S. Anselm’s School, Derbyshire

Digital Strategy & Website Transformation

S. Anselm’s School engaged Charley Torr as External Independent Education Strategy Consultant to provide focused strategic consultancy during a period of rebuilding and repositioning, following significant organisational change.

Working closely with senior leadership, the consultancy supported the school in clarifying recruitment priorities, strengthening messaging, and developing a realistic, commercially informed growth strategy to help stabilise and move the school forward within a challenging market environment.

What Has Been Delivered

Strategic Growth & Recruitment Planning

Defined clear recruitment objectives aligned to financial and roll targets

Segmented priority audiences including local families, MOD/Forces, bursary and boarding markets

Competitive positioning analysis and articulation of key differentiators

Development of a structured pupil acquisition framework with KPIs and realistic conversion expectations

Campaign Strategy & Positioning

Created the “Assisted Places – Education for Everyone” campaign concept

Developed messaging pillars focused on accessibility, reassurance and whole-child education

Built audience-specific narratives for local families and Forces communities

Shaped experiential Open Day approaches to strengthen confidence and engagement

Content, Digital & Channel Guidance

Produced a practical campaign implementation plan across digital and community channels

Developed social content suites and paid advert copy

Defined creative direction, tone of voice and storytelling principles

Provided strategic advice to support ongoing admissions marketing activity

MOD / Forces Growth Strategy

Delivered a dedicated Forces recruitment action plan

Identified priority Army and RAF catchment opportunities

Recommended partnerships, referral routes and ambassador approaches

Developed Forces-specific messaging centred on stability, pastoral care and CEA alignment

Website & Digital Admissions Consultancy

Produced an admissions-led website consultancy paper

Recommended parent-focused user journeys and sitemap improvements

Defined SEO and conversion optimisation priorities

Provided guidance on enquiry handling, CRM considerations and admissions workflows

Insight, Brand & Commercial Foundations

Designed a parent survey framework to support insight-led decision making

Delivered consultancy for the school magazine, including editorial structure and commercialisation opportunities

Provided PR, OOH and community engagement recommendations to strengthen local presence

The Result

This was not simply a website project, it was the implementation of a strategic digital infrastructure, aligning brand, recruitment, campaigns and performance measurement into one coherent system.

I work with independent schools to build marketing that is strategically aligned, digitally mature and designed for long-term sustainability.

A modern, SEO-optimised website built to support recruitment performance

Stronger brand positioning within the independent school sector

Clear campaign structure aligned to the admissions cycle

Improved visibility, data tracking and decision-making confidence

A long-term digital growth framework, not one-off activity

The Difference