Independent School Management Plus: Summer 2023

William Clarence Education

Green Park House, 15 Stratton Street, Mayfair, London W1J 8LQ

Tel: +44 (0)207 412 8988

EDITOR

Irena Barker

editor@schoolmanagementplus.com

DESIGN & PRINT

Fellows Media Ltd

The Gallery, Southam Lane, Cheltenham GL52 3PB 01242 259241 hello@fellowsmedia.com

ADVERTISING

Izzie Renwick

izzie.renwick@fellowsmedia.com 01242 259241

PUBLISHER

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

DISTRIBUTION

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

The school year is over and the blessed peace of the summer holidays is upon those of us still working away somewhere in the echoing emptiness of the school buildings and grounds! Alleluia!

But, of course, that’s not an entirely accurate picture!

In addition to summer schools and other events which take advantage of students’ absence, the long holiday period is also a key point in the year when major projects are undertaken. For many school staff – and the contractors who work alongside them – this is one of the busiest times of the year, as Pamela Muir – Gordonstoun’s Bursar – explains and celebrates in her article, A Balancing Act (p13).

It is crucially important that we don’t undervalue the contribution – or needs – of the non-teaching colleagues who help to keep our schools operating throughout the year. In Upskilling and Reskilling Your Staff (p17), Penny Godfrey outlines why she believes their welfare and career development, alongside that of the teaching staff, should be at the forefront of every SLT’s mind. This is, of course, equally true in relation to a school’s legal responsibilities for Staff Wellbeing and Mental Health, as outlined by Louise Brentlund (p20).

This edition of Independent School Management Plus also carries an in-depth interview with Vanessa Ward, the ISI’s CEO and Chief Inspector, who discusses the new Framework 23 evaluation process which is likely to feature on the agenda of many of our schools in 23/24 (p6).

So, good fortune to those of our readers working away onsite this summer and happy holidays to those lucky enough to be away relaxing. As our communities foregather again for the Autumn Term, let’s be sure to value all our colleagues whatever they may do and ensure everyone on staff is properly recognised, rewarded and supported.

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts!

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

WWW.SCHOOLMANAGEMENTPLUS.COM

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

Heather Styche-Patel leads the Consultancy Services Practice and Commercial Leadership Appointments at RSAcademics.

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

6

6 In Conversation With Vanessa Ward CEO & Chief Inspector, ISI

20

Staff Wellbeing and Mental Health

Celebrating the Impact of Schools’ Development

41 Talking Point Hybrid Board Meetings What is right for your school?

In Conversation with Vanessa Ward

IN CONVERSATION WITH

VANESSA WARD CEO & CHIEF INSPECTOR, ISI

Zoe MacDougall talks to Vanessa Ward about the principles underpinning the ISI’s inspection regime and explores how the new Framework 23 evaluation process will work.

Deep breaths in the staff room

In most staff rooms in independent schools across the country, the word ‘inspection’ heralds a collective deep breath. Because, inarguably, an inspection holds the school accountable for meeting a set of standards, inspected through a specific framework. Independent schools are held to account through the Independent School Standards, which are set by the Department for Education and approved by Parliament, and are split into eight main parts covering all aspects of school life.

Much of what is covered in the standards has the well-being of children as its core value. Heads and leadership teams feel their accountability keenly. And to be held accountable for something is a serious responsibility, a weighty obligation.

However, as Vanessa reassuringly explains, accountability is only one of a number of potential purposes of school inspection. The new Framework 23 sets the tone for a manageable and collaborative process, where schools are recognised as complex and individual entities, and evaluations are both robust and nuanced.

The principles of inspection

Underpinning Framework 23 are four principles, which aim to set the tone of inspections going forward into the new six-year cycle.

Manageability

As a teacher herself, then as a head, Vanessa is no stranger to what inspection looks like from the staff room. She wants to encourage schools to keep the process manageable, starting with preparation ahead of the event itself. Schools can access the ISI website, where “we publish a lot of information that sits around the inspection, like the framework, the handbook, FAQs. We want to promote openness and accessibility to the requirements that schools have to meet.”

Familiarity with these documents means that schools understand how inspection can work alongside their own quality assurance processes: “It’s about articulation, it’s about managing the relationship”. Vanessa is very clear that "we want to make sure that we aren’t creating extra workload, that we want to see the school as business as usual, that we only want to ask for documents that are already in existence, because it’s part of the school’s everyday life. We don’t want things to be prepared specifically for inspection. We’re really looking at our systems to make sure that we don’t inadvertently do that.”

Collaboration

Perhaps drawing on her years as a school improvement partner, Vanessa emphasises the importance of collaboration in a

Framework 23 inspection. She explains: “Wherever possible, and whenever school leaders would like us to, we want to inspect activities jointly with them. For example, looking at lessons, or looking at pupils’ work will be a shared activity, reflecting together. Obviously there will be an evaluation at some point, which will be held by the inspection team, but that evaluation will be about what has been seen jointly. Joint observations will be an offer to the school, they don’t have to do that, we appreciate that there may be constraints around doing so, but it is on offer.” Where collaborative observations have taken place, the ensuing conversation between school leaders and inspectors will intrinsically demonstrate quality assurance processes, adding further validity and reliability to the staff room view of inspections.

Triangulation and typicality

Maybe there is something of the solicitor in Vanessa’s explanation of the third principle of inspection, which has its roots in the careful consideration of evidence. It points to a very thorough process: “It’s about how we use the evidence we see on inspection. So first of all we triangulate, we look for a range of evidence to support an emerging evaluation that will become a judgement. As appropriate, inspectors will think, what else do I need to see, or is there something else I need to look at. Typicality is very much about emphasising that we want to reach a typicality of experience in that school for pupils over time. Obviously, we’re only in schools for a limited amount of time – two and a half days – but we want, if possible, to reach beyond those two and a half days.

Create space for noticing…

Vanessa Ward: A PROFILE

Vanessa’s career began in law, as a solicitor, a job she loved. But she always knew she would work in education one day. She comes from a family of teachers – both parents and all her grandparents were teachers and, for Vanessa, this family habitus took her into “the most rewarding, and the most demanding, of jobs – teaching”.

Entering the profession as a teacher of English, she became Head of English, an Assistant Head, then Deputy Head in comprehensive schools, then Head of The Tiffin Girls’ School in London. Her leadership roles focussed on teaching and learning, and quality assurance, “working with colleagues to know that we are where we think we are”.

As a head, Vanessa trained to be an Ofsted inspector, and then was employed by Ofsted as an HMI, during which time she inspected a broad range of education provision. Subsequently working as a school improvement partner, then as a consultant in schools, Vanessa enjoyed a very collaborative role, working alongside school leaders. Further career progression took her to the Independent Schools’ Inspectorate (ISI), where she is now Chief Inspector and CEO.

Explaining her pathway to date, Vanessa feels that she can best connect the dots looking backwards: knowledge and experience of teaching in schools, training, mentoring, coaching, inspecting, consulting and quality assurance underpin her current role at the ISI.

Typicality of experience

That can come from a range of things. We look at books, we talk to teachers, pupils, staff. We talk about decision-making and about putting policy into practice.”

Proportionality

There is no small amount of common sense in Vanessa’s definition of inspection: “It’s part of a wider assurance system in which the school can participate.” Proportionality is about “making a judgement based on our understanding

of what’s systemic in that school. If, for example, there is something that isn’t where it’s meant to be, and it could lead to a standard being not met, we would ask, is this a one-off error that’s easily correctable because the right systems are in place? Is it an oversight? Or is the issue systemic, does it reflect a lack of knowledge about what should be there, or the capacity to put it right?”

An ISI inspection is always going to hold a school accountable robustly to the

Independent School Standards.

It’s also going to do so in a manner which promotes a shared understanding of a school’s complex and individual characteristics.

No preferred method

During the actual event of an inspection, Vanessa makes it very clear that inspecting teams aren’t looking for a checklist of evidence and experience. School leaders are encouraged to explain and articulate the characteristics of their school in a way which best fits their provision and practices. On another common-sense F

Common sense…

and ambitions and how to capture them in our recommendations. If standards are not met, then we will have areas for action, and they will be discussed with the school, but it will be for the reporting inspector to indicate what action needs to happen.”

EVALUATION UNDER FRAMEWORK 23

The inspection report in the new 6-year cycle of inspections from September 2023 will identify the following:

note, Vanessa acknowledges that “there are certain things we have to see, so there are certain things that we have to have, because schools have to have them. That’s not a preferred method; that comes down to meeting the standards.”

Meanwhile, at the heart of the inspection lies the decision-making of school leaders, the clarity of putting policy into practice, creating a space to empower a conversation between the school and the inspecting team.

Vanessa cites a key phrase used within the ISI, which underpins their work in schools: “What do I notice and why does it matter?” She goes on the define it: “Once I’ve noticed something, and I’ve worked out why it matters (and it’s great if it’s a shared conversation, if we’re building in collaboration), I can work with the school to decide what to do next on inspection. During an inspection, it’s important to create space for noticing. Talking about these things, articulating them, allowing space for these conversations to happen around inspection, that’s really important.”

1. The standards are met/not met.

2. Significant strengths of the school.

3. Recommended next steps.

4. Areas for action.

The inspection report

At the end of the inspection process, there has to be an evaluation. That evaluation needs to be articulated in the inspection report. Inspection reports are used to communicate the characteristics of a school to a wide audience, with the Department for Education, and current and prospective parents at the forefront of its readership. Usually there is much to celebrate. But sometimes the report may contain a hard message to hear.

Clarity is hugely important, and Vanessa’s explanation of the style of the report is, indeed, very clear: “We’ll be looking at the extent to which standards are met. We’re going to have the ability in the reporting to say where there are significant strengths. The framework has a set of characteristics that may indicate significant strengths. For all schools, we will indicate recommended next steps. If standards are met, then those recommended next steps will be in discussion with school leaders. That will be a very collaborative process, where we’ll ascertain the school’s aims

But with clarity must come nuance in order for a school’s characteristics and complexities to be effectively communicated. Vanessa unpacks the rationale behind the inspection report further: “The main thing we want to focus on is how we get clarity and nuance. Schools are complex, sophisticated places. We want our inspection reports to clearly capture the nuance of a school, whereby anyone reading them will be really, really clear about the school’s individual characteristics. We’re going to have a summary section at the beginning of the report which is going to focus on the distinctiveness of a particular school.”

