Independent School Management Plus - January 2022

s u l MANAGEMENT p Winter 2022

I N D E P E N D E N T

S C H O O L

The BUSINESS of INDEPENDENT EDUCATION

SCHOOLMANAGEMENTPLUS.COM

SpringBoarders

Bridging the educational divide

Gordonstoun's Recipe for Success

The Value of Independent Education

In partnership with

Personalised School Communications

Julie Robinson defends the sector BURSARS

HEADS

G OV E R N O R S

PA R T N E R I N G W I T H

kampus24.com

ADMISSIONS

DEVELOPMENT

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Incorporating

Conference & Common Room 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 bryony.morris@fellowsmedia.com

ADVERTISING

Jacob Holmes jacob.holmes@fellowsmedia.com 01242 259249

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 T

he past two years have been bleak for everyone. But amidst this, there have been success stories. On schoolmanagementplus.com we have run many accounts of the resourcefulness of schools and teachers, the resilience of pupils and everyone’s readiness to grapple with online learning.

Despite everything, many independent and international schools have gone from strength to strength.

I perhaps shouldn’t be surprised, therefore, at how the independent and international school sectors have embraced the schoolmanagementplus.com website over this same period. Readership has sky-rocketed. Writers are vying to appear on our pages and we are leading debates on subjects that people care about in schools across the world. From exams to headteacher burnout, from COVID to the moral dilemmas of opening a school in a foreign country, all of modern education is here.

Fantastic improvements to our authoritative termly magazine Independent School Management Plus (here in your very hands!) have also been warmly welcomed and its useful, meaty articles are being read and shared between colleagues across the UK. It’s not often I say this, but I’m extremely proud of what we at schoolmanagementplus.com have achieved over these troubling times, all with the help of our thoughtful and industrious writers and curious readers.

With this success in mind, as we hope to put the ravages of COVID behind us, the scene is set for a resetting of the independent and international school sectors.

Not only in much-talked-about areas such as online learning, wellbeing and exams, but in the marketing and admissions activities of our schools too. These, after all, provide institutions with their lifeblood: pupils. o m mind, no must be the time for schools to ut inefficient, untargeted marketing techniques behind them and come up with strategies that are fit for the ne t cou le of decades at least Stephen Spriggs And I have every faith that schools can do it.

Managing Director, William Clarence Education

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. Always keen to hear about the issues that matter to you most, get in touch to have your school’s voice heard. editor@schoolmanagementplus.com

N W W W.S C H O O LM A

A G EM EN T PL U S. C O

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EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Dr Helen Wright Educational consultant, former Head of St Mary’s Calne and President of the Girls’ Schools Association

CO N T EN T S 6

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

Delivering Value Julie Robinson

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 Head of Stamford School, regular contributor to the TES and editor of Politics Review Susan Barnhurst Academic Deputy Head at Wellingborough School and senior leader for a major UK examining board

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12

In Conversation with Ali Henderson

Recipe for Success

20

Delivering Value The UK would be a poorer place without the independent sector

In conversation with Ali Henderson CEO, Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation

25

Partners: AGBIS Giving praise, acknowledging everyone’s contribution

Partners: BSA Challenges and complexities

26

Building Bridges e ie ing the staffing of marketing and admissions

31

An Immersive Experience The future of personalised student recruitment

35

Partners: AMCIS School Comms, is the tail wagging the dog?

HEADS & GOVERNORS 6 11

BURSARS Recipe for Success Gordonstoun’s Phased Learning Menu

12

MARKETING & ADMISSIONS The World View Will overseas student numbers drop away?

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plus

DEVELOPMENT 36

Giving Days Supercharging schools’ fundraising campaigns

41

Partners: IDPE Bursaries and partnerships

42

Talking Point Over communication?

