10 Creative School Newsletter Ideas

Newsletters are still one of the most effective tools for communicating with students and their parents. Newsletters get read, and they are a great way to share a lot of information in one go.

If you can consistently produce quality content with your school’s newsletter, then you can enjoy far more readers, better engagement with the content, and parents/students will be able to trust you far more.

The problem is coming up with content ideas that you can use. This is where we want to help. We’ll give you ten creative school newsletter ideas that you can start to incorporate into your next newsletter. You don’t have to use all these ideas, but use a few, and we promise you that your school newsletter will become instantly more engaging.

1. Headteacher’s Message

At the start of every newsletter, have the headteacher write something. An introduction. It can be their personal reflections, examples of school values in action, and praise for the school e.g. if the school has improved their exam results, sports teams have won, etc. Just something nice and positive.

There should be a headteacher’s message attached to every issue of your newsletter. It serves as a nice introduction, and it is consistent. However, make sure that the message is short. People aren’t there to read the headteacher’s message. They want to read some news about the school.

2. Upcoming Events & Key Dates

All newsletter issues should include key upcoming dates for the school. For example, half-term dates, event dates, exam dates, and school trip dates. Basically, anything that a parents needs to know. It should be in an easy-to-read format. This means a simple list. Don’t get too complicated.

If you’ve got a digital version of the newsletter, make sure that the upcoming dates are printable. You should also include a list to a calendar tool, so parents can automatically input the dates into their favourite digital calendar.

3. Student Achievements & Class Highlights

Always celebrate the successes of your students and the rest of the school. Each issue, highlight any projects that classes have been working on, student awards that have been dished out, or anything that you think is worth celebrating.

To ensure that you’re not covering the same ground every single issue, it is essential that you rotate the featured year groups and classes. This way everybody has a fair crack of the whip when it comes to getting featured in the school newsletter.

4. Staff Introductions or Spotlights

New staff members? Introduce them. Give a little bit of their history and experience, but include a lot of fun facts about them too. The fun facts will make them much more relatable. People love this type of content.

You can even run spotlights on staff members that have been there for a while too.

Don’t limit your spotlights to teachers. All staff members can be included. After all, a caretaker is also important to the running of a school, just as those running school dinners.

This might not be a feature you should include every issue, since you might not have the staff to profile. But, a couple of times per year can work.

5. Helpful Parent Resources

Most parents want to see their children succeed, so give them resources that can help. This can include:

Tips and tricks for helping their child to learn at home.
Safety guides for using the internet.
Mental health support, which is becoming ever more important in schools.
Details on how to spot and tackle potential bullying.
Key learning resources online.

Basically, this section will be all about helping a parent help their child. We recommend that you include at least some resources every single issue.

You might also want to highlight any changes to school policies, or even reiterate certain policies, in this section.

6. Photo of the Fortnight (or Term)

Got a fun photo to share? Share it! Images always help to make newsletters far more engaging to read. People like a bit of visual fun.

While you can, and probably should, use multiple images throughout your newsletter, we love newsletters that include a ‘Photo of the Issue’. Just a great image of an accomplishment of the school, or something that fits in with the theme of the issue e.g. a piece of artwork, the successes of certain classes, or a particularly great school trip.

This should be a regular feature.

7. Community Updates or PTA News

Do the PTA have something they want to share? Give them a feature in the newsletter. You can also use this to highlight any fundraising efforts from the PTA.

If your school has any links with local businesses or the community, then also highlight them. You might even want to include details of work your school has done in the community e.g. if your students have worked to help old people, etc.

8. Student Voice Section

This is a section where your students can get their voices heard. Get them to share whatever they want. This includes poems, surveys, jokes, and reviews. Obviously, you’ll need to have some proper editorial oversight on this section so nothing ‘bad’ slips through the cracks. You know what students can be like sometimes.

Each issue, mix up the highlighted content in the student voice section. So, for example, one issue you can have jokes, the next reviews, and the next poems. Encourage your students to submit anything they want, and you may be able to come up with even more ideas about ways to run this section. You know your school better than we do, after all.

9. Feedback and Interaction

A really simple section here. A quick survey or question would be great. Inviting feedback would be even better. Encourage feedback on the school, or what features parents/students want to find in the next issue of the newsletter.

10. Format and Design Tips

Make sure that the design of your newsletter is consistent. This means similar fonts, colours, etc. used throughout. All colours and logos should properly reflect the school’s brand.

If you’re producing a digital version of the newsletter, make sure that it can be viewed easily on mobile. Fonts should be readable, and there should be alternative text for images just in case they don’t load properly.

Always ensure that word count is kept to the minimum, and content is highly readable and punchy. Never use 10 words for what you can say in one.