A Marketing Roadmap Sequenced Around Impact
CEN had a long list of marketing goals and little capacity to deliver them, so we built a roadmap sequenced around impact, not size, starting with the levers that unblock everything else.
We help schools with their story, brand, website, and enrolment journey.
By unearthing the lived experience of their community and bringing it to life for all involved.
Does any of this sound like your school?
Something that once felt strong has started to drift, and misconceptions can creep in to fill the gap. You know your school has a story worth telling, but the team no longer shares one clear, confident sense of who you are.
We clarify the story at the heart of your school, and build the language to tell it everywhere with one voice.
“The work has helped me to look at the organisation as a whole and to take a step back from the day to day. Creating structure around our ‘champions’ and the situations they’re in was a really helpful mind shift.”
Rebecca Luscombe, Marketing & Communications – Christian Education National
Your school is better than it looks from the outside. Your website might feel dated, your materials undersell your strengths, or your tours rely too heavily on individual charisma. The same refrain comes up: “if people could just see what we’re really like, they’d get it.”
We make sure the depth and quality of your school is honoured publicly, with one story and one look across everything.
“Working with Bolsta brought a sense of consistency across our whole school. From the website to the prospectus to everyday tools like email signatures.”
Peter Henderson, Principal – Namoi Valley Christian School
You’ve got good people working hard, but the journey still feels clunky. Families get followed up eventually, no one is quite sure who owns what, and parents experience it all as one blurry journey.
We bring structure, rhythm and clarity to your enrolment journey, so families feel confident and your team works as one.
“Jacob’s enrolment journey concept cards were fantastic tools to help us think critically and creatively about the entire journey. It was especially powerful to see how experience design principles can support meaningful change in a setting like ours.”
Katy Devers, Marketing & Administration Manager – Kairos Community College
Everyone agrees something needs to change, but without a clear picture it’s hard to know what to fix first. You don’t want to waste time on surface solutions or expensive redesigns that miss the real opportunity.
We help you see the full enrolment ecosystem clearly, so you can focus where it will make the biggest difference.
“We could suddenly see the direction we needed to go, and the changes we needed to make to clean up our strategies and processes.”
Allie Smith, Communications Manager – MidCoast Christian College
You need more of the right families enrolling, and the staff to support them. Whether enrolments have slipped or you’re growing into something bigger, the answer is rarely marketing alone.
We look at the whole enrolment ecosystem and find the few moves that move the most.
“Without Jacob, we would not have made the developments and growth targets that we have managed to achieve in recent years. I consider Jacob an extension of our team, for a fraction of the cost, and yet if you ask me, his return on investment is ten fold.”
David Gray, Director of Mission & Community – Belmont Christian College
A new principal, a strategic reset, an anniversary, an expansion. A moment when the school’s story needs to be re-told.
We build a world of language, experience and story around your vision, so it embeds into culture and imagination for years to come.
“He’s thoughtful, articulate, and most importantly, not selling you a template. He has the capacity to go toe-to-toe with you on strategic thinking and big picture projects, and he’s committed to the long term.”
David Gray, Director of Mission & Community – Belmont Christian College
The good news moments of your school are often the hardest to tell. And when they're not being told, everyone feels it.
Families feel it:
The website says one thing, the tour feels like another. Questions go unanswered, first impressions vary, and confidence fades. They struggle to grasp why your school is worth choosing.
Staff feel it:
Teams work hard but are never quite sure they're solving the right problems (or seeing them in the first place). Fixes address symptoms rather than causes. Frustration grows.
The school feels it:
The story of your school fragments. The wonderful things happening inside your walls aren't landing the way they deserve to on the outside.
How we help schools
We unearth your good news stories and reflect them to your current and future community.
So much of what a school categorises as 'marketing' is actually community-building work in disguise. The good in your school is already there, already being lived. It doesn't need building - it needs unearthing, then amplifying.
So that's why we don't come with a story for you. We draw it out of your community, reflect it back, and shape it into something your team can keep telling in your enrolment journey - and beyond - for years to come.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Bolsta Education specialise in?
We specialise in helping schools transform their marketing, communications, and enrolment journey. From digital strategy to brand development, we focus on creating seamless and inspiring parent experiences that attract best-fit families and foster thriving school communities.
What makes Bolsta different from a regular marketing agency?
Unlike a typical marketing or digital agency, I focus specifically on schools and the unique challenges of marketing and admissions.
