Whole-school communication often starts with adults. Briefings, emails, staffroom conversations – that’s where messages are shaped and shared. When Transform Trust first partnered with TrilbyTV, that’s exactly where we began too: one screen in every staffroom, helping teams stay aligned, informed and connected.
However, as communication became more consistent for staff, a bigger question emerged across the trust: what about communication for pupils? How do you make sure important messages don’t just travel behind the scenes, but actually reach children in a clear and consistent way that engages them?
The answer became ‘ChilbyTV’: a pupil-led digital signage project using TrilbyTV, designed and driven by Transform Trust’s Children’s Parliament.
What is Children’s Parliament?
Children’s Parliament is a project facilitated by Trish Wilson, Transform Trust Associate, with David Walton, Head of Bagthorpe Primary School and coordinator of Children’s Parliament and Sherelle Johnson, Transform Trust Programme Administrator. It provides an opportunity for pupils across the Trust to come together, share experiences, perspectives, and actively participate in building an inclusive and supportive community beyond their individual schools.
Through this project, children’s parliament identified the recurring issue of whole-school communication not always landing where it should. While reminders and CPD opportunities were being reliably shared in staffrooms using Trilby – how could the same be done for children?
Enter ‘ChilbyTV’. Digital signage content, created by children, for children, in shared spaces for their whole community to see.
Bringing ‘ChilbyTV’ to life
In November, ‘ChilbyTV’ moved from concept to reality. TrilbyTV Director, Neil Emery, and Head of Relationships, Terri Roberts, co-hosted a dedicated pupil training day, alongside Canva Learning Consultant, Adwoa Oforiwa at Ashbrook Junior School in Derby. These creative sessions focussed on helping the parliamentarians understand how effective communication works, alongside implementing what they had learnt and turning it into signage using Canva.
Year 6 pupils explored how to effectively research key communication themes, including national and international awareness days, and why timing and relevance matters when sharing communication across the school.
Terri spoke with a pupil from Burford Primary and Nursery School, and asked them what they thought about having ‘ChilbyTV’ screens in their corridors, and how it will help day-to-day life. They replied:
“People won’t forget about what’s happening that day, or the next day, and it’ll help remind them about events, like if it’s a non-school uniform day, […] we definitely need ‘ChilbyTV’ screens in our school.”
The content on ‘ChilbyTV’ is designed with accessibility at its core. The screens across the Trust will prioritise strong visuals, minimal text and dual coding to support pupils with a wide range of reading abilities.
The two main forms of content streams will be pupil-led school content as well as Trust-wide messages – including safeguarding and belonging initiatives.
Together, this content will create a shared communication space that links individual schools to the wider trust, while keeping the children at the centre of the message.
What’s next for ‘ChilbyTV?’
This exciting roll-out was completed in January 2026, with schools beginning to use the platform from late February.
Following the success of this training day, staff training sessions on Canva have been scheduled for Spring 2026 to ensure adults in schools understand the software, the content process, and how best to support the children as ‘ChilbyTV’ develops.
For us at TrilbyTV, ‘ChilbyTV’ represents collaboration at its best. It started with staff communication, and has grown into a trust-wide, pupil-led project shaped by student voice, backed by leadership, and built to last. We can’t wait to see what the parliamentarians will create next.
If this project has inspired you to explore digital signage in your own trust, you can book a demo with one of our experts, or try the platform out for yourself with a free 30 day trial.