We’ve noticed something refreshingly unique in the way schools interpret and communicate their school values. Every school has its own identity and ethos, and your values reflect this in different ways.

Working with hundreds of schools each year, it’s also clear to us that school values have a profound impact on pupils, teachers, parents and the wider community. Your values matter.

Here are some ideas of how to communicate your values in unique, meaningful and memorable ways.

Your brand and identity

Picture your school’s brand. Perhaps you immediately imagine the school’s colours, logo and uniform?

But your brand, your school’s identity, is about so much more. It’s a reflection of who you are at your core – a sense of familiarity that shows your beliefs and ethos. Your school values form an integral part of your brand and identity. And they set the standard for what’s expected of everyone who attends.

Everything you offer as a school, from your behaviour policy to your curriculum, should be rooted in your values. They’re the answer to the question of what makes your school truly special – the very bones of your brand.

3 ways to communicate your values

It’s no mean feat to ensure everyone in your school community knows about, understands and reflects your values. In fact, it’s one of the biggest challenges schools aim to overcome when they approach us to discuss Wall Art.

1. Get everyone involved

Downside Primary School took a novel approach to communicating their values. They encouraged pupils to draw a picture to represent each of their school values. It is clear from the range of unique pictures that each value means something different to each child.

Our design team then transformed some of the children’s beautiful pictures into icons. Each value now has an icon to illustrate what it means. This is useful as a visual reference for everyone. But it’s particularly helpful for children with learning challenges, and for visual learners. It’s an innovative and effective way to communicate the school’s values to everyone who enters the building.

2. Make it prominent

Display your values in key areas of the school. For example, the reception area, school hall, canteen or playground. These areas tend to have high footfall, so your values will be seen by pupils, parents, teachers, Ofsted inspectors and other visitors.

It’s also useful to display your values prominently when you host events like Open Days. Your values will show prospective families what you stand for as a school. And they will help set expectations for the behaviours and mindsets you wish for every member of the school community. It’s also important to incorporate your values into everyday conversation – refer to them in assemblies, lessons and staff training days.

3. Future-proof your values displays

Temporary values displays can be useful for last minute events. But they tend to need regular updating and can suffer from wear and tear after short-term use.

We often visit schools who use notice boards and printed posters to showcase their values. This can add colour and interest to the walls and is a great way to grab attention. But, creating and maintaining these displays often takes up a lot of teachers’ time. They’re simply not built to last.

Premium Wall Art by Promote Your school is a long-lasting and maintenance-free solution. We’ll design your Values Wall Art bespoke to your unique requirements. We’re also able to run design workshops with your pupils if you’d like to get them involved in the process. Or we can work closely with a key person, or people, to bring your project to life.

All we need from you is a goal and a designated wall space. We’ll do the rest.