Nudges to reduce staff stress

Winter 2022

N D E N T I N D E P E

S C H O O L

MA NAGE ME ENT of INDEPEND The BUSINESS

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EDUCATIO N

SCHOOLMA

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PLUS.COM

ON THE COVER

SpringBoarders

Bridging the educational divide

Gordonstoun's ss Recipe for Succe

The Valu e of cati on Inde pend ent Edu s the sector Julie Robinson BURSARS

In partnership with

Personalised School

HEADS

G OV E R N O R

PA R T N E R I N

S

Communications

kampus24.com

defend

ADMISSIONS

DEVELOPME

NT

Recipe for Success Page 12 Cover image: Trevor Martin

G WITH

Winter 2022 | schoolmanagementplus.com | 5

HEADS & GOVERNORS

DELIVERING VALUE

THE UK WOULD BE A POORER PLACE WITHOUT THE INDEPENDENT SECTOR In the face of the attacks on the independent school sector made at the Labour Party Conference, Julie Robinson sets the record straight and highlights the unarguable contribution our schools make to the British economy and wider society as a whole.

A

s we know only too well, independent education is a soft target for the media and political discourse. The Independent Schools Council (ISC) is well-versed in briefing and re-briefing politicians and civil servants to inform them of the consequences of proposed policies on independent schools. We take a close interest in these potential effects beyond our sector because independent schools have broader relevance to education and have an impact felt widely across society and the UK economy.

The ISC spoke directly to politicians and shadow cabinet members at this year’s Labour Party Conference, where they reintroduced a policy of punitive tax proposals. We know from positive meetings with Labour MPs that some understand the active and helpful role

6 | schoolmanagementplus.com | Winter 2022

independent schools play within their communities and we need to build on this.

One thing schools could very helpfully do is make the case locally to their own MPs about the beneficial contributions of the school communities to the wider sector. There is plenty of helpful material on the ISC website, which can of help when trying to uantify the benefit they deli er, including a tool schools can use to calculate their individual economic contribution.

... punitive tax proposals Economic analysis

Economic analysts from Oxford Economics, specialists in global forecasting and quantitative analysis, found in their report, The Impact of Independent Schools on the UK Economy, 2018, that independent schools save the taxpayer £3.5 billion every year by educating pupils who could otherwise be expected to take up a place in the state-funded sector.

In addition, those schools in membership of the ISC’s constituent associations contribute £11.6 billion to the UK economy annually, generate £3.5 billion of annual tax revenue (equivalent to £129 per UK household) and support 257,000 jobs.

Of the £11.6 billion ISC schools contribute to the economy, non-British pupils at ISC schools support around £1.8 billion of gross value added in the UK, supporting 39,310 jobs and generating £550 million in annual tax revenues. Independent schools also contribute £1bn annually to education exports.

Global reputation

The strong global reputation of British education attracts overseas companies and international students to the UK. These students bring a global perspective to our schools, enrich the community, and are a vital pipeline to British universities.

Independent schools are proud of the role they are playing in meeting the ambitions of the Government’s International Education Strategy and the target of attracting 600,000 international students to the UK every year. Not only

HEADS & GOVERNORS do international students choose UK independent schools but, having been immersed in British life, many choose to remain and study at UK universities.

Independent schools also support economic growth by promoting subjects that are strategically important for the UK’s skills base, as well as boosting global competitiveness. Advanced maths and science study is key for technological innovation and countering climate change.

As global influence shifts, modern foreign languages will be vital for trade and international co-operation.

In the last year that exams were taken (2019), independent schools accounted for almost 30% of entries for A-levels in French and Spanish, 30% of further maths A-level entries and 21% of physics A-level entries.

Forging partnerships

Of course, this debate is about much more than just numbers. Working in

... proud of the role they are playing schools represents a commitment to helping children and young people thrive, and this is the most important contribution schools make to society.

Independent schools provide valuable capacity and specialism across the UK’s education network. By widening access and through partnerships with state schools, they increasingly create educational opportunities for greater numbers of young people from a variety of backgrounds, benefitting both their local communities and the overall education system.

Educational partnerships between independent and state schools are an

important aspect of school life. In January 2020, before COVID restricted activities, ISC schools were involved in 11,700 partnership projects including: • subject support in maths, science and modern foreign languages • teacher training • careers and higher education advice and support.

Larger independent schools have forged partnerships through the sponsorship and co-sponsorship of schools as part of the Government’s academies and free schools programme. Schools such as the London Academies of Excellence in Tottenham and Stratford rely on independent school sponsorship and achieve high rates of Oxbridge entry.

The sector’s commitment to independent-state school partnerships is set out in a Joint Understanding (JU) with the Department for Education.

