ISM Summer 2023

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL MANAGEMENT

Counting the cost

How do your KPIs compare with rival schools?

Restructuring your school business model

Ideas for more effective strategic management

The five steps for a successful fundraising campaign

How to manage a merger

How to prepare your pupils for an AI world

Time to fight back

Welcome to the summer edition of Independent School Management. Thank you for all your positive comments about the launch copy of ISM.

In this edition, we focus on looking at your business model anew, including a major case study of how one head reimagined his school’s working strategy. It addresses the situation the school was facing, the end goal, the obstacles faced and how they were overcome, lessons learned, the pros and cons to the school and for the head and staff. Inspiring stuff. There will be occasions when a school can fare much better while under the ownership of a school group. This is, of course, a delicate process of negotiation to ensure that the future of the school is secured while keeping the process leading to it secret from staff and, in particular, parents and pupils. Any hint of the school seeking help may raise the alarm and scare pupils away. The founder of a school group reveals the secrets of its success. But it’s not just about how a school business is structured and set up to withstand the challenges of an everchanging educational environment. It’s also about finding new sources of income and not relying on fees alone. Inevitably, the school development department is key to this. We also put the spotlight on one school’s fundraising campaign that has brought impressive early successes.

Apart from these strategies, here are some additional options to consider:

• Carry out a sensitivity analysis on your accounts to consider the impact of either a rates relief loss or an introduction of VAT on fees. The latter will have the greater effect financially, even if no pupils are lost from your roll. However, it’s vital to know the actual consequences should either materialise, wherever your school is based.

• Carry out a staff audit to ensure that you have the right number of staff on your school roll. Compare staff:pupil ratios for the past five years to identify an imbalance.

• Drop unpopular courses.

• While public benefit in Scotland is focused primarily on bursaries, in

England and Wales there’s a greater focus on partnerships. So, instead of investing in bursaries for the time being, perhaps invest in reserves as, effectively, a fighting fund to cover potential shortfalls.

• Carry out an audit of school facilities to see where you could make additional or more income from them.

• Engage in serious fundraising and development work.

• Benchmark your key performance indicators with similar schools.

• Consider an international iteration of your school. A successful project should bring in somewhere between £100,000 and £1 million per school, depending on the global nature of your school brand.

• Engage in joint procurement and share resources with other schools. This can save money but will take up management time to execute.

Despite the obstacles facing the sector, there are some evergreen positives that must be remembered. The sector still has:

• A strong brand.

• Great exam results.

• Parents who will be reluctant to move their children to a different school unless they absolutely have to. Consider offering them a part-bursary to help them stay at your school.

Priorities for the sector:

• Demonstrate value for money.

• Seek out ways to improve your affordability.

• Reassure parents that any changes you propose are positive for the school and, therefore, their child’s education.

• Maintain your distinctive quality. However, if this is that your school has small class sizes, then think again. There is little evidence to support higher student attainment in smaller class sizes

(see this article from The Guardian: bit.ly/40e3L7j); it is largely thought that it is effective teaching and parental support that carry more weight. If you can add two or three more pupils per class per school year, then the effect on your bottom line would be transformative.

• Offer outstanding customer service.

Independent education is older than the state offering. To continue to thrive, there are some tough times ahead but there are things that can be done, and many positives that can be celebrated. Now is the time for the sector to speak as one voice, perhaps through the Independent Schools Council, to challenge the politicians so that the sector can set the agenda and not be a victim of it.

To keep up with the latest sector news and people moves, follow us on Twitter @IndSchMan

Andrew Maiden Editor, Independent School Management

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Andrew Maiden

We trust you will find this issue of Independent School Management informative and useful.

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News in brief

ELTHAM COLLEGE AND BLACKHEATH PREP TO MERGE

Eltham College and Blackheath Prep in southeast London are to merge from September. Eltham College is an independent co-educational day school teaching more than 1,000 boys and girls aged between eight and 18. Blackheath Prep is a co-educational independent nursery and prep school with 390 pupils aged three to 11 years.

WOKING INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS TO JOIN TOGETHER

Halstead Preparatory School for Girls and St. Andrew’s School are forming a partnership to create a co-ed school, with the plan to educate around 500 pupils aged two to 16, across two sites in Woking. The partnership school will be called Halstead St Andrew’s School, Woking and will open in September. The nursery and pre-prep will be based at the Halstead site. From Year 3, pupils will be based at the St. Andrew’s School site.

OAKLEY CAPITAL INVESTS IN THOMAS’S SCHOOLS

Private equity firm Oakley Capital has acquired a minority stake in Thomas’s London Day Schools, a family-run group of independent schools for pupils aged two to 18 years. Following the deal, the Thomas family, which is led by brothers Tobyn and Ben Thomas, will remain majority owners in full control of the organisation. The investment will provide growth capital to finance expenditure and development projects across the group of Thomas’s schools, according to a statement.

CHINESE INVESTORS IN TALKS TO BUY RUTHIN SCHOOL

Chinese investors are in discussions with Ruthin School in Denbighshire, North Wales Live has reported. The co-educational day and boarding school, which can trace its origins to 1284, has confirmed it is seeking investment adding that if it goes ahead it will have “no impact” on its operation. The school’s

most recently published accounts in August 2020 warned of a “material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt over the going concern position of the school”, a sentiment confirmed by its auditors.

LABOUR CLARIFIES TAX PROPOSALS FOR SEND SCHOOLS

Aspects of the Labour Party’s plan to levy VAT on private school fees and make independent schools fully liable for business rates, are being reassessed, The Mail Online reported. Earlier this year, shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson indicated that the policy might not apply to special education centres, telling MPs: “We do not anticipate that the proposals would cover specialist provision.”

DUKES EDUCATION ACQUIRES THE INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION

Private schools operator Dukes Education has bought The Institute of Education, a Dublin-based international schools group. Founded in 1969 by the late Ray Kearns, The Institute of Education has more than 1,500 full-time pupils and many part-time pupils. Following the acquisition, the principal Yvonne O’Toole will stay on with the group and continue in her current role.

CHELSEA PREP SCHOOL TO CLOSE

Redcliffe Gardens School in Chelsea is closing at the end of the summer term due to a severe shortage of pupils, The Daily Mail reported. The £21,000-a year school’s chair of governors Simon Davies has emailed parents telling them the “difficult news” that the Godolphin and Latymer Foundation which acquired Redcliffe Gardens in 2020, is closing it down after more than 70 years.

INSPIRED LEARNING GROUP ACQUIRES ROOKWOOD SCHOOL

Inspired Learning Group (ILG) has acquired Rookwood School in Andover, Hampshire, a co-educational independent school which caters to children aged from two to 18 years old. Rookwood School becomes ILG’s third all-through school and will receive significant investment for its facilities and professional development. ILG comprises 20 independent schools and nurseries, catering to more than 2,500 pupils within the UK.

WESTMINSTER SCHOOL TO ADMIT GIRLS TO ALL YEARS

Westminster School, the central London independent school, is to admit girls to all year groups for the first time, The London Weekly has reported. Girls have

Bridget Phillipson

been allowed to join its sixth form for the past 50 years. The new policy applies to the under school, which currently takes boys from the age of seven, and the senior school, where pupils join from the age of 13.

LABOUR’S TAX PLANS WILL HURT STATE SECTOR

Research by the Independent Schools Council indicates that Labour’s tax plans for independent school fees would leave parents “scrambling” for top state places, The Sunday Telegraph reported. The research suggests a predicted shift of around 25% of independent school pupils to the state sector, as a result of Labour’s plan to add VAT to school fees, with areas including the Southeast, Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester particularly affected.

CHARTERHOUSE TO OPEN SCHOOL IN NIGERIA

Independent school Charterhouse in Surrey is to open Charterhouse Lagos in Nigeria offering a traditional British education to pupils from September next year. Charterhouse stated it has a longterm strategy to create a family of schools, and Lagos will be its second international

school, after opening its first international school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2021.

SHREWSBURY SCHOOL TO OPEN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL IN INDIA

Shrewsbury School in Shropshire is partnering with Jagran Social Welfare Society to establish a full co-educational

boarding school for pupils aged 11 to 18 in India. Shrewsbury International School India, set to open in 2025, will span across 115 acres in Madhya Pradesh in the heart of the country. Shrewsbury International School India will be the school’s fifth international school following the announcement last year of Shrewsbury International School Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and the existing international school in Hong Kong and two in Bangkok.

MANCHESTER PRIVATE SCHOOL IN TO CLOSE

Loreto Preparatory School in Altricham, Greater Manchester, is to close at the end of the academic year, the Manchester Evening News reported. Loreto Preparatory School is an independent Catholic primary school for 120 girls aged from three to 11. The trustees said they were facing “unprecedented financial challenges”, which coupled with a decline in student numbers, meant the school was no longer financially viable.

KENT INDEPENDENT PREP SCHOOL TO CLOSE

Fosse Bank School in Hildenborough, Kent closed in March, Kent Online has reported. Fosse Bank School is an independent preparatory school for children aged two to 11 years old.

Yvonne O’Toole, principal, and Peter Kearns, managing director, at the Institute of Education

Target efficient support services

Bursarnet.com’s founder Tim Groves pinpoints the significant KPIs across the school campus to show how major savings could be made

The cost of the teaching payroll is obviously the largest expense item in any school. However, the cost of support services will typically vary between 30% (day) to 50% (full boarding) of total costs. Thus, as schools face a considerably more hostile operating environment, it makes sense to ensure the support expenditure is delivering value-for-money. It is also the case that it’s difficult to have a conversation about the efficiency of teaching costs with the head and academic staff without having first nailed the issue of the support spend, and being able to prove it.

Since 2018, I’ve been carrying out a granular benchmarking exercise across the independent school sector, focusing on the material support cost lines, and communicating the results by means of 30 different key performance indicators. Having now assessed more than 130 schools, the pool of data is extensive and sufficient in volume to be able to form conclusions on the differences between the best and worst performers across the major KPIs. The purpose of this article is to focus on several of those KPIs which have a material impact on the bottom line.

“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it... he who doesn't... pays it.” As will be shown below, the cost efficiency across schools varies massively (sometimes by several hundred percent) and you might wonder how that can be. Given that most independent schools have been in existence for decades, and often centuries, it follows that their operating model (and its consequent costs) is one which has evolved cumulatively over a long period of time. As per Figure 1, a school which allows a 1% increase in costs every year for 30 years sees its cost base increase by just 34%, whereas a school which allows a 5% increase every year sees its cost base increase by 330%, such is the compounding impact of different cost environments.

I will now focus on some of the key KPIs which serve to demonstrate the differing performances between those schools already operating leanly, and those where opportunities exist to operate more efficiently.

Space per pupil: This KPI is simply the total square metres of the school-built estate divided by the number of pupils on site. Given how few schools actually know their m2 statistic, this space metric

does not appear to be one in common use, and yet the efficiency of how schools use their campus has an obvious impact on the costs per pupil (and thus the fees per pupil required to finance this). Taking the example of day-only schools, most schools fall between 15 and 20m2 per pupil. So the most efficient schools are using two-thirds of the space of the least efficient, and thus those costs which are impacted by the amount of campus space (energy, cleaning, maintenance, insurance, business rates) will weigh more heavily on schools with more generous space ‘allocations’ per pupil.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Before diving into the detailed KPIs, it would be useful to make an observation on the compounding effect of different cost increases over time. It was Albert Einstein who commented that:

“I will now focus on some of the key KPIs which serve to demonstrate the differing performances between those schools already operating leanly, and those where opportunities exist to operate more efficiently.”

Tim Groves

Figure 1: Illustration of the compound impact of different annual cost increases.

Recommendation: What’s your space metric? Include this space consideration in future campus developments (are you improving it, maintaining it, or is it deteriorating?).

ENERGY COST PER PUPIL

The total cost of energy per pupil is obviously a function of the price you pay for your energy (pence/kWh), and the amount (volume of kWhs) you use.

Energy prices – The price paid is largely market-driven so you might think “surely we all pay more or less the same?”. And yet if we look at the energy price variability in the seven years pre-June 2021 (when energy markets started to increase dramatically as demand picked up post-Covid), Figure 2 demonstrates just how much the underlying wholesale energy pricing can vary, both within any given year, but also across the years (it doesn’t always go up).

Being savvy about when you renew, and how long you commit for, can pay big dividends. In my benchmarked schools, the best performers are undoubtedly those that approach energy buying strategically, and this means that energy decisions are personally dealt with by the bursar/chief operating officer (not delegated to junior finance or estates staff), and such decisions are carefully planned for long in advance (not just

when the old contract expires). A key strategic consideration in energy buying is also the choice of advisor. Unfortunately, the independent school sector is dominated by energy brokers that are paid recurring commissions by your energy suppliers on every kWh you consume, but unseen and normally unauthorised by you. I believe this is a potential conflict of interest – the higher the price, the longer the contract, the more the broker earns. This may explain why I have found schools taking out

inexplicably long contracts at moments of high market pricing.

Recommendation: Do you know how your energy advisor is being paid? If you’re not paying them, your supplier is! Find a strategic advisor prepared to work on a direct charging model, with zero commissions. Work with them on a longterm energy procurement plan. Diarise when your energy contracts renew, and start renewal planning 12 months ahead.

