Shaping the conversation: How our strategic partnerships are elevating education communications

At MarCommEd, we believe that effective communication is no longer a luxury in education, it’s a leadership essential! This belief was brought vividly to life through a series of three recent “Beyond the Headlines” workshops, delivered in collaboration with our valued partners at Reach and Stamford Park Trust - highlighting the importance of relationships. 

Held across Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Greater Manchester, these events were designed not just to inform, but to transform. We brought together school business and trust leaders, marketing and communications professionals, and media experts to explore how education institutions can take greater control of their narrative in an increasingly complex public sphere.

Natalie Fahy and Rob Ashton, Reach Plc - speaking to attendees in Derbyshire on how to build effective relations with the media.

“In an era when perception often precedes fact, it’s never been more vital for schools and trusts to control their message”, says our co-founder Zack Grimes. 

“We’re committed to helping education leaders and comms professionals speak with clarity, confidence and credibility and to deepen their understanding of the media landscape that shapes so much of how their work is understood.”

Workshops that work for strategy

Our workshops are focused on aligning communications with the challenges that education providers face, supporting school business leaders and communication professionals around the principles of effective storytelling. Attendees engaged in editorial exercises, explored media framing, and took away practical strategies for reputation management and media relationship management.

“This isn’t just media training, it’s strategic capacity building”, says Adam Cunningham, Audience & Content Director at Reach plc. “When education leaders understand how to work with the media, they can better protect reputation, shape debate, and build real community engagement.”

Jess Bulman, Head of Marketing and Communications, Stamford Park Trust - delivering a crisis communications workshop to attendees in Derbyshire.

Jess Bulman, Head of Marketing and Communications, Stamford Park Trust, reflected: “The workshops gave attendees practical tools to develop their crisis communication strategies and have the confidence to work better with local media outlets.”

Driving change across the sector

These workshops are part of our broader mission to raise the profile of education marketing and communications as a strategic function, equal in importance to curriculum, finance or operations.

We’re proud to have created environments where real-world media expertise meets the evolving needs of education. And we’re even prouder of the conversations that followed - conversations about identity, visibility, reputation and the role of education in public life.

Sarah Lester, Editor, Manchester Evening News - speaking at our Greater Manchester workshop in January.

If you’re a school or trust leader looking to strengthen your communications strategy, or a comms professional seeking sharper tools and deeper alignment, our workshop programmes are designed with you in mind.

Because education doesn’t just need better stories. It needs better storytellers.