Breathe easily

So, back to the staff room. Has the atmosphere surrounding the discussion of inspections settled? Actually, teachers and school colleagues inspect themselves, every day. They are diligent, self-reflecting people. Heads and governors make value judgements all the time, that’s their job as part of the wider quality assurance process. As Vanessa says, “I’ve done all of those roles.” In doing so, she recognises that schools and inspectors all want what’s best for the children.

Quality assurance is all in a day’s work in education. ●

ZOE MACDOUGALL is an educational commetator who has worked extensively in both the independent and maintained sectors.

Dynamic catering and facilities management consultancy.

u Purchasing Solutions

u Consumer Insight

u Tender Management

u Contract Monitoring

u Benchmarking

u Strategic Reviews

u Catering Design & Planning

We want to support your school and would therefore like to offer you a pro bono, no obligation call or video conference to informally discuss any estate related challenges you may have. Alternatively, we would be delighted to meet with you face to face.

Contact Joe Parfitt is our Education Consultancy Director, his contact details are below, or scan the QR code.

M: 07837 759 198

T: 01276 673 891

E: joeparfitt@litmuspartnership.co.uk

W: www.litmuspartnership.co.uk

T: @litmussolutions

Litmus have been providing catering and FM consultancy in Independent Schools for over 30 years and we are very proud of our track record.

We understand that every school has its own identity. Its own culture. Its own community and its own challenges.

We’re here to help your school create the best possible support service solutions, whether contracted or managed in-house.

Community

Great, healthy food should be a given, cost-effective cleaning and housekeeping services the norm.

Our goal is to help schools drive quality and efficiency, supporting you to ensure time at school is a pleasure for everyone in your community.

In-House and Contracted

Whichever arrangement exists we’re comfortable because, in the end, it’s the service that matters, not who delivers it.

Boarding

Boarding schools are unique, and we have learned that any experience that boosts pupils’ happiness and comfort in a secure environment is central to every school we have worked with.

Joe Parfitt Litmus Independent Schools

Whether your services are contracted or managed in-house, we help Independent Schools thrive!

FEMALE EMPOWERMENT

LEADERSHIP WITH HEART AND KINDNESS

Fostering leadership skills - amongst students and staff - lies at the heart of every all-girls school’s mission. In this article, GSA Heads Will le Fleming and Sandrine Paillasse explain why they think such initiatives are so important for the future of society. Together, they highlight inspiring new models of leadership which underpin the refocusing of female leadership and encourage SLTs to support nurturing working cultures.

Empowering and encouraging female leadership is at the heart of our purpose as a school.

Joining The Abbey as its first male head, I felt my personal responsibility in this regard with stark clarity. When asked – not infrequently – whether a man should be the head of The Abbey, I had an impassioned answer to give: I whole-heartedly believe that the responsibility for gender equality and empowerment is one we all share, as with all forms of equality. It is a question of mutual human dignity and freedom. And I knew from my previous experience in all-boys, all-girls and co-education that I wanted to commit to girls’ education and to the cause that drives it. But while I knew my answer, I certainly thought it was a fair question to ask. And it is particularly pertinent for a male leader, in a community all about opportunity and freedom for girls and women, to consider the community.

What’s painfully apparent is how powerful the barriers to such empowerment remain. Education itself is a good example.

Obstacles

One simple obstacle is the inflexibility of the demands. Everyone in education works long and intense hours and at the senior level the demands intensify further. There is the routine workload; there’s the need to be at so many of the evening events and functions and celebrations that punctuate every term-time week; and then there are the crises, almost as routine as the routine workload, that take an ongoing toll.

It remains the case that more women than men need flexibility in their working lives and, as we tackle the underlying causes, employers need to find solutions to enable this: from job sharing to strict limits on the sheer number of hours that all colleagues are expected to be available. That is particularly true for pastoral leaders. The nature of their work is to always be on call: we have to find ways to make this sustainable as the demands, and the complexity of those demands, continue to increase.

We also see the uneven impact of family life on leadership aspirations. Care and the responsibility for care is not fairly distributed. So often it is clear that even in families where men and women have joint childcare responsibilities, women are the managers and the brains and the authority and the arbiter: they may share the hours, but they bear the weight of the decisions. A study by the University of Kent this year showed that the ‘motherhood penalty’ – the pay gap between mothers and fathers with post-school education – has got worse since the 1970s, not better. The same pattern repeats across the whole range of personal and care responsibilities beyond school: unequal obligation and unequal impact.

WILL LE FLEMING is the Executive Head of the Abbey School, Reading.

The motherhood penalty…

Counter systemic biases

Set against these challenges there are powerful ways our community, and every all-girls school, can work to counter systemic biases and other conscious and unconscious forms of discrimination that contribute to them. One of the most striking is the absolute assumption of the normality of girls and women taking the lead. The simple fact of every student leader being a girl has power. The same culture permeates the staff body: the shared purpose of those working in girls’ education is female empowerment, and that is evidenced by the inspiring women leading teams of all kinds and sizes across the school.

While in most cases this is as natural as breathing, which is the heart of empowerment, there are times when it needs nurturing. Female leadership in every function – finance, IT, marketing, estates – needs equal encouragement, as does balanced leadership at the most senior academic and business levels. It is no good waiting for perfect applicants to emerge. Schools must have mentoring programmes, recruitment goals, active search, and an equally active attention to the visible and invisible factors that may deter women from specific roles and opportunities.

Leadership

The Girls’ Futures Report was recently produced. Some seized on the fact that ‘being a leader’ ranked lowest of 17 attributes in terms of career aspirations for girls: but what the report made plain is that they are not interested in the model of leadership we all see too often in the world – a loud voice, limitless self-belief, swagger and speech-making. They believe in a model of leadership that means working in a team, being committed and responsible, inspiring others, appreciating individuals, helping them to achieve their best.

This has been characterised as a female model of leadership: but in truth it just seems like a better model of leadership – more humane, more collaborative, more effective. We see it in student leaders all the time – the mutual respect they show one another, the desire to include, the readiness to listen. One of the most important actions a leadership team can take is to heed this example and demonstrate their commitment to it. We have to ensure that leadership is transparently based on the values we foster in classrooms.

Empowering female leaders is in part about a culture of leadership that matches the leadership girls show in their own lives, and that looks and feels like something worth doing - in every sense.

It was not long ago that we had several female leaders in positions of global power –Theresa May, Liz Truss, Jacinda Ardern, Angela Merkel, Nicola Sturgeon. Suddenly they are gone. Leadership, all powerful and visible, is behind them, according to media pundits and public opinion. But is it? These determined women, whose image and authority were defined by their professions, have reframed their power. The concept of leadership is ever evolving, and not only in politics. The vocabulary of leadership training courses, where styles are discussed and temperaments analysed, has oft included ‘alpha females or authentic leaders’. Now is the time for female leaders to set their own terms, their own rules. The same applies in education.

Heart and compassion

There is one universal but unspoken rule that governs our interactions: everybody wants to be understood. We feel powerful and important when someone with authority takes the time to listen to us and deems us worthy of their time. Senior leaders encourage their F

SANDRINE PAILLASSE is Head of St Christopher’s School, Hampstead

other. They love wearing princess dresses – not all, of course, but let us not ignore the plain truth: at that age, most children sing and dance to Disney stories quite unselfconsciously. That is the best model one can hope for older girls, for women. Girls are powerful in their unselfconsciousness; sadly, this changes when, as teenagers, they become conscious of a world that wants to take away their power. How does the girl happily singing Disney songs with her friends become the senior leader apologising for being clumsy as she presents to her peers? It is then, in a context that will even set women against each other, that we need to empower, re-power even, them.

Perfectionism is toxic soil…

staff and pupils to lead with heart and compassion, to enact virtues and to embrace vulnerability. When we say ‘no’ to our children, as educators or parents, we implicitly teach them boundaries and consent, to allow them to have the confidence to say ‘no’ in future years, be it in personal or professional contexts. The same is true of leaders recognising their own mistakes, and even changing the course of their narratives publicly. How powerful to hear a colleague declare ‘I don’t know’ in a meeting; it can only happen if the Senior Leadership Team enables this level of transparency and cultivates a collegiate school culture.

It is easy to fall prey to the busyness of school leadership, with piling responsibilities and deadlines to juggle. Inevitably, this becomes an ingrained image of leadership: everywhere but unavailable. What model are we giving our children and young people if they learn that leaders should be heroes? Perfectionism is a toxic soil.

Empower, re-power

The best examples of female empowerment in schools come from our children. Before they become teenagers, little girls enjoy being little girls. Before the world tells them that they are powerless, they are empowered. They believe in themselves and in each

I am sad when I hear stories of women not supporting other women. As a girls’ school, we aim to educate our pupils to be allies for one another.

An open door: an unspoken invitation

When I started as a head, I thought about how I wanted to interact with the girls. Should I run dropins, or special meetings at scheduled times throughout the week? Attend School Council? I have found that the best way to give girls the courage to speak up is to open the door – no glass ceiling, no door to push. Still today, many of my interactions with girls (and indeed with staff) are often unscheduled – diaries can be real obstacles to overcome, and these impromptu meetings are often the most authentic. An open door is an unspoken invitation. It enables equal access to the school leadership and what it represents: its vision, its strategy, as well as the roadmap and the compass. I model a behaviour I hope our girls will enact in the future: they will open their door and listen to others, they will say yes, and sometimes they will say no - and always, it is my wish, with heart and kindness. ●

A BALANCING ACT MANAGING SUMMER PROJECTS

Pamela Muir recounts the challenges of delivering major projects across the summer holidays and offers some suggestions on how to get the most out of this invaluable time in the school year.

