We love visiting our customers and this visit to Redmaids’ High School in Bristol was no exception. Part of the Girls’ Day School Trust, Redmaids’ High is an all-through independent girl’s school with 750 students. Founded in 1634, it’s the oldest day school for girls in the UK. We met with Paul Dwyer, Headteacher, Sarah Bramely Dymond, Head of Digital Learning, and Heather Tovey-Gillen, Catering Manager to find out more about their journey with TrilbyTV over the past 6 and a half years and why we’re still their signage platform of choice.
An easier signage solution
Redmaids’ High have been a TrilbyTV customer since 2019. Before that, they had been using computers with PowerPoints hooked up to screens, a setup that Sarah Bramely Dymond described as “very clunky”. They soon realised that they needed something built for purpose and TrilbyTV was recommended to the school by an IT partner.
Sarah told us “TrilbyTV is a one stop shop that does everything we want and makes the process more sophisticated,” and added that “the bit that sold it to me was the ability to upload content from anywhere.” In comparison with their previous setup, TrilbyTV saves valuable time and provides much more flexibility.
Another reason Sarah mentioned for choosing and staying with TrilbyTV is our commitment to improving our platform based on schools’ feedback. Sarah told us, “the fact that you’re a company that’s constantly developing, that also helps.” We make sure customers get the most from their subscriptions and Sarah agreed, saying “every time I’ve spoken to you, you’ve given me food for thought.”
Reflecting the ‘living organism’ of the school
Paul Dwyer feels that digital signage should be “clear, dynamic and engaging,” delivering up-to-date information at the right time. Ideally, this information isn’t delivered passively but in a way that encourages active engagement with the signage such as a riddle of the day or a call to sign up for a new club or activity.
Paul explained that this use of signage is “the best way to show what a living organism we are,” blending the school’s rich heritage with digital technology. “It’s such a visible and dynamic way to do it, instead of just emails out to everyone or more static noticeboards that you have to physically change,” he said.
For students, it’s a great way to share everything from room changes, to celebrations and house points. Redmaids’ High make brilliant use of TrilbyTV’s House Points Smart Content to be able to easily update and display progress. Paul told us, “the house system is so fundamental to what we do. Being able to visually engage students and encourage friendly competition has been lovely so we want to build that even further.”
Sarah agreed that digital signage gets students involved with and excited about school life. She told us about some of her favourite TrilbyTV moments: “When an initiative comes up and it goes on the screen and everyone gets excited. They’re all standing around the screen waiting for it to come up.”
It’s not just about communicating with students though. Paul also shared the value for the wider school community saying, “For parents and visitors, it can bring the school to life and they can see that as they’re walking around. We’ve got rich rolling displays of what’s been going on this week and what’s coming up.”
Streamlining school operations
With 17 screens in place across the school, TrilbyTV is having a wide-reaching impact on the way Redmaids’ High communicates. Due to ease of use, TrilbyTV is now up and running in English, Sports, Computer Science, and Music as well as being used in the dining hall, the corridors, and receptions, and a screen in each of the four school houses. There’s even one in the library!
These screens are used to share practical information quickly and easily. Staff are able to share sports fixtures and results, club updates, book recommendations, author visits, events and much more. Sarah said one of their favourite features is the Schedules tool which makes it simple to show the right content, in the right place, at the right time. Over time, more staff have started creating content for TrilbyTV because they know it’s an effective way to get their updates seen. Canva has been an integral part of this growth, allowing staff to create content that looks professional and eye-catching.
Heather, Catering Manager, regularly uses Canva and TrilbyTV to create weekly menus for breakfast, breaktime and lunch, making it easier for girls to see menus, pricing and changes. She also creates and shares posters to show the fruit or vegetable of the month, the brain or mood food, and other events or activities like themed days. “I find TrilbyTV easy to navigate through,” she told us, adding, “It only takes a couple of minutes to load the menu daily.”
A platform for student voice
Student voice is a priority at Redmaids’ High and they champion it visibly by giving House Captains ownership over the screens in the houses. Student Leaders and Head Girl hopefuls also create their own posters to encourage students to vote for them. It’s great to see that the wider student body is already invested in signage too. “When the screens aren’t up and running, we know about it! The students tell us!” Sarah laughed.
In the future, Sarah’s ambition is for more departments to use the screens to showcase what students are doing in their departments and celebrate more of their amazing work. She’d also like students to take some ownership of more screens and showcase things they know would resonate with other students – they know their audience best, after all!
Adwoa Mahango, Canva Learning Consultant, who has worked with the school to deliver Canva training sessions agrees that it’s important for students to see their work displayed meaningfully. “When they’re creating their designs to appear on TrilbyTV, they are really producing a design for a specific audience and purpose. It really provides a showcase for their work so they can feel proud and excited when they see it on the screen,” she explained.
We can’t wait to see what the future holds at Redmaids’ High given the powerful impact of TrilbyTV on the way the school communicates. Sarah summed it up by saying, “It’s embedding itself into school culture.”
If you want an impactful, easy to manage way to celebrate your school’s culture, TrilbyTV is a great choice. You can book a demo with our team who’ll walk you through our digital platform that’s made for education. If you’d like to try it for yourself, you can sign up for a free 30 day trial, no card details needed!