It’s normal for schools to feel overwhelmed by the prospect of shifting from traditional to digital admissions. Particularly small schools, where admissions teams are stretched thin and don’t have the luxury of time to learn a new system.
For Caloundra City Private School (CCPS), the switch was far simpler than they imagined. And the outcome for the team? Positive in countless ways.
Located on a quiet stretch of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, the school is home to 250 students and a small but dedicated team of educators, administrators and leaders. With just two staff members juggling the school’s marketing and admissions, wearing many hats is all part of a day’s work at CCPS. This makes smooth and efficient processes vital to the school’s success.
“The biggest challenge for a school registrar is that fear of how it's going to work. I would suggest making the move because in the long run, it's so worth it.” ~ Abbi Naude, School Registrar and Executive Assistant at CCPS.
Realising the limitations of a paper-based system
Prior to going digital, Caloundra City Private School was managing enrolments with a paper-based system. According to the team, it just wasn’t keeping up. “We were using forms that people had to fill out, then upload and send back in. Sometimes data was missing, or fields were filled incorrectly,” shares Mariel Glesk, the school’s Digital Marketing and Communications Manager. “We were asking our families to supply a lot of supporting documents like birth certificates and school reports. Moving to online enrolment applications has streamlined that process. It's all done in a simple email and touch of a button.”
With over 11 years of experience as a school Registrar, Abbi Naude, School Registrar and Executive Assistant at CCPS, has seen schools grow in different capacities, and has utilised various programs and methods for managing enrolments. "I started off in a really small school where everything was done in a very manual process in terms of enrolments and enquiries,” explains Abbi. “I used a combination of emails, spreadsheets and taking notes. It sounds basic, but it worked for what I thought I needed. In hindsight, I realise how cumbersome and time consuming it was, because I was having to troll through emails. I didn't have one central location to keep information, so it was really hard to find where I was at with different enquiries. Running reports was practically impossible because I had no way of really tracking data."
“…the program was really user friendly…I knew that I really couldn't break anything, and we had our Digistorm CSM who was always there to help out” Mariel Glesk, Digital Marketing and Communications Manager at CCPS
“The biggest issue was if I was ever trying to get some leave, a lot of information was in my head,” Abbi continues. “I had been in the role for a long time, and so I got to know people over a period of time. In my mind, it didn't make sense to actually write that kind of information down. When those people were calling in to have a check-in with the school, none of my information was available for my colleagues to update those families. So that kind of thing was awkward. It was unprofessional in a lot of ways as well. That then led to stress because I was thinking I could never go on leave. I was worried that I was going to let the team down.”
Learning a new enrolment system
Even for schools that understand the limitations of a manual enrolments system, committing to learning a new digital system can feel overwhelming. Thankfully, the reality is less daunting, as experienced by the team at Caloundra City Private School.
“Learning how to navigate Funnel was actually really easy for me,” says Abbi. “I found it quite intuitive, so it was easy to find my way around. Having Jay on hand is amazing because I know that I can reach out him at any point and go, where is this? Or how do I do this? How can I access this information? And he's always there. He gets back to me really quickly. So I find that reassuring.”
For Mariel, confidence came from her faith in the new system and, like Abbi, the support of the school’s dedicated Digistorm Customer Success Manager, Jay. “My experience using Funnel for those first six months was really easy because the program was really user friendly. I found that the best way to learn it was just to go in and start clicking around. I knew that I really couldn't break anything, and we had our Digistorm CSM who was always there to help out or just to point me in the right direction of where to find information and how to better use the different functions.”
Life with Digistorm Funnel
Now that Digistorm Funnel is set-up at Caloundra City Private School, the team are able to see the forest from the trees and assess with clarity what they love about digital enrolments with Funnel.
“There are so many other different CRMs out there, but what I love about Digistorm is that it is unique to the school environment,” shares Mariel. “The team at Digistorm are always asking marketing and admissions teams how they can make our lives easier, and then creating solutions for that. The support I get from Digistorm in helping grow my skills is fantastic—the training videos and regular webinars.”
“Funnel is really great like that because I know that my notes are there available to my colleagues if I'm not here.” Abbi Naude, School Registrar and Executive Assistant at CCPS
“It's been really exciting to step in to this role here at CCPS and have Funnel up and running,” explains Abbi. “I see how much it benefits the school because there's one location for all that information. It's not just contained to one person and one role. That information can be accessed by people in the team.”
The benefits of digital enrolments for small schools
The days of stress are long gone for Abbi, who now knows she can take a break when she needs one without her small team struggling to know where things are at. “In a small team, you're just wanting to support each other and make sure that everyone's getting the help they need,” shares Abbi. “Funnel is really great like that because I know that my notes are there available to my colleagues if I'm not here, or I know that I can pick up where I've left off if I'm having to help a colleague with something else.”
Beyond the intricacies of daily work, Funnel has benefited Caloundra City Private School in more meaningful ways, highlighted the rich relationships that form between staff and students in a small setting.
“Here at CCPS, everything we do is for our students,” explains Mariel. “Seeing that enrolment journey unfold, from an online enquiry through the enrolment process… and then when you walk around the school and you see the student—it could be months or years later—and they've found the school that is the right fit for them, that is the most rewarding part of my role.”
Achieving strategic school goals with digital enrolments
As the Principal of CCPS, Leon Van Niekerk’s appreciation of Funnel is multifaceted, aligned to both big-picture strategic goals and the internal value of his team.
“As with all independent schools, we want to get our message out. We're very fortunate to have a system like Funnel that supports leads and help us systematically take people through a process of finding out more about the school—coming to the school premises, exploring the school, and all the way through until they become part of our community. It's a fantastic system to use. Trying to keep an Excel spreadsheet of who you spoke to at what time, trying to filter the multiple queries and trying to understand who is at what stage of enrolment place—those are the old days. This is a new thing.”
“Technology is not the end goal. It's a tool. It's a solution. It's something to make the work streamlined.” Leon Van Niekerk, Principal at CCPS.
Bringing Funnel into Caloundra City Private School is something Leon is able to reflect upon positively. “The implementation went really, really well,” shares Leon. “I think for people that work at a smaller school, they might not just do marketing or just enrolments. They might do enrolments and be a PA to the principal or do other roles that sit around that. For them, it is important that they can use their time efficiently.”
“Any system that we can bring in as a smaller school that can help a team member focus their energy on those things that cannot be systemised—that is important.”
Advice for other small schools considering the switch
When asked if switching to digital enrolments was worthwhile, both Abbi and Mariel say yes without hesitation.
“The biggest challenge for a school registrar is that fear of how it's going to work,” shares Abbi. “I would suggest making the move because in the long run, it's so worth it. It’s so, SO worth it. It's really changed the way I'm able to get that information, because you can also search. You're not having to go hunting around for information. Before, I was going up manual lists of emails and all that kind of thing, whereas through Funnel, it's seamless.”
“Funnel improves the way my role works because it gives me scope to have more time to ensure that I'm supporting my leadership team. I have that confidence that I'm able to connect with prospective families in a timely fashion and know that all that information is easily accessible.”