Energy volumes (usage) – The benchmarking process allows me to collect the energy volumes used by participating schools and thereby calculate the carbon footprint per pupil. The results for the pure ‘all-years’ day schools (no boarders) is shown in Figure 3. It can be seen that the average of the first quartile performers (0.13 tons per pupil per annum) is so much more efficient than those in the fourth quartile (0.30) – that is, the least efficient are using 2.3 times more energy than their most efficient peers. Ordinarily this will translate into a correspondingly higher energy bill.

Clearly, those in the first quartile will probably be those with less space per pupil to both heat and light, but it’s not just down to space. Neither can this performance be explained by old versus modern campuses – all these large day schools have a mixture of old historic buildings, with more recent additions. The data simply shows that those schools which have sensibly addressed their energy usage over the long term have progressively become more energy-efficient.

Figure 3: Energy usage per pupil per year (day-only ‘all years’ schools).

Figure 2: Wholesale price range of electricity in the years 2014 to 2020.

costs

Recommendation: While energyefficiency measures can be a real money pit, my impression is that the better performers have focused on the basic disciplines of cutting wasteful usage and improving insulation within the normal cycle of estate refurbishment. What’s your carbon footprint per pupil? If in the third/fourth quartiles, there will be material gains to be made here without necessarily spending large amounts of unplanned capex.

CLEANING

The cost of cleaning is always a large sum of money, and yet from within the confines of the school it’s hard to assess whether the cost incurred represents good value for money. My preferred KPI is total cleaning cost (labour and materials) per square metre of built estate, on the basis that all areas of the school estate will receive some measure of cleaning. Figure 4 shows the range of values obtained across the ‘all-years’ and senior schools, where again, the difference between the first quartile and fourth quartile averages is plus-230% (£11.2/m2 versus £25.8/m2).

In the vast majority of cases I have encountered, the cleaning function is carried out in-house. Interestingly, and counterintuitively, those 5% that have outsourced this function are all in the first/second quartiles (after paying contractor profit plus VAT). This is not to recommend that schools should outsource their cleaning, but simply evidence that the professionalisation of

the cleaning function leads to significant efficiencies. Increasing the management, skills and equipment of the cleaning team can also occur in-house. Recommendation: What’s your cleaning KPI? If materially adrift it would be worth commissioning a ‘time and motion’ study of the cleaning function from experts in the field.

MAINTENANCE PER SQUARE METRE

This KPI looks at what is normally the largest area of school operating expenditure after the teacher payroll. It comprises both the staff and non-staff spend across the maintenance function (excluding grounds), divided by the m2 of the built estate. It obviously excludes any capital projects.

As can be seen from Figure 5, the range of values is even more pronounced, where the fourth quartile average (£48.8/m2) is 250% higher than the first quartile average (19.6/m2). If we recognise that some of those in the first quartile are certainly under-spending due to budget constraints, and some of those in the fourth quartile are having to play expensive catch-up (it’s always more expensive to fix after it’s broken), and thus this 250% range is potentially misleading, even the range between second and third quartiles is revealing (£29.8/m2 versus £38.4/m2, that is, plus-30%).

Having carried out a significant number of subsequent ‘deep-dive’ assignments into how efficiently estates departments are run it’s clear that in general the estates department within schools is often underdeveloped, under-skilled, and focusing too much on the day-to-day ‘reactive’ responses at the expense of longer-term planning (‘proactive’). The upside of this assessment, however, is that there are significant gains to be made in improving the function of the estates team. As an example, if a typical all-years day school has an estate of around 20,000m2, improving its position from the third to the second quartile is worth £170,000 per annum.

Recommendation: Is your estates department reactive or proactive? If you consider that your current budget represents normal course of business, what quartile are you in? If third or fourth quartile, consider engaging with an expert on how to improve performance.

Figure 4: Cleaning cost per square metre of built estate.

Fig 5: Opex maintenance cost per m2 across all-years schools.

CONCLUSION

As the above shows, in just three key operating areas (energy, cleaning, maintenance), there are very significant differences between the best and worst performers. The same kind of differences also exist in other large spend items (catering, IT and photocopying, grounds, academic budgets, marketing and administrative functions.)

It’s generally the case that schools in more challenging geographical locations can be expected to be first or second quartile for the big-ticket items, probably because the reality of their parental finances has meant that they’ve had to exercise tight cost control for decades. By contrast, those schools within affluent

areas will often be third or fourth quartile, probably because they haven’t faced the same pressures.

What the above, and the full range of benchmarking results both show, is that it’s worth being curious about your own support services KPIs, and tracking how they evolve from one year to the next. There are material sums to be gained by working to improve the efficiency of those KPIs where the school is off the pace of its peers. Improving many of these KPIs is not contingent on spending additional monies, but it does require staff of appropriate seniority and experience to have bandwidth to spend quality time on the issues, sometimes at very precise moments in time, such as contract renewals.

“It’s generally the case that schools in more challenging geographical locations can be expected to be first or second quartile for the big-ticket items, probably because the reality of their parental finances has meant that they’ve had to exercise tight cost control for decades. ”

The art of strategy

“An organisation without a strategy is like a ship without map or compass” – Andy Start, chief executive of Defence Equipment and Support, part of the Ministry of Defence.

When I was doing the research for my book The Quick Guide to Effective Strategy (see review on p44-45), I interviewed a chief executive whose speciality is turning around failing organisations. There were, he suggested, two closely related reasons why most organisations fail: the first is poor leadership and the second is the absence of an effective strategy. His comments were not revolutionary – many other interviewees had made similar points – but the stark clarity of his views made me reflect on the nature of the book I was writing.

My original intention had been to focus the book on describing an accessible and proven methodology that organisations could apply to help them develop an effective strategy. But after my discussion with the chief executive, I realised that unless I also touched on leadership and, specifically, whose job it is to lead the development of an organisation’s strategy, I would be doing readers a disservice. So that’s what I did and this short article draws on the expanded content of the book to offer some observations that might help governors of independent schools reflect on their own approach to strategy, both in terms of its development and its leadership.

IN THE BEGINNING

Let’s start with what strategy is. In academic circles it’s known as a contested concept because there are so many different views – indeed, if you Google ‘what is strategy?’ you will get more than four billion answers, many of which would seem sensible. One of the most widely quoted contemporary definitions is that: “Strategy = Ends + Ways + Means”. This strategy ‘equation’ was developed by Arthur Lykke in the late 1980s. Lykke, a retired colonel at the US Army War College, believed that the three components of strategy were like the legs of a stool which, if they were not all in balance, would tilt, creating risk. The original illustration published with the article that explained his view is shown in the below diagram.

Although more than 30 years old, Lykke’s definition is still used by many, but the problem is that it implies that if a strategy’s ‘ends’, ‘ways’ and ‘means’ are all in balance, then it will most likely succeed. Unfortunately, life is seldom that straightforward, mainly because the future is highly uncertain and usually has a habit of unfolding in the most unexpected ways. For example, few would have predicted that in 2020 a global pandemic would affect the lives of nearly every person on the planet, or that in February 2021 Vladimir Putin’s tanks would roll across the border into Ukraine in a bid to return the country to Russian

rule, bringing incredible hardship to the people of Ukraine but also causing a sudden spike in energy prices that would lead to rampant inflation and soaring interest rates in many other countries, including the UK. For this reason, the definition provided by Harry Yarger, author of the seminal The Little Book on Big Strategy, seems more appropriate: “Strategy provides a coherent blueprint to bridge the gap between the realities of today and a desired future. It is the disciplined calculation of overarching objectives, concepts, and resources within acceptable bounds of risk to create more favourable future outcomes than might otherwise exist if left to chance or the hands of others.”

WHAT MAKES FOR GOOD STRATEGY?

This definition gets at the essence of what good strategy is all about. In a school context, it’s about deciding where you want the school to be in, say, three to five years’ time and then identifying how you’re going to get there, exploiting the opportunities and overcoming the obstacles that today’s volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environment creates. To be effective, experience suggests that a strategy, including one for a school, should:

• Have clarity of purpose (why a strategy is needed and what its desired end-state is)

Former senior army officer Craig Lawrence explains how to make your approach to strategy more effective

“I realised that unless I also touched on leadership and, specifically, whose job it is to lead the development of an organisation’s strategy, I would be doing readers a disservice.”

Arthur Lykke’s representation of strategy as a stool which was published in the journal Military Review in May 1989 (reproduced by kind permission of the Military Review)

• Be designed to operate in a VUCA environment (because the future, which none of us can predict, is likely to be even more turbulent than the present)

• Be set at a high level, determining the school’s direction of travel for the next three to five years

• Be designed to address wicked problems, which are hard to identify and difficult to resolve

• Account for all stakeholders, changing their behaviours to create favourable conditions

• Be highly innovative, with a central ‘big idea’ or ‘guiding policy’ that ‘magnifies’ their effect and enhances their resilience

• Provide a ‘theory of success’ (or ‘theory of victory’) that explains how the desired end-state is to be achieved, rather than just a general approach

• Be highly adaptable (so the strategy can be modified as the situation changes, or when it becomes apparent that assumptions underpinning the strategy’s development were flawed).

The methodology described in the book, which is based on 14 critical thinking questions dispersed over five thematic stages, can help schools develop strategies that have the above characteristics. And contrary to what many consultants will tell you, the best people to develop its strategy are a school’s own people. There

are two reasons for this. The first is that the people who really understand a school are its senior management team and, hopefully, its governors. They are best placed to identify the opportunities that might be exploited, and the obstacles that will need to be overcome, to achieve its ambitious vision for the future. The second reason is that unless the school’s own people support its strategy, it’s highly likely to fail. Dwight D Eisenhower, one of the most famous generals of World War II and later the 34th President of the United States put it neatly: “Whenever men can be persuaded rather than ordered – when they can be made to feel that they have participated in developing the plan – they approach their tasks with understanding and enthusiasm.”

PEOPLE TOO

As a final thought on people, it’s worth bearing in mind that if the school is a charity, then the governors and not the senior management team are legally responsible for developing its strategy. Surprising as it might seem, many governors seem unaware of this even though charity law is unequivocal that trustees are responsible for acting in their charity’s best interests and, as part of this, making “balanced and adequately informed decisions, thinking about the long term as well as the short term.”

Hard as it might seem, this means that when a school charity fails because it didn’t have an effective strategy, the governors are both responsible and accountable, not the headteacher and his or her senior management team. This doesn’t mean that every governor needs to be a strategy expert, but it does suggest that governors should know what good strategy ‘looks like’ so they can make informed contributions when the school’s strategy is being developed and offer constructive challenge if/when external consultants are engaged to assist.

Craig Lawrence is the founder and managing director of Craig Lawrence Consulting.

“Whenever men can be persuaded rather than ordered – when they can be made to feel that they have participated in developing the plan – they approach their tasks with understanding and enthusiasm.”

Craig Lawrence

Stronger together?

This article is a brief introduction to mergers for independent schools that are contemplating strategic options during the current economic climate and includes the considerations that form part of this process.

WHY WOULD A SCHOOL CHOOSE TO MERGE?

Some of the key reasons a school may choose include:

• Competition from other schools – this may result in a drop in pupil numbers and fee income.

• Economies of scale – combining resources such as staff, facilities and equipment should reduce costs and improve conditions for stakeholders and beneficiaries.

• Lower pupil numbers – we are experiencing a cost of living crisis which has increased pressure on parental income and the ability to pay school fees.

• School fees – there’s a risk that VAT will become payable on school fees under a new government which will further increase the pressure on parental income.

• Higher maintenance costs – significant increases by utility companies have made running schools much harder.

• Parental demand for better facilities – whether for new facilities or modernising existing facilities.

• Wider curriculum – more subjects could be introduced as a result of the merger which is often attractive to stakeholders.

• Lack of capital reserves and/or assets –there may be no financial safety net or ability to generate additional funds for the school.

• Charitable status – a school’s charitable status will be continued, rather than being sold to a private school group, which is important to some stakeholders, although certain current charitable benefits may be affected in the near future.

WHAT ARE THE RISKS?

• Disruption to staff, pupils and parents.

• Reputation – the views associated with one school ‘taking over’ another and potential damage to a school’s brand.

• Incompatibility between the schools whether culturally or otherwise – the schools should complement each other on many levels so that the result is an improved merged entity.

• Staff reduction – staff redundancies are often inevitable and should be managed carefully by both schools and be limited as much as possible.

• Objections from parents and subsequent pupil removal – there may be objections therefore communications and announcements are important.

• Breach of confidentiality – leaks to stakeholders and third parties before exchanging contracts may significantly damage one or both schools’ reputation and prospects.

WHAT IS THE PROCESS?

The process of a charitable merger is quite different from an acquisition. When two schools merge, they combine their strengths and the outcome will often be that a new school is created. Consideration is often required when merging schools that are operated by different types of charity.

The mechanism for a merger involving schools is generally one of the following:

• One school transfers its business as a going concern along with its assets and liabilities to another school.

• Two schools transfer their businesses as going concerns, assets and liabilities to a newly established charitable company.

• One school is appointed as a trustee or sole shareholder of another school.

WHAT WILL THE NEW STRUCTURE LOOK LIKE?

Typically, a merger will occur when two schools decide to merge their strengths. In the current climate, the size and availability of resources of a school is crucial. In these situations, we will normally see the creation of a new school.

