Independent School Management Plus - Winter 2023

Incorporating Conference & Common Room

William Clarence Education

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William Clarence Education Ltd William Clarence Education is a leading UK education consultancy working with independent schools throughout the UK, and British international schools overseas. williamclarence.com schoolmanagementplus.com

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Print and digital copies of Independent School Management Plus are distributed to named headteachers, principals, bursars, marketing, development and admissions leads in every independent school in the UK, plus British international schools overseas. The magazine is published three times a year.

© William Clarence Education No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the permission of the publisher. The information contained in Independent School Management Plus has been published in good faith and every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy. All liability for loss, disappointment, negligence or damage caused by reliance on the information contained within this publication is hereby excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Foreword

You may have noticed the weather around independent schools getting stormier of late; as well as the increased media scrutiny, there are increasing costs, affordability concerns and Labour’s threat of punitive taxes.

Those who dismiss political threats would be wrong to assume this is empty rhetoric. Politicians seem determined to ignore the current subsidy afforded to taxpayers by the private education of 600,000 pupils and the £5.1 billion of taxes already paid by our schools. Labour also suggests schools can afford VAT fee increases and accommodate loss of charitable benefits. The sector says no, not in the current economic climate.

Independent schools across the UK are world-renowned. Why would a political party commit such an act of national self-harm? Labour representatives assume that independent education blocks social mobility. Yet around a third of pupils across ISC schools benefit from some kind of discount – many of these are from double-income, striving families spending their own money on their own children. We say our sector is an engine of social mobility for such families.

...an act of national self-harm?

The ISC’s annual Celebrating Partnerships booklet provides a snapshot of the amazing work independent schools do with local partners and schools of different kinds, promoting civic values and supporting the community. This is another important contribution often overlooked by commentators.

Independent schools retain hope and optimism about the future at the very centre of their mission and purpose. Despite the tough national and global outlook, they remain focused on supporting and developing children and helping prepare them for the world.

We should be proud of all that is achieved across our sector.

Our School Management Plus online platform offers a wealth of information. Keep up to date and get involved:

• latest news, regular features and opinion

• monthly newsletter and jobs to your inbox

• contribute your own ideas and opinion

• join our webinars and round-table discussions.

We are the leading opinion platform for the successful running of a modern independent school. We are always keen to hear about the issues that matter to you most, so get in touch to have your school’s voice heard. editor@schoolmanagementplus.com

Julie Robinson

Chief Executive Independent Schools Council

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

Dr Helen Wright

Educational consultant, former Head of St Mary’s Calne and President of the Girls’ Schools Association

Tory Gillingham

AMCIS CEO, former Marketing Director at Pocklington School and Marketing and Development Director at St Peter’s School, York

Ian Hunt

School board member in the UK and Middle East, leader of international educational projects and a contributor to the national press

Richard Harman

CEO of AGBIS. Previously Headmaster of Aldenham and subsequently Uppingham. Past Chairman of the BSA and HMC

Louise Bennett

CEO of IDPE (the Institute of Development Professionals in Education)

Robin Fletcher

CEO of the BSA and the BSA Group

Nick Gallop

Headmaster, Brighton College International School, Bangkok; regular contributor to the TES and editor of Politics Review

Donna Stevens

CEO of the Girls’ School Association

Mark Taylor

Bursar, King’s School Canterbury; previously Chairman, ISBA

STORMY WATERS

NAVIGATING THE ECONOMIC TURBULENCE AHEAD

Amidst a severe global economic crisis, Sam Coutinho considers how schools should prepare for the cost pressures confronting all businesses in order to secure their long-term financial survival.

It was around five or six years ago that the issue of affordability and parents’ ability to pay school fees truly started to concern the sector. The cost of delivering education was increasing, Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) contributions were soaring, there was political uncertainty with threats of the abolition of the sector, VAT on fees and the loss of both charitable status and mandatory business rates relief. It seems many of those challenges are the same today. But now we are also having to confront the stormy waters of economic turbulence and a cost of living crisis stemming from the impact of the pandemic, of BREXIT and, of course, the Ukraine-Russia conflict. It is important for school leaders to understand how these challenges might impact their school and their decision-making.

The simplest way to do this is to consider the impact on the school financial model. Each of the challenges may increase or decrease your income and expenditure, which in turn will impact your surpluses, cash balances and ability to borrow and repay debt.

Parental choice and falling pupil numbers

As household disposable income falls, parents will be feeling the pressure on paying school fees. A fall in pupil numbers can have a significant effect on income and, depending on the level of fee remissions, on cash. If schools

build their cost model on fee levels before discounts, the school will end up haemorrhaging cash over time. High remissions can work with very tight management of costs, a no-frills approach to delivering education and with alternative sources of income available. It is important that pupil number trends in each year group are closely monitored, data on remissions is understood and awards are made strategically. And a school’s pupil recruitment strategy must align with the year groups where there is the most need.

Fee remissions

Fee remissions can include scholarships, bursaries, staff discounts, sibling discounts and Head’s awards. Whilst bursaries are generally means-tested, most other discounts are not. Therefore, a school needs to think carefully about how much cash it can afford to give away and continue to manage the cost base without damaging the quality of education being provided.

Energy costs

The increase in energy costs is a major threat which cannot be avoided. Schools that have fixed-price contracts in place need to plan for when the contract ends. Schools need to be estimating now what that increase could be so that plans can be made to manage the increase. Some schools that have done this are already anticipating increases of over 200% as soon as 2024. F

Mandatory business rates relief

The loss of mandatory business rates relief has been on the agenda for a number of years. In 2017, Scotland announced that charitable private schools would lose business rates. It is anticipated that withdrawal of relief could come into effect in England and Wales in 2024/25 and could increase an independent school’s annual business rates bill by hundreds of thousands of pounds. This additional annual cost needs to be built into financial forecasting models with a clear plan for how it is going to be funded.

Salary and pension costs

The next change in the employer contribution to the TPS is expected in April 2023, with implementation in April 2024. This will necessarily inform the forecast of schools’ future salary and benefits budgets. It is expected that the contribution rate will rise, possibly by as much as 30%.

Teaching costs are the most significant operating cost in any school. Salary awards made in response to increased starting salaries in the maintained sector, alongside general wage inflation driven by the cost of living crisis could significantly challenge a school’s financial viability.

Schools need

Five things all school leaders must do

1. Understand your pupil numbers, capacity by year group and build a tactical marketing plan to target the gaps.

2. Review how much cash you are giving away in remissions and confirm you can afford to do it.

3. Know the cost of delivering your curriculum and whether you can afford to deliver it while objectively assessing whether you truly know what parents want and you are not delivering what you believe they want.

4. Look at the staffing structure across the school and challenge whether you are working ‘smart’ – i.e. the right people, doing the right job at the right costs.

5. Review all contracts and negotiate better deals – there are savings to be had everywhere.

...financial challenges are coming thick and fast

a salary strategy which models and forecasts the financial impact of key decisions. The tipping point, which will require restructuring and redundancies, needs to be identified in advance so that it can be managed in a way that will not damage the operation and reputation of the school.

Operating costs

High inflation rates are putting every area of school budgets under immense pressure and will continue to do so. Catering costs are escalating both in terms of the cost of food and labour costs. Cleaning contractors – and other third party providers – are finding it difficult to recruit staff, particularly following BREXIT and the pandemic. COVID has also had an impact on sickness levels, compounding labour shortages. All costs need to be benchmarked and contracts need to be reviewed and renegotiated as necessary.

Schools also need to understand the cost of delivering the curriculum they have chosen. It may be that there needs to be a hard look at the curriculum offered in terms the number of students taking each of the subjects and the associated cost to the school. A reduction in the subject offering may be required.

Schools should also look at the cost of the senior leadership team and consider whether there is a smarter way to operate.

During the pandemic, most schools transitioned to a model of ‘essential spend’, particularly in light of fee rebates. This mindset needs to be reinstated for the next few years.

VAT on school fees

The UK’s departure from the EU means that imposing VAT on school fees is less of a legislative challenge. ISBA (The Independent Schools Bursars’ Association) and other sector specialists have done a lot of work on forecasting and communicating the possible negative impact of such a move but – while the financial arguments against are great – it is probable that a Labour government will look to do this.

Applying VAT on school fees is likely to force a number of schools to close. And although there will be some relief from input VAT on expenditure, passing on even a 12–15% increase in costs via an uplift in fees will have a significant impact in the short and medium term. Schools need to understand their

parent body and how they currently pay fees. This will help them to understand how they might respond to fee increases resulting from the imposition of VAT.

Governance and strategy

Many schools will have abandoned their strategic plans agreed before the pandemic and consequently will have been in the middle of their recovery strategy when the energy and cost of living crisis emerged. Schools must therefore revisit their strategy once again. Every plan needs to be underpinned by strong financial governance and should include a three-to-five-year financial strategy underpinned by informed scenario planning and with decision-making points highlighted.

One of the positive learning points from the pandemic was the proven ability of the governing bodies to become more agile and robust in their decision-making. Finance and estates committees need to be strong with members with the right skills, experience and knowledge. Now is the time for strong business leaders to work alongside education teams to ensure that a school can continue to deliver the highest quality of education possible and remain solvent. Under careful financial stewardship, boards will need to push on with capital development programmes, albeit smaller in size; but they will need to think creatively and diligently about funding and financing given the increased cost of borrowing. Coming out of the previous recession, some schools had to borrow for the first time in many years or at all; the costs of servicing these loans will now have an impact on their ability to borrow going forward. Financial modelling will need to show that borrowing can be serviced and bank covenants not breached.

Cash, debt and surpluses

Schools will start to see healthy cash balances depleting as the cost base increases faster than income, pupil numbers fall, remissions increase and parents struggle to pay fees on time. At least monthly, cashflows should be prepared and, for many schools, preparing weekly cashflows could help accelerate any change in culture which may become necessary.

Rigorous debt collection will ensure cashflow is supported and salaries paid; fee collection policies should be reviewed. For monies owed in relation to

former students, debt collection should be escalated and referred to professionals where appropriate.

