Celebrating student success at Dallam School
The challenge
A-level results day is one of the busiest dates in the education calendar, with schools, colleges and exam boards all vying for attention. Dallam School wanted to ensure that their students’ achievements were recognised in local press and celebrated widely across their community, and to do so in real time as the results were revealed.
Our approach
Ten Stories designed a cross-channel communications approach to capture the emotions and achievements on the day.
Emma and Clare were on site as students opened their envelopes. Emma captured interviews and student stories, drafting a press release tailored for key local media outlets. Clare took candid photographs, showcasing the joy and celebration for use on the school’s website and social channels.
Emma and Clare also worked in advance with a local journalist, setting up a WhatsApp feed to deliver updates instantly. This included images, voice notes, student quotes and a video message from the Head of Sixth Form, all of which fed into their live reporting.
Amy coordinated activity across Dallam School’s channels, including website news, social feeds, and Stories on their Facebook account. By 10:45 am, a coordinated package of press content, photography, video and social posts was live.
The impact
Dallam’s story cut through the noise and positioned the school at the heart of local coverage. The campaign generated prominent features in the Westmorland Gazette, Lancaster Guardian and Cumbria Crack, including real-time inclusion in live reporting feeds.
On social media, the results content stacked up more than 21,000 views on the day, with comments from parents, alumni and the wider community extending the reach.
A short video filmed on an iPhone and shared immediately performed particularly well online, demonstrating the value of agile, in-the-moment storytelling.
Watch the video →
Student voices
Capturing the voices of students alongside their grades was important to show not only academic achievement but also the confidence, ambition and individuality of Dallam School’s learners.
Amelia Knox achieved A* grades in Psychology and Drama and Theatre Studies, and an A in Biology. She will be studying Psychology at the University of Southampton.
“I definitely thrived on the small class sizes and one on one, and I got started early with my revision. I am really pleased that my friends have got into their first choice universities too.”
Jack Hemsley earned an A in Biology, an A in Geography, and an A* in History. He plans to take a gap year before studying Geography. Jack, who was also the student voice leader at Dallam, said the wider skills he gained at school will help him with what’s to come. He will volunteer in Malaysia on conservation and housebuilding projects before tackling a Borneo rainforest expedition.
