Education Authority Three Year Communications Strategy 2026/27 - 2028/29 Appendix 1

Year 1 and Year 2 Action Plan

Pillar 1: Organisational Ownership and Cultural Change

ActionOwnerTo Be Delivered ByStatus
Communications to be added to the agenda at all CLT and DMT meetings.CLTQ4 Year 1 
DMTs to lead on the development of Directorate communications plans, setting out a clear narrative, objectives and actions with measurable outcomes, in line with the Three Year Communications Strategy.DMTsQ4 Year 2 
Develop and introduce – ‘first draft templates’ for services to provide direction and content for Comms plans, press releases and social media.CommsQ4 Year 2 
Include a communications section as part of staff induction programme.Comms/  OD&LQ4 Year 2 

Pillar 2: Strategic Approach to Improving Communications and Engagement Year 1 Actions

ActionOwnerTo Be Delivered ByStatus
Finalise and launch Three Year Communications Strategy.CommsQ3 Year 1 
In conjunction with Directorates, develop a monthly communications planner aligned to Business Plan to provide an overview of key priority activities across the organisation.CommsQ4 Year 1 (continued into  Year 2) 
Further develop collaboration with DE press office and sectoral partners in relation to key strategic messaging, media, political/stakeholder engagement and social media.CommsQ4 Year 1 (continued into  Year 2) 
Further develop strategic communications support for key transformation projects and messaging, including SEN Placements, Local Impact Teams and EdIS.CommsQ4 Year 1 (continued into  Year 2) 
Quarterly reporting against targets and actions.CommsQ4 Year 1 (continued into Year 2) 
Carry out annual baseline surveys to capture feedback and measure satisfaction levels amongst key stakeholders.CommsQ4 Year 2 
Develop and implement an Engagement Framework to set a consistent approach for listening, involving, engaging and responding to our stakeholders.CommsQ4 Year 2 
Review Major Incident Communications plans.Comms, Emergency PlanningQ4 Year 2 

Pillar 3: Child Centred and Parent/Carer Focussed Year 1 Actions

ActionOwnerTo Be Delivered ByStatus
Incorporate feedback from parental and youth engagement into communication planning and delivery in relation to channels, content and accessible formats – (see Appendix 2).CommsQ4 Year 1 (continued into  Year 2) 
Greater collaboration and sharing of key messaging via a range of youth, school, DE and sectoral partner channels, tailored as appropriate.CommsQ4 Year 1 (continued into  Year 2) 
Through the implementation of an Engagement Framework, develop a consistent EA wide approach to engaging and involving parents/ carers on service design on key issues as appropriate, including utilising the NI School Leadership Forum network (150 school leaders).CommsQ4 Year 2 
Inconjunction with YouthService, explore how Our Voice could be more widely rolled out across the organisation to ensure children and young people have the opportunity to shape services, initiatives and improvements that directly impact them.CommsQ4 Year 2 
Explore how School Council structures could be utilised for engaging and communicating with children and young people.CommsQ4 Year 2 

Pillar 4: Supporting Schools/other settings and Youth Services Deliver for Children and Young People Year 1 Actions