Communicating effectively

Without a doubt, all schools face the challenge of how to communicate effectively with key stakeholders and particularly parents. Financial uncertainty is uncomfortable for parents in their work life, their home life and, most particularly, in relation to the education of their children. Communicating openly, honestly and transparently builds confidence that a school is managing the challenges as best as it can.

Schools often experience issues with confidence amongst the parent body when communication is limited in order to avoid sharing the true financial picture for fear of pupils being withdrawn. Ironically, sharing an honest and open assessment and an achievable action plan is less likely to result in a dramatic fall in pupil numbers than a blizzard of messages on a WhatsApp group triggered by a lack of communication from a school.

The financial challenges are coming thick and fast and it is imperative that school leaders and governors understand the importance of balancing the mission of delivering education with running the school as a business.

ISBA is continually monitoring economic developments and reporting on the perceived impact on independent schools. The Association’s guidelines, briefings and events are designed to help all senior leaders – not just bursars – navigate through the rapidly changing political and economic landscape. Most, if not all, of these challenges are outside the control of a school; however, all present major risks that need to be managed. ●

SAM COUTINHO is a qualified accountant and for 22 years provided internal and external audit and advisory services to independent schools. Since 2019, she has provided risk and governance advice to the independent school sector. She is passionate about building resilience and has never been afraid to positively disrupt and help her clients address some of the uncomfortable challenges they face.

- IN CONVERSATION WITH -

EMMA PATTISON HEAD, EPSOM COLLEGE

Zoe MacDougall and Emma Pattison discuss the importance of service within school life and the critical need for the independent sector to adapt to the changing world.

At Epsom College, where she took up her post as Head in September 2022, Emma Pattison is unswervingly committed to the College’s key principle of benevolence. The College was founded by Dr John Propert in 1855 as The Royal Medical Benevolent College,

taking the name of Epsom College only in 1910. Today, the Royal Medical Foundation is an independent charity, located at Epsom College, supporting medical families experiencing hardship. Unsurprisingly, with charity underpinning the school’s foundation, service is a core value here.

Charity is a topical subject in the independent sector as the charitable status of our schools is currently subject to scrutiny and criticism from some quarters. Emma acknowledges that “We’re all considering our charitable status in independent schools and wanting to make

Photo credit: Epsom College

EMMA PATTISON

sure we uphold the values inherent in that, particularly in a College like ours which was founded on those principles.”

Emma is proud of the central role that service plays at Epsom College. In one academic year, Epsom pupils gave over 9,830 hours of their time to charitable community projects, delivering an estimated £141,846.90 of social value. Over 60% of Sixth Form students elect community service as their activity of choice in their weekly Wednesday afternoon enrichment programme. Their contributions include working in primary schools, offering website support for local charities, creating community play spaces, supporting food banks, visiting care home residents and getting involved in fund-raising initiatives at the Royal Marsden Hospital.

Values

As school communities evaluate the pandemic and its aftermath, I asked Emma whether aspirations have been re-imagined? What do parents want to buy in a postlockdown education marketplace?

Emma is open and direct as she acknowledges a new era: “There’s been an absolute sea change in what parents talk about. They used to talk about results and Oxbridge. That has turned about-face

completely since COVID. It’s now about well-being, pastoral care, kindness, service and charity.” All parents want the best for their children, so what does ‘the best’ look like in schools? Emma believes that it is the life-affirming, confidence-boosting selfesteem that pupils gain from ‘giving back’ through service to others.

She illustrates her view through this story.

“There’s a young lad here who’s made a couple of errors of judgement this term. Yet he’s gone out into a local primary school as part of our service programme where, because he knows what it feels like when you’re not getting things right, and because he has a lovely warm personality, he’s been able to engage with another lad who’s struggling in the local school and really make a difference to that lad’s experience. Our College pupil was able to use his own life experiences to really transform life for someone else. We think that’s a very powerful thing.”

When she told this story at a marketing event, Emma could see that it really resonated.

“Afterwards, parents told me, ‘That’s what I want for my child, too’.”

Emma’s views are fresh and forward-thinking, a far cry from traditional perceptions of aloof elitism in the independent sector.

“We all want to give our kids the best experiences possible. And that looks like teaching excellence, state-of-the-art classrooms, outstanding sports facilities and overflowing extra-curricular programmes. But an independent school education offers more than that. We want pupils to find things that are going to matter to them for the rest of their lives, and nothing could matter more to them than the person they are going to become. So it’s really important that we create learning experiences that help them to define their values, their own moral code and their own sense of integrity.“

An affordable education

In the current economic downturn, admissions departments need to be wary. Not all independent school parents are wealthy. With her down-to-earth understanding of the grassroots, Emma is fully aware that “We have parents who are working really, really hard to afford our fees and on whom the decisions we make have a significant impact, not just on their lifestyle choices but on the financial bottom line of the household. Some of F

Emma Pattison is the Head of Epsom College. Growing up on a farm in Lincoln. Emma Pattison is the Head of Epsom College. Growing up on a farm in Lincolnshire, Emma is no stranger to the grassroots. As a child, she recalls feeding chickens at 6.30am as part of everyday life in a close-knit, hardworking farming community. Life was practical and down-to-earth. Emma attended her local girls’ grammar school, where a key part of her learning experience was to work with nearby primary schools as part of a community service programme. In her career, Emma has built up extensive knowledge of the independent sector, having been Head of Modern Foreign Languages at Guildford High School, Deputy Head (Academic) at St John’s Leatherhead and Head at Croydon High School before taking up her current post in September 2022.

...an absolute sea change in what parents talk about

those parents... are being really impacted themselves by the onslaught of the recession. We’re duty bound, not just to inoculate ourselves, but to think very, very carefully about our parents.”

In practical ways, Emma is committed to keeping close tabs on spending; budget forecasting currently happens every half term. Equally, she wants her parents to appreciate the rationale for possible changes in the day-to-day offerings of the College. The quality of education will never be at stake, but the cost of things that sit around the edges of school life, like events-catering, need to be carefully considered. And it’s not just about finance but about sustainability too: spending on paper cups is as problematic for the environment as it is for the purse when it’s simple enough to bring your own mug!

Dialogue

In her unassuming way, Emma has put forward some bold visions. Equally, her leadership style welcomes dreams and ideas from across the school community; she has been busy collating opinions from staff, student and parents’ surveys in her first term as Head at Epsom.

Collaboration through constant dialogue underpins her interactions with her team.

Emma describes the value she places on dialogue: “I’m a real advocate for hearing what people have got to say and letting that percolate. One of the main problems of COVID was that the water cooler conversations didn’t happen. It’s in those conversations that the innovative spark is ignited. As a leadership team, we want to establish a culture of ideas. If you know someone is going to take your idea forward, and give shape to it, and make sure it lands in the right forum, then you will keep coming forward with ideas.”

Emma’s commitment to partnerships is a further indication of her passion for open dialogue: she feels that “independent schools who work in silos limit their output”. During her tenure as Head at Croydon High School, she recognised the significant value of working under the umbrella of the GDST. Consequently, in her current role, Emma is working on setting up an advisory body, initially drawing on personnel and expertise from the Epsom Friends of the College Group.

Widening access

Getting out into the community through partnership work is a route to widening access in the sector. Traditionally, bursaries are the recognised strategy for awarding life-changing opportunities for those

children and families fortunate enough to receive them. Many schools have made huge financial commitments to growing their bursary funds. But alongside that, Emma wants independent schools to be places where a more diverse group of people can come for particular classes and access to a range of projects. Her vision is to open up access on a smaller scale, thereby reaching a wider section of the community and “being part of the solution to some of the problems in society”.

Leaders in society

In an unorthodox response to what is often perceived as a political smear, Emma openly acknowledges that many of society’s leaders benefited from an independent school education. And so, “If our pupils are going to lead in the world, let’s make sure that they really understand that world, they understand the structure of it, the problems, the issues and why things can’t just be fixed so easily”. Emma is very clear that “The image of the exclusive private school has to be a thing of the past. Exclusivity is a dirty word nowadays. The independent schools’ sector has to offer something very different going forward, for its own pupils and for the social impact it could bring”.

An exciting future

We, who live and work in the independent schools’ sector, know that a cold wind is blowing in our direction in political and economic terms. But with a problem also comes an opportunity. If what we are selling is an education that promotes service, that grows an understanding of community and demands a wider knowledge of the world around us, then more parents will buy into it. In Emma’s final words, the cold wind may just sweep the cobwebs away, because “It could be time to shape a really exciting future for the country”. ●

ZOE MACDOUGALL is an educational commentator with extensive teaching experience in the independent and maintained sectors. Zoe also contributes to timewithmytween.blog

A SIGNIFICANT THREAT INDEPENDENT

SCHOOLS IN THE POLITICAL FIRING LINE

With political and economic turmoil likely over an extended period, Richard Harman urges governors to plan for the storms ahead.

Ialways find this time of year a challenge; the days are so short and the weather often dank and miserable.

And with so much to be anxious about on the national and international scene, it can be hard to find points of light in the gloom.

The same might be observed about the outlook for our sector. So, what are our reasons to be cheerful?

Excellence of our schools

The main cause for optimism is the continuing excellence of our schools. The 2022 ISC census highlighted that, despite post-pandemic economic and political pressures, pupil numbers have rebounded and are up in every region of the UK. We must be doing something right as so many parents, if they can afford to, are choosing the independent sector for the high quality of its all-round educational offer: academic, co-curricular and pastoral. Let’s not underestimate how vital it is to ensure excellence is embedded in all we do; we are a vital part of the UK educational system and a most valuable UK export too.

Economic and political turmoil

Among the growing and emerging threats, of course, is the current economic and political turmoil. You will not need me to enumerate the financial challenges we all face. The political reality, meanwhile, is that, in the medium term, it looks increasingly likely that we will have a Labour government in Westminster, with a working majority, among whose flagship

policies will be to ‘end the unfair tax breaks enjoyed by private schools’.

