Blog

Editor's blog

In this blog for people who work in independent schools, Attain's Editor Matthew Smith looks at some of the issues affecting the independent sector and the challenges around marketing and communications in schools.

Are you the Head of an independent school or work in school communications and marketing? Please connect with Matthew via LinkedIn to share your thoughts and reflections on the topics discussed.

Being authentic

10/03/23, 3 min read: For a news story to be brilliant, it needs to have certain ingredients. But what does it need? Attain's Editor, Matthew Smith, has put together a checklist to help, conveniently linked against a memorable word... authentic.

News should always be fresh – and definitely newsworthy.

Is your school newsworthy?

27/02/23, 2 min read: Schools can be a wonderful source of news but not all stories are newsworthy. Too often, schools rush to send out a story without seeming to think about the audience. Attain's Editor, Matthew Smith, looks at the distinction between 'story-telling' and news and why their objectives rarely align.

Is the over-enthusiastic hand of marketing damaging school news?

Is school news dead?

18/01/23, 2 min read: Attain's Editor, Matthew Smith, reflects on the unhelpful influence of marketing on school news stories. As some schools attempt to produce more and more content, they risk losing any semblance of journalistic quality. Is it time for schools to decide that less can actually be more?