Being Bursar is always a balancing act and nowhere is that more evident than when planning major works. We experience myriad tensions. There are advantages to delivering infrastructure projects when there is no one on campus but we also have to maximise revenue generation from our assets. We want to take advantage of an empty campus but our teams and contractors also take holidays. An empty campus can be a false friend; there is a hard deadline when the school opens so project-overruns are a big problem.

Like many independent schools, we try to maximise the income we generate from our campus. During the summer, we host the Gordonstoun International Summer School, an extraordinarily broad programme that encompasses everything from computing to bush craft and tall ship sailing. During Easter,

we run our Active Revision course, which uses neuroscience to increase cognition and improve memory ahead of GCSE and SQA exams. Interspersed between these courses, we host weddings, national rugby and football team training courses and other educational gatherings like Tae Kwando and drama camps. This limits the extent of the refurbishment activities we can undertake – but we do squeeze major works in!

So how do we ensure that we strike the right balance?

Planning

Of course, the planning for most works starts long before they take place. For us, the starting point was back in 2019, when we developed a masterplan for new buildings on our campus and a long-term capital investment plan to fund the activity. Our vision, to be delivered in our centenary year of 2034, is of a campus

that maximises our ability to provide sector-leading character education long into the future.

We have a rolling five-year plan with high-level capital expenditure allocated to each project. For works like redecoration, refurbishment, new roofs, etc, our very capable Head of Estates and Project Co-ordinator have good relationships with local contractors. We carry out tendering processes for big projects where there are multiple contractors available (more on that later!) and then put in place detailed planning and monitoring for the

brilliant, dedicated people

works. Our Project Co-ordinator has a surveying background, so she supervises each project and signs it off to ensure it meets our standards.

Not all of our buildings can be refurbished, and we are four years into the masterplan that will see us build a new classroom village and replace some of our boarding houses. But, in parallel, we need to work to preserve our heritage buildings which have global significance as the places where our new King, his father, Prince Philip, and other members of the Royal family were educated, as well as being the birthplace of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and The Round Square Conference. F

DEVELOPING GORDONSTOUN’S CAMPUS masterplan

bottleneck for improvement works is availability of contractors and, for this reason, much of our major capital work happens in term time. In this past year, we have redecorated all of our boarding houses, largely during term time, by putting in place a ‘decant’ plan. This idea was born out of our COVID experience when we used an older, mothballed boarding house as a quarantine facility. During the refurbishment works, each student spent two weeks in this decant boarding house. This was a win-win for us because it provided an opportunity for colleagues considering pastoral roles to try them out in a smaller house and has proven a fertile training ground for pastoral staff.

Summer 2023

Staff accommodation is a key refurbishment task. Staff often depart and arrive during the summer, leaving a few weeks for us to get into the accommodation, so we will be using this window this summer as we do every year. The summer is also when education colleagues take long holidays and this can provide opportunities for us to do major works. However, this year we will also be putting our Art Building out of commission in order to replace the roof. However, art is a major part of our summer school programme and so, in typical Gordonstoun style, we will be moving this outside, doing art under canvas in marquees; the students will have great fun!

There are a host of maintenance tasks that get done in the two weeks that the school is empty, with no summer programme activities running. One of these is removing any silt that has built up in our INKA (the round concrete part of the plant that you’d recognise from public sewage works). Yuck!

And our IT team, which won’t be doing as much reactive work as they do during term time, will be working on a project to upgrade the IT in our classroom and some of our operational departments.

Challenges and solutions

These will be amongst some of this summer’s achievements, but there have been challenges to overcome to enable us to deliver them. In the remote north

With an ageing estate, we also have to be super-flexible with our plans so that emerging issues can be fixed. Communication is really important here; all of the senior leadership team are involved in prioritising our capital spend and are kept informed when something unexpected arises. Because we have a long-term plan, it is easier to reassure people when works will be completed.

Unexpected works can also arise when a donor wants to fund something that isn’t on our plan. It’s a nice problem to have, and we always try to take the work on if it’s an improvement that would need to be made at some point. But sometimes this creates a conflict with planned work so we have to weigh things up. I’m afraid that I don’t have a panacea for this, but I find that involving the full senior leadership team in discussions really does make a difference. This allows us to explore the conflicts from different perspectives and come up with the best overall solution for the school.

New classroom hub

Executive team and Board agree vision

Tender for and appoint masterplan architect

Consult with alumni, former staff, the local authority, parents, staff and students

Develop draft masterplan

Senior leadership and board input into masterplan

Masterplan confirmed and shared with stakeholders

Masterplan illustration

Employee exhaustion

I’ve definitely learned about the danger of employee exhaustion by trying to do too much. In the summer of 2020, we tried to take advantage of an empty campus to get a load of work done and at the same time we had constant fluctuations in COVID guidance, which meant that our estates teams had to re-set classrooms and boarding house furniture several times. Combined with the challenges of switching everything back on when the campus was reopened after lockdown, the team was hard-hit. I underestimated the impact on my colleagues and it took them by surprise too. We had good counselling and other support services in place, but I take more care now in pacing our works. We also have more wellbeing initiatives in place so that my team can recognise when things are getting to be too much.

Leadership and in-house expertise

Leadership at all the different levels within the team is critical. During my time at Gordonstoun, we’ve built up a leadership structure that underpins the planning and management of works. We’ve been able to do this because we’ve made structural changes to focus resources on the places they’re most needed.

In the past, the team was made up of brilliant, dedicated people but they were set up to be completely reactive. When asked for a five-year plan, they had difficulty finding the time to produce it. Really specific expertise is needed to complete this task. For a while, we used a great third party quantity surveyor as a project manager, but now we have recruited qualified staff into the team whose primary role is to plan and manage works. Whilst our contractors were very good, our new in-house team

has saved the school so much money by challenging prices and ensuring highquality work that they have recouped the cost of their own wages.

We’ve had ups and downs in our journey towards longer-term planning,

TOP tips

1

Book contractors far in advance

Even if you don’t know exactly what they’ll be doing, book slots and keep in close contact with them as you go through your planning process. Contractor availability in our part of the UK is our biggest bottleneck.

2 Make sure you’ve got the right people

Often maintenance teams’ strengths lie in their ability to be reactive. This can conflict with the need for longer-term planning. Before you do any long-term planning, check to what extent the team can lead on such a task. You may need to bring in different expertise if you don’t have this in-house.

3 Prioritise but also be dynamic in your planning

You may be able to squeeze in lower-priority projects because a contractor becomes available or because a resident is going on holiday. Be ready to do this.

4 Move outdoors

At Gordonstoun we use our outdoor facilities as an extension of our inside spaces; this can create useful space when works are being carried out.

5 Plan to complete major works during term time

School buildings are rarely used at full capacity all the time, so it’s not

but it’s been worth it. Our students are delighted with their newly decorated boarding houses, everyone loves our new buildings and we’ve worked together to find a way to implement the change in a way that has kept everyone on board. ●

impossible to undertake major works during term time. Can you decant activities elsewhere on your campus so that facilities are freed up for major works?

6 Relationships are really important

Build consensus and a shared understanding around planned works. We couldn’t have decanted our boarding houses without really good relationships between the estates and pastoral teams.

7 Involve the SLT in planning and prioritising

Linked to the point above, our whole senior leadership team owns the capex plan and everyone is able to explain to their own teams why we’ve chosen certain priorities. This takes heat off the teams who, whilst they implement the plans, have little control over them.

8 Be careful not to run your teams and your contractors too hard

It’s tempting to do as much as possible but everyone needs a break and sometimes pushing for ‘stretch goals’ can have really negative consequences. As with everything, there is a balance to be struck. It’s our role as leaders to keep an eye on our people and make sure they’re not overcommitted to the point of burnout.

PAMELA MUIR is the Bursar at Gordonstoun School.

UPSKILLING AND RESKILLING YOUR STAFF INVESTING IN YOUR GREATEST RESOURCE

Penny Godfrey encourages heads and governors to invest time and money in professional development to ensure staff –from every area of school life – have the skills they need to continue to work confidently and effectively.

In recent years, alongside every statistic around recruitment, retention and resourcing, there has been an entreaty to organisations to focus on upskilling.

Globally, we hear that upskilling and reskilling is what organisations must do if they stand any chance of dealing with future skills shortages. PWC predicts that by 2020 ‘the talent shortage and skills gap in the U.S. alone is expected to total a loss of $8.5 trillion’. Yet, according to MIT and Deloitte, just 34% of workers they surveyed feel that their organisations fostered their skills development opportunities.

When it comes to skills shortages, schools are not exempt.

A 2021/22 report from Ofsted warned that many schools are experiencing, ‘ongoing challenges in recruiting and retaining qualified staff’, and that this needs to be ‘urgently addressed’.

More recently, figures published by the UK Department for Education show that just 59% of the secondary school teachers required by the state sector were recruited in 2022, a sign that staffing challenges are only going to get worse. The independent sector fairs slightly better, but there is no room for complacency. It has been reported that more than half (53%) of universities and independent schools say it is difficult to recruit staff.

But can additional training help with staff recruitment and retention? What does ‘upskilling’ even mean? And more specifically, what does this look like for schools?

lunch and learns

Upskilling and reskilling

At Jaluch, we believe that schools, in line with most other commercial businesses, will typically have five key ‘upskilling’ and ‘reskilling’ priorities:

• developing leadership capability

• preparing existing staff for roles that do not currently exist

• continuing professional development for all

• rigorous personal development for ambitious employees

• continual, committed and focussed learning around technology. F

Developing leadership capability

Just because your school leaders have been successful across the last ten years does not guarantee success for the next ten.

Senior school heads are just like everyone else. They must invest time in their own development to ensure they continue learning and adapting.

Unfortunately, our experience at Jaluch is the most senior people in any organisation tend to be the first to excuse themselves from training. Or they simply do not turn up – perhaps believing the pressing tasks they have to hand are more important than skill building. The demands of a senior school role can be all-consuming, but this is not the time for leaders to dip out of learning, in the vain hope they will be still seen as ‘current’ in five years’ time.

The focus here could be to get senior school staff to identify what skills they themselves might want to develop – ideally based on some of the great research that has been coming out of the large global business schools.

