As a Multi-Academy Trust grows, keeping a consistent identity across all of its schools can become a challenge.
Every school is different, with its own personality, community and strengths, but there should still be a clear connection between the individual school and the wider Trust.
Your school websites are a big part of this.
Creating a consistent look and feel
Having a consistent digital brand doesn't mean every school website needs to look exactly the same. In fact, we often we believe it's important that schools retain at least some their own identity.
Instead, there can be some common elements that bring everything together.
This might include one or a few of the following:
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A shared template for the designs
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A consistent approach to branding and logos
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Similar fonts, colours and graphic styles
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A clear way of showing the relationship between the school and the Trust
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Consistent photography styles
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A similar approach to website navigation and content
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Shared templates for social media and other digital marketing
This gives parents confidence that they are dealing with part of an established Trust, while still allowing each school to show what makes it special.
Your MAT website and school websites should work together
For many parents, the school website will be their first introduction to a school. They shouldn't have to search to find out which Trust it belongs to or what being part of that Trust means.
Likewise, your main MAT website should make it easy to find information about your individual schools.
Good MAT website design should make this relationship clear without making the Trust the focus of every page.
For example, your school website could have a clear link to the Trust, while the Trust website provides an easy way to explore each of its schools.
Give schools some freedom
One of the biggest mistakes a MAT can make is trying to make every school look identical.
A village primary school and a large secondary school are going to have very different audiences, and their websites should reflect that.
A better approach is to decide which elements need to be consistent and where schools have freedom.
Your branding, accessibility standards and key Trust messaging might be shared across all schools, while school photography, school-specific colours, content and tone can be adapted to suit each individual school.
The result is a group of school websites that feel connected, rather than a collection of identical websites.
Don't forget social media
The same applies to social media.
If every school is creating its own graphics from scratch, your Trust's identity can quickly become diluted. Providing schools with simple, branded templates for announcements, events, achievements and recruitment can make a big difference.
It also makes life easier for school staff.
Make consistency easy
The best brand guidelines are the ones people actually use.
Give schools access to the logos, fonts, colours, photography guidance, social media templates and other resources they need.
If you're reviewing your school web design or planning a new multi academy trust website design project, it's also worth looking at the digital estate as a whole rather than considering each school website separately.
Ask yourself:
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Do our websites look like they belong to the same Trust?
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Can parents easily see the connection between the school and the MAT?
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Do our websites provide a consistent experience?
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Do they still allow each school to show its own personality?
If the answer to these questions is no, it could be time to look at your digital strategy.
Looking at your MAT's school websites?
At FSE Design, we work with schools and Multi-Academy Trusts on school website design, school branding, photography and marketing.
If you're considering new MAT website or reviewing the websites across your Trust, we'd be happy to have a chat about what you're looking to achieve - get in touch and see how we can help.