What this means is not abolition or removal of charitable status as such, but the double whammy of taking away the tax benefits that go with charitable status, whilst at the same time imposing VAT on school fees, whether schools are charitable or ‘for-profit’. All private schools would suffer, and many parents would be under the most intense financial pressure – as, inevitably, would the state sector if this policy were to come into force.

This is such a significant threat, and has been repeated so often recently at a high level by the Labour team, including at PMQs, that it must be taken very seriously. If any governor wants to find out more, I urge them to attend all relevant AGBIS briefings and events and to read fully and carefully our newsletters and e-alerts.

Let’s hope then for calmer, brighter times to come, whilst planning wisely for a good deal of stormy weather in the more immediate future. If we plan properly, our schools will emerge in due course stronger and better led than ever before.

Learning and growing

Governing schools is never dull or uneventful; it is certainly a lot of work, and it can sometimes seem as if too much is being asked of volunteers, but there is so much to celebrate in our schools and there are so many fascinating issues to keep us on our toes; we are always learning and growing!

At AGBIS, we are seeing many member schools engaging with our services. This indicates that, increasingly, governing bodies are fully alert to the current threats facing the sector and their schools. This ‘no complacency’ attitude is in itself an indication of good governance. ●

RICHARD HARMAN is CEO of AGBIS.

INCLUSIVE RECRUITMENT ‘BECOMING THE RIGHT FIT’

The GSA’s Inclusion Partner, The Schools Inclusion Alliance, emphasises the importance of diverse organisations and reminds us that even small, incremental changes can make a difference.

The importance of inclusion in all areas of school life is pivotal to the success of both the schools themselves and the sector as a whole.

By adopting inclusive hiring practices, we boost diversity within our staff, and reap the benefits of different experiences, perspectives and ideas. This enables our schools to better represent the communities they serve and are based in.

What do we mean by diversity?

Diversity is the differences we all have that make us human. These include visible demographic data and invisible characteristics, the introvert and extrovert, and variety of neurodivergent

Key benefits

The benefits of diverse organisations, which have transferrable value within schools, are proven. These include:

• outperforming industry norms: gender diverse and ethnically diverse companies are more likely to outperform industry norms by 25% and 26% respectively (McKinsey & Co, 2019)

• improved decision-making: diverse and inclusive teams make better decisions 87% of the time (Korn Ferry Institute, 2018)

• greater revenue: diverse organisations are 19% more likely to see higher innovation revenue (BCG, 2018)

The Schools Inclusion Alliance has developed a seven-step plan for inclusive recruitment.

STEP 7: Valuing the candidate experience

STEP 1: Defining the need

STEP 6: Designing the application process inclusively

STEP 2: Writing inclusive job descriptions/adverts

STEP 3: Widening the search

STEP 5: Reviewing the shortlist

STEP 4: Holding an inclusive interview

characteristics. When planning any recruitment, it is vital to create a considered and complete process.

Schools are not going to have a fully diverse mix of staff representative of their student body overnight, but thinking differently and being actively involved in inclusive practice across all areas of school life will bring about change. We often talk about small nudges, for every effort a school makes to generate a wider talent pool, the more talented the school community will become.

See beyond the expected

The biggest mistake people often make is to think and talk about diverse candidates as if they are somehow ‘less than’ rather than just different. More than ever, we understand that talent is everywhere, opportunity is not. The most talented people don’t always come from the expected places or have the expected career path. An inclusive recruitment process opens up our ability to see beyond the expected, to challenge us to suspend our judgement about why

someone may have followed a certain path, and to hire the people with the potential, skills and passion we need to create brilliant teams, and therefore brilliant schools.

Focus on what you can do

Every school is on a different journey and therefore the opportunities and challenges are different for everyone. However, even implementing some changes can make processes more inclusive and have a positive impact, both in terms of hiring decisions and candidates’ experience and the school brand. Focus on what you can do, rather than the things that feel hard. So when you are next thinking about whether someone is ‘the right fit’, perhaps it might be better to ask how the school can ‘profit’ from the candidate’s unique set of skills, experiences and talents rather than fall into the trap of looking for the comfort of similarity.

The SIA Hiring Inclusively toolkit is available on the SIA website: schools inclusionalliance.co.uk/resources

RAISING THE BAR

THE NEW NATIONAL MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR BOARDING SCHOOLS

Boarding schools in England were first subjected to a regime of inspection by local authority social services departments in the 1990s. By the turn of the millennium, a consensus had formed that a common inspection framework and set of minimum standards were required. The Boarding Schools’ Association was a key part of the working group which produced the first set of National Minimum Standards for Boarding Schools (NMS) in 2002 and helped train the first boarding school inspectors.

Twenty years on, all boarding schools in England belonging to an Independent Schools’ Council (ISC) association have their boarding inspected by the Independent Schools’ Inspectorate (ISI). State boarding schools, plus any ‘non-association’ independent schools, are inspected by Ofsted, with each having their own inspection framework, but both using the NMS as their baseline.

common inspection framework

New standards

The original NMS contained 52 standards covering welfare policies and procedure, organisation and management, welfare support to students, staffing and premises. This was slimmed down to 20 key areas over time as schools grew used to the requirements of the original version and these expectations became embedded. The September 2022 version of NMS has expanded to 23, including new standards on preventing bullying and promoting good relationships, plus a standalone standard on educational guardians.

The standards are now divided into 10 areas, each articulating an aim to be met by adherence to the relevant standards. Part A requires schools to have a

statement of their key boarding principles and practice [1], and for this to be accessible to pupils, parents and carers. Standard 2 focuses on the essential elements of leadership and management, with expectations relating to the knowledge, skills, experience and training of boarding practitioners, plus guidance on policies, documents and records, and the ways in which they should be audited and monitored. Standard 3 looks at inclusion, equality and diversity, with the requirement that schools should address pupil needs relating to any of the Equality Act (2010) protected characteristics. It also includes those other important elements relating to cultural or linguistic background, special educational need or disability, and also academic or sporting activities, and any other relevant factors.

Good rather than adequate

The standards in part B focus on boarding accommodation [4], boarders’ possessions [5] and food and drink [6]. The key element here, and indeed throughout the standards, is that the bar has been raised, and all these areas are now required to be ‘good’ rather than ‘adequate’ for a school to be compliant.

Schools are required to ensure their accommodation is well lit, heated and ventilated and that the quality of the fixtures and fittings, including bathrooms, is also good. In my own experience as a boarding inspector and later as a consultant, it is sometimes the case that provision within a school can be variable, with some dorms and bathrooms of high quality and others less good, even within the same house. Refurbishing bathrooms can be particularly costly and challenging. Schools can also find themselves constricted by listed buildings regulations and requirements, or other structural issues, especially in houses not originally designed as accommodation spaces. However, sensitive refurbishment can enhance the look and feel of even the most challenging spaces.

Dale Wilkins examines the latest version of the National Minimum Standards for Boarding Schools, in force since September 2022, which include new standards on preventing bullying and promoting good relationships.

The bottom line

Under the 2022 standards, the bottom line is that all accommodation spaces must be at least ‘good’, this applies also to catering and laundry provision, and to the care with which schools look after pupils’ possessions. The key principle that pupils must be able to personalise their own spaces has been retained, but there has been a significant upgrade relating to the use of CCTV and biometric technology, making it clear they must be used in accordance with statutory guidance and never as a substitute for appropriate levels of supervision.

Part C consists of a single standard [7] relating to health and wellbeing. Many of the wellembedded elements of previous standards have been retained, particularly around storing medication and recording its use. The standards recognise that boarding school medical provision will vary tremendously between schools with fully staffed 24/7 health centres run by qualified nurses and other, often smaller, schools where much of the healthcare is provided by houseparents or equivalent, in conjunction with services such as NHS 111. Enhanced in this version of the NMS is the guidance around engagement with external services, which also links to Royal Pharmaceutical Society and Royal College of Nursing advice.

Safeguarding

Previously, the standard on safeguarding (now Standard 8, comprising Part D) required schools to follow all the guidance in the Department for Education’s ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’. This is still the case, but there are additional requirements now, in particular recognising the challenges presented by the online world, including the management of pupils’ own devices. This standard also requires schools to consider the additional factors and vulnerabilities for children living away from home in boarding schools. Not surprisingly, there is also a higher bar for the way schools respond to any issues of child-on-child abuse.

Part E contains standards relating to safety of boarders [9] and to fire precautions [10]. The focus here has always been on ensuring staff have appropriate training in any relevant areas, and on schools ensuring all relevant aspects are properly risk-assessed. In the newest version there is also reference to ensuring the safety of boarders when offsite and under the control of the school. There has always been a requirement for boarding houses to undertake fire drills in ‘boarding time’ but now at least one of these each year needs to be overnight. Schools are also required to take account of any flexi-boarders when scheduling drills, so even those children who board infrequently are aware of the procedures, regardless of how often they stay. F

Photo credit: Gordonstoun School

AROUND THE UK

In Wales, the original standards from 2003, which are similar to the England 2002 version, still apply, although there are plans for these to be reviewed soon. BSA is working with WISC (Welsh Independent Schools’ Council) to lobby the Welsh Government about these.

In Scotland there are no NMS, but many of the concepts are contained either in the Health and Social Care Standards or the Care Inspectorate Framework. Standards also exist in other parts of the British Isles (e.g. Isle of Man).

provision ... can be variable

Boarders’ rights

Boarders’ rights, advocacy and complaints are the focus of part F, which comprises four standards. Standard 11 has enhanced expectations on pupil induction. As before, it enshrines a requirement that pupils should be able to approach any member of staff if they have personal issues or concerns, and schools must provide information about external helplines and an ‘independent person’ they may contact. It also makes clear that formal advocacy services must be made available to any children who need them or are entitled to them, for example looked-after children. The standard on contact with parents and carers [12] is clear; schools must, when facilitating this, take account of the needs of those who come from different time zones. Securing boarders’ views has always been an essential part of school internal audit procedures and of inspection practice, upgraded now so boarders should be encouraged to give them and expect to receive appropriate feedback. Finally, standard 14 has a new requirement for schools to take account of complaints by boarders as well as their parents and carers.