Preparing for roles that do not currently exist

Harvard Business Review published an article entitled 21 jobs of the future some years back, but it is still a brilliant wake-up call. It reminds us just how much we need to keep running to keep up. Letting skills stagnate is simply not an option.

Let us consider three jobs your school could feasibly be advertising for at some point in the future:

• a Chatbot and human facilitator to join your marketing team.

• an algorithm bias auditor to support those using

software for automated decision-making e.g., following exams/assessments

• a digital process engineer within your finance department.

Sound far-fetched? Well, these are all roles currently being advertised in the corporate world.

Of course, it takes time to envisage what your school will need in the future and identify how to train your existing employees so they can fill those roles. It requires complex problem-solving, transformational thinking, emotional intelligence, and inter-department collaboration. However, the cost of having your competitors storm ahead of you in the market because they adopted these practices much earlier, and have already re-trained their staff, might be a price too high to pay for many schools.

Continuing professional development

Your existing team should be continually updating their skills set to remain ‘current’ which, in turn, will ensure ongoing competence and confidence.

Aim high and focus on training that helps your teams become the bright lights of the future. In the increasingly competitive independent school market, you will certainly put yourself in a stronger position if you have staff who embrace modern technology, are receptive to diverse ways of working and enjoy being part of a culture that prioritises continuous learning and development.

The goal for any school leader should be on developing teams who are confident and competent in their roles this year, and will be next year, and the year after that.

comfortable with discomfort

Rigorous personal and professional development for ambitious employees

It is fair to say, that if you invest in training your best and brightest colleagues, you may still lose them. But, just like your students, if you do not provide opportunities to really stretch and challenge them, they will leave anyway!

So, this point is as much about retention as it is upskilling.

How do you decide where to invest your time and money?

Firstly, there are always the training essentials: effective onboarding, safeguarding, health and safety, first aid and so on. Then there is training which enhances productivity and quality: technical or job-specific training

or coaching around project management, time management skills, delegation, adaptability etc.

But what about developing ‘life’ skills? This might include effective communication, self-presentation, negotiation and influencing skills etc. Some are now calling these ‘power’ skills.

When was the last time you ran a session on respect in the workplace or on self-esteem and self-confidence or feeling comfortable with change? These are all topics we have seen an increasing demand for in recent years with positive, proven outcomes.

Equally, have you ever completed individual psychometric profiling for the people in your school with responsibility for line managing others? This can be a quick and highly cost-effective way to help people understand their own strengths, and how they are viewed by others.

Consider asking your teams what training they would like? What are they interested in? What skills would they like to enhance or develop? What might help them achieve their career aspirations or support them with some of the more niche areas of their roles?

If the requests made seem beyond your budget, consider making it a shared responsibility. Or, if it is retention you are worried about, ask that they commit to a refund if they leave within a certain period.

Training in technology

It cannot be said often enough: digital innovation requires ever higher competence and confidence in IT for the most junior to the most senior of staff, whatever role they are in.

Developing tech skills across any organisation is a ‘nobrainer’. We live in a world of such speedy IT innovation that millions of employees are struggling to keep up.

Tech is changing so fast and there are simply too many in the workplace who very quickly find themselves struggling with new digital devices/programmes etc. So, use your upskilling programme to help your staff keep up. These could include weekly ‘lunch and learns’, 10-minute coffee break ‘knowledge busters’ or a little bit of eLearning on a niche topic.

Any upskilling plan you develop must include opportunities for your staff to learn/develop tech skills in a safe environment. You should also recognise that this will take many of them outside their comfort zones. Whether it is an updated customer relationship management tool for your admissions team, increasing digital capabilities within your marketing and finance departments, or more dynamic tech for the classroom, never assume people will just get it.

Do not expect people to be confident or to automatically use your new software to its full capability. Most importantly, never assume your organisation can

COMFORT Zones

A major reason some people say they want to develop their skills but then recoil when you set the wheels in motion is fear. The fear of stepping outside their comfort zone.

Feeling comfortable with discomfort is an important conversation to have with staff who are reluctant to attend upskilling training as no one truly develops professionally unless they do step outside their particular comfort zone from time to time.

It is essential that our schools take on this challenge and recognise which staff members – at all levels, teaching and non-teaching – are turning away from training opportunities. Staff are every school’s greatest cost and it is essential that all of them have the skills they need. Encouraging them to confront shortterm discomfort is helping to future-proof them against the challenges of a changing world and an evolving workplace.

survive if everyone who struggles with tech leaves to go elsewhere... or decides to retire.

Finally, seek to share resources and expertise. Last month, one of our team delivered a 15-minute training session on ‘great Googling skills’. Sound obvious? It was fascinating! He explained how to find what you want, faster and without all the distracting rubbish that appears with every search! Who knew something as simple as a Google search had so many new, time-saving capabilities? It is always worth asking your colleagues what pieces of niche knowledge they might have, and whether they would be willing to share it with the rest of your team.

Ultimately, ‘upskilling’ does not have to be complicated or expensive, yet the benefits to your school, just like in any other commercial enterprise, could be significant and allow you to face the future with greater confidence. ●

PENNY GODFREY is the Project Lead running Leadership and Personal Development Programmes for Jaluch. Prior to this, she worked in an independent school. For more information, contact Penny at leadership@ jaluch.co.uk or visit jaluch.co.uk

STAFF WELLBEING AND MENTAL HEALTH

YOUR LEGAL OBLIGATIONS

Louise Brenlund urges schools to be aware of their legal obligations to support the mental health of their staff and considers how this can be achieved.

The mental health and wellbeing of principals, heads and staff in education settings such as independent schools has always been important. With mental health issues accelerated by the COVID pandemic, the effects of Long COVID and the impact of the cost of living crisis, this has increased pressure on staff, pupils, parents and schools, bringing into question how schools can continue to support staff whilst still offering high-quality education.

15-21 May 2023 saw Mental Health Awareness Week being celebrated with the theme of ‘anxiety’. Anxiety disorders affect over eight million people in the UK, that is around one in ten of us. There are many different forms of anxiety, such as phobias, separation anxiety, generalised anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Unfortunately, all too often, anxiety can be dismissed as ‘just worrying’ or ‘just being stressed’. Schools are seeing

increasing levels of staff suffering from anxiety, with workload being cited as a key factor contributing towards this.

A priority

For many independent schools, staff wellbeing and good mental health is already a priority. Schools recognise that poor mental health can have a significant impact on staff, not only in their personal life but also in their ability to perform and carry out their roles. This will, in turn,

affect teaching and the education that your pupils are receiving.

With continuing upwards trends around teachers suffering from mental health issues, many teachers are considering leaving the profession, so it is now more important than ever for employers in independent schools to take action.

The latest Education Support Annual Report and Teacher Wellbeing Index has confirmed that:

• 75% of all staff are stressed, rising to 84% for school leaders.

• 36% have experienced a mental health issue in the past academic year.

• 59% are not confident in disclosing unmanageable stress or mental health issues to their employer.

• 48% of all staff feel their organisations do not support employees well who have mental wellbeing problems.

• 59% have considered leaving the sector in the past academic year due to pressures on their mental health and wellbeing.

has a substantial and longterm adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-today activities.

Assessment

In cases involving physical injuries, it may be obvious whether an employee is disabled or not within the definition of the Act. However, in cases involving mental health conditions, such as stress, anxiety and depression, it is not as easy to assess. In cases such as this, it is always prudent for the employer to obtain a medical assessment, usually in the form of an independent occupational health report, on a particular employee in order to assist you in making a judgement and/or to consider

Claims of discrimination

Why should we be concerned?

All independent schools should be mindful that a mental health condition may be an impairment which is deemed to be a qualifying disability under the Equality Act 2010.

This means that it is important to consider the impact and application of the Equality Act 2010 when managing staff with mental health conditions and to ensure that you are not opening yourselves up to claims of discrimination, which, if successful, could result in potentially unlimited compensation being awarded. The Act applies no matter how many employees you have or how long they have worked for you. The most relevant of the protected characteristics in these circumstances is disability.

Under the Equality Act 2010, a person is deemed as disabled for discrimination law purposes if they have a physical or mental impairment, and the impairment

the extent of any reasonable adjustments that might be required. If the case is borderline and/or you are unsure, the safest route would be to proceed on the basis that the employee is disabled.

Interestingly, there have been calls for both menopause and Long COVID to be recognised as conditions that are automatically treated as disabilities under the definition of the Equality Act 2010. To date, this has been rejected by the Government. Despite this, it is possible for these conditions to be considered a disability under the current definitions.

In one of the first landmark Long COVID cases post-pandemic, Burke -vTurning Point Scotland (2021), the Scottish Employment Tribunal determined that Long COVID did amount to a disability.

Avoid assumptions

This case was not binding on other tribunals, but other cases have followed

and the same decision has been reached. But outcomes will depend upon the facts of each particular case. Each case will be determined on its own facts and needs to be considered taking into account all available evidence as against the statutory definition.

It is also important to remember that disability discrimination protection under the Equality Act is extensive. Protection extends to claims for indirect discrimination and discrimination for something connected to a disability (although the employer will sometimes be able to justify such discrimination). It may also require employers to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate any disability. This could involve a variety of adjustments, such as allocating some duties to another member of staff or allowing more breaks.

How should we manage this?

Everything outlined so far emphasises the need to proceed cautiously when managing staff with mental health conditions. There are significant issues affecting the health and wellbeing of those working within the education F

STAFF WELLBEING action plan

• Introduce a wellbeing strategy and policy which is produced with input from staff, governors, pupils and parents.

• Ensure that you have clear policies around managing staff absence and supporting staff wellbeing and that these are followed.

• Introduce staff wellbeing support such as:

- providing sessions around mindfulness, workplace relationships and managing stress, this could be delivered in person or accessed via an appropriate app

- ensuring that teacher targets are realistic and providing praise when praise is due

- encouraging a buddy system for reflective practice and problem-solving

- providing a dedicated space where staff can go to take time out

- encouraging staff to take their breaks and finish on time

- Consulting about change and new strategies

- training staff to recognise, understand and deal appropriately with mental health conditions and minimise stigmas around this

- providing advice on how staff can get help both inside and outside of the school.