However, the concept of a ‘takeover’ is not unknown in the sector. Usually, one school is of a larger scale, and will take over a smaller school that’s no longer able to sustain itself (‘smaller’ not necessarily being in physical size but the difference in turnover). There are generally two types of takeover – active and passive.

An active takeover occurs when one school takes over another. Usually the result of this will be that the school taking over expands by absorbing the other.

A passive takeover is where a school isn’t able to sustain itself and another school takes over but, unlike a merger, a new school isn’t usually created.

It’s also possible for there to be a group expansion in that a school joins a group. Whether this takes place via merger or acquisition is dependent on structure.

Law firm Harrison Clark Rickerbys’ senior associate James Morgan reveals the legal options available when a merger may be the best possibility for your school

James Morgan

“The larger school will require more extensive reassurance with regards to the liabilities and assets of the other school. However, the school being taken over will also want to know that it is transferring its assets to a secure undertaking.”

DUE DILIGENCE

Due diligence (legal, financial and academic) is an important part of any merger. In an acquisition where the phrase commonly used is ‘buyer beware’, in a merger, both schools are going to want and need to know as much about the other as possible because all of the assets and liabilities are often transferred. The extent of the due diligence often depends on the size of each school. For example, a smaller school would often undertake a lighter touch ‘reverse’ due diligence exercise on a larger school.

The larger school will require more extensive reassurance with regards to the liabilities and assets of the other school. However, the school being taken over will also want to know that it is transferring its assets to a secure undertaking.

THIRD PARTY CONSENTS

Schools will also need to consider any regulatory permissions that need to be obtained when merging two schools. For example, independent schools must make a request to the Department for Education (prior to their implementation) for any material changes such as a change of proprietor.

The Charity Commission may also need to provide its consent to the proposed merger and the governing document of one or both charities may require amending.

PROPERTY

The land and buildings belonging to a school are often its most secure assets and are therefore particularly valuable

and important in the context of a merger. Schools will need to consider that if there is a transfer of leasehold land involved, then further approval may be required as well as a potential extension or assignment of a lease. There will also need to be consideration of any outstanding planning consents and environmental factors (that is, if there are surveyors that need to be commissioned). Consideration of any land that is held on trust will need to be factored in in terms of whether the trusteeship can be changed and how the land can be transferred or held post-completion. Notwithstanding any specific valuations which may be commissioned by either school in relation to the property being held, a charity law compliant report, which is usually obtained when disposing of property in an acquisition, in order to comply with charity law requirements, is not necessary in a merger.

EMPLOYMENT

When two schools merge, there are staffing implications that need to be considered in accordance with TUPE regulations and whether any measures are going to be taken, which can include minor measures such as changing the date salaries are paid, to major measures such as changing pension schemes.

Both of the schools involved will need to inform and consult with their employees. This is particularly important in that when the schools merge, it’s possible that not all staff will be needed and so it’s important that all regulations

are adhered to carefully. Both schools will also need to review the pension arrangements in place for staff as there are consultation requirements where changes are proposed. This is particularly topical in the context of the rising employer contributions to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

There are many other practical considerations such as changes to the name of the school, site reorganisation, faith elements, single sex/co-educational issues, boarding facilities, branding, logos, uniform, etc, which is something that schools will need to consider carefully.

CONCLUSION

The sector is lively at the moment and, if you are a school that is considering merging due to various ongoing financial pressures, then our advice would be to explore this as an option now rather than delay it further. The trustees of charities have ongoing duties and obligations to their charity and beneficiaries. It’s far better to discuss options with a potential merger partner while in a position of strength rather than one of vulnerability.

One final point is that potential merger partners are often local rivals and such historic rivalries should be put to one side and not cloud the judgement of either school, which should come to the table with an open mind as it will be more beneficial to their pupils to have a merged school rather than a potentially closed school.

Eye of the storm

As a newly installed head, Duncan Murphy realised he had to enact a rapid strategic change in the school’s management. He reveals here how he revitalised Kingswood House School

On 5 September 2017, a matter of hours before sweeping through Florida and destroying seven million homes, Hurricane Irma became the most powerful wind ever recorded, with blasts in the Atlantic Basin recorded at 185mph. Meanwhile, in the relative calm of my new office at Kingswood House, Epsom, I was confronting a bleak reality. The lovely prep school where I had begun my second headship just four days beforehand needed to weather its own storm if it was going to survive the decade.

At face value, however, numbers on roll were healthy. The site had a cap of 210 and I had inherited a student body not too shy of 200. Equally, the staffing model was reasonable, although, like many schools that had long-standing heads, such as my predecessor, too many teachers were stuck at the top of the pay scale. Yet the cash flow for the year was promising and the school was on track to make a fair surplus. Things seemed reassuring until I did some quick arithmetic and worked out that a three-year forecast revealed a worrying loss. I looked into the granular detail again and emerged with a white face and a furrowed brow.

PROBLEMS LOOMING

The first, overriding problem was the ownership of the site. Without conducting due diligence prior to my appointment, I had blithely assumed that (like most independent schools) we owned the freehold. I was wrong. The school leased the site on a 15-year contract from a trio of brothers whose

mother, a carer, had inherited it from a wealthy spinster who had (allegedly) changed the will, which had originally been in the school’s favour, just prior to her last breath. The sons had no attachment to the school so regarded it as an underperforming asset. Every five years, a contractual rent review was conducted, the next being due in 12 months’ time. Our professional advisors told our board to prepare for a 40% hike. This is because there are very few schools in a similar predicament. If just one such school agrees to a bad deal, it becomes the precedent for the rest – and this is exactly what came to pass.

Secondly, and more significantly, the lease itself was due to expire in March 2023. While the school had a statutory right to renew, the landlords could potentially evict us either if they were able to demonstrate that ours was not a viable business or if they successfully applied for planning permission. A quick search on Google revealed the likely direction of travel – their family business specialised in building vast retirement villages. Our three-acre site was no doubt a prime location for development.

Furthermore, there was an immediate problem to contend with, namely, a lack of numbers at both ends of the school’s existing 13-plus model. Half a kilometre from our back gate was an outstanding local primary school that amply served the needs of its middleclass families without costing them a penny. It had more than doubled its intake in the previous five years. Our nursery had already closed the year before as a direct consequence of the ‘state ‘til eight’ mentality so there was no defined point of intake at the bottom of the school. At the top end of the age range, there was also a major squeeze. Historically, we had furnished 80% of our leavers at 13-plus to two local senior schools, Epsom College and St John’s, Leatherhead. However, both had since simultaneously opened their own lower schools, starting at Year 7, in 2015. The net result was that the majority of our

families were now choosing the security of an offer during Year 6 to these schools, or others, for entry into Year 7 since they were intimidated by the prospect of a ‘conditional offer’, dependent on Common Entrance results. As all prep school bursars will testify, Years 7 and 8 are the most costly to run because of the need for subject specialists. Essentially, our 13-plus model was now just a vanity project; it was running at a significant loss due to the dwindling numbers remaining for the last two years of its conventional prep offering, most of whom were children who had not been academically or emotionally equipped to contend with the rigours of the pre-test process. Yet, from this last observation came the first glimmer of hope. The second was our proximity to the mainline train station in Epsom which offered regular services to London.

WHICH WAY?

A quick SWOT analysis showed a small number of further key points in our favour from which a foothold might be gained to build forward momentum.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Primarily, the school had uncovered a niche market by taking on, in recent years, and probably out of necessity rather than design, a higher-than-average percentage of SEND pupils. In turn, this had perpetuated the evolution of a specialist study centre in the heart of our

“Things seemed reassuring until I did some quick arithmetic and worked out that a three-year forecast revealed a worrying loss.”

Duncan Murphy

site which boasted a wealth of expertise and knowledge in this growing area. Due to the competitive nature of the Surrey circuit, many schools at that time did not want to associate themselves with SEND children in case it damaged their ‘elite’ status. This factor only reinforced the notion that we had to be prepared to occupy territory that none of our more illustrious counterparts would countenance. It was also an ethically correct thing to do on a human level.

All children have needs of one kind or another – some are easily identifiable and others are not. Schools exist for their pupils, not the other way around. Helping those who do not always find life easy, either in or out of class, should be a moral imperative – and in this facet the school excelled.

Additionally, despite the contraction of numbers at either end of the school, there was still a healthy ‘bulge’ in the middle to work with, as evidenced by the high birth-rate in 2009-10. This statistic, in combination with the SEND profile of approximately 30% of the students therein, offered us an opportunity to extend upwards to GCSE by retaining those who would otherwise be hard to place into aggressively selective senior schools anyway. Certainly, it would be an expensive gamble and a high-risk strategy, but the alternative was unthinkable. A move down in age range to an 11-plus junior model would have saved quick money on staffing costs but also have placed us in jeopardy by being in direct competition with the aforementioned primary school on our doorstep – fee or free? It didn’t take long to rule that option out.

CHANGE WELCOME HERE

The school had originally been founded as a prep school for boys. The status quo had not changed since its inception. Consequently, we were only able to offer our increasingly unique provision to 50% of the market. While the business case was immediately obvious, I can genuinely say that a desire to bring girls into Kingswood House was motivated not just by a wish to increase revenue but because I recognised an inclusive ethos and philosophy in which many girls could, and should, have the opportunity to thrive as well as the boys in our care. In my first inset day with the teaching and support staff, I asked them to brainstorm words which they associated with key strengths of the school. The outcome of that exercise enabled us to frame a new vision statement as a collective, with additional buy-in from parents, governors and even the children themselves. We recognised ourselves as a mainstream school, albeit a little removed from the hurly-burly of a ‘normal’ setting, with a friendly and supportive culture; one where individuals of a diverse range of ability, background or faith could feel welcome and grow in self-esteem.

We coined the iconic template of the Kingswood House Way together with its iterative, values-based model of education to sit alongside the traditional academic curriculum. The precepts of Respect, Integrity and Endeavour were considered by all stakeholders to be the distillation of the elements that we, as a community, believed were important in the propagation of citizenship, society and sustainability. The Kingswood House Way created a beacon of excellence as well as a code of conduct for our school and ultimately evolved into a currency which we used to trade our brand of education. Adopted from the corporate world, the visibility of the construct provided an instantly-recognisable symbol of who we were, what we stood for and how we treated each other. Tellingly, its methodology became embedded very quickly throughout the whole school

and many other institutions have since adopted a similar approach.

TO THE PRESENT

Fast-forward six years to the present day and the school has increased its numbers on roll by more than 30% up to 260, successfully launched senior provision up to GCSE (now with good sets of benchmarked results behind us to evidence our value-added), and has fully embraced coeducation. Thanks to our unconventional mainstream status, augmented by outstanding SEND provision, we have been visited by both the Independent Schools’ Council and the Good Schools Guide. Since September 2017, we have undergone no fewer than five inspections – one regulatory compliance, three material changes (relating to 16-plus, increasing our cap for numbers on site and co-education respectively) and a full educational quality with focused compliance just a matter of weeks ago. Along the way, at a formative time, we contended with the universal threats of the pandemic (including the production of teacher assessed grades for just our second Year 11 cohort and actively marketing co-education for a start in September 2021, while all schools were shut!), a contracting birth-rate and the volatile post-Brexit economy. A case in point was our early consultation for withdrawal from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, which was completed just hours before Boris Johnson announced the closure of all schools in March 2020.

Furthermore, we managed to negotiate our own, uniquely difficult circumstances about our site to a very satisfactory conclusion. At the time of writing this article, in March 2023, the lease for the school site had technically expired just over a week previously. As predicted, the landlord did apply for planning permission to redevelop our site in July 2022, but after

a long, costly legal process, the landlord confirmed that it would not contest the school's plan to renew the lease in late February.

Thanks to the new iteration of the school, we have built up sufficient resources to overcome this extremely challenging ordeal. As you might well imagine, we are now taking steps to ensure there is no repeat in the future. Equally, due to the strong brand and resonant ethos of the Kingswood House provision, we did not lose a single pupil during this time frame. In fact we increased our numbers on roll thanks to careful, honest and regular communication with parents both in-person and online. We controlled the narrative and so got our message across effectively. The value of good communication and cementing a bond of trust with all stakeholders can hardly be overstated when it comes to effective change management.

LOOKING AHEAD

The future of the school is now well set, with the reassurance of long-term security on the site, an established pathway up to GCSE and a blossoming co-educational offering. Financial projections are strong and overall this is a great platform from which to consider the school’s onward trajectory over the next five years, a period of time which will no doubt bring its own issues for school leaders in general to circumnavigate such as the potential for a change in government, loss of charitable status and imposition of VAT on fees.

My advice for school leaders is to think creatively with strategic planning, root all decisions back to effective data and, above all, ensure that you bring people with you in a shared narrative. This is easier said than done, I warrant, but schools are fundamentally human places and forming meaningful relationships is pivotal to the

“Thanks to the new iteration of the school, we have built up sufficient resources to overcome this extremely challenging ordeal.”

The Kingswood House Way

The three precepts of Respect, Integrity and Endeavour underpin the nucleus of ‘The Kingswood House Way’. We believe that the need for young people to have emotional tools, such as resilience, as well as academic knowledge, has never been more important. Our pupils are encouraged and inspired every day so that they grow in self-esteem and achieve more than they believe is possible.

successful delivery of a strategic plan. If you get the personal element wrong, it will not matter how good the planning is or how compelling the data because they will be redundant. Strategic change is all about the management of people.

