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

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.

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

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

Chief executive officer

Alex Dampier

Chief operating officer

Sarah Hyman

Executive assistant

Kirsty Parks

Editor

Andrew Maiden andrew.maiden@nexusgroup.co.uk

Reporter and subeditor

Charles Wheeldon charles.wheeldon@nexusgroup.co.uk

Advertising & event sales director

Caroline Bowern 0797 4643292 caroline.bowern@nexusgroup.co.uk

Business development manager

Steven Godleman steven.godleman@nexusgroup.co.uk

Event operations manager

Carly McGowan

Operations executive

Sophia Chimonas

Senior conference producer

Teresa Zargouni

Head of digital content

Alice Jones Marketing

Craig Williams

Marketing campaign

Sean Sutton

CRM database manager

Annalisa La Manna

Lead developer

Jason Hobbs

Publisher

Harry