I strongly believe that school marketing/communications is deeply linked to the ability for a school to create a thriving community. As such, generic marketing strategy just isn’t enough, because the work of school marketers, communicators and enrolments must be thought about in a broader sense–one that is in touch with the needs of families and the entire educational experience.
School leaders need to make some brave decisions in this area, and they need an experienced partner to support them along the way.
What types of schools does Bolsta work with?
We work with schools of all sizes – small independent schools, Catholic or Anglican Diocese, public/state schools, and international schools. If you’re looking to improve the enrolment experience, Bolsta can help.
How is Bolsta Education's approach different?
Every school has different priorities, different families, and different leadership teams — so cut-and-paste strategies rarely get you ahead.
Instead, we work with you to focus on the parent experience, using a variety of tools that will help you understand what they need, what they care about, and where you might be losing them along their journey to enrolment.
From there, we prioritise and optimise each element of their experience, resulting in a clear roadmap that will lead you straight to your big operational goals.
The result? Work that makes a lasting difference. Work that others notice. Work that results in families clamouring for a spot on your waitlists. Work that has top teachers setting alerts on your job boards, waiting for an opportunity to join your team.
Do you offer training and professional development?
Yes, we provide tailored training for individuals and teams, focusing on topics like enrolment journey thinking, parent experience, marketing strategy, and communications.
Can Bolsta help us grow enrolments?
Yes! By focusing on the parent experience and creating clear, effective enrolment journeys, we usually see a significant impact on enrolment numbers. Importantly, this is sustainable growth that all future marketing work can build on.
Does Bolsta Education only work with schools in Australia?
While we’re based in Australia, we work with schools internationally. If you’re interested in partnering with us, reach out, and we’ll discuss how we can best support you.
Can Bolsta design and build our school website?
Yes, we offer web design and development services, including user experience (UX) optimisation, accessibility compliance, and CMS implementation.
Importantly, we always ensure your website aligns with your school’s brand and supports the parent experience.
Do you work with in-house marketing teams?
Absolutely! We always collaborate with your existing team, offering guidance, training, and support to help them get through the day-to-day chaos and achieve their goals more efficiently.
How do you measure success?
There is no one ‘success’ metric when it comes to building the kinds of enrolment experiences that leads to a thriving school community.
We use a range of longitudinal metrics and indicators, both qualitative and quantitative, that help to build a more nuanced understanding of success.
These indicators are influenced by your schools unique goals and situations – again, there is no one-size-fits-all.
What's the process to get started?
Simply reach out to us via our contact page to start the conversation. I’ll schedule an initial call to discuss your school’s unique needs and how Bolsta can help.
In most cases, I’ll recommend to begin with a Enrolment Experience Pulse Check and/or a comprehensive audit, which will help me understand your team and unique challenges so I can build a tailored roadmap of work.
Can you help us even if we’re not ready for a full overhaul?
Absolutely. I offer flexible, scalable solutions that meet schools wherever they are in their journey. Whether it’s a full transformation or a specific challenge, we’ll work together to find the right starting point.
We already have a website. Do we still need your help?
A website is only part of the picture. I help schools optimise the entire parent experience—from their first interaction with your school to long after they’ve enrolled—ensuring your website, communications, and enrolment processes are aligned and impactful.
What kind of results can we expect?
Results vary depending on your school’s starting point and goals, but past clients have seen improved enrolment numbers, reduced admin burden, higher family satisfaction, and stronger team alignment.
What if we're on a tight budget?
I understand that budgets can be a challenge, especially for smaller schools. I’ll work with you to identify high-impact changes and prioritise work that delivers the most value for your investment.
Case Studies
See more case studies
Re-Architecting a Website Without Rebuilding It
We rewrote CEN’s entire services canon and re-architected their website from the school’s point of view, without rebuilding it, turning eleven ungrouped services into five clear categories and the generic pages into role-based guides.
Latest Articles
Read more latest articles
Dear school leaders: Your school is worth celebrating
The way your school communicates, and the experiences it designs, aren’t a bolt-on to the real work. They sit alongside your other important strategic initiatives as a pillar in their own right.
A generative story: Rethinking school branding
A locked brand gets checked against; a living one gets written from. On orienting principles, worlds with a centre, and why strategy is a starting point, not a conclusion.
Every school has a story about itself
Every school has a story about itself. Not many choose it. On inherited stories, how repetition makes them feel inevitable, and how a school recovers the power to choose.
On school photography, social media, & AI misuse
Three lenses for thinking about student images in school marketing: privacy (where images live), eSafety (how they get misused), and consent (who said yes, to what, when).