EXPERT OPINION: Shore School’s disgusting past revealed amid muck-up day list scandal

Shore School boasts of its “strong emphasis on character formation” which challenges students to be “responsible citizens of integrity who seek to serve the wider community”. But this week’s shocking muck-up day scandal painted a very different picture – and it turns out it was far from an isolated occurrence.

Public relations expert Nicole Reaney told news.com.au the school would need to act swiftly to repair its tarnished image following the “abhorrent” series of scandals.

“Handling of this situation will be critical for the school – there will always be demand for the school, however eyes will be on how it navigates this situation,” she said.

“There will need to be demonstrated consequences for stepping outside the values of the school and they will also need to educate students to take responsibility for their actions.

“An isolated incident is easier to regain brand positioning from, but when you have a series of events unfolding that seem to have a similar theme, it becomes more difficult and it will be really important for the school to stamp out (scandals) immediately so it can uphold the good reputation it has held for many years.”

Ms Reaney said individuals, organisations or institutions at the centre of a crisis must do three things from a PR perspective – “contain” the situation to stop it spiralling further, “communicate” to all key stakeholders and carry out “checks” to ensure the problem will not happen again.

She said people were rightly “horrified” by the students’ antics and said the fact Shore was one of the ritziest schools in the country made it more of an “easy target”.

“It’s an exclusive school and anyone with a profile becomes an easy target … there’s an expectation or a stereotype the community has of these schools (and when something happens that) aligns to that, it gives them a reason to form that opinion,” Ms Reaney said.

To repair its tattered reputation, Ms Reaney said the school must continue to publicly condemn the incidents and reiterate they do not match the institution’s values.

She said the public would also welcome a heartfelt apology from those involved, as well as having students carry out community work.

For the full article head to news.com.au

Nicole Reaney, Director of InsideOut PR and founder of influencer agency, #AsSeenOn . Nicole has extensive experience in corporate and consumer PR and Communications and is available to comment on topics.