The confidence with which Kingswood House was able to embark upon its strategic iteration up to GCSE, while accommodating a growing percentage of SEND pupils, and moving to coeducation after 121 years as a boys’ school, was ultimately rooted in the hard statistics of a major data project. While I instinctively believed that these decisions would provide our school with a significant niche in the local market, the report we commissioned confirmed my thinking in black and white, with accurate evidence, from which my board was able to reach a considered, informed decision to back the considerable ambition of the development plan in front of them.

Accordingly, my trustees and team deserve the final mention in this piece. Without an open-minded and supportive board of governors, the outcome for the school would have been very different. They listened, they acted and they backed me at a time when it would have been easy to ignore the impending danger. Leadership and governance is all about looking around corners – not running into brick walls. Similarly, my team of teaching and support staff have been remarkable in their openness to change while the school has evolved around them. They have embraced change and recognised the part they had to play in

winning the confidence of pupils and parents. On a daily basis, they planned and differentiated for a broad range of ability with passion; it is abundantly clear that working in our school is an informed choice; certainly, it is not an easy task but it is definitely rewarding. There is a real sense of pride in the staff room. For my team, making a difference to the children in their care is sufficient motivation – and they can see the fruit of their labours

every day with the happiness and progress of our boys and girls because they feel valued.

The next few years will require all school leaders to think carefully and plan ahead in order to future-proof their business models as the storm clouds gather over Westminster. For any school to plot its course through the swelling tempest that’s likely to engulf the independent sector, serious discussions should be taking place around the boardroom table, together with clear action points for review at the next meeting. Optimal use of contextual data, research and strategic consultancy should form the nucleus of this process – but the expedition of any development plan will only ever be as effective as the school leadership’s ability to articulate and communicate its messaging to a variety of stakeholders. Ultimately, the meaningful formation and retention of strong, professional relationships based upon integrity, respect and trust are the key to successful change management.

Duncan Murphy is the chief executive of Kingswood House School and the director of education for MTM Consulting. He is a member of IAPS and the Society of Heads.

Futureproof schools for success

At Chatsworth Schools we are fundamentally educationalists and proudly so. The decisions we take, the vision we follow, and our core purpose always start with the children.

I have had the privilege over the past 30-plus years of starting schools, bringing schools back from the economic brink, adding significant scale to schools and indeed in acquiring schools – in total more than 60 such events. There is no blueprint, there is no predictability and there is no ‘we always do it this way’. Why? Because we are in the people business and most importantly we are in the education business, not a business which happens to be in education.

Although often seasonal, the rhythm of schools requiring help, coming up for sale, being in crisis, is never predictable. It’s rarely straightforward but always humbling and, when successful, the ability to provide more outstanding futures for more children is an absolute blessing.

FUTURE IN MIND

I would describe our acquisitional mindset as ‘futureproofing’ in that when we are considering acquiring schools and nurseries, we first challenge ourselves to answer how can we add real value to a

school’s community: for its staff, parents and principally its children? If we feel we can, then and only then do we continue in our efforts to acquire, and then integrate the school into our family. While sharing our core values of integrity, resilience and passion, all of our schools are fiercely and proudly independent. We actively encourage it. And to be able to grow like we have, we are reliant on a wonderful stable of school leaders and educators who come with us for new chapters of that individual school’s story. It’s crucial to have excellent leadership and a period of learning and immersion when you acquire a new school. Every school and community is different and must be respected and understood to genuinely integrate a new school into a group’s culture and family. In four years, we have built a school group consisting of 10 independent schools, a cluster of nurseries and an international school in Saudi Arabia.

HALL SCHOOL WIMBLEDON – OUR FOUNDING SCHOOL

In 2018, Chatsworth Schools was nearly over before it began. We were introduced to a school called HSW – Hall School Wimbledon. In its prime it had been a

beacon school – co-ed, non-selective, progressive, two good-sized campuses and playing fields to die for – sadly, it had fallen very publicly on hard times. Between Ofsted reports, the press and the police, the school had gained a poor reputation. Staffed for 550, with a falling roll below 200, it was far from beacon – or if it was, it was a flashing blue light kind.

I was strongly and loudly advised against HSW being our founding school – warned we would never recover. And yet I felt it – I felt its soul. The school was deliberately unique, it had its place in the community, it was loved by all who once loved it and it deserved to be loved again. And so HSW became the founding school of our family.

Regrets – never. Challenges – so many where do I start? From moving to one site, to staff restructuring, coming out of

Chatsworth Schools’ founder and chief executive Anita Gleave reveals the thinking and practicalities involved in adding schools to the group

“I have had the privilege over the past 30-plus years of starting schools, bringing schools back from the economic brink, adding significant scale to schools and indeed in acquiring schools.”

Anita Gleave

Benedict House Prep

the TPS, to new buildings, to an Ofsted Good with Outstanding within 14 weeks, to now, less than five years on, opening a sixth form and enjoying record numbers of pupils. Yet, that soul, that unique spirit, that differentiator in the community is still strongly evident and we still proudly ask our HSW pupils not “how smart are you?” but rather – “how are you smart?”. And we start their educational journey with us from there. We always start with the child.

HIGH-PERFORMING PATTISON

Another of our schools, Pattison in Coventry has a proud history. Started by Miss Pat as a Saturday morning dance school, it morphed over the years into an all-through school with a post-16 dance offering. It was arranged across two complicated buildings which were not always conducive to flexible class numbers, and was located in a busy area within Coventry city centre. It also had to contend with competing schools which were growing aggressively with enviable facilities, war chest reserves and very low fees – so the school had its challenges.

A falling roll below 100, many part-time staff, underinvestment in infrastructure, inadequate staff development and weak marketing, made this aquisitionm even more challenging. Oh, did I mention the global pandemic six months after it joined us?

With so little tech and lack of staff training in ICT, the school had a very ropey time. However, that commitment to the individual, the small class size,

the passion for the performing arts, the dedication of long-serving, truly committed staff made all too compelling a case. We limped through Covid. As we entered the brave new world, we created a ‘life support’ plan to futureproof the school.

This involved installing a new head and all of the risks that that can bring, significant investment, staff training and development, and indeed new staff. It involved the introduction of the Chatsworth Tapestry – our unique curriculum overlay which aims to give all pupils the toolkit they need to meet and exceed the challenges of a world they are yet to face and of which we cannot predict. It focuses on six core competencies including entrepreneurship, wellbeing and sustainability – and, most

importantly, it enables us to focus on the individual child.

The school is an amazing success story. Having grown by more than 50% in 12 months is staggering, to be actively engaged in acquiring new buildings, to expand and add a sixth form is testament to the vision and outstanding leadership which will futureproof this school when – on its own – it would have faced closure – evidence, if it were needed, of commitment, tenacity and staying true to one’s mission and values.

It was Teddy Roosevelt who said: “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”

We have a group of people who live their lives well – each one of them, in their own, individual way in their individual jobs, choose not to live an easy life but choose to strive because, at the end of the day, they are all our children.

Hall School Wimbledon

Pattison College

“It was Teddy Roosevelt who said: “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty.”

Separate but equal?

Uniform policies must be thorough and updated regularly with input from the school community, reports Sally Robertson. Neutral policies may counterintuitively undermine diversity

Gender-neutral uniform policies are gaining prominence as schools focus on serving diverse communities and providing an inclusive environment. That impetus is likely to increase in light of the implications of European courts’ consideration of neutral uniform policies in the context of employment and wearing religious symbols and clothes. The emphasis is firmly on the proportionality of any measures taken by an organisation to further the aim it is trying to achieve. There must be a fair balance between the aim of the particular policy and the extent of the interference with the right in question.

One need raised in recent case law (in two cases known as WABE and SCRL) is to address the problem that total neutrality may instead undermine diversity. For example, if head coverings are banned, that would have a greater adverse effect on those who wish to wear religious head coverings, than on those who do not. If the policy permits boys to wear a traditional Sikh patka, a turban for children, but does not permit Muslim girls to wear a hijab, that invites not just claims for indirect discrimination on grounds of religion or belief but also claims for direct and indirect discrimination on grounds of sex.

In the past, dress codes applying a ‘separate but equal’ philosophy have been seen as acceptable. However, the Court of Appeal in the Al-Hijrah case in 2017 began to unravel that approach. AlHijrah is a voluntary aided faith school

in Birmingham for boys and girls aged between four and 16 with an Islamic ethos. For religious reasons, it believes it is obligatory to separate the sexes in the age range from nine to 16 years. Until June 2016, Ofsted reports did not criticise the segregation. Even then, the quality of what was taught was found to be no different between boys and girls. The core criticism was that all suffered educationally from the restriction on social interaction.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Al-Hijrah school began proceedings for judicial review to prevent Ofsted publishing any report and for anonymity. In the Administrative Court, the school was successful. The judge said that as the treatment of both groups was of equivalent nature and character, with equivalent results for both sexes, it could not be said one sex was being treated less favourably than another, so there was no unlawful sex discrimination. The Court of Appeal rejected that approach and overturned the anonymity order. The mistake in Al-Hijrah was to approach the issue of discrimination by comparing the girls, as a group, with the boys, as a group, rather than by looking at the matter from the perspective of an individual pupil. The restriction on a girl pupil socialising with boy pupils, and on a boy pupil socialising with girl pupils, was because of their respective sex. An individual girl pupil could not socialise and intermix with a boy pupil because and only because of her sex; ditto for an individual boy pupil. Each was therefore treated less favourably than they would be if their sex was different.

DRESS CODES

So what does Ofsted’s successful appeal establishing that the school’s gender segregation breached the Equality Act 2010 have to do with dress codes? The answer lies in the underlying theme that individuals should be treated as individuals, not assumed to be like other members of a group, nor treated on

the basis of stereotypes. That arguably is the core policy informing equalities legislation.

The case law on dress codes also relies on a group perspective, one of ‘different but equal’ so is arguably vulnerable to challenge. The developing challenge, from the perspective of religion or belief, can be seen in the approach of the European courts, most recently in SCRL. The school in the Al-Hijrah case had relied on two dress code cases. The Court of Appeal considered both briefly, found them of no assistance and, in substance, sidelined them as being of historical interest only. They did not hold that either case was wrong in its approach to whether a dress code was discriminatory because of sex.

THE OLD DRESS CODE CASES

In the main case, dating from 1996, Nicholas Smith, a male delicatessen assistant was dismissed by Safeway for having his long hair tied in a ponytail; a female assistant would not have been. The Court of Appeal in Smith held that the dress code had to be considered as a whole package, not item by item, and that it could also apply to more permanent features such as hair style and hair length. Applying conventional standards of appearance for men and women was an even-handed approach. Neither sex was treated less favourably.

Then in 2011, the Administrative

Sally Robertson

“If head coverings are banned, that would have a greater adverse effect on those who wish to wear religious head coverings, than on those who do not.”

Court relied on the Smith ‘package’ approach when finding it was not unlawful sex discrimination to ban a boy wearing his hair in cornrows even though girls were permitted to do so. However, the school’s refusal to allow an exception to its uniform policy in the circumstances amounted to indirect race discrimination and could not be justified.

WHERE NOW?

So where does this leave schools? Boys in skirts and girls in trousers? As Lord Bingham said in 2006 when upholding Denbigh High School’s exclusion of a jilbab from its uniform policy: “This case concerns a particular pupil and a particular school in a particular place at a particular time.” Every case is context

specific. In this case (called Begum), the school had taken a responsible and careful approach. It had consulted more widely than the immediate school community. “It had taken immense pains to devise a uniform policy which respected Muslim beliefs but did so in an inclusive, unthreatening and uncompetitive way. The rules laid down were as far from being mindless as uniform rules could ever be.”

REVIEW WITH USERS

The most recent guidance from the Department for Education, published in November 2021, builds on the themes emerging from the cases, Begum in particular. It suggests schools engage with parents and pupils when designing a uniform policy or making significant changes. It also advises schools to consider carefully the risk of challenge to the policy and “consider the appropriate insurance cover”.

The National Education Union’s guidance on uniform or dress codes was also updated in November 2021. The NEU point out that the goal of a dress code or uniform policy should be for students to feel comfortable and able to participate fully in school life

If dress codes are flexible and evenhanded in their application, and have been regularly consulted upon, taking account of the potential impact on disability, gender, gender identity, race, religion or belief, and sexual orientation, then even if an aspect of it now puts one pupil at a particular disadvantage because of a protected characteristic, that may well be justified.

The most important point is that a school is clear about what it wants to achieve, and why, by each aspect of its uniform/dress code. If the aim is a legitimate one, that is half the battle. The next question is whether the means chosen to achieve that aim are proportionate. The exercise is that of a balancing act between competing rights, including the best interests of the school and its community. Get the balancing act right, and as in Begum, interference with the rights of one pupil would be justified in law. As such, it would not be indirect discrimination. Get the balance wrong, as in the patka and hijab example above, and it could be either direct or indirect sex discrimination.

Sally Robertson is a barrister for Cloisters Chambers.

“The most important point is that a school is clear about what it wants to achieve, and why, by each aspect of its uniform/dress code.”

