editor’s letter
EDUCATION EXECUTIVE
JUNE 2011
www.edexec.co.uk
Education Executive is the first business management magazine written exclusively for school business managers and bursars, bringing you the latest issues affecting your role on a monthly basis, from finance to premises, procurement to HR. EdExec delivers the lowdown on all the hottest topics in education management right here, every month.
EDITOR julia dennison julia.dennison@intelligentmedia.co.uk DEPUTY EDITOR matthew jane matthew.jane@intelligentmedia.co.uk PUBLISHER vicki baloch vicki.baloch@intelligentmedia.co.uk ACCOUNT MANAGER george petrou george.petrou@intelligentmedia.co.uk ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE francis maitland francis.maitland@intelligentmedia.co.uk DIGITAL MANAGER dan price dan.price@intelligentmedia.co.uk DESIGNER elma aquino elma.aquino@intelligentmedia.co.uk DESIGNER sarah chivers sarah.chivers@intelligentmedia.co.uk PRODUCTION ASSISTANT sinead coffey sinead.coffey@intelligentmedia.co.uk CIRCULATIONS MANAGER natalia johnston natalia.johnston@intelligentmedia.co.uk
Education Executive is published by intelligent media solutions suite 223, business design centre 52 upper street, london, N1 0QH tel 020 7288 6833 fax 020 7288 6834 email info@intelligentmedia.co.uk web www.intelligentmedia.co.uk Follow Education Executive on Twitter at Twitter.com/edexec Printed in the UK by Buxton Press www.buxtonpress.co.uk
Independently minded
A
s I write this we are in the midst of preparing Independent Squared, our annual update on the independent schools sector due out with our September issue of EdExec, and I’ve had to stop and think. The definition of ‘independent school’ is well and truly changing: no longer does it solely refer to fee-paying private schools, but to academies and now free schools too. Private schools are having to work that much harder to justify their benefits to a UK public that now has the option of sending their children to independent schools that are free to attend. While many of you school business managers in the state system struggle with restrictive budgets, spare a thought for your colleagues in the independent sector who not only have to perform the whole raft of duties that come with the role, but, like other private businesses lately, spend more and more of their time chasing invoices. No wonder so many of them are turning to debt collection agencies to do it for them. A reporter from Maclean’s, Canada’s weekly current affairs magazine, contacted me about this very subject – UK private schools hitting difficult financial times. I was quick to point out it was a global issue, as I know many private schools in the US, where I’m from, are also struggling. Furthermore, the UK private school is a worldrenowned brand in its own right. Many need only mention their name and pupils will be flocking from all corners of the earth to attend and pay their fees. However, there is one thing unique about the UK system: fee-paying private schools now have an ‘out’ from fee chasing in the shape of a free school application. This is certainly not an option many are taking – there were only six applying for free school status this September last time I checked – however, it will be interesting to revisit the issue a year from now after the first round of free schools are up and running. In short, I can’t help but notice it’s an interesting time for independent schools – one that means you don’t have to charge fees to march to the beat of your own drum.
EDITOR