Positive behaviour and relationships

The three standards in part G relate to promoting positive behaviour and relationships, and include a lot of new content, as well as the previous information relating to behaviour management. Standard 15 has several bullet points relating to promoting positive behaviour and creating a safe environment. The following standard

[16] on preventing bullying has similar statements relating to the school’s anti-bullying and cyberbullying procedures, and states that any instances must be dealt with effectively. Standard 17 codifies some of the guidance included in previous versions of the standards on the nature of positive relationships between pupils and other pupils, and between pupils and staff.

Part H comprises a single standard [18] on activities and free time and the relationship to boarders’ development. Here, the main change from previous versions is the enhanced requirement for schools to provide a ‘stimulating environment’. Part I, on the other hand, has four standards relating to staffing and supervision, including a new standard on educational guardians. Standard 19 covers the recruitment checks and procedures which need to be undertaken, including some new content relating to adults living elsewhere on the school site. Staffing and supervision are covered in Standard 20, with both the number and continuity of staffing under greater scrutiny. However, specific ratios are still not recommended or required, as each school needs to assess its requirements relating to the age, location and aptitudes of boarders, plus staff training and expertise.

Access to staff accomodation

A particular enhancement in 2022 has been the expectation that boarders should only access staff accommodation in exceptional circumstances. Most schools have been able to accommodate this without difficulty, but it has required changed procedures for others. Standard 21 remains unchanged, with prefects or equivalent being given appropriate training and having adequate staff supervision.

Standard 22 on educational guardians includes some existing content but also some new material, with the latter clarifying that schools have a responsibility to ensure guardian arrangements are promoting the child’s welfare, regardless of whether the school has made the arrangement or, as is more usual, it is made by or on behalf of the family. School staff must not fulfil the role of guardian themselves, to prevent any potential conflict of interest. Finally, Part J contains standard 23, which relates to any pupils accommodated offsite in lodgings or equivalent.

Fundamentally, any set of standards will only be a baseline, and all schools will strive to be considerably above any minimum threshold! ●

DALE WILKINS is Senior Director with the BSA and the BSA Group.

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BUSINESS RATES

HOW IS THE 2023 REVALUATION IMPACTING INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS?

Andrew Altman, Partner, aaltman@geraldeve.com

Business Rates have risen up the agenda for schools recently - finally some successful appeals against the 2017 Rateable Values in England and Wales – draft figures published for April 2023 –the continued threat to Charitable Relief.

Business Rates, as a property tax, very much remains within the expertise of the Surveying profession – the Rateable Value is a rental valuation within a statutory framework.

The Government are now committed to three yearly revaluations (next one in 2026). Regular revaluations are seen as key to keeping the Rateable Values in line with rental values and therefore maintaining the overall fairness of the system.

Some schools are rented and the Rateable Values are arrived at from the analysis of rental evidence. Most however

are valued with reference to rebuilding costs as a starting point. With the increase in costs of about 20% between the valuation dates, it is not surprising that Rateable Values will rise steeply in April.

The Uniform Business Rate (UBR) usually reduces in a revaluation year (the Government aim to keep Business Rates income broadly the same in real terms). However, the UBR will not change this coming April, so a 15% increase in Rateable Value will mean a 15% increase in the April bill in most cases.

As Chartered Surveyors and property tax experts, we will be working through the 2023 figures and liaising with other

firms about the scope for a national challenge. However, we are still very much in the thick of working through appeals against the current Rateable Values, with some large savings being achieved backdated to 2017.

The three priorities for schools:1. Find out your 2023 Rateable Value and how this will translate into payments in 2023/2024 onwards.

2. Act fast - the opportunity to appeal against the current (2017) Rateable Values closes on 31 March (the Scottish system is very different – no further 2017 appeals and onerous time limits for appealing against the 2023 figures).

3. Quantify risk – some schools are concerned at the potential risks of Valuation Office omissions being picked up, particularly with Government plans for a new “duty to inform”.

If you do not have a rates advisor and would like information on these issues, then please contact Gerald Eve schools Business Rates expert Andrew Altman. ●

SAFER RECRUITMENT

STRATEGIES TO IDENTIFY AND DETER UNSUITABLE CANDIDATES

Following revelations in the media by celebrities such as Nicky Campbell which have exacerbated public concerns about child abuse within the independent sector, David Smellie recommends that schools review and strengthen their staff recruitment procedures.

In carrying out the required statutory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) checks, whilst important, schools undertaking staff recruitment secure only limited comfort through such measures, namely that the candidate they are recruiting has not previously offended (or been suspected of offending) against children and has not been barred from teaching. If I reflect on all of the cases I have dealt with in schools in my career, only one involved someone who had previously offended against a child (and where, because the offence was historic and took place in another jurisdiction, was not picked up in a DBS check). The remainder were all cases of adults who had been fully checked and had unblemished records, but who in the circumstances in which they found themselves during their employment proceeded to abuse a child.

Situational offender

Schools do therefore need to understand the different types of adult who are capable of offending against children.

Whilst offenders like Jimmy Saville do exist, who have a predisposition to abuse children and seek out roles which provide them with access to children, they are thankfully very rare. Much more common, in the view of Marcus Erooga – one of the leading researchers and authors in the field – is the ‘situational offender’ whom he defines as someone with no conscious or subconscious sexual attraction to children, but who reacts to their environment and goes on to offend against a child. As Erooga puts it, “the motivation for the crime is supplied by the situation and the offence may represent an aberration in an otherwise law-abiding life.” Erooga illustrates this by a quote from an offender with a wholly unblemished record, but who said, “To me, I think the main factor in my offending was the sense of isolation I had in the school – partly because of how

the department was and how people didn’t seem to interact and also physically it was on one corner of the site. I didn’t know who to speak to about any issues that arose. I didn’t feel I could talk to my HoD.”

So, the objective of any school’s safer recruitment process should not just be to weed out those with a predisposition to abuse children, but also those who could potentially become situational offenders (or indeed opportunist offenders who commit offences that are typically impulsive, unplanned and

weed out those with a predisposition to abuse children

driven by opportunity as a means of seeking gratification). The six-milliondollar question is what are the practical steps that schools can take to try to achieve this?

Advertisements, job/person specifications, application forms

There is a raft of information with which potential candidates are provided before they actually submit any application, and schools should take the opportunity of making these documents as much a deterrent as possible to the candidate who might be seeking out a role for the wrong reasons. It is also the case that creating from the outset the highest standards and highest expectations in terms of professionalism and safeguarding is the best way of setting the right tone for any prospective new recruit.

consider carrying out an online search

So, in practice:

• advertisements should emphasise the importance placed on safeguarding

• application forms should make clear that incomplete forms or the use of CVs will not be accepted

• application forms should ensure that candidates have to disclose their academic and full employment history without gaps

• job descr iptions and person specifications should set out clearly the safeguarding responsibilities of the role, and the skills and experiences which candidates will be expected to have

• application forms should include a declaration from the applicant regarding convictions and working with children (making it clear that the role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offices Act 1974), and assert that the making of false statements (or omission of relevant

information) may result not only in rejection (or summary dismissal if selected) but in referral to the Police and/or DBS

• the per son specification should detail the experience, expertise and skills required to do the job, including suitability to work with children in a school environment

• the role descr iption should make it clear that safeguarding responsibility is an intrinsic part and requirement of the role.

The interview

The interview is the one unscripted opportunity to probe the candidate’s employment history, experience, motivation and suitability to work with children, and that opportunity must not be wasted.

So, in practice:

• anomalies or gaps in employment history must be probed

• any disciplinary history or past allegations, cautions or convictions should be explored and discussed

• the candidate’s motivation to work with children should be explored together with their ability to form appropriate relationships and personal boundaries with children, their emotional resilience in working with challenging behaviours and their attitudes towards use of authority and maintaining discipline.

These are the four areas recommended by the Warner Report, which reviewed the selection of staff in children’s homes:

• probe the candidate’s awareness of safeguarding best practice and their judgement in handling safeguarding concerns

• use open questions designed to br ing out real-life experiences which the candidate has had, rather than closed or theoretical questions which are easier to produce textbook responses to • ask the candidate if there is anything they wish to disclose which they have not already disclosed and remind them that any job offer will involve a DBS check

• check the documentar y evidence which the candidate brings to evidence their identity, educational and professional qualifications and right to work in the role.

Medical fitness

Whilst complying with their Equality Act obligations (not to discriminate against disabled applicants) schools are under a statutory duty to verify the medical fitness of candidates after an offer of employment has been made but before the appointment is confirmed. Many schools use health questionnaires which can be reviewed by the school doctor.

References

Schools should seek at least two references in respect of candidates and Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) advises that references should be obtained preinterview where possible.

Education is perhaps the only remaining sector where meaningful and detailed references are still provided, and reference requests should ask whether the previous employer is satisfied with the candidate’s suitability to work with children, and to provide details of any substantiated concerns/allegations that meet the harm threshold.

DBS and Prohibition Orders

The requirements for these checks are all set out in KCSIE and do not bear repeating here other than to emphasise that the only thing that clear checks show is that the candidate has not previously been caught offending against a child. That means that those who have previously offended and not been caught, or those who have not offended yet but will go on to offend, are those which a thorough recruitment process should seek to identify or dissuade from applying in the first instance.

Social media screening

Increasingly, employers are incorporating social media checks into their recruitment processes and KCSIE 2022 states that schools should consider carrying out an online search as part of their due diligence on the shortlisted candidates.

It is very easy to be overcautious in counselling schools in this area. My advice to schools using social media screening as part of its recruitment process would be:

• ensure the pr ivacy notice supplied to job applicants makes clear that such services are used, and explains the purpose and legal basis for such processing

• r ather than a fishing expedition, searches should be limited to the legitimate purposes which the school has (eg matching employment and educational history to the candidate’s application, or searching in respect of specific areas which would impact on the candidate’s suitability to work with children)

• if concer ns arise from the search, the candidate should have the opportunity to respond to any information sourced online

• care should be taken to ensure the accuracy of the information and that it is up to date

• use specially trained staff to carry out any searches, or schools could use external businesses which specialise in this area (e.g. safeguardingsocials.co.uk).