Make a difference in five steps

Simon Lerwill reveals the research and planning that went into creating Marlborough’s new bursary fundraising campaign

Fundraising campaigns require a lot of preparation – often more than people think. Planning for ‘The Marlborough Difference’, the college’s new fundraising campaign, which went live in March this year, started three years ago. During this time we consulted donors, set our goals, built the team, created the brand and launched the campaign. These are probably the big five building blocks for any effective campaign – and it all takes time.

CONSULT WITH DONORS

Co-creation is a relatively new term in fundraising but it speaks to the truth that a major donor is more likely to support a project that they have helped to shape. As a result, consulting with your donors and potential donors is perhaps the most important first step when creating a new campaign. Unfortunately, within three months of commencing our planning work we found ourselves in the first lockdown of the pandemic. Despite this we soon discovered that Zoom can be a great way to run a focus group. In the end we ran several, not just for donors but also for non-donors, teaching staff, support staff and pupils.

All of the feedback we received from this research, alongside the data we already held, was incredibly useful and helped to shape our thinking. We found that the two top motivations for giving to bursaries were, in priority order, the difference it makes to the recipients (the life-changing opportunity to study at Marlborough) and the difference it makes to the college (the benefit to all pupils of having a more diverse pupil community). These became our two core messages.

SET CLEAR, ALIGNED AND AUTHENTIC GOALS

Another discovery we made was that the majority of alumni and parents had a preference to support full bursaries (free places) rather than partial bursaries. As a result we decided to focus the campaign solely on these bursaries. This discovery was useful because the most effective

campaigns often have a really clear focus. In the end we decided on three key goals for our campaign:

• Secure 100 free places by 2033.

• Raise £75 million to fund these places.

• Secure 100 bursary futures volunteers (for example, mentors).

Note that the headline campaign goal is the number of free places, not the fundraising target. Too often, in my view, fundraising campaigns tend to lead with the financial goal, which is odd as we know it is the impact this money makes that actually motivates donors (which in our case is growing the number of bursaries). That said, I knew that £75 million was an ambitious financial goal so we undertook a feasibility study, looking at the data we held, to make sure it was achievable over the 10 years of the campaign.

We wanted to include a volunteering goal because there’s a lot of evidence that people, especially young people, want a relationship with the charities they support beyond just donating money. Volunteering, whether mentoring a pupil, giving a careers talk, or offering work experience, can be a great way for your alumni and parents to get more involved. There is also a lot of evidence that volunteers are more likely to donate (twice as likely on average) and give more (twice as much on average), so there’s a strong correlation between volunteering and raising money too.

Your goals need not only to be clear but also aligned to the strategic priorities of the institution. In Marlborough’s case this was easy as increasing the number

of bursaries was one of the top priorities for the master Louise Moelwyn-Hughes and council (our governing body). If your goal also aligns to your institution’s ethos and history then this is extremely helpful as it gives authenticity to your campaign. In Marlborough’s case we were originally founded to provide financial aid to one-third of the pupils who were sons of clergy, so helping young people from disadvantaged backgrounds was something we’ve always done.

BUILD THE TEAM

There’s a lot of data that demonstrates that larger teams raise more money. Early on I realised that we would need a larger development team at Marlborough to deliver the ambition of the campaign. Campaigns don’t just need fundraisers either, they need communicators, planners and data analysts too. During 2021 we recruited for three new roles, filling the skills gap to plan and run the campaign effectively, increasing the team to nine people. We worked hard to create a team spirit, galvanising people around the goals of the campaign and making sure everyone felt involved and had a part to play.

CREATE THE LOOK

A strong identity can really help a campaign come to life. Early last year we appointed a creative agency, True North, to create the name and look of the

Simon Lerwill

“All of the feedback we received from this research, alongside the data we already held, was incredibly useful and helped to shape our thinking.”

campaign. Getting the campaign name right was the hardest thing (and often this is the case). True North developed about 12 different names, but none of them seemed right. As soon as we saw the ‘Marlborough Difference’ we knew it was the one. In one word they had managed to encapsulate the difference bursaries make to the recipients, to the college and even to society after they leave.

The company developed a powerful, simple and effective identity for the campaign which both aligned to the

Marlborough College branding and stood out as something new (not an easy balance to get right). Crucially it put the bursary recipients front and centre and told their story in a really creative, emotive and poetic way. This approach was then used for our main campaign film which features five of our bursary recipients. It has had a very emotional response which I think is testament to the concept and the pupils themselves who were inspirational. The same approach was used for the website where the

amazing stories of the recipients play a central role.

LAUNCH WITH A BANG

We launched the campaign in two phases. First, we had an exclusive launch event in London for our largest donors and potential donors. We wanted these key individuals to be the first to hear about the campaign and to see the premiere of the campaign film. Making your most important donors feel important is, well, important.

Second, we held a special launch day at the college. We decided early on to use the format of a Giving Day (a 36-hour fundraising challenge which has become a very popular initiative in recent years). A Giving Day typically encourages alumni and parents to donate online while pupils and staff raise funds at the school through a variety of activities. We wanted to harness the buzz of a Giving Day to raise awareness of the new campaign among our whole Marlborough community and to encourage as many donors as possible to make their first donation. In

total, 1,000 donors gave £1.3 million – a record-breaking result. But as important was the impact on the college community who felt involved and took real pride in the campaign. Ensuring your fundraising campaign is truly an institutional one, and not just something run by the development office, is so important. Of course, in reality none of this is possible without institutional buy-in and I am lucky to have a very supportive head, senior leadership and governing body. This support is critical. And none of this can happen without the generous donors

and volunteers and again I am lucky to work with some amazing supporters who have been true pioneers for this campaign (we’ve already raised £15 million thanks to their support). Finally, none of this is possible without my team. I am so proud of what they have achieved together – an amazingly powerful bursary campaign which will go on to change lives and the college forever. Not bad for three years’ work.

Simon Lerwill is director of development at Marlborough College.

29 September 2023 | Business Design Centre, London

The Education Summit will once again include a dedicated independent schools content stream.

Last year, David Woodgate from ISBA spoke to a packed room about threats and challenges to independent schools.

Topics from other speakers included diverse leadership, political and economic issues and market trends.

Tickets are available now –and are free for education providers.

Funds for parents in difficulty

Andrew Maiden sets out a list of grant-making charities that specialise in helping parents who are struggling to pay school fees

Armed Forces Education Trust

The trust supports children and young adults of parents who have or currently serve in the armed forces whose education has been compromised or put at risk.

armedforceseducation.org

Buttle UK

The charity gives grants to help with fees at independent or state boarding schools for children and young people who have a boarding need. It does not fund day fees. buttleuk.org

Canon Holmes Memorial Trust

The trust provides financial assistance to parents who, on account of a change in family finances, find themselves unable to continue to meet their financial commitments to their children's education within the independent sector. canonholmes.org.uk/qualification

Deakin Scholarship Fund

This is a fund to support pupils attending Independent Schools Association member schools. It considers applications for one-off grants towards additional costs of schooling. The pupil must already be in receipt of substantial means-tested bursary funding from the school and/or another fund (at least 50% of published full school fees). isaschools.org.uk/about/ deakin-scholarship-fund.html

Naval Children's Charity

The charity is the only one dedicated to supporting children whose parents work, or have worked, for the naval service. navalchildrenscharity.org.uk

Royal Liverpool Seamen's Orphan Institution

The institution is one of the largest independent grant-giving organisations that helps those families that have lost a seafaring parent. It supports families by providing grants for the children throughout their education. rlsoi-uk.org/home.html

Royal Medical Foundation

The foundation assists General Medical Council-registered doctors and their families who have a proven financial need. It provides assistance with school fees for children of GMC-registered doctors to help them maintain educational stability in times of distress. Assistance is mainly considered for those in their GCSE/Alevel years. royalmedicalfoundation.org

Royal Merchant Navy Education Foundation

The foundation is a national children's educational charity which provides funding for British children of Merchant Navy seafarers, professional sea-going fishermen and RNLI lifeboat crew members who have served or are serving at sea and who are unable to meet their children's educational needs. rmnef.org.uk

Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation

The foundation considers direct referral applications from an accredited school for an educational bursary for children with one or no parents, and whose home circumstances are seriously prejudicial to the child's normal development. Boarding only. royalspringboard.org.uk

St Marylebone Educational Foundation

The foundation provides educational grants for individuals under 25 years of age who have lived or attended school in the City of Westminster for at least two years. It also gives grants to schools based within the City of Westminster. The school must already be assisting people who live in or attend school in the area to qualify. stmaryleboneeducationalfoundation.org

The Emmott Foundation Grants are made to enable students to remain at their present fee-paying school for their sixth-form years when parents or guardians are no longer able to meet their financial commitments as a result of a sudden or unexpected family crisis. ww38.emmottfoundation.org

The Ewelme Exhibition Endowment

The charity provides assistance to young people resident in Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and parts of Wiltshire and Hampshire with bursaries to accredited schools.

Email contact only: ewelme.exhibition@gmail.com

The Lloyd Foundation

The foundation awards means-tested bursaries towards the costs of an English-medium education, in the UK or overseas, for the children of British citizens who are living and working abroad. thelloydfoundation.org.uk

The Mitchell City of London Charity and Educational Foundation

The foundation makes educational awards for single-parent families when the child is over the age of 11, and for sixth-form students with one or both parents. There must be a connection with the City of London either via the pupil attending a City-based school or a parent having lived or worked in the City.

Email contact only: mitchellcityoflondon@gmail.com

The NFL Trust

The charitable object of the trust is the promotion of girls’ education at independent schools and colleges in the UK in accordance with Christian principles, primarily by awarding bursaries to help parents of girls aged 11 to 18 to pay the fees. nfltrust.org.uk

The Ouseley Trust

The trust makes grants to choir schools by (primarily) endowing choristerships, financing courses and providing endowment grants. It can also assist with the cost of school fees at choir schools in England, Wales and Ireland (but not Scotland).

Email contact only: clerk@ouseleytrust.org.uk

The Royal Pinner Educational Trust

The trust supports educational costs for children where at least one parent is, or has recently been, a sales representative, selling business-to-business, with a significant element of travel and whose family circumstances have been affected by adversity. royalpinner.org.uk

The School Fees Charitable Trust

The aim of the trust is to assist those parents who, having selected independent education for their child with reasonable expectations of being able to meet the costs from their own resources, find themselves unable to pay the fees as a result of genuine hardship, arising from an unforeseen change of circumstances.

Email contact only: trustsecretary@sfctrust.org

Thornton Smith & Plevins Young People's Trust

The trust provides financial assistance to sixth-form students in independent education whose families no longer have the sufficient means to pay the fees.

Email contact only: info@thornton-smith-plevins.org.uk

Wispers Trust

The trust was founded following the closure and sale of Wispers School for Girls in Haslemere, Surrey. An investment portfolio was created to provide assistance to pupils whose education in the GCSE or A-level years would be compromised by parents or guardians being unable to pay the fees, through no fault of their own. Recipients have to be resident in Hampshire, Sussex, Surrey or London. wisperstrust.org.uk

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL MANAGEMENT

Brand values

Merge, sell or reposition? This is the question many businesses are asking themselves now, not least of which are independent schools.

Like most parts of the luxury products’ sector, independent education is facing challenging times. On top of rocketing fuel bills, inflation and a diminishing pool of affluent customers, the potential of adding VAT to fees and/or the loss of charitable status means that forward-looking schools are increasingly seeking ways to become financially sustainable and stronger in order to weather this storm. For some, it may come down to survival.

Prep schools appear to be the most vulnerable, but those in which the governors and senior leadership team have long-distance vision are taking action. Some are accepting offers of a partnership or merger with a local senior school looking for a way to ensure its own sales funnel from the bottom up. Some are forming close relationships with other prep schools in order to share costs and unify their individual offers, and some are selling up to foreign investors.

But many are seeking to ‘reposition’ themselves with a fresh and relevant start. And the key word here is ‘relevant’.

NEW PLACES

When repositioning or rebranding schools, heads shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bath water in their eagerness for a bright and shiny quick fix before they move swiftly on to their next headship. However tempting it may be to make changes, though, they should keep calm and remember that the vast majority of school brands owe a great deal to their DNA, which is formed of their core educational vision, brand heritage and sheer love from their community.

Touching this can be perilous. This scenario has played out recently at John Lewis where much has been said about the group battling to regain its soul in order to survive. A focus on finances has meant that the retail group has been criticised for losing sight of its values and not understanding the position it holds as a revered and admired British institution. What happens next at John Lewis will be watched closely by brand strategists. If we were asked what the solution to its problem might be, here’s what we would advise.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Repositioning your brand, whether a school or retail group, is a process undertaken in three stages, bringing everyone that matters along with you in the process.

The first stage is to gather all the information you can about the current (and past) attributes of your school brand. Talk to parents to understand what really matters to them. Talk to pupils to find out what they love about their school. Speak to staff and alumnae. Review your local competitor schools and try to find out what their future plans are. Understand the ongoing impact the wider economic situation will have on parents. And most importantly appreciate what your school truly stands for.

The second stage is to reinterpret and revitalise this brand positioning for the next academic year and beyond. Dig deep and find true empathy with your school

community, current and future. Put yourself in your parents’ shoes – what is their expectation when they commit to paying independent school fees and what do these families really need from this school? In-house research and specialist external researchers will help you to find the answers you need.

