Sidney Stringer MAT use signage to live stream events

At TrilbyTV, we have plenty of multi academy trusts (MATs) that are using our software in many different ways. One of the key reasons for this is that TrilbyTV can be managed centrally as Nicki Maglione from Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust told us here.

Another MAT making really effective use of TrilbyTV to celebrate community and events in some really impactful ways, is the Sidney Stringer MAT in Coventry. We arranged a visit to take a closer look and find out how signage fit in with the school and staff. The academy was introduced to us by our friends at ClickView, and they have been using TrilbyTV for three years. They have six schools in Coventry and 20 separate screens spanning across these different sites.

We met Andrew Walls, Assistant Principal (ICT and New Technologies – MAT) who showed us around the main academy building. Starting the tour, we were greeted by a fantastic video wall just past the reception area. Based in a multi use space the screen looked impressive mounted up on the wall in front of a banked seating and social area. The screen was showing the Sidney Stringer School Twitter feed, the perfect way to keep things fresh in a non-time consuming way. When you see one of these huge screens in action, it’s easy to realise how digital signage can make a real impact, with the ability to engage staff, students and visitors.

“We mainly share messages based around our general ethos, and what’s been going on at the academy,” said Andrew, while walking us down the corridor. He continued: “This can be through our Twitter feeds, images of an event, especially if a special person has come to visit.”

Using the Announcements feature for Live Streaming

As well as displaying a rotation of different content daily, this screen is also used to show live streams of assemblies and performances from the schools main hall. What a great way to ensure everyone can take part in large scale events,

“When we are doing live events, and we have a speaker in our theatre presenting, we use our streaming to share to all the screens around the site. The theatre has two 4k cameras which feed into a Tricaster and then a blackbox to upload that stream to YouTube. We then use the Announcement feature on the TrilbyTV screens to set all screens to show the live stream around the building. It’s perfect because the event can be seen by anyone in the entire academy, wherever they are.”

Wellbeing & Mental Health

As we wandered over to the Business Lounge where Andrew’s office is located, we noticed two screens adjacent to each other perfectly in sync. Watching the great mix of content across these screens, Andrew told us about what they made specifically for the digital signage to coincide with mental health week,

“We have a Healthy Minds Council and they produced a documentary on mental health concerns in the school. We interviewed staff members and students, talking about various different mental health concerns that they’d experienced and we put it on the screens and played extracts for Mental Health Week. It went down really well.”

Having screens showing content connected to school themes and focus weeks is a great way to embed and continue the learning throughout the school day.

Celebrating community and positive vibes

Walking around Sidney Stringer, we could see photos from a recent event, when local MP, Zarah Sultana visited the academy,

“It’s great to celebrate this on the screens and it creates a positive vibe,” Andrew told us, looking at the screen with a grin on his face. He explained: “It reinforces a sense of community. The messaging of the school is really important to us, showcasing prominent events, for instance, we’ve got photos up from when Zara Santana came to visit. We invited her to speak to an audience of students and it created a real sense of togetherness. Digital signage helped us to reinforce the event through these photos and create a sense of inclusion. The theatre couldn’t get everyone in so this was a great way to make everyone feel included. If you can get footage of it continuously around the building, it makes everybody feel part of the events that have happened.”

Spreading important information

We then met Mark Metcalfe, the Media Manager, who has been one of the driving forces in rolling out content for TrilbyTV throughout the trust, he told us how flexible the software is,

“TrilbyTV is great from an administrative point of view as you can connect to it remotely and update content on screens really quickly. There’s some great ways to use it, for instance the PE department uses it for informative content, like what time and location certain training events are taking place, which can often change at short notice.”

Adding to the ambience of the building

As we strolled throughout the academy, it was clear to see that the aesthetics of the building really fit in with the signage. The location of screens had carefully been planned when the building was constructed and has continued to grow as Andrew confirmed,

“When the building expanded, one of the first things we did was put digital signage into the new block. I think it becomes part of the ambience of the building which is really awesome.”

It was brilliant to see TrilbyTV in action and we love to hear when TrilbyTV users are finding innovative new ways to use our solution. Sidney Stringer have really made good use of the TrilbyTV Unlimited screen licence which allows for as many screens as you like in a single site. Big hats off to Andrew and Mark for chatting to us and showing us around Sidney Stringer’s fantastic academy.