Overseas checks

In an increasingly global recruitment market for teachers, schools will frequently be considering candidates who have lived or worked outside the UK. Whilst schools are still required to obtain the usual DBS and other checks needed for UK-based candidates, they should consider carefully the appropriate checks on candidates who have lived or worked outside the UK for more than three months at any one time. A school’s ability to carry out these checks will vary significantly depending on the country concerned – but essentially, they should be looking for criminal records checks (or certificates of good standing) from the country concerned as well as (in the case of teachers) professional regulatory checks from the professional body responsible for teachers.

Full employment lifecycle

It is essential to remember that the recruitment process is but one part, albeit a very important part, of an employee’s career at a school. It presents an opportunity to deter candidates who might, knowingly or unknowingly, pose a risk to children down the line. But safer recruitment will not eliminate potential offenders, and with that in mind, schools need to think of the full lifecycle of their staff and work at each stage to take appropriate measures to mitigate risk.

A school that focuses on each of these stages in the employment lifecycle and looks to provide its staff with appropriate support and guidance is likely to be a safer environment for children. Ensuring the pastoral wellbeing of staff is also a significant safeguard for the children in their care. ●

DAVID SMELLIE is a Partner with Farrer & Co who has been advising the independent school sector for many years.

WORLD-BEATING! BOARDING IN THE UK

There are boarding schools on every continent on the planet (apart from the one with lots of snow and penguins!). Yet for all the sector’s global spread, the oldest, most diverse and choice-rich land of boarding is the UK.

Incredibly, the world’s oldest boarding school began accepting boarding students in the year 597, less than 200 years after the fall of Rome and more than 1100 years before the American Declaration of Independence.

More than 1400 years on, the UK is still a place where boarding continues to evolve, with two brand new, governmentfunded boarding schools opening within the last decade and one independent school in the heart of London recently

Nearly all UK boarding schools belong to the BSA (Boarding Schools’ Association), whose sister association, TIOB (The Institute of Boarding), works to support the boarding staff community. The combined support of BSA and TIOB enables UK boarding schools to continue to deliver one of the best boarding experiences for young people anywhere in the world.

adding boarding for the first time.

The diversity of UK boarding is not just a marketing strapline. Geographically, UK boarding can be found as far north as the Shetland Islands, just 50 miles from Norway, and as far south as the Isles of Scilly, 28 miles south of Cornwall.

The choice is almost bewildering, with boarding schools that are independent, state run, single sex, co-educational, academic, all-round, faith, arts, drama and music focused – or myriad combinations in between.

There are around 70,000 boarding students at UK schools, including more than 25,000 from dozens of countries across the world – a reflection of the continuing very high demand from parents to access the UK’s widely regarded education system.

Some of this demand is about ensuring strong academic results for the chance to access the UK’s leading higher education institutions, with four universities currently in the world’s top 10.

The choice is almost bewildering

Aside from excellent academic teaching and learning, the popularity of boarding at schools in the UK is driven by the unique opportunities it offers young people from 8 to 18.

Size-wise, the smallest UK boarding school has just one student while the largest has more than 1300. The average UK boarding school has around 150 boarders, although there are many that have fewer, with around 30 that have more than 500.

Boarding school is all about learning to live with others, experiencing a shared space, working together, having extra time to try new things (by avoiding school runs twice a day) and learning to stand on your own two feet.

All UK boarding schools closely monitor the feedback they receive from parents and the most regular comments are about how their children have become more independent and confident thanks to their boarding experience.

Much of this independence and confidence comes from being with other young people – but it is also the highly trained, caring and professional boarding staff who help them to prosper and thrive on solid foundations. ●

ROBIN FLETCHER

is CEO of the Boarding Schools’ Association (BSA) and the BSA Group.

Robin Fletcher considers the long, distinguished and diverse story of boarding schools in the UK.

Photo credit: Gordonstoun School

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Our readership spans every stakeholder within fee paying education worldwide from Heads, Governors, Bursars, Admissions, Marketing, Development, Fundraising and Educators – to catering, facilities and sports. Our jobs & careers center is the natural meeting point for those already in the sector, aspiring to join it, or hiring from within it.

A TOUGH MARKETPLACE

PROSPECTIVE PARENTS

MORE CHOICES AND LESS MONEY

I

was fortunate to enjoy an independent school education from the age of 3 to 18 in an excellent single-sex girls’ school in the Isle of Man in the seventies and eighties. I am something of a rarity in having attended the same institution for my entire school career. It is almost unheard of today, as we see families switching between the independent and maintained sectors in response to financial and market forces beyond our control.

State choices

With the rise in primary school performance and strong grammar school and academy results, there is a discernible shift amongst those who might have historically been characterised as the ‘traditional independent school parent’ towards state schools without any sense of seeing the option as second best. In addition, there is an increasing trend towards parents making decisions about which stages in a school career offer the most ‘value’ if they cannot afford the full 14 or so years’ worth of eyewatering fees, particularly in the current economic downturn with financial pressures facing families on so many fronts.

In this regard, sixth forms appear to be benefiting, being seen as the tickets to top universities and highly paid employment opportunities, and therefore worth two years of financial sacrifices. The Private Education Policy Forum records that 17% of children are in independent education in the sixth form compared with 5% at primary age and 8% at secondary age. Research by RSAcademics and Mungo Dunnett Associates also indicates that transfer from the state sector at 16+ is an increasingly likely option for parents keen to keep overall costs affordable.

Affordability

Affordability is indeed an ongoing concern for the sector. According to the ISC, member schools are currently charging parents an average of £37,032 a year for boarding students and £20,832 a year for day pupils. Schools are very aware of the economic pressures and this year the average fee increase was recorded as 3%, the second lowest rise since 2000. Yet despite

Acknowledging that student recruitment can be difficult at the moment, Philippa Scudds provides an insightful commentary on the marketplace and offers some thoughts on how to make your school’s offer stand out.

HAVE

the noted increase in financial support, rising 4.8% year-on-year to nearly £1.2 billion, it is increasingly unlikely that – bar the very few at the top of the earnings pyramid – the next generation will be able to even consider a complete independent school education for their children.

Financial tax breaks and house price rises have, to an extent, supported the sector in recent years. Current parents have benefited from tax efficiencies for grandparents wishing to contribute to their grandchild’s education. They have been able to release equity or remortgage to pay for their child’s education. The next generation won’t be so fortunate.

It is worth noting that there are 1,388 ISC member schools, yet the majority have fewer than 300 pupils and a typical size is between 100 and 125. This statistic informs the financial pressures many schools are under in terms of running costs, with the huge energy price increases. The recent teachers’ pension scheme changes have put further stress on schools’ bottom lines, while the spectre of VAT on fees and the removal of tax reliefs hangs over the sector given the prospect of a Labour government.

Impact on admissions

How has this changing landscape affected admissions, marketing and communications? The new fluidity of parental decision-making has certainly created more uncertainty for schools and has made budgeting more difficult. Consequently, marketing and communications jobs have become more complicated and pressurised and the admissions role more complex. Prep and junior schools, have been affected perhaps more than senior schools so far as the latter tend to have more fixed entry points and recognised stages for entrance tests. Preps are no longer seeing pupils only join in the traditional September, but also at the start of the spring and summer terms, and sometimes even mid-term. Spaces become available as children come and go and in this more uncertain market all schools have had

to become much more flexible in their approach to recruitment and their associated marketing.

London market

The exception to this challenging picture is arguably the London market, where fierce competition for places in both prep and senior schools shows little sign of a slowdown as demand outstrips supply by a considerable margin. Conglomerates are forming with school groups run by corporates – and they seem to be thriving. The international demographic of the capital has only increased the demand, and with a British education still highly sought after across the globe, anyone involved in marketing in London schools is working in a very different world to the rest of the country and most can afford to be highly selective.

Pressure is building on established boarding schools beyond the capital with the London senior schools themselves starting to offer boarding options and junior schools, which traditionally acted as feeders, opening up senior options themselves.

...years of financial sacrifices

Adjust and adapt

There are numerous ways in which school marketers have had to adjust and adapt to the way that parents are now viewing the purchase of an independent education. Here I will mention two developments which I feel are particularly significant.

Digital marketing

In the past 20 years, the advance of digital marketing has increased pressure on marketing and communications teams as it has opened up prospective families’ eyes to a wider range of schooling options than hitherto and therefore increased the competitive nature of the industry. In particular, information about fees and bursaries is much more readily available on school websites, with parents easily able to compare prices. Armed with this information, they are much more overt about negotiating fees and ‘discounts’. In the past, parents would have discussed money privately with the bursar, but now they often raise it with admissions staff at the enquiry stage: a clear demonstration of how parents are increasingly viewing education as buyers.

Yet the internet has also brought with it many benefits for marketers who have been able to harness its power to satisfy the new generation of information-hungry customers. Schools have been able to tailor their offering through their websites with sections for the different elements of school life, thereby illustrating the increasing number of potential entry points. F

Engaging and interactive

A prep school website will now typically have its website split into sections, allowing parents to see the benefits of investing at each stage of school life, and within each stage, thereby demonstrating the associated merits in a much more engaging and interactive way. At senior level, you will typically see sections tailored to boarding and/or day school life, a lower school curriculum and something separate for the Sixth Form. The copy in these sections will be written in different styles to appeal to the different age groups..

Digital offers far more dynamic marketing opportunities than were previously available through a print prospectus. Making use of a website, social media, online directories and review websites secures schools a much broader reach, showcasing the many benefits of an independent education and the positive pupil outcomes.

