This is the question behind the Felt Experience Indicator (FEI), a tool we developed to capture the day-to-day experiences of students, parents and school employees. Last year alone, nearly 19,000 people in schools around the world responded. Their reflections became the basis of a recently published white paper, Listening at Scale: An Analysis of the Lived Experience of School.

Academic standards and the effective delivery of the academic program remain the primary responsibility of every school. They are the foundation by which parents, staff and students measure educational success. Alongside these, student wellbeing, co-curricular opportunities and holistic experiences in sport and the arts play an important role in shaping outcomes and satisfaction.

For many years, the common advice to new school Heads has been not to do anything which risks alienating more than two core audiences at any given moment – those audiences being staff, parents, students and the Board.

The noise can be deafening. Parents pushing for more, staff with urgent concerns, students needing support and the Board demanding answers. Too often the loudest voice wins. Without clarity, leadership becomes reactive. The key is measuring what matters.

The shift in expectations among prospective parents is accelerating. Digital habits shaped by seamless technology experiences, hyper-personalised service and AI-generated content are reframing how families evaluate schools.

Multiple schools, under the umbrella of a single organisation, struggled to showcase their individual value propositions within the strong brand personality of the larger association. The schools’ ability to differentiate themselves within their markets was diminished, with staff either feeling frustratingly restrained or becoming increasingly defiant of the brand guidelines.

School marketing often promises more than it can deliver. Not because marketers are dishonest, but because school leaders want what no marketer can give them – certainty.

Let’s address the elephant in the room: Most school marketing looks exactly the same. Stock photos of diverse students pointing at laptops, generic mission statements about ‘nurturing lifelong learners’ and websites that could belong to any institution.

Picture this: Your enrolments team proudly reports that enquiries are up 20%this year. Marketing spend is higher, open days and tours are busier, and your social media reach looks impressive. Yet confirmed enrolments have barely shifted and retention is shaky in some year levels.

Listen closely in any staffroom or curriculum meeting and you’ll hear it: a fluent stream of acronyms, initialisms and technical terms. It’s the dialect of education, and it serves a valuable internal purpose. However, when that same language spills into your school’s external communications, it can quietly erode trust and connection.

Parents judge not just what a school is, but what it means for their child. Two schools can look identical, yet one is valued more highly by parents because of the meaning they create.

Let’s be honest, parent engagement isn’t what it used to be. As Heads of school, you’re dealing with families who have more choices, more information and higher expectations than ever.