Welcome to Oakfield's tone of voice guide

This is a (fairly) brief overview of how we write. It’s for everyone, and it applies to all the writing we do publicly.

We believe in everything we’ve said, so if you see us falling short then please let us know.

Every word matters  

The words we put on screen and paper are one of the most important ways we have of showing people what we stand for. Not just our website, but all our policies (we're working on amending older ones), every chat with us, and how we communicate with each other on the inside. Every word adds up to people’s perception of who we are.

And if the way we communicate confuses, frustrates or scares them, we can lose their hard-earned trust in seconds. It’s especially important when we’re dealing with sensitive subjects, difficult topics or educational stuff. Those are the moments of truth when people will decide if we’re really transparent, and if we really have their best interests at heart.

So every word matters. Every word is a chance for us to make a connection with someone, go beyond what they’d expect from a school and brighten their day. 

This isn’t a set of rules 

We believe that good writing is empathetic. Thinking carefully about the people you’re writing to, and understanding how they feel and what they need from us, shouldn’t feel like a tick-box exercise – it should be something you put thought into every time. 

Plus, we don’t want staff to write like a bunch of robots or drones, Oakfield writing should have a family feel, like you can tell it’s come from people with the same values, but it shouldn’t feel like one person. Because it’s not, and that’s a bit weird.

• We use the language our audience uses, though we may write for purposes, we believe in writing it once and making technical, educational stuff as clear as we can.
• We’re ambitious, positive and always focused on what matters to our school community.
• We’re transparent about what we’re doing and why, and we don’t hide behind ambiguity. We know our strengths, areas for development and we share these openly.
• We’re open, inclusive and welcoming to everyone.