In addition to encouraging impactful partnership work, the JU emphasises

Economic Benefit of Independent Schools

Contribute

£11.6 billion

to the UK economy

£3.5 billion

saved on state school expenditure

Contribute

257,000 £1tobillion annual Support jobs

Generate

£3.5

billion annual tax revenue

education exports

Provide

£3.5 million

in means-tested bursaries

For more information about the independent schools sector, including links to the reports mentioned in this article, visit isc.co.uk/sector-info

Winter 2022 | schoolmanagementplus.com | 7

HEADS & GOVERNORS independent schools’ desire to widen access through bursary provision.

Bursaries

chools recognise the benefits bursaries bring to both pupils in receipt of fee assistance and the wider school community. Last year alone, ISC schools provided £455 million in means-tested bursaries and scholarships. The sector has also proposed a scheme to enable up to 10,000 children from low-income families to attend independent schools every year. If this offer were taken up, it ould benefit hundreds of thousands of children over time.

Having touched upon some of the most valuable contributions the independent schools sector makes to the economy and to society (you and your school will no doubt have your own good examples), we should consider the potential damage puniti e financial measures such as those set out by the Labour Party would do.

Labour’s proposals

abour has identified an opportunity to secure £100 million from ending business rate relief for charitable schools and a further £1.6 billion by removing the ‘exemption on VAT’ – which is understood to mean charging 20% VAT on school fees.

Schools should note that the laws governing VAT on the provision of education services are separate to charity law, and VAT on fees would affect schools that are owned and operated by charities and those that are not. School fees are currently exempt from VAT under the VAT Act 1994, which considers education to be in the public interest – with the exemption also covering higher and further education bodies.

Now, attacking independent schools does not improve our education system.

Removing charitable status and putting VAT on school fees would penalise parents 8 | schoolmanagementplus.com | Winter 2022

and would make independent school education unaffordable for many families, forcing the closure of smaller schools and resulting in more pupils needing state school places, swelling class sizes and piling pressure on already-stretched budgets.

... widening access Clear contradiction

We know from research (see the Baines Cutler VAT on School Fees report on the ISC website) that adding VAT on school fees would cost any government at least m in its fifth year and ill not provide the money to support spending pledges. This is because schools would be eligible to reclaim VAT expenses once it was charged on fees, while it is estimated almost 135,000 pupils would move to the state sector as fees went beyond parental affordability. There is a clear contradiction in a policy that aims to raise revenue from independent schools and reduce demand for them at the same time.

We all want to see more funding for

state schools and greater support for underperforming pupils, which is precisely why we encourage schools of all types to ork together in partnership to benefit all pupils. The focus should be on working collaboratively to carry out more of this life-changing work.

Promoting and protecting

Working closely with the member associations, the ISC will continue to promote and protect the sector on your behalf. Should you ever wish to contact us about any aspect of our work, please do so viaisc.co.uk/contact-us/. ●

JULIE ROBINSON is the Chief Executive of the Independent Schools Council. Julie was Head of Ardingly College Junior School and then Vinehall Prep School in Sussex before becoming Education and Training Director for the Independent Association of Preparatory Schools (IAPS).

ADVERTORIAL

THE IMPACT OF CO2

I

ON CHILDREN’S LEARNING.

ncreasing Carbon Dioxide (CO2) concentrations are having a major impact on our indoor and outdoor environments. To reduce carbon emissions, buildings have been made more energy efficient ne example of this is increased airtightness. However, airtight rooms ith insufficient entilation may suffer from poor air quality and high CO2 concentrations o, e find oursel es between an iceberg and a hard place; we need buildings to become more energy efficient, but e also need these buildings to breath. It is important to understand why we should be concerned with the effects of high CO2 concentrations before developing solutions. t first glance, the impact of can be deceptive. CO2 makes up about 0.04% of the composition of outdoor air.

For indoor air, current school guidelines (BB101: Ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality 2018) allow the daily average CO2 concentration to rise to 0.1% of the composition of indoor air.

For context, the average outdoor CO2 concentration is said to be about 0.04% of the composition of air. So, why then are we so concerned with room CO2 concentration when it makes up so little of our indoor air?

Increased CO2 concentration have a huge impact on the brain, particularly affecting our cognitive abilities. In 1904 Danish physiologist, Christian Bohr, found increasing CO2 concentrations in the blood increased blood acidity

level, reducing the quantity of oxygen it could carry. This results in the brain receiving less oxygen, reducing cognitive function. This was named the Bohr Effect.