School marketers should see digital as their friend and make full use of all the opportunities it offers to appeal to the new, varied customer base seeking independent education at whichever stage they feel they can afford it

Parental involvement

A second sea change is the development of schools into more overt communities, welcoming parental involvement and actively encouraging it. This has resulted in school marketers creating more opportunities for parents to be involved and organising more events to make them feel welcome, even before they have joined the school. Gone are the days of parents ‘letting the school get on with the job and only occasionally going along to an event run by the parent association. Simply seeing a child at exeats and half terms, in the case of boarding schools, or never setting foot over the school threshold aside from a drop off or pick up, in the case of day schools, are things of

Today’s buyers want to be part of their children’s lives and see communication as part of the overall value they are getting for parting with their hard-earned £1,000s. Many may be new to independent education, and will be making significant sacrifices to give their child this opportunity. They will, quite rightly, expect to be welcomed and to feel part of school life. Some also see it as a chance to develop new friendships or even as a career networking opportunity. School marketers have had to embrace this and encourage collaboration between the school and prospective parents from the very early admissions stages.

Schools now offer a wide range of events for prospective families even before they have registered for a place and during the admissions process there are invitations to get to know the school better. Nurseries are hosting toddler groups while prospective sixth formers at boarding schools might be offered taster nights. Parents are invited to pastoral talks, careers information evenings and to music concerts.

Strategic moves

We are seeing significant strategic moves in the face of market forces which are reflective of changes in the customer buying process. It would be very easy to spend a large part of each working week worrying about what might be round the corner and what the next customer shift might be. But we must remember that while parents’ choices in the 2020s may be increasingly unpredictable, fundamentally they just want the best possible education for their child. And, equally, schools want children who will thrive within them.

My recommendation is to embrace the changing customer needs but stay true to your school’s values and ethos, for ultimately those are the characteristics which will set you apart and attract the families who want the particular style of education you offer. Without a clear identity, a school simply won’t appeal to the increasingly selective customer in an increasingly tough marketplace. Despite the changes in customer perceptions and expectations, the winds of economic change and the turbulent political times in which we live, our ultimate aim is to give each child the best possible chance of happy and fulfilling schooldays. ●

PHILIPPA SCUDDS is Director of Marketing and Communications at Canford School (www.canford.com) and an Independent Schools Marketing Consultant (www.cathcomms.co.uk).

...increasingly unpredictable

“allmanhall

UNDERSTANDING YOUR STAKEHOLDERS

THE ROLE OF RESEARCH IN BRAND DEFINITION

Carolyn Reed explains why consumer research should underpin every school’s brand strategy and provides a step-by-step guide to managing a successful research exercise.

Netflix and The White Company: these are not necessarily brands that you would normally put together in one sentence but, for the purposes of this piece, they both have something in common – clear brand definition.

From a branding perspective, it is immensely helpful that they both created and sell an instantly definable product and their names have become synonymous with that product. This sheer element of clarity is their raison d’etre. We’d all be surprised if The White Company started selling purple pillowcases or Netflix opened bricks and mortar cinemas. These new-born brands were the brain children of their originators, springing from a fertile imagination but also benefiting, undoubtedly, from a good deal of consumer research before they were launched.

Diluted or diffused

Most schools are not new-born brands. They emerged decades, if not centuries,

ago with specific purposes that were relevant to their time and place. Consequently, heads and marketeers are almost always inheriting schools whose original identity and ‘brand difference’ has been diluted or diffused over time in an increasingly crowded and everchanging market. As a result, regularly revisiting brand definition is vital to ensure the clarity and relevance of a school’s marketing activities.

If this sounds familiar to you, then it could be time for a review and some research. Don’t be alarmed! Believe it or not, this can be a hugely rewarding and enjoyable process. Compared to the behemoth brands like Marks and Spencer or John Lewis, undertaking brand definition research for a school is totally manageable.

Of course, the redefinition of a school brand could very easily be left solely to the imagination of the head, but this autocratic approach may not endear them to the governing body!

TRIGGERS FOR REVISITING BRAND DEFINITION

• A creep of lower admission numbers without any obvious cause

• Noticeably increased competition ‘invading’ your territory

• A new head or bursar who needs to quickly understand the market challenges for their new school

Evidence-based rationale

From a sheer business development point of view (and let’s remember that independent schools are indeed multimillion-pound businesses), there are very few boards of governors willing to take a punt on a brand strategy and definition without robust research and an evidencebased rationale. Most governors will have come to the governing body through a professional or business route and will regard this process as best practice. Marketing departments, the engine house for the delivery of a brand strategy, need to feel assured that their planning can flow from an agreed objective achieved by consensus from the top down.

RESEARCH ROUTE MAP

Step forward research: ‘the torch that lights the road to strategy’. It is easy to become lost down a very dark cul-de-sac without it. So, with the torch lit, here’s the route map.

1Create a brand definition team

Invite the representatives from the school’s management to join a brand definition team. These will potentially consist of the head, the bursar, the chair of governors and/or the ‘marketing governor’ plus teaching members of the SLT.

2.

Hold an initial brand definition review

Bring together the brand definition team for what is in fact the first stage of the research – a brand definition review in the form of a familiarisation workshop.

The objective of this session is to get everything everyone knows about the school out on the table or, in reality, onto a flip chart. It offers the opportunity to share pertinent historic information and, conversely, new insights about competitors and the overall state of the market. All this is discussed and shared in the safe space of the workshop with ‘Chatham House rules’ and plenty of coffee and cake to fuel the discussion. Without exception, everyone will find this an extremely useful, cathartic and enlightening experience.

Out of this discussion and debate will inevitably spill an assessment of residual knowledge and a recognition of what further insights are needed to build a hypothesis for the relevant redefinition of the brand. These insights will be gained from the results of widerreaching research.

The research brief will be a key output of this phase of the review. There needs to be consistency in the framing of the research questions across the different research modules in order to discover, overall:

• what your school does well

• what your school could do better (and therefore would make it more desirable)

• how respondents describe your school (this can be done as an open question or by supplying a number of optional descriptive words or sentences)

• how your competitors are perceived and how they are described.

3.Carry out the brand definition research modules

Taking the research brief developed by the brand definition team as a starting point, the most effective research modules for a brand definition exercise are:

•

Stakeholders

This module can include staff, parents, pupils, alumni and relevant opinion formers. The research methods used to explore the views of this group will vary according to time and budget. Some can even be undertaken in-house to save money and questionnaires can be issued digitally direct from the head or marketing director. Stakeholder focus groups and interviews are best done via

The torch that lights the road

an independent moderator/interviewer who will be able to obtain deeper insights, as respondents feel more comfortable speaking confidentially to a professional who is not directly part of the school.

• Feeder heads

Interviews with the heads of schools that feed into your own school (nursery, prep or even senior if your school is a sixth form college) can provide excellent information on how your school is perceived. They can provide insights into how their parents report on their experiences after visiting one of your open days and what they hear about you on the grapevine. You will also be able to ascertain how these heads describe your school to their parents themselves and, importantly, how they compare you to your competitors.

• Non-joiner parents

Non-joiner parents are a key group to talk to in terms of understanding why they turned you down after being offered a place at your school. Their insights on what your strengths and shortcomings are and how you compare to other schools they considered, visited and ultimately accepted a place from will be invaluable in helping you redefine your brand message.

• Competitors

The final part of this jigsaw is to undertake a desk-based competitor review by looking

TOP TIPS FOR RUNNING CONSUMER RESEARCH

• Identify the imperatives for undertaking the exercise

• Gain consensus from the management team all the way through

• Work through appropriate research modules

• Gain a comprehensive and robust range of insights

• Ensure you gain responses to consistent questions so that you can analyse like for like across all the varying groups and respondents

• Inform respondents and the wider community of the outcome

• Finally, enjoy the process itself!

at your main competitor schools’ websites and using publicly available knowledge from which to compare their messaging and features to what stakeholders have said about them. This will allow you to build an overall comparison between them and your school.

4.Analyse the research findings

When these research modules are complete, analyse the findings to see the themes and insights that emerge consistently and will form the basis of discussion and a hypothesis for your brand definition.

It may be that the way the participants in the different research modules define your brand confirms what you originally thought about your school, which provides useful reassurance. Alternatively, the feedback may be different to your original vision, in which case you will want to work through this to understand the rationale.

It is highly likely that you will find that the words the research participants use to describe your school will also apply to other schools. Due to the number of schools in the sector, this is inevitable! You only need to look through the various residential and county magazines to see the same school

brand definition messages repeated time and again. However, do not despair.

This is the junction in the road – and the next stage is possibly the most important of all.

5.Find the ‘reasons to believe’

The task of the brand definition team is now to ensure that your school has enough evidence to support the brand perception that has emerged from the list of insights and to convert this into a brand definition which has integrity by virtue of the ‘reasons to believe’. The reasons to believe need to map over the tangible proof secured through the research exercise which renders the brand definition valid and has the power to bring it to life and make it memorable in the heads of parents.

If you believe you have that proof, then head straight down that well-lit road with confidence and at speed to deliver your brand. A well-supported brand definition will have the power to endure and weather adverse conditions. Conversely, if there isn’t enough supporting evidence, take to the next lay-by and reconsider your insights and find the brand truths that really can be supported with evidence

before you continue on the journey to the ultimate definition.

Feedback

By involving the key members of the management team in this process you will have reached consensus and brought the school community with you, enlisting everyone’s views. You don’t have to take them all on board but in the case of the wider group of stakeholders, you must feedback shortly after undertaking the exercise.

Inform them of the essence of your findings and how this valuable input will help to shape the future of the school, creating an even stronger brand and a better education that they will be proud to be part of and willing to recommend to their friends and family, ensuring the school is fighting fit and future-facing. ●

CAROLYN REED is the founder of Reed Brand Communication, a marketing consultancy that advises schools on defining and communicating their brand. www.reedbc.co.uk

...lost down a very dark cul-de-sac

Boston Manor House © Diane Auckland, Fotohaus Ltd.

RADLEY COLLEGE CHAPEL EXTENSION

By Purcell Architecture.

When Radley College decided they wanted to expand their intake, enabling the school to offer a greater number of assisted places, they faced a conundrum. The whole school comes together daily in the college chapel in a tradition that has been at the heart of school life since Radley was founded by the Reverends W Sewell and R C Singleton in 1847. The existing chapel was already at full capacity, seating 600 and increasing numbers at the school was deemed ‘unthinkable’ without finding a way to continue the tradition of coming together as a community each day.