- providing a school-based counsellor

- Supporting staff to train as mental health first aiders

- carrying out an annual wellbeing survey.

sector and these cannot and should not simply be left.

As a school, you may be wary of taking any action, particularly where a staff member’s absence has been prolonged and/or if the cause of the illness is not clear or they are awaiting a diagnosis. It is important, however, not to allow the situation to drift until it reaches the point that the member of staff has been off for so long that dismissal starts to look like the only option. This can lead to issues for you in relation to successful claims of unfair dismissal (if over two years’ service) and/ or disability discrimination.

Anxiety can be dismissed

Reasonable and fair

You should apply reasonable and fair principles relating to sickness absence management and ensure that managers, senior leaders and any staff undertaking absence management are familiar with and are applying your policies and procedures. They also need to be aware of potentially wider risks and steps that may need to be taken to support a member of staff with a mental health condition.

Often the difficulty with mental health conditions is that obtaining definitive information, particularly about prognosis, can be very hard. This may mean that you need to take proactive steps to enquire beyond the reasons given on Fit certificates.

Why is this important for us?

Children’s future and the wellbeing of school staff are interconnected, as healthy teachers are better able to provide a high-quality education and support for pupils. This will, in turn, cultivate a mentally healthy school, help retain and motivate staff and promote pupil wellbeing and attainment.

Current employment tribunal statistics available on claims made between April 2021 and March 2022 confirm that the maximum award made in a disability discrimination case was £225,893, with average awards of £26,172; not small sums! On top of these are the costs of management and staff time spent in responding to the claim and preparing for the tribunal as well as witness attendance at any hearing.

Self care

Much of the responsibility will fall on the principal, headteacher and/or senior management team. It is important for these individuals to remember to look after themselves as good mental health and best practice will be modelled on these individuals’ behaviours and ensure a culture of trust between staff.

Whilst individual schools can and should identify actions, I feel there needs to be a concerted effort from the Government and relevant bodies to better support schools in order to tackle the issue of staff mental health. The Department for Education introduced the Wellbeing Charter in 2021 for all employees working in state education settings as a shared commitment to promote and enhance the wellbeing of staff. Independent schools have been encouraged to make use of the principles and organisational commitments in the charter but cannot sign up to it. ●

LOUISE BRENLUND is a Partner and Head of Employment at Warners Solicitors. She can be contacted for further information on discrimination training, employment policies and procedures or any other employment law matters. Telephone: 01732 375325; Email: l.brenlund@warners.law

TO BUILD OR NOT TO BUILD… THAT IS THE QUESTION

There is a definite air of hesitation within the education sector at the moment. Economic and political uncertainty is having a dramatic effect on capital expenditure and estate strategy.

As the Marketing Manager for Modulek Ltd, I have attended several Independent School Conferences this year and met with many of you and heard your concerns.

As a sector, I applaud your umbrella organisations, The Society of Heads, The Independent Schools Association and The ISBA to mention a few, for providing information from economic experts to help you all navigate the uncertainty and provide impartial advice as to how to prepare your educational setting for the potential changing road ahead.

One seminar that I took particular interest in was the presentation by Robert Warne, Partner and Head of VAT at Crowe UK. The VAT information he gave on the Capital Goods Scheme in relation to building projects that have been completed within the last ten years, I hope will really assist not only our past clients but also others who have completed new build projects, if and when the time comes.

The presentation also got me thinking about the other side of the coin. What considerations will have to be taken if new building projects are delayed? Will the fluctuations in the construction market have an added detrimental effect to new

build project planning and estate budgets in the next twelve to eighteen months and put projects out of reach for many?

Rising material costs, diminished availability of quality labour, increasing desires to meet sustainability standards are all factors that as a construction professionals we face currently in our market.

As leaders in the design and build of new educational buildings we are frequently being approached by educational professionals with the same issue: A building that was budgeted for six to twelve months ago has now risen as much as 20% in cost and is now outside of the estate’s available funds. With capital reserves being protected during this climate, what was affordable is now outside of the budget and faces postponement indefinitely.

As MMC solutions providers we are able to help as our modular solution is perfectly placed to be able to value engineer a traditional build material specification project and still deliver against design briefs and the required benefits of the building. However, like yourselves, we are not immune to market uncertainty.

What we can do today, as experts in our field is provide you with cost certainty so that we can play an important part in delivering your new build project within your budget, which in these uncertain

times is vital and something that not many traditional construction firms can offer.

There are three overriding denominators that do not change in these uncertain times: Meeting pupil requirements, increasing revenue and retention for your educational establishment.

Whether you are looking at reconfiguration, diversification, or your market segmentation we can provide building cost certainty now. Enabling you to meet your immediate and future needs to ensure that you are in the best position to ride through these uncertain times and emerge on the other side financially viable and in the best position to secure your educational position, however the landscape is shaped.

If you are facing the dilemma of whether to postpone an existing traditional build project, please call and speak to one of our directors to discuss how we can help you. We can work with you to provide certainty and put your school in the best position to successfully ride through these uncertain times. ●

Please get in touch if you are considering best options for your school estate needs. modulek.co.uk or call 01202 813212

REWARDING AWARDS BECOMING A WINNER IS A GREAT STORY!

With the annual awards season nearly upon us, David Moncrieff encourages schools to seize the opportunity to give their marketing stories added lustre.

DAVID MONCRIEFF is Vice-Chair of the Independent Schools of the Year awards.

For the past five years, I have spent much of June cloistered away in my attic office reading the entries received by Independent School Parent magazine for the Independent Schools of the Year (ISOTY) awards. Whilst I confess to feeling a little resentful sometimes about missing the good weather, I enjoy these weeks tied to my desk because of the insights I gain into the amazing work independent schools are doing.

Most of us like receiving an award!

celebrated. Copies of the winners’ rosette feature in the school marketing literature, decorate the doors at the main entrance and become part of the school signature in every email they send.

Bursting with pride…

I’m sure many of you will have just sat through the annual prize-giving ceremonies and witnessed students – and their parents – bursting with pride when a particular achievement is recognised!

I still have the leather-bound copy of Oliver Twist I received for the 2nd Form History Prize in 1973!

Huge enthusiasm

Well, schools are no different. We all like to be recognised at being good at what we do and – if we are honest – to be able to boast to our peers about what we have achieved. I have visited a number of winning schools to present them with their trophies and, in every school, I have been struck by the huge enthusiasm with which their success is being

And why not? At a time when the role, purpose and value of independent schools is being questioned, school awards (and there are other brands available!) provide an opportunity to throw a spotlight on the areas of school life we should celebrate.

Customers take notice of awards, and prospective parents are no different. Of course it’s impressive if a school which those parents are thinking about for their child has been judged ‘best in class’ amongst UK boarding schools or been celebrated for the excellence of its student well-being programme.

With 23 categories this year, ISOTY provides schools with the opportunity to share their stories about almost every aspect of school life, from environmental advocacy to social mobility. Schools of all shapes and sizes enter the awards – and win! And the Independent School Parent portfolio of titles ensures that these stories are showcased far and wide.

Read the criteria!

I’m often asked by individual schools if I think it’s ‘alright’ if they send in an entry for x or y award and my answer is almost invariably ‘yes’. Our judges love to hear about the myriad schools which make up the independent sector – so please don’t be bashful! But please, please do look carefully at the criteria for each award and tell us why you excel in the areas of activity we ask about. Stuck in my attic, I sometimes groan when I read an entry into which time and love has been invested but which has somehow missed the mark. And please do share some anecdotes which provide a flavour of the student experience you offer. A good anecdote is akin to someone opening the school door and inviting us in.

The award season opens with the Autumn Term. If you win, well done; if you don’t, try again next year! The marketing dividend is indisputable. ●

BRINGING SCHOOL COMMUNITIES TOGETHER FUNDRAISING AS A CHANGE AGENT

The two Haberdashers’ Elstree Schools – Habs Boys and Habs Girls – share a founder, a governing body and a 100-acre campus some 15 miles northwest of central London. Until recently they shared little else but a tacit agreement to politely but studiously ignore each other’s existence.

The schools are separated by a terracotta wall low enough to jump over but, to generations of students and staff, as psychologically insurmountable as the one that separated the Berlins.

Governors appointed Gus Lock Headmaster of Habs Boys in 2018 and his Girls’ school counterpart, Rose Hardy, a year later with a mandate to work together and pool resources where possible.

They began by gradually merging back-office and support functions –IT, HR, Finance, Estates – eliminating duplicate systems and taking advantage of economies of scale.

Despite this harmonisation, the schools and the education they provided remained largely separate and independent. The aim is the best of both worlds – ‘delivering outstanding, single-sex education in a coeducational environment’.

There were to be a few cracks in the terracotta, however: as of this year, sixth form students are required to take at least one A-level course at the other school,

giving them more A-level options and preparing them for the coeducational world that awaits them post-Habs.

And few new professional services directors were appointed jointly across the two schools. That included me; I joined the schools as director of development in January 2021, just as the third COVID lockdown began.

I knew we needed to answer three questions before we began fundraising. They are basic, but busy schools can easily forget to ask them.

Where are we now?

Unfortunate timing aside, it was an exciting development prospect, particularly as it involved finding common purpose across a pair of schools with such a complex relationship.

Here’s what I found in answer to my first question: a nearly 350-year-old boys’ school with a reputation for shaping some of the sharpest young minds in the country, and a younger sister, nearly 200 years its junior, which had speedily caught up with its elder sibling. Over the years they had evolved quite distinct school cultures; they had different traditions, different styles, even different dress codes.

They did have two things in common: virtually no fundraising and only sporadic alumni engagement.

In some ways this was a blessing; we

could build our development effort from the ground up.

Or rather, our development efforts, plural. It quickly became obvious we needed separate alumni approaches. We appointed one alumni officer for each school. They work closely together, but one is ‘embedded’ in each school to better understand the needs and interests of that school, their students and their alumni.

But how about fundraising?