In 2016, Harvard University investigated the link between CO2 concentration and cognitive function. The study sought to find out ho arying indoor CO2 concentrations affect cognitive performance in an office en ironment The results were stark: in all categories the performance of the groups was noticeably inhibited by increased room CO2 concentrations. Categories included basic, applied, and focused activity level, information usage, and strategy, all important for cognition. The effect is much more pronounced between 1,400 ppm and 900 ppm, suggesting a limit as to how much CO2 the brain can handle. When considering these results, one should bear in mind that the Bohr Effect would be amplified on younger occupants The impact of high CO2 concentrations could be considered more severe in an exam scenario: 100 to 200 pupils in a large room with poor ventilation for up to three hours at a time. During that period, ithout sufficient entilation the room CO2 concentration could easily exceed 2,000 ppm. If CO2 concentrations are properly managed, exam performance could be improved. This underpins how management of indoor air quality (IAQ) is critical if we are to succeed in improving our indoor learning environments.

BB101 requires mechanical ventilated classrooms to meet a daily average CO2 concentration of 1,000 ppm. European countries such as Finland, Norway, and Germany permit a maximum CO2 concentration in classrooms of 1,000 ppm.

Penalties may be given for exceeding these limits. Based on the evidence and the experience of our European counterparts, we believe that the key performance indicator (KPI) for classrooms should be that they achieve a CO2 concentration of

no more than 1,000 ppm at any time.

In a typical UK classroom, the volume of room air may need to be changed approximately fi e times per hour to achieve a daily average of less than 1,000 ppm of CO2. This air will come from outside, but the air outside is heavily polluted. Until we exclusively use “clean” energy sources, this problem will exist. While some pollutants are not considered damaging, many of them are known to have a long-term impact on health. Poor air quality remains the largest environmental health risk in the UK and is said to be responsible for 4.2 million deaths per year. Children are among the most vulnerable to pollution’s harmful effects as their lungs are still developing, and arguably the least responsible. As such its vital we take steps to create better learning environments, free of high CO2 concentrations.

Fortunately, we do have methods to mitigate this issue. A mechanical ventilation solution with heat recovery (MVHR) is an optimal choice in both reducing energy wastage and managing CO2 concentrations. MVHR can recover up to 90% of the energy in the room. The heat is recovered by an air-to-air heat exchanger, using it to warm up the cooler air from outside before it enters the room. The result is a much lower heating demand for the classrooms and lower carbon footprint. In addition, the room will be well-ventilated with a much lower level of pollution than found outside.

To improve the standards of indoor air quality, better methods of ventilation must be used lassrooms need fresh, filtered air and a CO2 concentration of less than 1,000 ppm. We encourage you to take this into your own hands and question the air quality in your classrooms. ●

For more information a please visit www.sav-systems.com/ airmaster-iaq/

Left: Jonathon Hunter Hill, Sector Manager - Education

Winter 2022 | schoolmanagementplus.com | 9

Good indoor air quality enhances student performance

Visit www.sav-systems.com/smart or call: +44 (0)1483 771910 10 | schoolmanagementplus.com | Winter 2022

PARTNERS

GIVING PRAISE

ACKNOWLEDGING EVERYONE’S CONTRIBUTION Richard Harman suggests that governors shoul lea the ay in both than ing staff or hat they o an ta ing responsibility or their mental health

‘A

n attitude of gratitude’ is a well-worn phrase, but one that is especially important in these pandemic times. As James Timpson, Chief Executive of Timpson Group, said in a recent newspaper column, ‘Giving praise and telling colleagues how much we appreciate their contributions should be on our to-do list every day’.

Authentic support

ome people find these habits come naturally, others less so; but governors would do well to cultivate them and to remember just how tough the last couple of years have been for school leaders and their staff. It is part of our duty to ensure that staff are held to account for their performance in good times and bad, but this needs to be balanced with authentic support. The pandemic has added to an already dire situation as regards pupils’ mental health and, in the wake of COVID – and other major challenges like Everyone’s Invited and the subsequent Ofsted review – we are seeing similar strains appearing among our staff.

to look after the health of staff. But leaving aside these legal and regulatory requirements, a little day-to-day human kindness goes a long way. There really is no substitute for a genuine word of thanks or a card of appreciation.

