Our Virtual Open Morning was a huge success...

Ian Wilmshurst, Headmaster

The termly open mornings are excellent ways for prospective families to make their first connection with King’s and they play a crucial part of our admissions process. The Summer Term Open Morning tends to be quieter Open Morning, with most parents coming with younger families, but it is always enjoyable and just as successful as the busier ones in the Christmas and Easter Terms.

This Summer Term’s Open Morning was very quiet at school, as lockdown means we have no pupils, very few staff and no prospective families! So we decided to produce a Virtual Open Morning, which proved a great success. I found it slightly surreal standing outside empty buildings, describing the School, and nothing can replicate the importance for prospective families of meeting King’s pupils and staff in the flesh. The Queen Elizabeth Music School and the refurbished Old House Yard impressively have transformed the centre of the School and I enjoyed describing to camera the different aspects of our wonderful campus.

The video went live at 9.30am on Saturday 25th April, with 170 views by lunchtime and 340 views by the end of the weekend. Our virtual Open Morning gives a different first King’s connection to prospective families and we are busy organising follow-up video meetings for interested families. So, our Virtual Open Morning lacked personal contact but was very successful and allowed over 300 families to find out more about the King’s community.

Gilly Bunday - Registrar

Our first foray into the world of Virtual Open Days was very much forced upon us, but we were delighted with the outcome. It would appear that the event had over 300 hits and I am delighted that several families have already been in touch with me this morning. Many parents made the most of the opportunity to have virtual meetings with the Headmaster and other key staff and I look forward to arranging many more such meetings in the forthcoming weeks.  

George Beverly - Chaplain

Our ability to create and run a Virtual Open Morning lies largely with our excellent IT facilities and equipment that we have at King’s. Being able to access all our files and share the numerous large video files with ease via OneDrive has meant that combining the various pieces of footage together has been a relatively straightforward affair. Once the video files had been sent through they were stitched together, edited and adjusted using video editing software before being reviewed and then eventually uploaded to our website. Furthermore, the establishment of Teams across the entire King’s Bruton staff body has allowed us to offer prospective parents a straightforward and secure way to video chat with key members of our staff.

Click here to watch our Virtual Open Morning Experience