About Bolsta Education
Re-imagining school marketing
But as I worked with schools (and married into a family of educators), I saw a deeper need.
Too often, marketing felt like an afterthought—fragmented, reactive, and disconnected from the bigger picture.
I knew that the key to school success lay within a school’s ability to build and sustain a healthy community.
Schools don’t just need good marketing—they need a strategic approach to building trust and creating meaningful experiences for families at every touchpoint.
Hello, Experience Strategy.
Turning marketing into meaningful experiences
In practice, I saw fractured school teams brought together, good plans stuck to and results achieved, because the needs of families throughout their education journey was made top priority.
Experience thinking prompted questions like:
Or do they want to see how their child will be supported, cared for and known by your teaching staff?
Or is it designed to give your families the information they need to make an informed and confident decision?
Why you should work with me
Your school can deliver an incredible prospective parent experience. But to do this, we need to get to the heart of the issues facing your marketing, communications and enrolments.
With Bolsta, you’ll:
- Identify the biggest opportunities to improve your parent experience.
- Align your team and resources to work smarter, not harder.
- Deliver meaningful changes that attract and retain best-fit families.
My vision is for your school to deliver an incredible prospective parent experience
As a school leader or marketing manager, I want to empwoer you to be the catalyst for this change.
There is a future where your school is thriving and digitally-capable and where you are equipped with the tools and insights you need to authentically engage with your team and your community (without the day-to-day chaos).
Find out how we help you achieve this by reading our Solutions Deck.
Read our Solutions DeckDavid Gray
Director of Mission & Community
Belmont Christian College
The return you get from Jacob based on his years of experience will bring you up to speed and put you on the right track within 18 months compared to years and years of slugging it out on your own. If you want to punch above your weight, get him onboard today. You won’t regret it.
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.
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You and your school suffer when you're overwhelmed with busy-work.
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Ready to transform your school's marketing, communications and enrolment journey?
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Director of Mission & Community
Belmont Christian College
Recent Work & Learning
How do we do it?
We plan with you
Planning is at the core of good decision-making. Right now, you probably feel a little daunted by the prospect of change; where to start, what to prioritise, and how much to invest. That's okay! Planning helps answer these questions objectively, engaging all the appropriate stakeholders along the way.
We build with you
Building the systems, assets and infrastructure to support an amazing parent experience is a complex endeavour. Usually, schools are faced with doing this work in-house, or completely outsourcing to an agency. We believe there's a third way: we build alongside you, so you can uniquely influence the end result without having to manage the complexity of the project in-house.
We partner with you
Building meaningful change through strategy, design, and systems takes time and energy. We know that this is best done in partnership, not a get-in-get-out mentality. We're in it for the long haul, to make sure change is made and sustained.