Congratulations to Sacred Heart College, Sorrento WA, who were recognised as winners in the 2026 educate+ Excellence Awards
Category: Impact on a Shoestring – Marketing & Communications Campaign
Changing schools can feel daunting for teenagers. Parents may see opportunity, while their children worry about leaving friends, fitting in and starting again. Sacred Heart College’s Student Takeover initiative addresses that hesitation by letting students show prospective peers what College life feels like.
Launched in August 2024, the ongoing series puts students at the centre of short-form video creation. Published primarily through Instagram Reels, with Facebook reaching parents, the content combines humour, familiar trends and authentic storytelling to showcase culture, connection and opportunity.
The approach is simple: give prospective students a reason to picture themselves belonging.
Rather than scripted Marketing messages, students help identify trends, develop ideas and invite staff to participate. Highlights include the Head of Mathematics performing the viral ‘Apple’ dance and students creating lip-sync and performance videos to promote Footloose: The Musical. These moments reveal relationships and personalities that a prospectus cannot easily capture.
The Community Relations and Marketing team supports ideation, filming, editing and digital citizenship, with clear guidelines, opt-in participation and staff approval before publication. At least one Student Takeover is scheduled each term, often on ‘Fun Fridays’.
Following the introduction of social media age restrictions, the College shifted trend-based content creation towards older students. Younger students continue developing storytelling and digital skills through educational opportunities outside social media engagement.
The results demonstrate the reach achievable without paid advertising:
- The ‘Apple’ dance generated 24,312 Instagram views and 1,200 shares, with 44.6% of accounts reached being non-followers.
- A Harry Potter-style announcement introducing new Houses achieved 55,536 views and 424 shares. Of the accounts reached, 80% were non-followers.
More importantly, enquiries and tour feedback increasingly describe the College as ‘fun’, ‘welcoming’ and student focused, directly addressing the barriers the initiative was designed to overcome.
Between 2023 and 2025, Years 8–12 Expressions of Interest increased from 89 to 113. Full Enrolments rose from 37 to 107, an increase of 189.2%, while conversion increased from 41.6% to 94.7%. Although these figures cannot isolate the initiative’s contribution, they show stronger conversion alongside its implementation.
Student Takeover has also strengthened student pride, relationships with staff and digital literacy.
For Advancement teams, the lesson is practical: authentic student voices can help families move beyond information towards connection. With appropriate guidance, relatable content can support Enrolments while building the confidence, trust and sense of belonging that influence a young person’s willingness to make a change and embrace a new school community.
Why It Matters
For older students, choosing a school is as much about belonging as opportunity. Student Takeover helps answer the question a prospectus may leave unresolved: ‘Can I see myself here?’ By showing real interactions, shared humour and everyday connections, the initiative gives prospective students a clearer sense of the community they could join. It also demonstrates how Marketing and Admissions teams can work with students to address a specific Enrolments barrier while building pride within their existing community.
