BLOG POST 13

Creating Posters & Signage      (Visibility Around the School)

It seems like the easiest step when it comes time to create posters and signage around the school regarding behaviour… Because of course we are teachers and we are great at this!!!

However, it is important to take your time and do this as effectively as possible, as hopefully this signage is going to be around for years to come.  I’m not sure if anyone is like me, but I get really frustrated starting new initiatives in schools knowing that in a few years time we will probably be restarting all over again.  I think it is critical if we want to keep moving forward to take our time to implement new initiatives well and with the intention of creating long-lasting change.  This way we can create a positive school culture based on our belief systems as a staff and school community.

Below are a few things to consider when creating your posters and signage.

• THIS IS THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO GET BUY IN FROM STUDENTS, PARENTS & THE COMMUNITY

You want the school community to become passionate about your chosen school values/behaviours, so it is important to include imagery or symbols on your posters that represent the local area and people.  You could do this by conducting surveys for various groups or running a poster competition explaining that the poster has to include”

Your chosen values/behaviours

A chosen mascot/symbol to be used to represent each behaviour/value

Imagery that represents the local area or people in the school community

• CONSIDER USING A LOCAL ARTIST OR GRAPHIC DESIGNER TO CREATE THE POSTERS/SIGNAGE

This localised touch can be very helpful in getting buy-in from the community and helps develop pride in the artwork.  This can be useful in a High School setting to help minimise the risk of vandalism.  You could possibly even look at creating the poster using student talent in an Art Class.

• UTILISE ALL OF THE IMAGERY ON POSTERS FOR YOUR SCHOOL NEEDS

When finalising your poster and taking it to a graphic designer for signage purposes, it is useful to get the poster sent to you with a variety of imagery options eg.

            High quality PNG

PDF Version

Images for social media   

Individual mascot images

Individual word images

You can then use all of these options to create:

• various sized signage
• posters for around the school
• promotion on school social media
• imagery for stickers
• imagery for reward systems – raffle tickets, certificates, etc

This will make your life much easier as you progress through implementing your chosen behaviours across the school.

Now that all of your posters and signage are created it is time to get them up and around the school.  Try to find as many good vantage points for your signs.  It is important to have them in all classrooms and key locations including school entries, hallways, eating and play areas, assembly locations, admin buildings etc.  I have also found it very effective to create a template that uses school colours and basic imagery from the poster as a template for anything behavioural going out to students, staff and parents.  This might include newsletters, specific posters created for classes around focus behaviours/values, parent information sheets, advertising for whole events focused on Schools behaviours/values etc.

This signage is hopefully going to be around at your school for a long time so enjoy the process and make it a fun experience for everyone.

And one final tip… When you get the final proof make sure to show it to a variety of people who may not have seen it before in order to check it before printing.  You never know what might need slightly altering (we had some wheat crop on a poster that unknowingly looked like something quite inappropriate – we were very glad that never got printed as our High School students would have had a field day Hahaha)

NEXT BLOG TOPIC

In my next blog post I will explore how to create buy-in for students by encouraging and rewarding desired behaviours.  I will also address the always contentious debate about extrinsic vs intrinsic motivation.

If you are interested in finding out more about how to implement Behaviour Improvement in your context, please subscribe to my newsletter (you will receive a free guide which includes key strategies for getting started on Behavioural Improvement in Schools and I have some templates and guides to make your life easier when implementing change in your context)

https://thinkeffective.com.au/

If you would prefer to chat to me in person, I am available to come to your school to work on Behavioural Improvement or run a one off session with staff or your Behaviour Team, or you can simply email me to vent about any issues you are currently facing or successes you have achieved. I also have resources available by following this link Products | THINK Effective Consultancy

If you have any questions about behavioural expectations or any other areas of interest, please send me an email at renee@thinkeffective.com.au

or check out https://thinkeffective.com.au/positive-approaches-to-behaviour/

for more detailed information about how we can work together.

As always, please feel free to share my blog post with friends and colleagues and contact me with any questions.

Have a great day! 🙂

Renee Knapp