Once October half term is over, the run to Christmas in most schools is a blur of parents' evenings, mock exams, nativity plays, winter concerts, flu letters and the first frosty mornings. Plenty of that information ends up on paper in reception, on a corridor noticeboard, or in an email that half the staff never open. A screen in the right place, kept up to date without fuss, can take some of that load off the office.
Where screens earn their place
You don't need a screen on every wall. A few well-chosen spots tend to do most of the work:
- Reception and the main entrance, where parents, visitors and contractors wait and read.
- The dining hall or canteen, for menus, clubs and reminders while pupils queue.
- Main corridors and sixth form areas, for timetable changes, exam reminders and events.
- The staffroom, for briefings, cover notes and dates for the diary.
Each location can show its own playlist, so the canteen screen talks about lunch and clubs while reception focuses on visitors and events.
What to show this winter term
Mix the useful with the celebratory. Ideas for the next few weeks:
- Key dates: parents' evenings, mock exam weeks, the last day of term and when you reopen in January.
- Events and performances: concerts, nativity plays, fairs and sports fixtures, with times and venues.
- Clubs and enrichment: what runs when, and who to speak to.
- Health reminders: handwashing, when to keep a child at home, and any immunisation dates you have been given, using wording from your school nurse or the NHS.
- Celebrations: house points, achievements and pupil artwork, shared within your photo policy (more on that below).
Keep it current without extra work
The biggest risk with any screen is old news: a poster for last week's event tells everyone the screen isn't worth reading. A few habits help:
- Set go-live and expiry dates on time-limited notices, so a concert poster appears a fortnight before and disappears the day after.
- Use schedules to change content through the day, for example breakfast club in the morning, lunch menus at midday and after-school clubs from 3pm.
- Give priority to urgent notices, so a short-term message takes over the loop while it is live.
- Share the work by giving staff the access they need, from view-only to full admin, and agree who checks content before it goes on screen.
If you use schedules for the first time, our guide to five ways to use dayparting is written for cafés, but the idea transfers neatly to a school day.
Tip: Make your "last day of term" and "we reopen on" slides now, give each one a go-live and expiry date, and you won't have to remember them in the last frantic week before the holidays.
Plan for snow days and other disruption
Winter weather can close roads and buildings at short notice. The Department for Education expects settings to stay open in severe weather where it is safe to do so, and says a good emergency plan should cover how changes are communicated to pupils, parents and staff. You can read the full emergency planning and response guidance on gov.uk.
Screens can support that plan, but they only reach people already on site, so they suit messages like a late start, a changed pick-up point or an early finish. Families at home still need your usual texts, emails and website updates.
A simple checklist for the winter term:
- Agree who in the office can update screens, and make sure at least two people know how.
- Prepare template slides for a late start, an early finish and a change to pick-up arrangements.
- Practise putting an urgent notice on screen and taking it off again.
- Check each screen keeps playing if the Wi-Fi drops. OrbiSignage downloads content to each player so it plays from local storage, which you can read about in our post on offline-first playback.
- Remove any disruption notice as soon as it no longer applies.
Photos, privacy and safeguarding
Pupil photos bring a screen to life, but a photo of an identifiable child is personal data. Government guidance for schools explains that you need a lawful basis for using it, such as consent, and that some pupils must not be identified at all, for example where there are safeguarding concerns. Read taking and using photos and videos in schools on gov.uk and follow your own data protection policy.
In practice:
- Check your consent records before any photo goes on screen, and remember consent can be withdrawn.
- Prefer first names only, or no names, alongside photos.
- Keep personal or sensitive information, such as medical needs or staff absence details, off any screen that visitors or pupils can see.
- Ask your data protection officer if you are unsure.
Make every screen easy to read
Corridors are busy and people glance rather than stop. Design for that:
- Use strong contrast and large, simple fonts.
- Keep to one message per slide, with enough time on screen to read it.
- Avoid flashing or fast-moving content, which some pupils and staff find uncomfortable.
What you need to get started
Most schools already have a TV or two that can do the job. Add an Amazon Fire TV or Android TV device, install the OrbiSignage player and pair it with a six-digit code. Our step-by-step setup guide walks you through it.
If you'd like to see how it would work in your school, the OrbiSignage Free trial covers up to 3 screens for 7 days with 250MB of storage, and no card is required. After that, see our per-screen pricing.
Guidance links are correct at time of writing (October 2026). This post is general information, not legal advice, and official guidance can change, so always check the latest version on gov.uk.