SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT

ST HILDA’S INTRODUCES DANCE

In 2020 the School amalgamated Admissions, Marketing, Communications, Alumni, Community Engagement and Philanthropy under the umbrella of School Development. This new team now works together to provide a consistent approach to the external brand and reputation of the School to support its ongoing sustainability. This department supported the School to successfully navigate the communications during the pandemic and lockdown ensuring that enrolments continued to proceed and that communication was timely and effective for all stakeholders. Some of the initiatives undertaken in response to the pandemic and ongoing included: • Virtual tours were available on the website and via

Zoom meeting; • St Hilda’s TV, a culture-setting initiative that helped students feel more involved with the School, despite being online and at home; • COVID updates on the app and online for easy access; • Creation of a brand strategy to support marketing; • Demographic analysis to underpin business decisions; • Stakeholder research to understand parent sentiment and areas for improvement; and • The launch of a number of initiatives including: » Year 7 Dance program » Year 7 Band program » Year 8 Cape to Cave program with Christ Church Grammar School » Year 9 Rites of Passage program Returning to our regional roots, the School embarked on a regional roadshow in the second half of the year. While many field days were cancelled in 2020, we were generously hosted by friends and families from our School community throughout the State. We visited the following regional centres: Esperance, Albany, Margaret River, Bunbury, Wagin, York, Miling, Broomehill and Carnarvon. All of these initiatives supported strong interest in school enrolments throughout the year. The result has seen a strong pipeline of enquiries for 2021 and beyond. In this year we commenced our partnership with Madalah and were rewarded with 11 indigenous students joining us on scholarship for 2021. We appointed our first Indigenous Coordinator, Catriona Nixon, who has responsibility for providing specialised support and Indigenous-related activities. The Foundation worked closely with the Director of School Development and Philanthropy in 2020 to begin building a culture of philanthropy in the school. The Annual Giving campaign raised over $57,000 which will support Indigenous, boarding and general excellence scholarships. The School also launched the Heritage Centre campaign that will raise funds to create a Heritage Centre in Hope Nicholas House. This campaign will run throughout the 125th celebrations in 2021.