Where do we want to go?

The schools in 2021 were at different waypoints along their fundraising journey. Though neither had got too far, the Boys’ school had at least made a start, primarily through the odd alumni telephone campaign. The Girls’ school had not attempted even this. And neither school had ever asked their parents for anything.

Bill Friar considers whether fundraising can bring disparate school communities together and concludes it does if you can answer a few key questions successfully.

So where to begin? The top priority for both schools was increasing means-tested bursary support. That clarity and unanimity of purpose was a good starting point.

But as we delved deeper, things quickly got hazy. Do we want more bursary students, more support for existing ones, or both? What should our targets be? And crucially, why does this all matter – what exactly are we aiming to achieve?

Even our current bursary provision was not widely known, including within the schools. Many were stunned to learn the schools together were awarding around £3 million each year, supporting the families of approximately 160 children throughout their time at Habs. Nearly all of this funding came through core funds; if we wanted to do much more, philanthropic support would be essential.

Next came the ‘Time of Many, Many Meetings’ – with senior leadership, the governing body, the foundation board, parents, alumni, you name it. After much discussion, debate and analysis, we had clear objectives:

• Focus our bursary funding where it would be transformational: we agreed to support capable and hard-working students from low-income families for whom a Habs education would otherwise be impossible. Most new bursaries would cover all costs, and none would be less than 50%.

• Actively recruit among families in nearby communities who assume Habs is only for the wealthy. For schools used to turning away most applicants rather than seeking them out, this required a shift in mindset, a marketing strategy and a commitment to building relationships through genuine, mutually beneficial community partnerships.

• Steadily increase our bursary provision – from 10% to 20% of all students – with the ultimate goal of offering means-blind admission. We will work towards the day when we can accept any student who would thrive here, regardless of family finances. We also can now answer the question of why we are doing this; in a nutshell, F

Founding Principles

The Haberdashers’ schools were founded by Robert Aske, a Master of the Haberdashers’ Company, who died in 1689. In his Will, he provided a generous legacy, to set up a school for 20 ‘poore boyes’ and an alms house for 20 elderly men within the Haberdashers’ community. The Will was very strict; if a boy inherited money, he had to leave the school to make way for another whose need was greater.

One of the four core values at Elstree is ‘community’. That includes helping and looking after each other here on campus, as well as in the wider community beyond Elstree. There is no question that attending a selective independent school like Habs is a privilege, but that doesn’t mean it is only for the privileged.

we are schools founded on philanthropy, community and social mobility, and we have recommitted ourselves to those founding principles.

All simple enough, one might think, but it took us a year to get there. That’s as it should be; we now have what fundraisers term a ‘case for support’ and, as those who have gone through the process know, building a case requires achieving consensus across your entire institution and its constituent groups, and that takes at least a year to agree what you aim to do and why. It also requires tough decisions about what you won’t do.

This is probably the most important task for any school – or schools – aiming to use fundraising to bring communities closer together for a common purpose. Your fundraising ambitions and measures of success may be entirely different from ours. But your chances of success will be greatly improved if you take the time to include your communities in determining them.

How do we get there?

Now we knew what we were asking for, why we were asking for it and why our supporters would want to support it, it was time to actually start asking. So we did, with promising early results.

But the floodgates truly opened when we decided to launch our firstever giving day, in March 2022. It was to be the first big joint event the schools had ever attempted.

This was risky. Schools with little history of fundraising have few established donors

Philanthropy, community and social mobility

and no clear evidence of what works and what doesn’t. It could easily have flopped, and few fails are as painfully public as throwing a fundraising party and having no one show up.

We spent months explaining to everyone in the schools, from senior leadership to junior students, what we were planning to do and asking for their help in putting it together.

This was the fun bit. We wanted to cause as little disruption as possible to the school day, so we pegged our main giving day activity to the Habs Dash, a popular 3.5 kilometre run around campus for students and staff that is held every Tuesday lunchtime during term time. We set challenges for the runners that, if achieved, would unlock additional funds pledged by donors.

We also asked prefects at each school if they had a special project they would like us to raise money for, fully expecting them to suggest something like a coffee machine for the common room.

Instead, they suggested a travel fund for bursary students. They knew that students on full bursaries received support

for academic trips, but their families often could not afford the fun, optional trips available to those from better-off families. They did not want any of their schoolmates to be left out. And that is the cause they run to support on Habs Giving Day each year.

We have held two Habs Giving Days so far, the most recent in March. On a typical Tuesday, a Habs Dash attracts 150-200 runners. This year’s Habs Giving Dash drew 1,529. That included 300 parents who showed up on a freezing morning to run alongside their children. Together, those two days have raised enough money to fund 13 full bursaries, and we now have a permanent, growing travel fund that is allowing more and more excited young people to join special trips.

Two memorable gifts from this year’s giving day illustrate the progress we are making in bringing our disparate communities together for something more important than which side of the wall we’re from.

The first was from a former boys’ school parent, with no current ties to the school. She made a gift of £30,000 so more students could have the opportunities her son enjoyed. The other was for £10, from a Girls’ school alumna. We noticed it came from a care home, so we looked her up: she is a member of the Class of 1938. She turns 104 this December. ●

BILL FRIAR is Director of Development at Haberdashers’ Elstree Schools.

THE IT AUTHORITY FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

We help prestigious Independent Schools deliver consistently outstanding IT, by leveraging our proven expertise and passion for Education.

AAdam Brigham and Dean Turner founded MSP LAB with an unwavering vision: To enable today’s students to become tomorrow’s leaders.

From technical engineering backgrounds and with vast experience working within schools themselves, Adam and Dean recognise the need for an IT Partner that understands the unique challenges of Independent Schools. Together, they have built a team and a framework by which Independents can deliver rapid, impactful and lasting change in the provision of their IT Services.

Schools benefit from MSP LAB’s foundational pillars of robust and secure IT infrastructure, from which they can execute a forward-thinking Digital Strategy, leading to better student outcomes.

For too long, IT providers within the education sector have focussed on products and services without properly getting to know the school they are working with.

Rejecting this old-fashioned approach, MSP LAB meet with all key stakeholders, work hard to understand what works best for each school, defines where improvements are required, and develops a strategic vision for the school’s IT – inside and outside of the classroom.

Unique in their approach, MSP LAB begins every engagement by taking the time to truly understand your school and its culture.

IT Governance and Assessments

MSP LAB provides an independent review of existing IT Systems by performing a comprehensive Technical Assessment and gathering School-wide Stakeholder Feedback.

They advise on Digital Safeguarding solutions to meet your school’s compliance requirements and enhance Student Wellbeing. Throughout their engagements, they promote industry best practices that de-risk, stabilise and future-proof your IT.

Virtual IT Director and Bursar IT Counsel Services

MSP LAB understands that to build a resilient, safe and forward-thinking IT provision, a school requires:

• Robust IT Governance backed up with Processes and Documentation.

• A service desk built on ITIL principles, with frequent MI reporting, prioritising the needs of the classroom experience above all else.

• A robust Cyber Security posture providing Governors and stakeholders with absolute clarity on the school’s ability to protect itself and recover from potential cyber incidents.

• A clearly defined IT Budget supporting an IT Roadmap, driven by a mature Digital Strategy.

• An appetite to put IT ‘on the map’ and have your school known for delivering exceptional IT facilities to students and staff.

Bursars and School Leaders often ask MSP LAB for retained counsel to help ‘stay on track’ with IT and to deliver year-on-year enhancements.

In response, MSP LAB has built its Virtual IT Director and Bursar IT Counsel Services to deliver the IT oversight, insight and direction an Independent School needs.

Digital Strategies and Strategic Projects

Leveraging their experience working within

We love to talk. Meet with us and discover why we are trusted by Independent Schools nationwide. experience@msplab.cloud | 0333 880 6740 | www.msplab.cloud

Independent Schools across the UK, MSP LAB consultants help you reduce your time to value by designing Technology Roadmaps, chairing your IT steering groups and deploying accomplished Infrastructure Solutions resulting in concrete IT foundations. From Cloud servers to fast and secure WiFi, MSP LAB can ensure maximum return on your IT investments.

Cyber Security

MSP LAB has developed a free ‘Cyber Top 10’ Framework, which allows you to quickly understand your Cyber Security posture against the ten most common attack vectors threatening Independent Schools. The results are displayed in a stakeholder-friendly ‘Red, Amber, Green’ report, providing clarity to Governors with straightforward steps to remediate vulnerable areas.

MSP LAB offers ‘Managed Firewalls’ designed for specifically for Independent Schools and 24x7 Managed Security solutions alongside Cyber Incident Response packages. ●

What schools are saying

“An obvious choice - their knowledge and expertise are second to none.”

- Godolphin and Latymer

“Flexible, honest and with integrity throughout. It’s a true partnership.”

- Rugby School Group

“They feel like part of our family, which is important to us.” - Gordonstoun

“Exceptionally impressed and would not hesitate to recommend them to other schools.” - St Albans School

PIONEERING EQUITABLE INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION

GSA LEADS THE WAY

GSA has adopted a gender equitable approach to its investment management which now underpins the entirety of GSA’s own investments. Through its appointment of Evelyn Partners to manage its portfolio, this transformative strategy places the interests of girls at its centre and secures GSA’s financial future as gender equitable.

The investment switch was initiated by GSA and created in partnership with Evelyn Partners, whose team is led by Investment Manager Lydia Garratt.

A change in approach

Championing women and girls

“GSA has always been a pioneer for girls and women. I’m proud to lead a change in the education sector’s approach to investment management that places the importance of an equitable society at its heart. GSA urges other companies and organisations to join with us in re-imagining a better future for our young people through the way they fund themselves. At GSA, we are as determined as ever to continue pushing for change in the world through our life-changing schools and inspiring heads. We won’t stop our campaigning until the full brilliance and potential of women and future female stars is rightly recognised and rewarded.”

The Girls’ Schools Association appointed Evelyn Partners to create an investment portfolio that considers the promotion of gender diversity. Evelyn Partners is now responsible for actively managing

a portfolio for the GSA that will look to include investments in companies that are supporting gender diversity, both internally and externally, and avoid those that are not, while engaging with those that have good scope for improvement.

