MARKETING & ADMISSIONS
HAPPY UNION
Photos by Malvern St James
A SEAMLESS AND Fiona Meredith describes how she used brand heritage as a marketing tool to promote a sense of a shared past amongst alumnae when four schools merged to become Malvern St James, now one of the UK’s leading girls’ schools.
M
alvern St James Girls’ School (MSJ) is a girls’ day and boarding school set at the foot of the majestic Malvern Hills in Worcestershire. If you look at a plaque in the grand doorway that leads into our building, you will see that the school was opened in 2006 by the Duke of Gloucester. This may give the impression that we are a new school, not even into our third decade, but in fact nothing could be further from the truth. Our pedigree goes back to Victorian ngland, to the first cohort of trailbla ing women who founded girls’ schools to provide an education equal to that of the boys’ schools. And our founding schools were some of the biggest and most successful brands of their era.
A changing educational landscape Independent schools had proliferated in the small spa town of Malvern during the 18th and 19th centuries. In particular, several girls’ schools ourished and gained a reputation across the UK and internationally. Each had a niche, a specialism which gave it its unique identity: Malvern Girls’ College was known for its outstanding science education, St James’s
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for its grand social connections (Princess Alice, the mother of the aforementioned Duke of Gloucester was educated here), Lawnside for its artistic tradition and association with George Bernard Shaw, and The Abbey School for its music. Towards the latter part of the twentieth century, the schools landscape started to change. The boys’ schools were increasingly becoming co-ed, whilst some of the girls’ schools who wished to stay girls-only joined forces. In Malvern, the overall number of schools decreased, whilst the si e of the remaining schools increased. This allowed them to offer more in the curriculum, particularly at GCSE and A Level, new and improved facilities, as well as more enrichment and bigger boarding communities with more-exciting schedules of weekend activities.
Four into one
Our founding schools followed this model. In the late ‘70s and ‘90s respectively, The
Abbey School and Lawnside became part of St James’s School. In 2006, St James’s and Malvern Girls’ College, both strong brands in their own right with slightly different markets – the former with a very strong day girl market, the latter with a much bigger boarding base – merged to become Malvern St James Girls’ School. The school has gone from strength to strength, with a strong pupil roll and a reputation for excellent value-added attainment, enrichment and pastoral provision. At the time of the merger, the governors and school management worked incredibly hard to make the union as seamless and happy as possible. Energies were focused on giving pupils and parents reassurance, a warm welcome and an immediate sense of belonging. This was achieved successfully and within a relatively short period of time.
Creating brand heritage
From a marketing and engagement point of view, it has given us an interesting challenge. A new brand was created and it has been our job to create brand heritage and to showcase our