The third and final stage is the most challenging. This isn’t about a new logo. It may include one further down the line but, for now, it’s about having a long, hard look at what you can do to answer your current and future parents’ needs in order to build numbers and stay sustainable. It may be fulfilling their childcare needs, offering stripped-down, affordable fees, creating a mixed school for parents who no longer want single sex, or offering an education that will equip their child for an ever-changing world.

WHAT NEXT?

Once you’ve arrived at the answers then you can do the fun, design bit, but only if the design elements need changing in order to truly revitalise the brand. It might be a simple case of changing your descriptor, photography and ways that you communicate your new offer.

Brands with true longevity retain a constancy at their core, yet maintain the ability and foresight to flex according to changing circumstances. They revitalise and are forever relevant. Here are some in the independent school sector that are doing just that.

Carolyn Reed and Katie Cardona of Reed Brand Communication reveal the tricks of the trade when repositioning your school brand

“Many are seeking to ‘reposition’ themselves with a fresh and relevant start. And the key word here is ‘relevant’.”

Katie Cardona

Carolyn Reed

RYDES HILL PREPARATORY SCHOOL AND NURSERY, GUILDFORD

Rydes Hill is a high achieving girls’ prep school where more than 90% of pupils gain a place at their first-choice school at 11-plus. The school recognised that most parents were both working and needed full-time nursery provision. This extended the core values of Rydes Hill, and the pastoral care for which it is recognised, by offering its youngest pupils a 48-week a year, extended day, educational nursery. It also enabled the school to have a larger funnel of pupils into reception.

Sarah Norville, head of Rydes Hill, explains: “In the past five years our co-ed nursery has transformed from having around 10 to15 children per day, to a thriving nursery with two classes that are full each day. We took the decision to split our nursery into two classes and move into new, purpose-built accommodation in 2021, and the result has been fantastic. The demographic of the parents across the school as a whole is predominantly dual working, so the decision to move to an all-year-round model (while maintaining term time –only as an option) was a game changer. We try to be as flexible as possible to accommodate the needs of our families.”

KING’S HOUSE SCHOOL, RICHMOND

King’s House is a thriving boys’ prep with a long-standing reputation for excellence in the local area. The school is forward-thinking and in tune with wider societal shifts and remains constantly relevant in the world of boys’ education. For example, the school has introduced a number of contemporary initiatives,

such as Good Lads, to ensure the boys understand what it is to be kind and a responsible man in the world today.

King’s House also meets the challenges of the changes in structure for prep schools. While sending an increasing number of boys to senior schools at 11, it also welcomes in a new cohort at the same point who need preparation for entry to boarding senior schools at 13-plus.

At the same time, it had a mixed nursery with parents urging it to take the girls on into the prep school this year. This coincided with more parents seeking a co-ed school for their children. This year it announced that from September it will become a fully co-ed prep school.

Marketing manager Bella Frost says: “The decision for KHS to move to full co-education was ultimately driven by parent demand. The nursery has been co-ed since it opened in 2009, and increasingly we had been hearing from parents (of boys and girls) how much they’d love for the school to be co-ed. We’ll be able to better meet the needs of local families by becoming the only co-ed prep in Richmond – we’ve been told many times how much easier it would be for parents to only have one drop off. Parents also value the social benefits of co-ed, and the move ultimately allows us to keep up with the times.”

HALSTEAD PREP SCHOOL FOR GIRLS AND ST ANDREW’S SCHOOL, WOKING

These two local, successful prep schools recognised the need for a new and dynamic co-ed school that would extend from nursery to 16. From September, it will be forming an equal partnership to

do this, with the launch of Halstead St Andrew’s School.

St Andrews, Woking is already a co-ed school and merging with Halstead, a girls-only prep school, means an even better gender balance. Extending to 16, yet still providing preparation for other senior schools, the new partnership school will continue to recognise the need for choice among some parents and also the reassurance for others that their children will no longer need to undergo the 11-plus/13-plus process. It’s a win-win outcome.

The current head of St Andrew’s School Woking and future head of Halstead St Andrew’s, Dominic Fitzgerald state: “Our vision is to build on the current success of both schools, to develop the best we both offer and to create a dynamic and exciting new school that prepares pupils for an ever-changing world.

“The partnership will also provide more opportunities and greater career enhancement for our staff. This in turn will enable us to develop the already outstanding educational provision we currently offer and preserve the wellknown, well-loved family atmosphere that both schools provide. While both Halstead and St Andrew’s School are successful and stable, together we will be more robust to face the future.”

These examples demonstrate that by taking the best of who they are and adapting those characteristics to meet the changing market, these schools have been able to strengthen and future-proof their brands. As Charles Darwin said “it is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one more responsive to change”.

To keep up-to-date with the latest independent schools news, ensure you receive future copies and sign up to our newsletter, please visit our website. independentschoolmanagement.co.uk

MAD world

Rachel Hadley-Leonard addresses recruitment issues for marketing, admissions and development staff

Recruitment in schools is tough right now and, wherever we turn, articles about the teacher recruitment crisis abound. Brexit, the Covid pandemic, teachers’ pensions, and strikes over pay and conditions, have joined together in the perfect storm to make excellent talent acquisition harder than ever. Teaching vacancies that used to have over 50 or more solid applications, are now seeing merely a trickle of applications, if that.

But what about the recruitment of support staff in our schools? I say “support staff”, but as a colleague recently pointed out following an article I had written on independent school closures, why we are still labelling marketing, admissions and development (MAD) directors as “support staff”, is a mystery. In any other organisation, the registrar might well be titled global sales director, the head of marketing, possibly the UK head of marketing or sales, while the head of fundraising and alumni relations could be the chief financial officer. But regardless of title, it would be a given that all three positions would also be part of the executive team and seen as company leaders. Anyway, I digress a little. That’s a battle for another day.

MORE THAN SUPPORT

The recruitment of so-called support staff, however, is undoubtedly getting tougher. The available talent pool is diminishing, for a myriad reasons, while the demand and need for such roles is increasing. School heads, bursars and

governors are realising that it is these front-facing, yet ultimately commercial positions, which carry an equal weight to academic staff in terms of a school’s reputation and success.

Sustainability, growth and pupil retention in our schools are heavily reliant on support staff, and in particular, the marketing, admissions and development teams. Finding the right person for such roles is even more fundamental.

A contributing factor to the MAD role recruitment crisis, akin to teacher recruitment issues, lies in inadequate salaries. I benchmark MAD role salaries on a weekly basis, and it frustrates me that schools aim to recruit a person who will be partially responsible for the school’s success, or a million-pound fundraising campaign, on a salary equivalent to little more than minimum wage.

While MAD salaries are slowly beginning to command the financial rewards they warrant, it has been a slow change, and some schools, mindful of the bottom line, still seek to secure these essential front-facing appointments on the cheap. At the end of the day, you

will get what you pay for. Consider the following:

• Is your offer comparable to rates in the commercial sector?

• What benefits are you offering?

• Will an annual salary review set against key performance indicators be standard practice?

If we are to secure candidates who can marry together commercial acumen with an understanding of our unique education sector, then we will need to dig deeper and invest further in the valuable assets of the MAD team.

“The recruitment of so-called support staff is undoubtedly getting tougher. The available talent pool is diminishing.”

Rachel Hadley-Leonard

for candidates within educational circles, and by doing so, perhaps missed out on the wealth of expertise from the commercial and charitable sectors.”

WHAT’S THE DRAW?

Attracting colleagues to your school over other offers is also a crucial part of the recruitment process. It is often heads, bursars and HR that are responsible for writing the job description. They know the outcomes they want, more often than not “a school full to capacity”, and “an unparalleled reputation”. But when writing the job specification for a MAD post, is due consideration given to the people skills required to achieve such goals? Recruiting for MAD roles is all about the person.

Where will we find these inspirational,

efficient, creative, warm but businesssavvy candidates? No longer will a small square advertisement in the back pages of an educational journal, followed up by a typed document listing two pages of mundane duties, attract the right applicants. It constantly surprises me how dull, uninspiring and quite frankly boring, some advertisements and recruitment packs can be. Forward-thinking school leaders and HR personnel will be repackaging old-fashioned applicant packs and replacing them with bright, colourful imagery depicting the enticing world of the school. Quotes, or better still, videos generated by QR codes from current employees, details and images of impressive working conditions and generous benefits will almost always attract a higher-quality candidate.

LOOK BEYOND

Historically, schools have searched for candidates within educational circles, and by doing so, perhaps missed out on the wealth of expertise from the commercial and charitable sectors. But the education sector is unique, and we need to be sure

that skills are transferrable. Discerning schools may try to find candidates with experience of both the education and commercial sectors.

Flexibility and trust are key when looking at the small print. Talk to any self-respecting, and more importantly, successful modern-day business, and they will offer flexitime, annual salary reviews, holiday purchase schemes and even ‘duvet days’ as standard. The MAD team is often heavily committed at weekends and evenings, so why not acknowledge and reflect this in a sensible, flexible approach to working hours? If you have been lucky enough to find the right person for your school, don’t let them slip through your fingers because of inflexible working arrangements and a low salary.

Of the many appointments your school makes, getting the MAD team right should be very high on your agenda. After all, you are effectively appointing your next global head of sales and marketing.

Rachel Hadley-Leonard is director and founder of RHL Consulting and MAD Recruitment.

“Historically, schools have searched

Lie of the land

Morgan Allen outlines the implications for property matters at charity schools as a consequence of the changes to the Charities Act

The independent school sector is dominated in terms of ownership by charitable institutions, with approximately 80% of the UK’s independent schools held within the charity sector. Some have formed charity school groups such as the Girls Day School Trust (25 schools), United Learning (nearly 100 schools) and Methodist Independent Schools Trust (10 schools), while the majority comprise single-site schools.

Several strong charitable schools have been acquiring other schools within their catchments either to expand the age range taught or the facilities available, for example Berkhamsted School, which now has six schools within its ownership and Mill Hill Foundation which now has seven schools through recent charity mergers.

The Charities Bill received Royal Assent last year and has now passed into law as the Charities Act 2022. This article considers some of the key provisions of the Act that specifically affect charity school property.

RED TAPE

It has long been recognised that charity schools are subject to a heavy administrative burden which can affect a school’s ability to further its educational charitable purposes.

The recent changes to the Act have been welcomed by the sector and while the changes are largely technical, they are designed to make a positive and practical difference.

The Act implements the majority of recommendations made by the Law Commission in its 2017 report ‘Technical issues in charity law’ and aims to reduce the administrative burden, saving both time and money, while allowing charities to focus their efforts on their charitable work, such as education.

The Act seeks to protect charity land and ensure that charities can deal with disposals of charity land in a way that is proportionate and appropriate.

The Act introduces additional flexibility in terms of who can provide advice, what the advice should cover, the form it should take, and the requirement to advertise. This more flexible, less prescriptive approach is likely to be welcomed by charities that regularly dispose of property, but may make the rules harder to navigate for less experienced governors.

WHO CAN PROVIDE ADVICE?

The category of those who can give advice to charities on disposals of their charity’s land has been expanded. The Act substitutes reference to a ‘qualified surveyor’ with ‘designated adviser’, which reflects an expanded category of advisors who are not members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

This allows advisors from The National Association of Estate Agents and The Central Association of Agricultural Valuers to give advice to charities on disposals, where applicable. It also allows for that advice or report to come from charity trustees and governors, officers and employees who are qualified, including where the report is provided in the course of employment. It has yet to be seen whether charities will be inclined to adopt this option or prefer to rely on insured professionals, against whom recourse could be sought in the event of errors.

Governors are likely to want to be satisfied that, whichever type of designated adviser they instruct, they: • have the appropriate qualifications

• are professionally regulated

• have suitable professional indemnity insurance in place, where appropriate, and

• don’t have any interest that conflicts with that of the charity, particularly if the advisor is to be paid for the advice.

WHAT SHOULD THE ADVICE COVER?

At present, trustees (governors) are required to obtain a written report covering the matters specified in the Charities (Qualified Surveyors’ Reports) Regulations 1992. The Act significantly simplifies this requirement by replacing the regulations with a requirement for a designated adviser to provide advice principally around the following matters:

• the value of the relevant land

• any steps which could be taken to enhance that value

• whether and, if so, how the relevant land should be marketed

• anything else which could be done to ensure that the terms on which the disposition is made are the best that can reasonably be obtained for the charity, and

• any other matters which the adviser believes should be drawn to the attention of the charity trustees (governors).

On the one hand, this should give advisers greater flexibility to advise on the matters which they regard as most significant to the transaction in question;

Morgan Allen

“It has long been recognised that charity schools are subject to a heavy administrative burden which can affect a school’s ability to further its educational charitable purposes.”

may not be best-placed to advise on overage agreements (sometimes also referred to as an antiembarrassment clause, which seeks to stop the seller looking foolish if the buyer sells-on the property at a massive mark-up shortly after buying it).”

on the other hand, there’s a risk that potentially important matters, such as the existence of unhelpful restrictive

covenants, or a complex planning environment, may be overlooked by a less experienced adviser.

In addition, less experienced advisers may not be best-placed to advise on overage agreements (sometimes also referred to as an anti-embarrassment clause, which seeks to stop the seller looking foolish if the buyer sells-on the property at a massive mark-up shortly after buying it). Overage agreements are time-consuming and often very complex to negotiate.