Investment mandate

Lydia Garratt adds: “I’m delighted that the Girls’ Schools Association has appointed Evelyn Partners as the manager for its investment portfolio. We have been impressed with the organisation’s work in the sector in recent years and are looking forward to working closely with the team to help fulfil their investment mandate with a particular emphasis on creating a gender-focussed investment portfolio.

“As the wider movement of ethical and ESGfocussed investing accelerates throughout our industry, the importance of gender equality has come to the forefront of many investors’ considerations. Evidence has shown that having greater gender equality in workspaces increases diversity of thought and thus can lead to better outcomes. Therefore, it is not only an important addition for companies to improve their gender statistics but a necessity for optimising returns.” ●

DONNA STEVENS is the Chief Executive of the GSA.

Donna Stevens provides an overview of the Girls’ Schools Association approach to its own investment strategy that champions women and girls, and urges other educational bodies to follow its lead.

EFFECTIVE SCHOOL GOVERNANCE

HOW DO WE KNOW WE’RE GETTING

IT RIGHT?

Richard Harman explains how AGBIS can help you to ensure that your school is effectively governed and that your governing body is fit for purpose.

Independent school governors are responsible for ensuring that their schools are well-led and that they provide the best possible education for their pupils.

An external review

With all the current challenges facing schools, it is more vital than ever that governance is nimble, streamlined and fit for the 21st century. However, it can be difficult to know whether your school’s governance is truly effective without an external review.

An AGBIS review can provide you with a comprehensive assessment of your school’s governance arrangements. The review will consider all aspects of governance, including:

• the role and responsibilities of the governing body, including its leadership

• the composition of the governing body

• the effectiveness of the governing body’s committees and decisionmaking processes

Benefits of an AGBIS Review

There are several benefits to commissioning an external review from AGBIS. These include:

• a cost-effective, independent and objective assessment of your school’s governance by fully trained and expert reviewers

• identification of key areas where governance processes and practice could be improved

• a range of recommendations to shape a plan for improvement

• increased confidence in your school’s governance

• the role of governors in determining the strategic direction of the school

• the governing body’s relationship with the headteacher and staff

• the governing body’s relationship with parents and pupils

• collective responsibility for legal, regulatory and compliance matters

• governors’ oversight and monitoring of standards

• recruitment and retention of a diverse and highly skilled set of governors

• induction and training of governors and their visibility within the school

• the role and duties of the Clerk to the Governors.

The review will identify key strengths and any areas where your school’s governance could be improved. The report will pinpoint a range of recommendations, which can then be used to develop a plan for improvement.

AGBIS is the leading professional body for independent school governors. Its team of experienced and qualified reviewers has a wealth of knowledge and expertise in all aspects of school governance.

A modest investment

If you are an independent school governor, clerk, head or chair, I would encourage you to consider commissioning an external review from AGBIS. It is a modest investment that will pay huge dividends in the long run.

In addition to the benefits listed above,

• improved communication between the governing body, the head and SMT, staff, parents, and pupils

• improved relationships with the other stakeholders

• a more effective school.

I would suggest that an external review from AGBIS can also help you to meet the recommendations of the Charity Governance Code 2021 and the Charity Commission (OSCR in Scotland), which is a matter of increasing importance.

We can also help to prepare you and your school for an ISI or other inspection, work with you to demonstrate to parents, pupils and others that your school is well-governed and assist you in attracting and retaining high-quality governors in the future.

If you are interested in commissioning an external review from AGBIS, please contact us today at office@agbis.org.uk or via our website at www.agbis.org.uk, where you can find more information. We would be happy to discuss your needs and provide you with a tailored quote. ●

RICHARD HARMAN is the Chief Executive of AGBIS.

MANAGING YOUR ECONOMY OF FUTURES STARTS FROM THE HEART.

As the pandemic continues and affects our schools, now is the time more than ever to be futureproof. We must pivot to lead the shift from survive to thrive. Whatever the rest of the year holds, there are three investment themes that can form part of your strategic planning for Sept 2023 and beyond.

Traditionally investment in our sector has concentrated on capital investment in development projects to provide a unique experience or upgrade in facilities. You can have the most amazing facilities in the world, but the real economy of your school is

based on three words – just add human. It has served you well during the pandemic, so let’s look now at three ways for you to serve, share and care.

1 What do you need to adopt, abandon and adapt to support investing in the future of your school? What is your balance to build on for wellbeing and security?

2 Personal investments are key- wellbeing does have an ‘i’ in it you know! How can you achieve this? What would this look like? One size does not fit all.

3

Mutual funds of positivity create growth for your community. Did you know that one of your top investments is free? Call the bursar now! It is about the power of conversation and time. Each member of staff has knowledge and experience that they can share. How can you leverage this for success?

Invest wisely leader, it is time to write a new chapter for you and your school. But remember, invest in yourself first or growth will not happen. Start your economy of kindness one act at a time your future self will thank you for it. ●

is time to unleash the power of one...

A concept whose time has come, Boardingology is the key to your success in boarding and life

NEW EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER FOR SCHOOL MANAGEMENT PLUS

Heather Styche-Patel, Head of Strategy, Marketing and Development at RSAcademics, is the newest member of School Management Plus’ Editorial Advisory Board, bringing to its readership her wealth of experience and sector knowledge.

Heather leads the Consultancy Services Practice and Commercial Leadership Appointments at RSAcademics. She has extensive experience managing strategic projects for both independent and state schools and has a thorough understanding of the ways in which they operate. In addition to Heather’s school background, she has over 15 years of higher education management experience, as a Faculty Manager and then Director of Marketing and Communications at the University of Surrey.

RSAcademics is well known in the sector for its thought leadership. Ten years ago, the company published its ground-breaking research report The Art of Headship. For the first time, a comprehensive report which delved into the attitudes, qualities, actions and skills of effective Heads, based on the views of more than 160 school senior leaders, governors, bursars, deputy headteachers, teachers, parents and pupils, was made widely available.

Things have moved on in the past decade, and The New Art of Headship report will be launched in September. The result of over six months’ extensive research, the report will look at what has changed, and what is new in the sector, since

the Art of Headship was first published. Heather’s appointment to the Board will ensure readers of School Management Plus have immediate access to the findings of The New Art of Headship, as well as RSAcademics’ pioneering research from its range of experts.

The team at RSAcademics is delighted to embark on its new relationship with School Management Plus. The company believes it is a fabulous resource for information and insights into the UK and international schools markets: not only what’s happening, but what’s likely to happen too. Heather’s role on the Editorial Advisory Board of School Management Plus, means its readership will benefit from the insights RSAcademics can bring from working with schools and school leaders across the world.

Alongside Heather’s appointment, RSAcademics has also joined in an exclusive new partnership with Kampus24, which will provide RSAcademics’ customers access to Kampus24’s powerful software. RSAcademics has handled hundreds of senior appointments in schools over the past few years. The new partnership will enable RSAcademics to use Kampus24’s software to further support its partner schools in the recruitment of well-qualified candidates through the development of tailored microsites, which allow personalised communications that bring the job opportunity and school to life.

More information about the partnership between School Management Plus and RSAcademics, including further exciting news about Kampus24, will appear in the Autumn edition, available on 12 October. ●

CELEBRATING BOARDING NATIONAL BOARDING WEEK

Boarding schools place a strong emphasis on holistic development, nurturing students not just academically, but also socially, emotionally, and culturally. By living and learning in a community of peers, students develop valuable life skills such as independence, self-discipline, resilience, and adaptability. These qualities go beyond academic excellence, enabling students to thrive in their personal and professional lives.

Camaraderie

A balanced education is at the heart of boarding, and schools offer a plethora of extra-curricular activities to cater to diverse interests outside the classroom. Not only do these encourage personal growth and self-expression but also foster teamwork, leadership skills, and a sense of camaraderie among students.

The boarding experience is typically culturally diverse, too. Interacting with peers from different backgrounds and cultures broadens horizons and nurtures a student’s global outlook. Forging lifelong friendships with individuals from around the world instils a sense of tolerance, understanding, and open-mindedness. Boarding schools are known for their close-knit and supportive communities. This nurturing atmosphere contributes to students’ overall well-being and ensures they feel supported and cared for, while fostering independence by encouraging students to take responsibility for their studies, personal care, and time management.

National Boarding Week

With so many benefits, it’s only right that the brilliance of boarding be recognised and celebrated accordingly. Each summer, the Boarding Schools’ Association (BSA) calls upon the boarding community to participate in a week full-to-bursting with fun house activities and competitions, known as National Boarding Week. Now in its sixth year, the aim of the campaign is to bring awareness to the unique experience boarding has to offer and showcase the positive and lasting impact it can have on students’ lives.

Challenges and activities during this week are designed with inclusivity in mind,

ensuring there’s something everyone, no matter their talents, skills or interests, can get involved with. National Boarding Week invites participation across the boarding community in celebration of boarding and serves as an opportunity for schools to connect with local communities, take part in fun house activities, and reinforce the value of boarding education in shaping well-rounded individuals.

Activities range from house sporting challenges, local community activities in line with BSA’s On Board initiative, inter-house bake offs and photography competitions, wellbeing walks, karaoke, board game and pizza nights. This year, schools were encouraged to participate in the big boarding camp out, which coincided with summer solstice.

National Boarding Week shines a spotlight on the numerous advantages that boarding schools in the UK offer. From holistic development to academic excellence, diverse extra-curricular activities to a supportive boarding community, and the cultivation of independence, boarding education instils qualities that go beyond the classroom – something which is surely worth celebrating! ●

LOTTIE ANDREWS

is the Communications and Engagement Manager for BSA Group and produces multichannel communications across the group to support members and promote events/services. To find out more about National Boarding Week, and other BSA engagement initiatives, please visit boarding.org.uk/bsa-active

The BSA’s National Boarding Week is a fun-filled celebration of the enormous benefits of the boarding experience. Lottie Andrews explains more.

