Annual Report | Marketing & Communications

Catholic Education...

Thriving People, Capable Learners, Leaders for the World God Desires

Marketing and Communications Team

Following extensive consultation in 2019, Catholic Education SA launched a new brand campaign in 2020: Raising Hearts and Minds.

Catholic schools have embraced the new tagline and brand strategy and there has been strong engagement with the variety of resources developed to support the campaign.

In early March, the CESA Communications & Marketing Conference was attended by over 80 school-based communications staff. Participants gained insights on a range of topics including digital communications, creativity and school marketing. Keynote speaker, Ashley Fell, spoke on the future or education and digital communications in changing times.

From mid March and thoughout 2020, the communications and marketing team provided significant support to the Critical Incident Response Team during the COVID-19 pandemic including:

communications and media liaison during school closures and lockdown
creating and sharing COVID-19 alerts via the CESA website and social media
establishment of the learning online website to support teachers, parents and students learning remotely
Media and communications to promote fee remission for families financially impacted by the pandemic.

COVID-19 restrictions saw the postponement of two key events that provide marketing opportunities: the Pregnancy Babies and Children’s Expo and Royal Adelaide Show.

Alongside these challenges, the Marketing and Communications Team continued to support a number of strategic initiatives during 2020 including:

Enhancing Schools Project – supporting the project team including the provision of specialist support for schools needing additional assistance with marketing strategy
Western Technical College – communications strategy around the announcement of the establishment of the technical college including logo and website development
Mid-Year Intake – advertising and media relations to promote the mid-year intake
Regional Schools Pathways Project – communications strategy and media relations to support the project team including announcements to expand Catholic primary schools to become R – 9 in Wallaroo, Clare and Peterborough
St Francis of Assisi College – media and communications strategy to support the announcement of a new college in the Riverland; ongoing communications and marketing support to subsequent announcements of the school’s name and location. Development of marketing and brand strategy for the school that will open in 2022
Scholarships for children and young people in care – promotion of the establishment of 100 scholarships
Students with Disability Review – extensive media and communications support including the establishment of an online presence
Vision for the north – promotion of a commitment to establish a new school and services village in the northern suburbs
Fee Reduction – development and rollout of a communications strategy to support the reduction of school fees in Catholic parish primary schools.

Marketing and communications support was also provided to a number of initiatives including the Cabrini Project, Eastern Star Project and Alive Catholic Early Learning.

Catholic Schools Open Week was held on August 10 – 16. The 5^th edition of Catholic Schools Magazine was published in the Advertiser in the lead up to the week and over 100 billboard, bus shelter and retail sites were booked to draw attention to the benefits of a Catholic education. Schools were encouraged to partner in a promotional campaign that encouraged parents to tour their local Catholic school.

During 2020, over 25 media releases were issued gaining significant media coverage on a range of topics including the opening of McAuley Community School, development of Xavier College’s new campus at Two Wells and the unification of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish School and Mount Carmel College to form a new R-12 college in Adelaide’s north-west.

CESA’s digital strategy included the creation and rollout of newsroom functionality and training for schools to enable them to send highly engaging digital newsletters.

Eight new school websites were launched in 2020 for the following schools - St Francis, Lockleys; St Joseph’s, Hindmarsh; St John Bosco, Plympton; Western Tech, Rosewater; St Raphael’s, Parkside; St Francis Xavier, Wynn Vale; Our Lady of Mt Carmel, Pennington and St Paul’s, Gilles Plains.

In addition to the learning online website, the team also developed and launched the Key Capabilities Continua website and work commenced on a new website for the Crossways Curriculum.