REQUIREMENT TO ADVERTISE?

The Act removes the requirement to advertise a proposed disposition in the manner advised in a surveyor’s report, or for the reports to contain the information prescribed by regulations made by the secretary of state (s119(4), 2011 Act).

CHARITY-TO-CHARITY DISPOSALS

At present, charity-to-charity transactions for less than best price are generally excluded. The Act recognises that in certain cases this approach is not appropriate and this exception will no longer apply to a commercial transaction where a transaction is intended to achieve the best price that can reasonably be obtained for the disposing charity, or a social investment.

IMPLEMENTATION

The Act makes amendments to The Charities Act 2011 and will be implemented imminently (and may even have been implemented by the date of this publication).

Morgan Allen is a partner in the education team at real estate firm Gerald Eve.

“Less experienced advisers

Good vibrations

Research shows that mental health issues for pupils and staff have increased as a result of the pandemic. What is the role of governors in supporting school wellbeing? Durell Barnes reports

We are all aware of the increasing emphasis in schools on wellbeing provision for staff and pupils. But governors should also focus on wellbeing because it is the right thing to do, not because it is required.

In May 2021 Barnardo’s polling showed “the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people in Britain could still be worsening a year on after the pandemic first struck” and this has been amply borne out since.

In November last year, the ‘Covid social mobility and opportunities’ study led by University College London and the Sutton Trust reported that almost half of their 13,000 respondents had self-harmed in the past year and it recommended that mental health and wellbeing support should be added to pandemic catch-up activities in schools. In the same month, Schools Week published the findings of its research into the effect of what it called the “Covid toll: what we’ve learnt about teacher anxiety” which stressed in particular the impact on the pipeline into school leadership. In his detailed analysis of the educational legacy of Covid-19, 'Lessons from lockdown', Tony Breslin recommended that “there needs to be a much stronger focus on matters of staff wellbeing, including the wellbeing of heads and senior leaders, if schools are to retain the capacity to enable the young people in their care to thrive”.

THE BEST RESPONSES

In the best schools, we are seeing admirable responses to these findings. Schools have moved on from solely reactive provision to recognising and supporting students struggling with wellbeing issues to embrace proactive schemes to promote the flourishing of individuals not just in school but for life. There is greater recognition of the importance of work/life balance for staff, and what constitutes a supportive workplace in terms of monitoring workload and associated stress or anxiety. As the National Governance Association (NGA), commenting on the research undertaken by FFT Education Datalab, pointed out “supportive school leadership and reasonable workloads are both associated with reduced teacher stress”. Interestingly, it added, “that there was no discernible relationship between either collegiality of staff or having a helpful behaviour policy with levels of teacher stress”.

FURTHER READING

Governors’ interest in wellbeing issues naturally increased during the pandemic and we began to see reporting in this area. If boards are to offer appropriate support and challenge in their monitoring and oversight of this, they need to be well informed. Among the plethora of sources available, useful information can be found in the pamphlet 'Supporting Mental Health and Wellbeing in Schools' on the website of the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families and another organisation used by increasing numbers of schools is The Wellbeing Hub. A further trusty source of information and support is the NGA.

STUDY DATA

Boards need to decide how they are going to receive information about this area, what data they require, and how they are going to interrogate it. Some boards have a designated subcommittee or a working group, sometimes associated with the monitoring of the leadership’s response

to the new inspection framework. This enables focus on both staff and student welfare in the same forum but can lead to the creation of another silo. Where there is a welfare or pastoral committee, student wellbeing can sit there, although there is an argument that separating pastoral and academic is inappropriate in the current context – this issue probably merits an article of its own. Elsewhere, it is regarded as central to all school functions and is discussed at the education committee.

However this reporting question is resolved, I strongly recommend that boards appoint a link governor to take a particular interest in this area. Expertise for such a role is of course desirable but it is not essential; the key is that pupils, parents and staff can see the priority being placed on the issue by this appointment, and have confidence that a board member will be available to support and challenge school leadership. This is not a role which can simply be added to the functions of the overstretched link safeguarding governor and should probably be separate from the role of any governor who is nominated by (or even a member of) the staff.

KEEP THE BOARD IN THE KNOW

School leaders will want to inform the board about the provision for pupils through personal, social, health and economic education, tutorial programmes, assemblies etc, and for

Durell Barnes

“In May 2021 Barnardo’s polling showed “the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people in Britain could still be worsening a year on after the pandemic first struck” and this has been amply borne out since.”

“Benchmarking and reviewing, not just provision, but also culture, can assist with resetting and monitoring priorities in this area and can be achieved internally or with external consultant assistance.”

staff through induction programmes, coaching and mentoring, performance review or appraisal and the work of the HR department. But, as with so many areas, it’s important to be clear from the outset what information is required and in what form. Governors do not want to receive reams of PSHE schemes of work, for example, but will appreciate a policy setting out what the school seeks to achieve in terms of wellbeing, how it measures that, and what success criteria look like. Data relating to feedback from surveys as appropriate of pupils, staff and parents is useful but only if it shows patterns and the executive can demonstrate what it has done in the light of this feedback. Systems for

helping schools achieve this are likely to be developed in the coming months. Benchmarking and reviewing, not just provision, but also culture, can assist with resetting and monitoring priorities in this area and can be achieved internally or with external consultant assistance.

In monitoring and overseeing this area, as with others, boards will want to receive data which has been analysed so that they can question the findings rather than the numbers. They will want to be assured that measures are in place not just to respond to wellbeing issues when problems occur but that at all levels of the school provision is such that wellbeing is actively promoted. In this area, as with safeguarding, boards will benefit from anecdotal information which encapsulates the kind of things which can go wrong and how people can be assisted, as well as the ways in which ‘promotion’ is ‘active’.

OVERSIGHT

We know that some roles are particularly stressful, for example heads of boarding houses and, in particular, designated safeguarding leads (DSLs), as demonstrated by the research undertaken last year by Schools Week carried out with Supporting Education. I strongly recommend that DSLs have proper supervision (this is quite separate from

line management and provides support and opportunities for reflection on a confidential basis).

Chairs of governors in particular will be mindful of the importance of monitoring the wellbeing of the head and of his or her oversight of the wellbeing of the leadership team. We must not forget that senior leaders and other professionals are primarily responsible for their own wellbeing, but as the demands of senior leadership increase it’s important to ensure that insofar as possible the wellbeing of executives is not impeded by constraints which governors could alleviate. This is why many heads now benefit from coaching and mentoring in addition to their relationship with the chair. Any appraisal of the head or the chair should include feedback on this area.

The addition of another strand of oversight may not be welcome as governors contemplate the vast array of upcoming challenges. But the monitoring of wellbeing will not only ensure real insight into the life of the school, but also provide assurances that focus is rightly on looking after young people and preparing them for the future and that school leaders are ready to face that array of challenges.

Durell Barnes is head of governance and compliance for RSAcademics.

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Unstoppable march of AI

Chris Griffiths asserts that students will grow up in an artificial intelligence world and school leaders must adapt to prepare them for it

Change is often daunting. Over the past couple of decades, technology has seemed to advance at an ever-increasing pace. Artificial intelligence is the latest, and arguably the biggest, breakthrough of these many developments.

There’s no doubt that AI will transform modern life in much the same way the internet did before it. Given these incoming changes, it’s hardly surprising that envisioning a future for current and prospective students seems harder than ever before.

While talk of AI sometimes puts us in mind of a dystopian future – with man and machine in direct opposition – the truth is, AI has huge potential to make life better. It is only those who are unable, or unwilling, to adapt who will ultimately be left behind.

That’s why equipping students with the skills needed to thrive in a new, AI-centred world will be essential to ensuring their success. Teaching students about what AI is, while also nurturing the crucial human skills which are not possessed by AI technologies, will prepare them to enter the workplaces of the future.

THE STRENGTH OF HUMAN SKILLS

While the rising dominance of AI may seem like a knock to human skills, it actually serves to show just how important they really are. AI is essentially a complex set of algorithms, able to work with vast data stores to produce insights and helpful predictions, as well as being able to automate analytical and processbased work.

While this may enable AI to automate a number of jobs and tasks in the future – from customer service to medical diagnosis – it is not capable of being creative in the truest, human sense. Creativity will still be required to produce the original ideas which human civilisations have always thrived on. Plus, critical thinking and empathy will be necessary to analyse effectively the actual

AI output, to ensure that it’s ethically sound and genuinely useful.

Historically, education has focused on the attainment of knowledge and its comprehension. This is no longer enough. We are already in the information age where knowledge in and of itself does not guarantee success, and the AI era will take this cultural shift one step further.

In a world where even the most dense and complicated scientific theories can be explained in simple terms by AI, and degree-level academic essays can be produced in mere moments, students must learn to engage critically with information. Not only understanding it, but producing their own ideas and insights about it, with all the emotional nuance and creative insight only a human mind can produce. While AI may be able to help in tackling our day-to-day problems, only human imagination will be able to answer the era-defining questions of our time. That’s why creativity, critical thinking and empathy must be taught as actual skills, not niceto-have extras.

PROMOTE AI-LITERACY AND DEBATE

Shying away from AI helps no one. When computers started to enter the educational sphere in the nineties, information technology emerged as a subject to ensure students were equipped with the ability to use and make the most of the new computing technology. Of course, that proved to be an incredibly important step as computers continued to develop and dominate from that point onwards. It’s arguably even more crucial that we take the same approach with AI, making it a purposeful point of discussion within education.

Putting AI on the syllabus will require more than a single lesson every couple of weeks. In order to be comprehensive, it should cover a number of angles. This includes subjects relating to the literal inner workings of AI – such as data science, programming and machine learning – as well as philosophical and

ethical questions about the role it might play in society.

AI is trained on data – which is ultimately knowledge produced by humans. And, as such, it sometimes replicates human biases. While we may think of AI as coldly clinical and objective, there have already been a plethora of uncomfortable examples which show it is still capable of making mistakes and even producing discriminatory information. When students are aware of the full potential of AI – both the positive and negative aspects – they’ll be enabled to engage with it from an informed, empowered perspective. Both now, and in the future.

Chris Griffiths

“When computers started to enter the educational sphere in the nineties, information technology emerged as a subject to ensure students were equipped with the ability to use and make the most of the new computing technology.”

A NEW LEARNING ETHOS

AI will change all facets of our life, from education, to communication, to work and beyond. While there are innumerable ways AI will enhance education itself – allowing for more bespoke and personalised learning than ever before – it will also continue to develop and evolve after students complete their studies. Given that constant progress will be the order of the day in an AI-powered world, learning to learn will be a key part of preparing students for this new state of continual evolution.

Learning to learn, also means learning to love learning. Students must learn to enjoy the process. They may never be able to commit to memory the same wealth of knowledge that an AI can, but they can certainly bring a level of critical and ethical insight which would be impossible for a machine. Given the number of changes they will experience in their lifetime – and the potential for new jobs which don’t even exist today – being resilient, adaptive

“Learning to learn, also means learning to love learning. Students must learn to enjoy the process. They may never be able to commit to memory the same wealth of knowledge that an AI can, but they can certainly bring a level of critical and ethical insight which would be impossible for a machine.”

and quick to learn will be essential in staying abreast with the times.

Given the biases sometimes present within AI itself, learning to learn should

also manifest as thinking about thinking. There’s never been a more pertinent time for metacognition, as AI surpasses humans in many analytical areas, knowing our own minds will be incredibly important in defining what is the remit of humanity, and what can be handled by machine.

Students who can identify common thinking traps will be able to engage and collaborate with AI with a selfawareness of their own limitations, and AI’s limitations also. Common thinking traps include selective thinking (the tendency to validate certain ideas and discount others), reactive thinking (jumping to react without strategy to external events or influences), and assumptive thinking (accepting a convention or idea commonly held as true just because it’s widely believed). Students who see learning as an exciting journey, rather than a destination, will be best equipped to deal with the changing tides of AI.

LEAD BY EXAMPLE

Last but not least, educators and institutions alike would do well to lead by example, embracing the integration of AI in the classroom. The fear of plagiarism

and cheating has understandably shaken many teachers, who worry about retaining the integrity of assessment in this new age. However, resistance is ultimately futile when the changes are coming this thick and fast – and transparency is the best way to preserve trust.

By introducing AI into the classroom – through both tools and discussion –you can help to break down taboos and prepare students for what’s to come. Awareness is the best tonic for ignorance, and the educators who embrace AI will not only be able to have frank discussions about its pros and cons, they will also be able to fortify their teaching with the many benefits AI can already offer to the world of education today.

After all, it’s not just students who will encounter change. AI will change

the face of education in every way. The future is one where rote tasks such as marking and assessment are managed by AI, and curriculums can be adapted in an agile way to suit different learning styles and levels automatically. These changes will not disempower educators. On the contrary, it will mean more space for the human side of teaching than ever before.

We cannot run from the future. Educators who embrace AI, open up discussion, and make space for holistic, creative learning will be the ones who give their students the best chance of flourishing in an AI world.

Chris Griffiths is a keynote speaker and founder of the AI-powered app, ayoa. He is also the author, with Caragh Medlicott, of The Creative Thinking Handbook.

We trust you will find this issue of Independent School Management informative and useful.

