Good roots run deep
St Paul’s CofE Primary School is a popular two-form entry Church of England Primary School located in the centre of Brentford West London. The school was opened in 1873 and now is located over two sites adjacent to each other. The school wanted to reach new audiences in the area and ensure their communications were authentic, creative and inspired parents to consider the school for their child.
THE CHALLENGE
St Paul’s brief to RAW Brothers was clear, they needed a brand refresh that helped position them as the first-choice primary school in the heart of Brentford. They wanted to move on from legacy opinions and be front of mind with young parents. They asked RAW Brothers to lead interactive workshops with teachers, governors and partners followed by brand strategy and creative delivery.
THE INSPIRATION
After a series of brand sessions and a brand audit, RAW Brothers developed a brand strategy founded on the school’s vision and values from Psalm 1 in the bible. A key theme was setting the CofE and faith element alongside the school’s visionary story – “trees planted along the rover bank bearing fruit…” This led to a refreshing of the main school symbol and a new lead-out messaging strategy around “Good roots run deep”.
THE RESULTS
RAW Brothers delivered an easy-to-use and simple-to-understand brand strategy with creative assets for the school to use. The story of the school is intrinsically linked to the school badge and supported by the new core brand story – Authentic roots, Everyday roots, Common good roots. RAW Brothers worked with the school team to ensure they had full control over the new brand assets.
RAW Brothers helped the school build a robust brand communications strategy with creative assets that can be used to populate a marketing campaign to new potential parents.
We wanted to help the school maximise the touch points for the brand. This meant looking at everyday opportunities to build the brand story and create a connected experience for staff and visitors. RAW Brothers also went on to help create and manage the process of the brand environment for the school. This included a brand environment audit and a creative strategy for appropriate wayfinding for the school sites.
As part of the creative process, our creative team explored how the brand purpose can be expressed in the brand assets. Your logo is a signpost in your brand, it should be connected to the core brand story. The development above shows some of the logo development that was explored to see the Christian cross and the school's new moto of 'Good roots run deep' come together.
We have worked with RAW Brothers over the last few months with the aim of revisiting and refreshing our school identity, signage and communications. RAW Brothers helped to bring together key stakeholders in the school to share what we value, what we hope for and what makes us special. They secured a narrative to capture this, drawing out and articulating the essence of our school. They revisited the school brand identity to bring consistency and promote our vibrant learning community effectively. Thank you RAW Brothers for your work with us.
John Wright, Headteacher
