Connect Academy Trust

Education

Exploring the joy of creative learning.

A high performing website is the icing on the cake for this ambitious trust with a deep understanding of their brand.

With three new schools in Torbay joining the founding Plymouth primary schools of Connect Academy Trust, and a government initiative to see all schools become academies by 2030, the board decided they needed to improve their website and play to their strengths in a competitive market in order to attract new schools.

Known as ‘the moral MAT’, and with strong involvement in ocean education (having developed their own Ocean Conservation Curriculum), Connect clearly had a strong sense of DNA but their attempts to articulate this in the past had struggled to really capture their true essence.

Their old logo featured cogs – a symbol of teamwork – but we had a hunch there was something far more meaningful to build the brand on. We set about finding out what.

What Upshot did

Strategic thinking

Discovery workshops with heads and deputies from the eight Connect schools and the core trust team gave us insight into how they wanted to be thought of and what was important to them. How could we capture their ‘anti-empire-builder’ attitude, their authentic passion for children and their futures, and their fearless creativity in driving new initiatives in education?

We developed what became known as ‘brand anchors’ – values and traits that form the foundation of the trust’s reputation. Nurturing (the one about being ‘non-corporate’, Principled (the one about ethics and integrity), Trailblazing (the one about thinking differently) and Empowering (the one about collaborative connections).

And taking elements from the vision, purpose and mission, we crafted a bold manifesto – something that everyone in each school could identify with and get behind. The response when this was unveiled to school leaders was, in some cases, emotional, with teachers feeling seen and understood, and a refreshed sense of optimism regarding the part they could play within their trust.

2.9K+

Impressions in Google search results within two weeks.

1.8k

Site visitors within first two weeks.

68%

Of visitors visit the vacancies page (up from 36%)

Visual identity

From the creative routes presented, Connect felt drawn to one that was all about the messiness and joy of creative learning. Playful textures were created to represent each of the brand anchors and link with familiar primary school activities and approaches.

Each anchor was allocated its own version of the hero typeface (textured accordingly), and each texture was given a segment in the C-shaped logo-marque.

Quirky illustrations by Pete Clayton were interwoven with bespoke images of children and their dream careers, and beautiful videography and photography by Tom Carder Media gave aspirational views of each school and the people within them.

Website design

Our audit of the existing Connect website, combined with our understanding of who they were talking to and how they wanted to come across, led to a comprehensive redesign of the user experience of the site. Full structural designs were implemented, building in graphic elements from the brand alongside stunning photography and videography (in partnership with Tom Carder Media).

The result? A site that stands head and shoulders above any other local MAT; visually engaging, communicating clear personality and benefits, and appeasing the search engine requirements too.

Built on Webflow, it is easily updatable by the client, and offers them a feature-rich and secure online presence, perfect for an organisation with many moving parts.

View the Connect Academy Trust website here.

“Working with Upshot has transformed the brand, outlook and visual imagery of our Trust of eight primary schools. We have found the process really rewarding – Upshot continues to take the time to really get to know and understand Connect, and are thoroughly professional, flexible and creative.”

Stuart Bellworthy, CEO & Trust Team Leader, Connect Academy Trust

Impact

As the education world tightens its belt and many are struggling, Connect has built the foundations of its brand to thrive. Capturing an authentic view of their philosophy and methods has strengthened the bond between the individual schools and the trust, as well as opening doors to partnerships with other organisations. The trust is now in a prime position to attract the kinds of schools that would fit well into their family.

The website gives them great reach and opportunities to communicate both essence and information. The first look at analytics following the launch showed incredible results straight off the back, and the site continues to perform well.

Each school now has (or will very soon have) their own new website that captures their own distinct personalities and aligns with the family of schools to which they belong. This is another great benefit of a trust that sees the value of investing in its schools on an individual level rather than whitewashing them as Connect clones.

Mount Wise House, 1 Discovery Road, Mount Wise, Plymouth PL1 4QU