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A guide for us all

Former HMC chief and head Mike Buchanan reviews a new book offering practical guidance on strategy

The Quick Guide to Effective Strategy by Craig Lawrence is a practical book that provides valuable insights into how organisational leaders can develop and implement effective strategies.

The book is organised around Lawrence’s five stages, each of which covers a specific aspect of strategy development and implementation. He draws heavily on his experience and knowledge of strategic planning from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. While this book is not specifically aimed at schools or the people who lead them, it has much to offer as a primer for those starting out in the area of strategic leadership or those in need some fresh thinking – that’s all of us!

Refreshingly, Lawrence doesn’t seek to elevate strategy to some undeserved intellectual plain. He avoids most jargon and seeks to provide practical tools for the reader to try out.

CLARITY IS KEY

One of the key themes of the book is the importance of having a clear understanding of what strategy means. Lawrence defines strategy as a set of actions designed to achieve a longterm goal or objective, and the guiding principles to use when the inevitable change in conditions occur. He emphasises that strategy is not just about

planning or setting goals, but also about making difficult choices and trade-offs. My experience is that many leaders rush to action planning without properly and fully considering the driving purpose of the actions. Starting with the ‘Why?’, as suggested by Simon Sinek, is at the heart of Lawrence’s approach.

The book provides several examples of how (school) leaders can use strategy to make decisions about resource allocation, programme development, and stakeholder engagement. Another important tool presented in the book is the PESTLE analysis, which stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental factors, and is a framework for analysing the external environment in which an organisation operates. This is particularly apt for independent schools at present as they face up to the prospect of the tax measures of a future Labour government.

Lawrence explains how school leaders can use the PESTLE analysis to identify opportunities and threats that may affect their school's performance. He also provides guidance on how to conduct a PESTLE analysis, including tips on gathering data and engaging stakeholders.

ON TRACK

In addition to the PESTLE analysis, the book discusses the importance of tracking risks and establishing performance measures, and provides a helpful example of a useable risk matrix. Lawrence explains that risk management is an essential component of effective strategy development and implementation, and provides practical tips on how to identify, assess and mitigate risks. He also emphasises the need to establish performance measures that align with the school's strategic goals and objectives, and provides guidance on how to develop and track these measures over time. Risk and performance tracking are often neglected in strategic plans as they are the least appealing parts for many people, and yet, the most important.

GOVERNANCE TOO

The book also includes a chapter on governance, which Lawrence defines as the people, systems and processes that ensure the strategy is being managed effectively and efficiently. He explains how school leaders can use governance structures to ensure accountability, transparency, and stakeholder engagement. He also provides guidance on how to establish effective governance structures, including tips on selecting board members, developing policies and procedures, and engaging with stakeholders. Again, this is an area which is typically weak in schools and often leads to the failure of the strategy.

TELL THE STORY

Finally, the book includes advice on communication planning. He explains how effective communication can help school leaders build support for their strategies, engage stakeholders, and ensure alignment between the school's vision and its actions. He also provides practical tips on how to develop a communication plan, including advice on identifying key messages, selecting communication channels, and engaging with stakeholders.

One of the strengths of The Quick Guide to Effective Strategy is its practicality. The book is filled with carefully selected real-world examples and case studies that illustrate how school

Mike Buchanan

“Refreshingly, Lawrence doesn’t seek to elevate strategy to some undeserved intellectual plain. He avoids most jargon and seeks to provide practical tools for the reader to try out.”

leaders can apply the concepts and tools presented in the book to be translated to their own contexts. Lawrence also provides numerous templates and checklists that school leaders can use to facilitate their own strategy development and implementation.

Lawrence writes in a straightforward and accessible style that is easy to follow. The book is well-organised, with each chapter building upon the concepts presented in the previous chapters with useful summaries for catch up and review, including the key tools he has used. I shall

certainly be keeping it on my shelf for use in my work with schools and school leaders.

Mike Buchanan is a senior associate of the Association of Education Advisers.

people moves

Mill Hill School appoints David Benson as new head

Mill Hill School has appointed David Benson as its new head from January next year, replacing Jane Sanchez who is moving to another role within The Mill Hill School Foundation. Mill Hill is a co-educational school for boys and girls aged 13 to 18 in Northwest London. offering day, weekly and full boarding.

Benson joins from Kensington Aldridge Academy, where he has been the founding principal since September 2013.

Having been educated at St. Paul’s, Benson qualified from the Teach First programme and is making the move from the state sector to the independent sector after 10 years at the academy, when the school had one year group. He has overseen the growth of the academy to its current total of 1,300 pupils and 180 staff.

The current head of Mill Hill School, Sanchez, has been part of the Mill Hill Staff for the past 20 years, including as head for the past five years.

George Watson’s College announces new principal

George Watson’s College, a co-educational private day school in Edinburgh, has appointed Lisa Kerr as principal, succeeding Melvyn Roffe in August next year.

Since 2017 Kerr has been principal of Gordonstoun where she has led a programme of capital investment, academic improvement and international development. She previously worked in commercial media and broadcasting at Radio Forth and Classic FM. This was followed by several years working in strategic consultancy where she worked with infrastructure businesses undergoing transformational change.

Kerr is a vice-chair of Scottish Opera and has been a governor of three schools. She sits on the boards of several

James Jones appointed head of Sidcot School Sidcot School in Somerset has appointed James Jones as head to succeed Iain Kilpatrick from January next year. Sidcot is a co-educational private school for boarding and day pupils, associated with the Religious Society of Friends.

Since 2017 Jones has been deputy head at Wycombe Abbey an independent girls’ boarding and day school in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

Kilpatrick will take up the position of executive headmaster at YK Pao School in Shanghai, China at the start of the new year.

James Jones

David Benson

Lisa Kerr

regulatory bodies including at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. A deputy lieutenant of Moray, Kerr has recently been appointed as a member of the board of HMC –the Head’s Conference.

Lathallan School appoints new bursar

Lathallan School, a co-educational all-through independent school at Brotherton Castle in Northeast Scotland, has appointed Edward Foster as its new bursar succeeding Valerie Corbett who has retired after working as bursar for more than 20 years.

Foster will participate in Lathallan’s strategic development and educational offering, responsible for long-term financial and operational stability, and overseeing a team of support staff. Other areas of responsibility include estates, IT, facilities, procurement and human resources.

Foster started his career in the public sector, working at Audit Scotland. In 2006, he began a six-year tenure with The City of Edinburgh Council, gaining his CIPFA professional accountancy qualification and working as an accountant within the children and families department, and on the Edinburgh Trams project.

In 2013, he was appointed finance manager with The Highland Council and three years later, promoted to head of finance.

Taunton School appoints new chief operating officer

Taunton School, a co-educational independent day and boarding schools in Somerset has appointed Sandra Reynolds as chief operating officer, replacing Nikki Miller who has held the position for seven years.

Reynolds is currently chief operating officer and chief

people moves

financial officer for a large multi-academy trust in Wiltshire and will take up her new post in May.

Reynolds, who originally trained as an accountant, will be moving to Somerset from Wiltshire with her husband and two daughters.

Founded in 1847, Taunton is located on a 56-acre site which is home to five separate schools: a nursery, a pre-preparatory school, a prep school, senior school and an international school.

St John’s School appoints Alex Tate as new head

The governing council of St John’s School in Leatherhead, Surrey has appointed Alex Tate as the school’s 15th head effective from August. St John’s is a co-educational independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 11 to 18.

After studying modern history at Oxford University, Tate began his career in the shipping industry. He spent 11 years working in the UK and overseas, with placements in New York, Taiwan and Hong Kong with his final position as general manager for the business in China, based in Shanghai. In 2006, he decided to become a teacher and returned to Oxford to study for his PGCE.

He became head of politics at Dulwich College and ran a day and boarding house at Abingdon School. He was later deputy head of St John’s School from 2014 to 2017, leaving to take up the headship of Bedford Modern School, a co-educational independent day school for pupils aged seven to 18, which he has led for the past six years.

Tate is a keen sportsman who previously coached rugby, cricket and hockey. He has also travelled widely in the Arctic, including spending a winter in Northeast Greenland as part of a scientific expedition and participating in a race to the Magnetic North Pole raising £30,000 for charity.

Sandra Reynolds

Alex Tate

The last word

David Woodgate was born in Okehampton in Devon. He went to school at Plymouth College which was then a direct grant school which went fully independent once the direct grant was abolished. He currently lives in Little Venice in central London but also enjoys escapes to his cottage in Porthleven in Cornwall. He is a determined traveller with 114 countries under his belt, including North Korea.

Woodgate qualified as a barrister in 1982 following a first degree in languages (French and Russian), law and linguistics. This included six months studying in the former Soviet Union in 1979. He moved from the law into the City, holding several senior management and executive positions in National Westminster Bank and The Royal Bank of Scotland – in strategic planning, corporate finance and latterly as director of e-commerce for the corporate bank. He ran an outsourcing business and a specialist internal consultancy providing market intelligence and competitor analysis.

He was chief executive of the Institute of Financial Accountants from 2007 to 2015 after which he spent a year as the strategy consultant to the Institute of Public Accountants in Australia.

He completed an MBA at Warwick University Business School in 1992. A former chief executive of the Institute of Administrative Management, he also holds a postgraduate diploma in charity management from the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a chartered banker,

a freeman of the City of London and a liveryman and member of the court of the Worshipful Company of Wheelwrights. Woodgate is also a former chair of governors of an HMC independent school and is currently a governor of the City of London School.

Woodgate was appointed chief executive of the Independent Schools Bursars’ Association (ISBA) in May 2016. ISBA has 20 staff and 1,300 member schools.

What has been the biggest challenge in your job so far?

Meeting the needs of our schools during the Covid pandemic in a fast-moving situation with many unknown unknowns and great uncertainty.

What will be the likely next big challenge?

Facing up to the multitude of political, geopolitical, economic and societal threats facing the sector and supporting our member schools in rising to the challenges that such threats will entail.

What has been the biggest surprise for you about the sector?

Pleasantly, the strong professional commitment to doing everything possible to support children’s education and to deliver excellence in the business process of our schools. Early on I was also impressed with the breadth of schools within ISBA and the diversity of backgrounds of the people who undertake bursarial roles.

“Listen to the inner voice; if it is telling you something does not seem right, it most likely isn't. Follow instincts and experience and be prepared to make yourself unpopular if necessary to do the right thing.”

David Woodgate

What is the most useful advice you’ve been given?

Listen to the inner voice; if it is telling you something does not seem right, it most likely isn't. Follow instincts and experience and be prepared to make yourself unpopular if necessary to do the right thing. Do not underestimate instinct and gut feeling arising from experience and don't make the same mistake twice.

Who’s been the biggest influence on you in your career?

I am lucky to have had a number of role models throughout my career and people who have acted as wise sounding boards or just to whom I can have a rant on a Sunday evening.

Please share a funny story about a career mishap. When working for a leading bank, I managed to delete the whole strategic plan on which we had been working for nine months just one week before it was due to go to the main board for approval – in the days before back-ups were routinely done. It was suggested that I might like to take a long walk around the block while the rest of the team tried to resurrect what had been lost. A useful learning point!

What do you hope your legacy at ISBA will be?

A strong and powerful organisation that has a clear sense of strategic direction but which evolves continuously to meet the

needs of its members as these evolve in turn. A trusted voice in the sector and an influencer of everything to do with the business of independent schools.

What are your hobbies/outside interests?

Theatre, reading, travelling, serious walking (I have completed the whole coast path around Cornwall of something over 300 miles) and believe it or not, I do exercise at the gym quite regularly.

What are your personal future plans? The CEO of ISBA is the best job I have had and at times it feels like all of my experiences over the past 35 years have come together to support what I am doing for the association. So long as the board and members will have me, I am happy to stay on for a few more years, but after eventual retirement I will look for non-executive or trustee roles in the not-for-profit sector and plan to do some serious globe-trotting.

“I am lucky to have had a number of role models throughout my career and people who have acted as wise sounding boards or just to whom I can have a rant on a Sunday evening.”

David Woodgate speaking at our Education Summit event in 2022

We hope you found this edition of Independent School Management useful

In the next edition we will look at how you could rethink your fee income, plus we will show you ways in which you can be more fleet of foot in your operations. Topics will include:

Fees survey – assessing the success of schools that have previously reduced their fees, then managed to boost their school roll and thereby turning round their finances; could this approach work for other schools?

A merging of minds – how two schools approached a merger. The initial approach/thinking, the challenges and the outcome.

Case study – Dragon School’s telethon fundraising campaign.

Finance – sensitive debt recovery.

Finance – how to buy your own school.

Investment – ethical investing and setting an example to the school community.

Risk management – effective procurement and contract management, plus cost savings on existing contracts.

Finance – trading subsidiaries and gift aid/difficulty of repatriating profits to the charity.

Leadership – effective recruitment protocols for smooth succession planning.

Strategy – continuously thinking about strategy is critical to your school’s consistent improvement. But keep it simple.

Marketing – how to manage bad news with an effective PR strategy.

Is the international schools market still a valuable strategy? We investigate prospects for new openings.

Governance – how to consolidate gains made during the pandemic; alternative models.

Effective performance reviews of the governing body.

News, people moves and more.

We welcome your views and any editorial suggestions. Please contact: andrew.maiden@nexusgroup.co.uk

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