The solution lay in extending the Grade II* Listed chapel, originally designed by Thomas Graham Jackson and completed in 1893. A small group of architecture practices were invited to take part in a competition to design a new extension, subsequently won by Purcell, the architects responsible for protecting, extending and modernising many of the country’s most notable buildings, including the Palace of

Combining 21st century technology with traditional craftmanship, the extension to the chapel at Radley College is a bold yet sympathetic dialogue with the original building. The layout of the building itself demands a sense of procession and drama and the architects were keen to amplify the synergy between ritual and architecture and the new interventions.

The extension is a conscious continuation of the original design, whilst also having its own contemporary character and presence. The architectural detailing, material selection, scale and proportion of the extension is driven by the sense of design unity within the chapel. The striking extension has a complex oak room design and glazed lantern, providing space for the sanctuary. The new sanctuary has an octagonal plan form and delivers an additional 207 seats to provide a total of 807.

A Sustainable Approach

No building project should ignore our collective responsibility to protect the future of the planet and nowhere is this more relevant for the next generation than in our schools. The approach to sustainability was carefully balanced against the impact on the heritage asset. The prime aspiration was to preserve and prolong the life of this important heritage asset, ensuring its long-term enjoyment, accessibility, and functionality for many generations to come.

Reuse of materials was paramount to establishing a high-quality interior, where continuity of the finish was key, alongside the preservation of historic fabric.

Chapels by their nature tend to be large open volumes and difficult to heat and insulate. Floor insulation, installed during re-laying works, enabled 40% of the chapel to be insulated. Plans are in place to supplement this in the future by insulating the roof during future conservation phases.

The existing building relied on an inefficient heating system of hot air blown through floor vents. The new approach focuses on heating people rather than the space, achieved through a simple system of running heat emitters discretely under the pews, providing low levels of heat where it is needed. This also provides significant benefits to the longterm conservation of the building fabric and artefacts. ●

Westminster, The National Gallery and Manchester Town Hall.

CONSUMER RESEARCH MATTERS!

Marketing is a multi-faceted discipline that begins with intelligent research. There is so much promotional activity all around us that it’s all too easy to forget the vital role research can play.

Well-executed marketing uses research to inform decisions about how, why, when – and even if – to undertake all kinds of activities, including the promotion and visual brand management, which many people mistake for the totality of ‘marketing’.

The same is true for communications and social media. Top communications teams draw on research findings to finetune the tone, topics and chosen media for the content they post online, the news they share with journalists, and how they communicate with parents and other stakeholders. This is all part of the highly skilled role of managing the school’s reputation.

Confirm or disprove accepted opinion Research matters. It can confirm or disprove accepted opinion, provide insights, maintain – and even salvage – reputations, saving considerable time and money in the long term. For schools, consumer research is key to understanding what people think and feel about us. It’s this ‘magic mix’ of the rational and emotional that motivates each of us to act (or not). You can use consumer research to test ideas before committing to major expenditure or staffing commitments.

How would it be possible, for example, to introduce new initiatives in any of the following areas without asking the end users what they think? Would people use a new nursery, an after-school care service or a late bus? Is your school branding and messaging hitting the right note with prospective parents? Why do some families decline your offer of a place? Do parents support a merger with X school?

Objectivity

The best research is objective. In fact, that’s the only kind worth having! It is a real skill to avoid leading questions in written surveys. You also need objectivity in focus groups. If you’re tempted to minimise costs by running your own, be aware that moderators from within your school

community are susceptible to misinterpreting the meaning or importance of what participants say simply because it’s hard to prevent personal experience from colouring our individual interpretations. Parents may also find it hard to speak freely in their presence.

Research is one area of marketing where it really pays to bring in outside help, with your resident marketing specialist as project manager. You may know your school well, but in order to have complete trust in the findings, make everything as objective as possible. The time for your ‘insider’ insights to come into their own is at either side of the research itself, firstly by articulating a clear brief, and then by deciding how best to use the findings.

Weather the storm

As I write, it is reported that the UK is headed for its longest recession since records began. Parents and schools may have hard decisions to make. Well managed consumer research is a potent marketing tool that could play a vital role in how independent schools weather the storm. ●

amcis.co.uk

TORY GILLINGHAM is CEO of AMCIS, the Association for Admissions, Marketing and Communications in Independent Schools.

Tory Gillingham explains why consumer research is such a potent force in effective school marketing activity.

STEWARDSHIP

SUPPORTING DONORS’ LIFE-LONG JOURNEY

Lara Firth from Bolton School and Erin Charles from The Perse School explain how they steward their respective school communities and share their top tips for conveying those two all-important words, thank you!

Celebrating the impact of philanthropy

November 2022 saw the launch of a new initiative for IDPE, the IDPE 2022 Celebration of Giving. The aim of this week was both to share and celebrate the impact of schools’ philanthropy and engagement on the lives of young people and to thank school communities for their generosity.

Bolton School

In response to the abolition of the assisted places scheme, Bolton’s bursary fund was formally established in 1997, enabling the school to replace the numbers of assisted place recipients during the past quartercentury in a manageable and sustainable way. £3 million is spent annually on bursaries, supporting one in five pupils across the two senior schools, which equates to around 350 pupils each year.

The Perse School

From 1945-1976, The Perse School was a direct grant school, offering free places to around one third of its pupils, and also participated in the assisted places scheme. Like Bolton, The Perse established a bursary fund following the end to this scheme. The bursary fund provides the opportunity for young people – who would not otherwise be able to attend the school – to realise their full potential. Over £1 million is spent annually on bursaries, with over 70 recipients this year.

In both schools, the majority of donations come from alumni, particularly former direct grant recipients who want to support bursaries, knowing first-hand the difference this can make.

Photo credit: The Perse School

Fundraising is not transactional

If someone has given you a donation of any value, it is important to say thank you. However, whilst every donation must be acknowledged, it is also important to recognise that fundraising is not transactional, it is about building relationships. A donor, or potential donor, will likely be an ‘alum’, a parent or a member of staff with a life-long connection to your school. It is therefore important to consider how you develop and foster a life-time relationship with them.

Not every member of your community will want to, or potentially be able to, give now. Therefore, consistently sharing the impact of your school’s philanthropy with your community – in the annual magazine, the monthly newsletter and at reunion events – and outlining how support may be given is in itself a form of stewardship, cultivating future donors.

Laura says:

‘In Bolton School, all our major donors are repeat donors. There are very few people whose first gift is their biggest gift. Many were regular donors for a long-time

before they pledged a larger gift, or they may purely have given their time initially.

I could rush the ask of those who I know from my prospect research have the potential to give on a larger scale, but instead, I steward them as if they are a major donor, because I am certain that they will give to their absolute full capacity when the time is right.’

Motivation matters

Every donor is unique, and as such their reasons for giving will differ. These could range from the feelgood factor of doing something kind for someone else, to a wish to have their own contribution etched in the school’s history by establishing a bursary fund in their name or to commemorate a former teacher who made a difference to them. Understanding a donor’s motivation to give, their interests, their values, will not only inform what projects they are most likely to give to, but also how you steward them.

The personal touch

In the corporate sector, there has been a move towards more personalised marketing, from the ‘Share a Coke’ campaign featuring labels with first names, to the personalised adverts on Facebook featuring the exact products you were looking at earlier that day. In a world where we are inundated by e-mails, our social media is swamped by ads and day-today life is constantly interrupted by advertising, the personal touch is valued.

...foster a lifetime relationship

Within the context of stewardship, a personally addressed, handwritten thank you card says we value you as a donor far more than a generic, printed letter and so – resource allowing – stewardship should always be as personal as possible. For major donors, there is nothing that you can buy them that they cannot buy a better version of for themselves, and in many cases they do not want the school to be wasting their donation, on thanking them in a substantive way. But being thoughtful costs nothing!

Laura says:

“At Bolton School, we look for opportunities to personalise our stewardship whenever we can, from sending birthday cards to acknowledge a donor’s special ‘zero’ birthday to congratulations cards when someone has got married or had a baby.

“At The Perse School, after we had built the Peter Hall Performing Arts Centre, we invited those donors who contributed to the campaign to see a performance in our new theatre. Having shown an interest in performing arts, what better way to recognise their generosity than to see the theatre in action, to see the impact of their donation?” – Erin

“Stewardship requires thought and effort: an original copy of a photo from the school archive bringing back a happy memory for a donor, a jar of Bolton School honey or a copy of the commemorative newspaper marking Bolton Wanderers’ promotion sent to a team fan living far away. These all take a little time to arrange but cost very little.”

Say thank you more than once

If we see stewardship as part of a lifelong journey, then it goes without saying that you should say thank you more than once. With effective stewardship, F

witnessing the impact

a one-time donor can become a regular donor, a regular donor can become a major donor, a major donor can become a legacy donor. It’s important to think about where a donor is now, and where you want them to be; stewardship will be critical in moving them along their donor journey.

Erin says:

“Consider a number of touchpoints with your donors throughout the year and make sure you contact them in different ways – don’t just wait for that annual impact report. Taking a multichannel approach to saying thank you will ensure your donors feel valued in whatever way they prefer. For example, alongside more traditional methods of saying thank you such as a hand-written card or personal call, at The Perse, we sent out personalised postcards to all of our donors, with a QR code that links to a short video clip from the Head thanking them for their donation and sharing with them how they are making a difference. Our aim is to build stewardship into every action we take.”

Stewardship takes resource, planning and good data

Whilst stewardship itself doesn’t have to be expensive, effective stewardship does take time and staff resource to do well. Spending time on stewardship (rather than potentially asking for money) can be challenging to justify to school leaders. However, it is important to consider this in relation to the time and cost of recruiting new donors. Getting someone to give for the first time can be equally, if not more, resource-heavy given the need to develop that relationship to the point of making an ask. If we instead concentrate our time on stewarding the donor who is giving £10 a month, who’s to say they won’t increase their monthly donation to £20 a month, or decide to leave a legacy in the future? We need to think about the lifetime value of our donors, not just the here and now.

