How to Guide - Social Media

The following guide aims to provide some useful advice and practical steps for making the most out of your school’s social media channels. ​

The guidance includes: developing a social media plan, creating and managing content, engaging with your school community, and evaluating what is working well and what could be improved.

There is also a section at the end containing practical resources, provided by INEQE Safeguarding Group, on how schools can identify and manage online risks, steps to take should staff be the victim of targeted online bullying, as well as information on the Safer Schools NI app.

Most people use social media on a daily basis and users can create, share and engage with content such as photos, videos, posts, news, polls and information in a variety of ways. ​

For schools, having an active social media presence brings unique opportunities to connect and interact with the school community. ​ This includes parents, carers, children and young people, colleagues, other schools, as well as the wider educational sector.

Social media provides a quick, low-cost and low-commitment way to: Promote the school and enhance the reputation, Highlight school and pupil achievements, Build relationships with the school community.

A social media plan can provide your school with measurable goals, steps to meet those goals, and an understanding of the people and resources needed moving forward. ​ A social media plan also makes tracking success easier and will give you a point of reference to answer the all-important question: 'Is our social media presence helping the school? ​'.

Research the sector: Check out what platforms other schools are on and what content they're posting. This will give you an indication of what you should be doing and may even spark some ideas.

Know your value proposition: Think about what makes you different or unique from other schools. This may include, for example, school history, facilities, campus or achievements.

Research the social media industry: Knowing about the latest social media updates and best practices will help to develop your strategy. ​ It is worth nothing that the industry and technology are always changing.

Perform a content inventory: Create a bank of photos, videos, blogs, articles, testimonials, etc. that you can use through the year. This content inventory can be used to identify and fill gaps in your Content Calendar.

A social media plan should always have two elements: the actual planned content (i.e. ​ key messages, dates, campaigns and activities) and the responsive content (i.e. things that are unplanned but present the school opportunities or challenges to respond to).

The primary forms of social media content are photos, videos and graphically designed images. Photos and videos can be taken with a good quality smart phone or digital camera. For graphic design, there are a number of online websites and applications that can be used. ​ These include Canva and a variety of Adobe software available via the C2k network.

Once graphic design tools are chosen, we would advise that a 'school style' is developed. ​ This includes brand colours, specific font choices, a photography style, and consideration of how the school logo is used. 

The maximum number of characters allowed on social media is different for each platform: Facebook - 63,206 X (Twitter) - 280 Instagram - 2,200 LinkedIn - 3,000 As only the first 3 or 4 lines of text will be visible, it is not advisable to use more text than needed. Ideally the key information should be contained within the first line.

Avoid large chunks of text and use line breaks and/or bullet points to spread out your text and makes it clearer to read. Avoid using bold, italicised or capitalised text in your posts. Contrary to popular belief, they make things more difficult to read. In instances where longer posts are needed, users will have an option to read the entire post by clicking ‘See more’.

The majority of your school’s social media posts will likely be accompanied with one or more photographs. ​ Example updates may include*:

• Pupil achievements
• Class activities / projects
• School trips
• Sporting success
• School news
• Staff features

Consider your lighting – Do not take pictures directly under ceiling lights and use natural light where possible. ​ When indoors, photograph near a window – ideally with the window to your back so that the photo subject is well lit. ​

Framing – Review your backdrop. ​ Position the subject(s) centrally or to the left or right of centre. It is also advisable to move closer to the subject rather than zooming. This will help to keep your images of the highest quality shots. Be aware of the background and of objects “growing” out of people’s heads.

Take a variety of shots – Take photos from various angles and take landscape and portrait versions. ​ For example, at a sports day, take crowd shots, shots of the competitions, and staged group shots of winners. ​

Always review your photographs after taking – This is to ensure the image is in focus and that everyone has their eyes open! ​

Accompanying this guide is a blank Content Calendar for the 2025/26 term. This can be used to create a posting schedule on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, which will help to keep content consistent. ​ Examples on how to use the calendar are shown in the first few days of September.

There are resources built-in to social media platforms to assist with managing content. Facebook and Instagram users have access to the Meta Business Suite which offers the facility to schedule content in the 'Planner' and to check performance under 'Insights'. ​ X (Twitter) users can schedule posts on desktop by clicking 'Schedule' when writing a post. ​ These resources are useful as they mean you do not need to be active online, even if your social media is!

It is advised that social media for the school is managed by one person or a small team. ​ It is also recommended that a strong password is set and updated regularly to mitigate the risk of unauthorised access.

Staff should be encouraged to engage with the school’s social media by liking, sharing and commenting. ​ This will help to maximise the reach of the school’s posts. The school is also encouraged to respond to positive engagement from parents and the school community by liking posts and replying to messages. ​

Deciding why you want to use social media, and which channel/s you want to have a presence on, will go some way to determining your end goals as well as leading the direction of your content. ​

Goals and targets may include:

• Awareness - increasing awareness of the school within the community
• Engagement - receiving likes, comments, etc. from the online audience.
• Guidance - providing a channel for parents/carers to contact for advice School reputation - enhancing the reputation of the school.

Steps

Once you've identified your goal, the next task is to create steps to carry it out. Each goal should have its own steps, but there may be some overlap.

EXAMPLE GOAL

Increase engagement

(i.e. likes, shares, comments, etc.)

EXAMPLE STEPS

Post at least 3x per week.

Set aside time as appropriate to respond to comments and interact.

There is no standalone number which will indicate the success of your social media post or channel. However, the surest way to understand if your content is performing well or needs improvement is through the 'engagement' result.

Engagement refers to any action a user took on your post including liking, commenting, sharing and reacting. Without good engagement it is unlikely that your audience will grow or be inclined to follow you.

Weekly and monthly reviews of social media is recommended to assist you in understanding which content works best for your audience. You may find that certain content performs better on some channels than others.

This may mean simple tweaks, or an entirely new approach, such as using video instead of photos, or an infographic instead of text. Please be aware that it will take time and regular monitoring to get social media right.

Schools should always have relevant consent when sharing information, photos or videos of pupils. Please also be mindful that information shared online is difficult, if not impossible, to completely erase. Other 'Best Practice' advice is to:

1. Include links to the school's social media channels on the school website;
2. Maintain an active profile by posting at least every other day;
3. Consider social media as one of your main communication channels;
4. Ensure adequate resource is allocated to manage channels and content;
5. Keep security information up to date including regular password changes.

Each social media platform provides their own instructions and guidance for reporting, blocking and banning users and comments.

The EA takes any online abuse or harassment of schools and staff extremely seriously and will provide advice and support where needed. For more information visit the Online Safety resources.

The next three pages contain practical resources, provided by INEQE Safeguarding Group, on how schools can identify and manage online risks, steps to take should staff be the victim of targeted online bullying, as well as information on the Safer Schools NI app.

The app was developed by INEQE in partnership with the Department of Education NI. It contains the latest safeguarding information, advice and guidance in an easy-to-access and interactive format.

Regardless of severity and context of the online issue, the school’s first step will likely be to report the content to the respective platform. Links are below on how to do this for the main social media platforms.

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Snapchat
• X/Twitter
• TikTok
• YouTube

Further support including advice on other social media platforms is available in the Safer Schools NI app. 

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