on marketing brochures the whole school community must believe in it.
This is our purpose it is the reason why we are here.
The Why is what makes parents commit to the school. It is very important to share the why with new parents as they move through the enrolment process. It is the first step in building effective home school partnerships. We know the why ,our purpose, our reason for being here. How do we achieve this

Slide 4
How
How do we make sure each child is well prepared for life and has a great start to what will be a long journey through school.

Well qualified caring staff, who model what it is to be a learner.These are the people that parents will entrust their children with they are the center of any good school. As any parent of an Early Years child knows when you try and get your child to do something and they say no that is not how Ms Holly does it...Ms Holly said…..

Excellent adult student ratios

A robust child centered curriculum delivered through effective proven methodologies.
Enhanced curriculum,(Speech and Drama ,Smart steps perceptual motor program,mandarin,violin,accelerated literacy) delivered by trained specialists using programs designed for Early Years children

State of the art world class facilities, specifically designed and built for EY children, to enhance the curriculum

Importantly the EYC is a part of AIS there is a pathway through school for the children all the wonderful achievements they see happening across the school will be available to the early years children.

All of these things look and sound wonderful they are a marketing departments dream . What do we need to get the message out to the community

Slide 6
Choice
Choosing a school is one of the key times when parents reflect on what is important to them in terms of their child’s education. Often for parents of early years children this is their first experience of school since they were in one themselves.

If this is a parent's first child their only experience with school was probably when they attended one themselves. Parents are understandable nervous about leaving their young child with strangers for possibly the first time. Many parents suffer from emotions such as guilt and anxiety . Schools need to be sensitive to these emotions throughout the enrolment process.

It is however important for schools to understand and reflect on these reasons when planning their enrolment strategy

(From studies done by NFER in the UK , Greatschools and the Cato institute in the USA and from the International Schools Consulting , Some of the main reasons for parents selecting a school are)

Information from studies done in various countries and from my own experiences, especially in the two start up schools I have been involved the following

School that suits my child ( and me !)
Promotes effective learning (curriculum,methods, philosophy)
location ( facilities )
Well qualified teachers ( caring sensitive to the needs of my child)
Effectiveness of the school's Senior Leadership Team ( school has direction and a purpose, the school will listen to me.)

Trust they know the school though a sibling or friend.


We can use this information to help target what parents want to know about the school for example….
At ISP in KL we looked at the information from admissions forms about why parents chose the school, the top three where Staff, recommendation from a friend and Location. At the next open day We used this information by highlighting our staff , their experience, qualifications and passions, we shared with parents that a large % of our students where a direct result of a personal recommendation and we focused on the location and facilities of the school.

Knowing the market

Areas students will be drawn from are

Current AIS families ( Promoters)
New (Australian) expatriate families ( captive)
( other expatriate families who may have not thought about an International School)
New local families ( transitional )
New markets such as smaller second tier international schools an example of this was in Shanghai children on the waiting list would go to another International school until a place became available or their english improved.

The market research Cognita did before starting the project will give a further breakdown of the different areas students will be drawn from.

Each of these groups will have different reasons for enrolling at AIS . These needs will drive what they want from the school.

At each stage the school needs to evaluate the numbers in each group and look to any new areas students are coming from. By looking at where students come from will point to where the school should focus its marketing

Getting the word out
The message is already out that AIS is developing a World class state of the art EY facility.
Including in an article I was reading in the SMH or telegraph about Private schools expanding in australia.


What do we want them to say what are they saying how can we get them to say what we want
Recommendations ( WOM ) are a valuable part of the marketing process. parents students and teachers are a key component to grow enrolment at school.

Frederik Reichheld who has done alot of work on word of mouth marketing states
The only path to profitable growth may lie in a company’s ability to get its loyal customers to become, in effect, its marketing department

This is even more relevant in the relatively small world of International schools.
As I mentioned previously recommendations was one of the top 3 reasons given for selecting the school in KL by parents.
In Malaysia there is a fair proportion of Korean families who are only i the country so that their child can attend an International school.

In Dulwich it went one step further to involve companies . As one family left another family from the same company joined the school. This resulted in the Early Years having to expand to meet the demand.

Traditional methods such as paid Newspaper and magazine articles
Inbound marketing techniques such as blog posts , Facebook ,youtube and other social media
Website landing page highlights the new EY center , AIS page rankings for search engines, pop up ads in my browser…

Not finished



Information on where parents are coming from
Start with AIS
Bring learning to life
Local v Foreign
WON
The Why message
Collaborative
Target what parents want in open mornings,living learning and tours
Collect the information we need surveys, interviews, entry and exit data

Philosophy


Actions


We can also find out who the promoters are and use them as parent ambassadors.( including AISPA )