ActionOwnerTo Be Delivered ByStatus
In conjunction with the Communications and Customer Excellence sub-group of the NI School Leadership Forum, and Trade Union Side (TUS) further streamline current twice-weekly communications by school phase. This was a key action included in the Heads of Agreement between Management Side of TNC and NITC. As part of this, every effort will be made to ensure communications from EA is issued in a timely way during working hours twice a week unless by exception.CommsQ4 Year 1 (continued into  Year 2) 
In conjunction with the Communications and Customer Excellence sub-group of the NI School Leadership Forum, TUS and EdIS develop a new solution to streamline, prioritise, target and improve EA communications with schools, incorporating feedback from the recent school leaders survey (see Appendix 2). This piece of work will look at creating a central portal, broken down by school phase with enhanced search function for key policies, procedures and updates.CommsQ4 Year 2 
Through the implementation of an Engagement Framework, develop a consistent EA wide approach to engaging with School leaders and also key staff within schools on service design and key issues as appropriate, fully utilising NI School Leadership Forum.CommsQ4 Year 2 
Develop and promote case studies to demonstrate service improvement.CommsQ4 Year 1 (continued into Year 2) 
Review further communications support for controlled schools as part of the establishment of the new EA Controlled Schools' Unit.CommsQ4 Year 1 (continued into Year 2) 
Develop school support protocol to ensure a consistent, robust and effective approach to a significant increase in demand.CommsQ3 Year 2 
In conjunction with TUS colleagues, develop social media policies for schools and scope out further support to tackle the online abuse of staff.CommsQ4 Year 2 

Pillar 5: Proactive Media and Political Engagement Year 1 Actions

ActionOwnerTo Be Delivered ByStatus
Linked to the monthly communications planner, take forward political engagement, in conjunction with DE and other sectoral partners as appropriate, on key issues to build relationships and ensure political representatives are informed of critical developments and key achievements and have a clear understanding of the role and function of EA.CommsQ4 Year 1 (continued into Year 2) 
Linked to the monthly communications planner, take forward media engagement, in conjunction with DE and other sectoral partners as appropriate, on key issues to ensure journalists are informed of critical developments and key achievements and have a clear understanding of the role and function of EA.CommsQ4 Year 1 (continued into Year 2) 
Linked to the monthly communications planner, develop proactive press releases to promote the work of EA, schools and youth services to showcase service improvement, and ensure children young people, parents/carers, schools and staff are kept informed of key information, developments, initiatives and key achievements.CommsQ4 Year 1 (continued into Year 2) 
Roll out further programme of media training to ensure a proactive approach to media interviews and briefings.CommsQ4 Year 1 (continued into Year 2) 
Revise and implement the EA media policy.CommsQ4 Year 2 
Develop an ezine to ensure stakeholders are fully informed of key issues and work being taken forward.CommsQ4 Year 2 

Pillar 6: Supporting Staff to Deliver Excellent Services Year 1 Actions

ActionOwnerTo Be Delivered ByStatus
Develop ‘In conversation with Chief Executive and CLT’ and walkabouts to listen and proactively respond to the voice of staff.Comms, CLTQ2 Year 2 
Continue constructive engagement with TUS (teaching and non-teaching unions) and develop opportunities for collaboration on a range of strategic and critical issues.HR, CommsQ4 Year 1 (continued into  Year 2) 
Develop the staff suggestion page on Insite, taking a responsive approach to communicating and acting on feedback received.CEO Office, CommsQ4 Year 1 (continued into  Year 2) 
Develop a monthly ‘Teambrief’ where key messages are agreed by CLT and cascaded across all teams,with a feedback loop back up to CLT.CLT, Comms, OD&LQ4 Year 2 
Review and develop the news section of Insite, with tailored EA content and images, as a key channel for internal communications.Comms, ITQ4 Year 2 
Implement socialmedia policies for staff.CommsQ4 Year 2 
Review and identify opportunities to improve communications with frontline staff, e.g. transport, catering, maintenance, grounds etc.CommsQ4 Year 2 

Pillar 7: Promoting the work of EA - Year 1 Actions (in addition to the actions listed in the above sections)

ActionOwnerTo Be Delivered ByStatus
‘Staff spotlights’, social media campaign, case studies and examples of positive comments to raise awareness of excellent work of colleagues across EA #WeAreEA #EAEveryDay.CommsQ4 Year 1 (continued into  Year 2) 
Develop social media channels, social media campaigns, creating authentic and engaging content, increasing engagement levels and growing followers.CommsQ4 Year 1 (continued into  Year 2) 
Setup a channel where staffcan submit good news stories.CommsQ1 Year 2