IDEAS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

AMCIS CONFERENCE REPORT

AMCIS Vice Chair Jennifer Hirst reports on a record-breaking annual conference as AMCIS continues to grow, becoming one of the largest membership organisations in the independent school sector.

From the ‘Small Mighty’ brand philosophy, to overcoming current industry threats and creating content powered by robots, what a conference!

Brightest global marketing minds

It’s not every day that I can fill my notepad, or should I say iPad, with insights and ideas that will make a difference. Over two days, 347 experienced marketeers, admissions professionals and communication experts came together to collaborate in a supportive and inclusive environment with inspirational ideas from keynote speakers including some of the brightest global marketing minds.

Karen Connell, international brand and marketing consultant, explained how creating a ‘brand mindset’ across the school can reap rewards. Like safeguarding, knowing and living the brand is everyone’s responsibility. She compared our schools to big brands, like Coca-Cola and discussed how our small teams and short approval processes allow us to embrace personalisation – a fifth ‘P’ for all those familiar with the famous ‘marketing mix’ theory of product, price, promotion and place.

Breakout sessions shared knowledge on, among other topics, international admissions’ strategies, partnerships and KPIs. There was also a fantastic discussion panel focused on this year’s Confidence Index Report in association with MTM Consulting, AMCIS and School Management Plus.

Excellence all-around

Throughout the conference, we all found forwardthinking, diverse and inspirational ideas at every turn. From TikTok and PPC marketing to podcasting and this year’s AMCIS IMPACT Award winners, excellence really was everywhere.

Matt Thomas, digital content entrepreneur, gave us the confidence to cut through the noise and embrace

Living the brand

AI, which he believes stimulates creativity when used properly. Jennifer Quigley-Jones, CEO and Founder of Digital Voices, an award-winning global influencer agency, took us through the most inspirational marketing campaigns from the last year, sparking much debate. Being authentic and thinking about the shift towards brands having two-way conversations with their potential customers gave us all food for thought.

“Be prepared” was the message from Jonathan Parkes, Head of Research at the ISC, and Matthew Dent shared practical advice on steps schools can take to be ready for what life throws at them. David Milner, Chair of AMCIS, motivated delegates, saying “No one could have predicted the last five years… we’ve battled through; we can do it again.” Keynote speaker Lindsey Hughes, Head of Channing School, noted that more and more heads are recognising the need for a marketeer to sit on the senior leadership team and play a pivotal role in school strategy.

Whether colleagues were looking for a new idea, confidence to press the green button or reassurance that they are following best practice, throughout the conference I could hear friends and colleagues openly sharing their thoughts, experience and ideas, giving practical advice that will inspire innovation and drive success. ●

JENNIFER HIRST is Head of Marketing and Admissions at Queen Mary’s School, Thirsk, and Vice Chair of AMCIS. www.amcis.co.uk

CELEBRATING THE IMPACT OF SCHOOLS’ DEVELOPMENT

Lou Bennett looks ahead to some key IDPE initiatives and encourages all schools to participate.

IDPE is committed to championing innovation and brilliance across the schools’ development sector. That’s why, this November, we will once more be holding our annual Celebration of Giving, supported by Hubbub. Taking place from Monday 13 to Friday 17 November 2023, this flagship digital event is an opportunity for all schools to come together and celebrate the generosity and support of their communities, and the transformational impact of schools’ philanthropy and engagement on the lives of young people.

Recognising innovation

On 12 June, nominations opened for the IDPE 2023 Development Awards, supported by the social archive. This year’s award categories are:

• Fundraising Campaign of the Year

• Engagement Campaign of the Year

• The Ambition and Progress Award, celebrating schools that have made a step change towards delivering on their vision and ambition for development (new for 2023).

Nominations will close on 29 September, with shortlisting in October by a judging panel of experienced professionals. IDPE members will then have the opportunity to vote for their favourite entry from the judge’s shortlist, and award winners will be announced on Friday 17 November 2023.

How you can get involved

Taking part is a great opportunity to reflect on and celebrate the impact you are making for your pupils and their families, and if you win, an award can offer invaluable recognition and raise the profile of your school.

By getting involved in the IDPE Celebration of Giving, your school can take the opportunity to thank your community for making a difference and share your achievements with the wider schools’ sector as part of #IDPEGivingWeek. Additionally, across the week, meet and be inspired by colleagues and organisations working across the sector, and help us to raise the bar for best practice in schools’ development, by taking part in our series of online events, open to all schools (both IDPE members and non-members).

So as the academic year draws to a close, why not take time to reflect on what fundraising or engagement project you are particularly proud of? ●

IDPE 2022 DEVELOPMENT AWARD WINNERS

Fundraising Campaign of the Year (5 years or less) –Bristol Grammar School

The 500 Campaign – a 10-year, £12 million campaign to provide at least a 50% bursary for one in four children, which raised over £1m in the first year of its campaign.

Fundraising Campaign of the Year (5 years or more) –Dragon School

Donate your Deposit – a scheme to raise funds for transformational bursaries. The school increased participation by 20% and quadrupled income from the previous year.

Engagement Campaign of the Year (5 years or less) –The Abbey School Reading Festival of Sport @The Abbey – a community response to help girls and young women find ‘belonging in sport’, involving 1,000 young people.

Engagement Campaign of the Year (6 years or more) –The Perse School

‘We’re with you every step of the way’ campaign – Y11 and Y13 students received a pair of Perse branded socks in return for completing the leaver’s form – the completion rate rose from 73% to over 90%.

LOU BENNETT is Chief Executive of IDPE.

HYBRID BOARD MEETINGS

WHAT IS RIGHT FOR YOUR SCHOOL?

Richard Harman considers the pros and cons of hybrid board meetings which have become popular since the pandemic, and urges governing bodies to think carefully about what works for them.

Before about 2020 very few of us knew what Zoom was or how to use it. Now it is ubiquitous and many of us spend a good proportion of our working lives in meetings using one or other of the commercially available video platforms.

I am sure everyone will remember the viral YouTube clip of a parish council meeting featuring Jackie Weaver, the legendary Clerk who ‘virtually’ expelled a number of members for poor behaviour! And I am sure all of us have experienced the various forms of interruptions that video meetings are prone to – dogs barking at the door, deliveries arriving, cats

walking across keyboards, partners strolling back and forth in the background, muted microphones, dodgy connections and so on. A whole new world has emerged for us to marvel at!

Between 2020 and 2022, many school boards could only meet remotely – and did a remarkable job of governance in the circumstances.

Hybrid format

Given the easy access in most schools to reliable WiFi, and the improvements in technology seen recently, there has been a growing trend towards conducting board meetings in a hybrid format even now the

lockdown restrictions are behind us. Some board members attend in person, while others participate remotely via video conferencing.

There are both pros and cons to this approach.

Amongst the pros is increased flexibility: hybrid board meetings allow board members to participate regardless of their location. This can be especially beneficial for board members who live in different parts of the country or world, or who have busy travel schedules. This, in turn, has eased a problem of recruitment and has improved attendance, which can only be a good thing. As boards seek ever greater diversity and the right blend of skills among their number, the option of remote attendance is a great benefit.

A whole new world...

Reduced costs – and stress!

Reduced cost in terms of time and money is another benefit of hybrid board meetings. Schools can save money on travel expenses and the like, whilst governors do not waste time sitting on a train or in a queue on a motorway. In theory, this should reduce stress, although it is remarkable how other tasks can then fill up the supposedly liberated diary!

Some boards have even reported that improved communication is another unexpected benefit of hybrid meetings over the traditional entirely face-to-face events, provided the technology is good enough!

On the other hand, there are a number of possible ‘cons’ to hybrid board meetings.

Loss of non-verbal cues

First, there can indeed be technical challenges! Hybrid board meetings can be challenging to manage from a technical perspective. This is because it is important to ensure that all participants can see and hear each other clearly, and that the video conferencing system is working properly Some systems are definitely better than others, but there may be cost implications to consider in addressing this. Equally, some rooms are more suitable than others for conducting a hybrid meeting. In any case, there is certainly a greater reliance on both the system and the technical support than in traditional in-person meetings.

Chairing challenge

Charing a hybrid meeting is a different skill to a traditional meeting. Someone needs to be constantly scanning both the screen and the room in order to ensure everyone has a chance to speak and be

heard. There is a role there for the Clerk as well as the Chair and they will need to work closely together (and probably sit next to each other) to make it work well.

Loss of non-verbal cues is a significant downside reported by some participants in hybrid meetings. Remote participants may well miss out on non-verbal cues, such as facial expressions and body language. This can make it difficult to understand the tone of a conversation and to build rapport with other board members. The feelings in the room are much harder to read and, whilst occasionally this can be a benefit, there is also a risk of missing out on key elements of non-verbal communication.

Research shows that a very high proportion of human communication is non-verbal.

Relationship benefits

It can also be difficult to build relationships in a hybrid meeting format. When you are not meeting in person

with fellow board members and/or the executive team, it is harder to get to know someone's personality and style. I am hearing more and more that there is a hunger now to get back to in-person meetings because of the team-building and relationship benefits they bring.

Last but not least, whilst they can be very convenient for many, hybrid meetings do not offer the opportunity for all board members to see the school in action, to show their support and interest in staff and pupils and to feed in their observations from these encounters to board discussions. This can make it much harder to answer the key gubernatorial question ‘How do we know?’ and to enable the governing body as a whole to be more visible in the school.

Making a choice

Overall, hybrid board meetings offer a number of advantages and disadvantages, and boards should carefully consider the pros and cons of such meetings before deciding whether to adopt this format –or how frequently to use it.

In addition, it is important to consider the specific needs of your board. For example, if it contains a large number of members who live in different parts of the country or who have busy travel schedules, then a hybrid meeting format may be a good option. However, if your board is small and close-knit, and if your board members can meet in person on a regular basis, then a traditional in-person meeting format may be a better choice.

Ultimately, the decision of whether or not to adopt a hybrid meeting format is up to your board itself. By carefully considering the pros and cons of this format, members can make an informed decision that is best for your board and the school it serves. ●

RICHARD HARMAN is Chief Executive of AGBIS.