It’s also important to be realistic about the resource you have available. In an ideal world, the Head would sign 5,000 Christmas cards personally to send to

all your donors, but does he or she have the time to do this? Consider how you can personalise your approach with the resource you have available and use your systems to support you to achieve this.

Laura says:

“We have built our entire fundraising structures around stewardship, but none of this would be possible without being organised in our approach. For example, we create template thank you letters annually for different segments of our database, each with a section to be personalised; we set up database queries to remind us of birthdays and giving anniversaries; I diarise time to make calls to say thank you. We cannot do individual stewardship plans for every donor, but through careful planning, we are still able to personalise our approach.”

Record-keeping

Keeping a record of your relationships is key. We can only personalise a thank you letter or card if we get to know our donors and therefore recording the detail of these relationships is essential.

Erin says:

“To build relationships with our donors, we need to not only know who they are, but to get to know them. Recording the conversation the Head had with a

donor at the last reunion, or information shared about the progress a donor’s child is making, helps us to build a picture of each individual donor and to draw upon this information when we say thank you. Also, by recording this detail it means the relationship remains with the institution and not the individual – we don’t want a donor having a new conversation every time there is a new member of staff in the development office.”

Saying thank you is fundamental to fundraising. Donors want to know their donations have made a difference. Equally, if they feel valued, donors will not only share their experience with others, but are also likely to give again … and again.

How will you say thank you? ●

LAURA FIRTH is Director of Development and Alumni Relations at Bolton School

ERIN CHARLES is Head of Development at The Perse School, Cambridge.

Photo credit: Bolton School

& IDPE AND GIFTED PHILANTHROPY FUNDRAISING ENGAGEMENT

Louise Bennett and Chris Goldie examine the key findings from the latest benchmarking report which shows fundraising is back on track following the pandemic.

The IDPE and Gifted Philanthropy Schools’ Fundraising and Engagement Benchmarking report aims to provide an overall picture of schools’ development across the UK. Thanks to the record number of schools participating in this year’s survey – 215 development offices supporting development across 291 schools – the 2022 report is a more comprehensive overview of the schools’ development sector than ever before.

All schools can achieve fundraising success, but it takes time

The data shows that all schools can generate income. However, fundraising success is rarely instant. Schools’ development is about building relationships with your community: alumni, parents and staff, all of whom have a life-long connection to your school. It is, therefore, important to consider how you will develop lasting relationships with them, and school leaders must be both patient and realistic when it comes to achieving their fundraising ambitions.

sector has recovered strongly

If we look at different types of school, boys’ schools continue to raise a significant proportion of the philanthropic income generated across the sector as a whole – 7.5% of the respondents were boys’ schools, raising 25% of the total income generated. However, there is a direct correlation between schools which are raising the most money and the age of the development office. We see schools four to six years along on their development journey with an average return on investment of 3.6:1. This compares to schools with development offices which have

been established for 16–20 years, where the average return on investment is almost double at 6.2:1. Many boys’ schools were amongst the first to set up development offices and have therefore been able to spend more time cultivating and strengthening those all-important relationships with their prospects. Reassuringly though, income generation across girls’ schools continues to grow by an average of 13% per annum, whilst co-ed schools continue to represent the greatest number of respondents and generate the greatest amount of philanthropic income.

Resource

Equally, the data from our benchmarking survey proves that fundraising success usually reflects the resources that are allocated to development. Again, if we compare across different types of school, 92% of boys’ schools have at least 3 full-time equivalent staff working in their development office, in comparison to 34% of co-ed and 12% of girls’ schools. The more staff your school has engaged in development, the greater the chances of fundraising success.

Expertise

The development offices that generate the most income are, in the main, led by experienced fundraising professionals. The data shows that senior development professionals who have been working in fundraising for at least seven years are most likely to deliver the best results. Their understanding of what motivates donors, their capacity to build meaningful relationships and their experience of the challenges of fundraising, all contribute to their ability to deliver results.

Bursaries matter

Most independent schools are now raising funds for bursaries. This has been a developing trend for some time.

...the

Key Takeaways

from the 2022 Benchmarking Report

Schools’

Annual income rose from £82,853,873 in 2018/19 to £99,539,163 in 2020/21

and in supporting their senior development professional. Fundraising should always be a team effort.

Development can drive a whole-school strategy

An urgent and compelling case for support will inspire prospects to give, so it stands to reason that the views of the person who knows your prospects best, who is most likely to know what capacity prospects have and what will most likely motivate them to give, should be asked to contribute to the development of the wholeschool strategy. In 57% of schools raising the most money, the senior development professional sits on the senior management team, and in 70% of this same group, the senior development professional has an input into the whole-school strategy.

of schools are raising funds for bursaries (up by 19% from 2018)

The more proactively involved the head, the more money will be raised

Fundraising takes time: the more established your development office the greater the ROI

The data confirms that bursary fundraising across the independent sector has risen from 66% of schools in 2018 to 85% of schools in 2021. There is also an increasing focus on raising funds for transformational bursaries of 110%+ or 100%, with 62% of schools raising funds for 110%+ bursaries and 80% raising funds for 100% bursaries, showing a definitive commitment from the sector to do more to drive forward social mobility.

Successful fundraising needs active leadership

Even the most experienced and skilful development directors need strong support, not only from their development staff, but just as importantly from those in leadership positions. Those who represent the school have significant roles to play – as ambassadors, cultivators, introducers and askers. Those at the helm have the most important role of all. The data shows that while the majority of heads are involved in development activities, in the group of schools raising the most, 74% of heads are proactively involved in development, both in cultivating and securing major gifts,

Don’t stop (or delay starting) your development journey

The pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the cost of living crisis can all be perceived as reasons for either delaying or stopping your school’s fundraising. However, the need for philanthropic income doesn’t stop!

During the pandemic, many development offices furloughed staff, events moved online and in some cases fundraising was paused, but the data shows that the majority of schools both continued to raise funds, and that the sector has recovered strongly – with total philanthropic income in 2020/21, £99,539,163 compared with £82,853,873 in 2018/19.

Why benchmarking schools’ development matters

Benchmarking enables schools to compare and contrast their performance against similar types of schools, highlighting strengths, as well as identifying opportunities to enhance fundraising and engagement performance. Whilst every school is different, and every school’s development journey unique, the benchmarking survey does enable us to share emerging best practice, highlight the factors which can influence success, and encourage more schools to start or accelerate their development programmes.

What is once more confirmed in the latest benchmarking report is that, if schools are prepared to make an investment of time, energy and money, all schools can achieve fundraising success... and we look forward to supporting you on your development journey. b

LOUISE BENNETT is CEO of IDPE and CHRIS GOLDIE is a Director of Gifted Philanthropy.

philanthropic income has recovered strongly after the pandemic

88%

Successful fundraising requires professional expertise and resource

-

TALKING

POINT -

TRANSFORMATIONAL BURSARIES

WHERE’S THE EVIDENCE?

Hugo Middlemas admits to being surprised by the slow growth of means-tested bursaries and urges independent schools to both think creatively about the awards they make and help gather evidence on their impact on social mobility.

Social mobility has rightly been on all our agendas for some time.

Progress for many in the UK has stalled and the impact of economic and social challenges over the past three years continues to be felt. The ISC Annual Census from early 2022 highlights the huge effort schools are making through means-tested bursaries and partnerships that benefit young people and communities way beyond the physical boundaries of our schools. Behind the numbers are tens of thousands of stories of young people being given a potentially life-changing opportunity they would otherwise not be able to access.

Bursary statistics

Working at Christ’s Hospital (CH), the UK’s leading bursary charity, I was interested to see how the ISC’s bursary statistics have changed over time. There has been much talk of schools prioritising 100% ‘transformational bursaries’ to help those most in need, so I was expecting to see a dramatic change there as well as in overall bursary numbers. It came as rather a surprise then to see that, between 2014 and 2022, the total number of means-tested bursaries provided by ISC schools has in fact fallen by 2%. Even stranger, the number of 100% bursaries has only increased by 1% over the same period. Perhaps this is down to the lag time between new fundraising efforts and selecting the bursary candidates?

What was more encouraging was the 12% growth in the number of bursaries at the 75%–99% level. This is where the majority of bursaries at Christ’s Hospital lie. The average CH bursary is 83% and we are very clear that social need can be just as high for these young people as for those with a 100% bursary. I wonder if the sector’s apparent focus on 100% bursaries as being the gateway to social mobility risks diverting attention from the powerful change that can be enabled through ‘transformational’ bursaries at these lower levels, particularly where social challenges may not be accompanied by extreme poverty. Or perhaps, for some, a focus purely on economic disadvantage – with the 100% bursary as the pinnacle – fits best with their pastoral resources?

Measuring long-term impact

Whatever approach we take, measuring the long-term impact of bursaries on social mobility is crucial. Can we as a sector demonstrate that young people with bursaries go on to earn more and be in higher-level jobs than their parents – the measure the Social Mobility Commission uses for upward social mobility?

With schools’ alumni programmes providing the ideal platform for longitudinal research on our alumni’s income and employment, together with our bursary assessment data, our sector is particularly well positioned to capture and analyse key long-term social mobility data.

Christ’s Hospital’s research into the long-term outcomes for its pupils with bursaries has shown clear evidence of social mobility, including median household incomes at three times that of their parents. Such long-term data appears to be a significant gap for the Social Mobility Commission at present. Might there be an opportunity for schools to collaborate in such research and communicate the significant impact bursary programmes have? ●

HUGO MIDDLEMAS

is the Director of Development at Christ’s Hospital.

Photo credit: Christ’s Hospital

EVERY TIME The planet wins

Our goal is to inspire everyone to participate, building confidence and a love of sport.

As the #1 sportswear brand for independent schools, we have a responsibility to create performance kit ethically and sustainably, instilling pride across the school whilst caring for the planet along the way.

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