Governors also deserve great thanks for their contribution. It is important for Chairs, Heads and Clerks to remember that these folk are volunteers who are fitting school go ernorship around their already busy lives for no remuneration.

Once again, remembering to say, ‘thank you’ and to create an inclusive, welcoming atmosphere around the Board table can make all the difference. It is not easy to recruit and retain good governors. Once they do join up, treating them well increases the chances of building a great team.

AGBIS is here to help and support governors in all they do. Offering stimulating topical training, webinars and seminars is invaluable, whilst networking with others in similar roles is guaranteed to build a sense of belonging and understanding.

With this in mind, I commend to governors the AGBIS Annual Conference in March 2022.

I look forward then to being able to say in person, ‘thank you’ for all you do to make our schools the best they can be. ●

... a genuine word of thanks

Human kindness

In our role as company directors (as well as school governors and, in most cases, charity trustees), we have a statutory duty of care to our employees under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which means that (within reasonable limits) it is a requirement on us to ensure that appropriate measures are in place

RICHARD HARMAN is o He was previously ea master o l enham an subse uently ppingham i har is a past hairman o the an

Winter 2022 | schoolmanagementplus.com | 11

Photo credits: Trevor Martin

BURSARS

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

GORDONSTOUN’S PHASED LEARNING MENU 12 | schoolmanagementplus.com | Winter 2022

BURSARS

Eleanor Bradford explains how Gordonstoun’s innovative, new approach to diet has raised students’ academic performance and boosted their energy levels.

T

here is no a multitude of scientific studies which demonstrate the link between food and mental and physical wellbeing. As a society, our knowledge of nutrition has grown more sophisticated and we are beginning to understand the impact of complex nutrients on both physical and mental performance. According to a recent University of East Anglia study, nutritional intake was associated with mental wellbeing scores in children of all ages.

As one of the UK’s few remaining full-boarding schools, where students are provided with learning and activities seven days a week, Gordonstoun takes its responsibility to provide healthy and tasty food very seriously.

Active Revision Course

teamed with poached eggs, homemade artisan bread and Hollandaise sauce, containing essential fatty acids to absorb vitamins A, D and E.

Releasing energy

On Fridays and Saturdays, students are active in sports and clubs, therefore a new Carb and Protein ar offers chicken, fish, rice and holegrain bread to boost carb and protein intake. Alongside this, there are nitrate-rich fresh vegetables to help oxygenate the blood uring exam periods the amount of fish and antioxidants on the menu is increased and during inter-house sporting competitions there is an increase in carbohydrate and low-fat meat or protein-rich alternatives.

“We did a lot of research,” adds Jamie. “We don’t claim that our breakfast, for example, is going to cure this or do that, but studies have shown that the ingredients in our breakfast wake you up better or release energy more slowly during the day and that benefits the students ho are facing a packed day of lessons and activities.”

It took three to four months to develop, test and phase-in the ne menu hich feeds more than fi e hundred students and up to three hundred staff. The result is a three-week plan which repeats over six to nine weeks before it changes and the whole pattern begins again. Students were integral to the process, providing what Jamie describes as “very honest” feedback!

“This season we’re going to be back playing hockey matches again,

We did a lot of research

ordonstoun first put the latest scientific dietary kno ledge into practice in 2018. Its ‘Active Revision’ course each Easter offers a combination of ‘brain-boosting’ foods rich in essential nutrients with exercise sessions to aid revision. The results proved spectacular, with all students on the course improving by at least one grade in their exams compared to their mocks, and 60% improving by two grades.

Lockdown provided the opportunity that the catering team needed to review this model and apply it to the menu all year round.

“We tried to take positives from COVID,” says Catering Manager Jamie Campbell. “When we came back last year, we thought, ‘What can we do with the menu?’ COVID was an opportunity to make big changes which tied in with the ethos of the school. As chefs, we are every bit as much a part of that ethos as the teachers, so we designed the Phased Learning Menu.”

The idea behind the Phased Learning Menu was to match the Refectory food more closely with Gordonstoun’s uniquely challenging curriculum.

The school is well known as a pioneer of character education and its curriculum includes sailing and expeditions in order to build skills for life such as teamwork, responsibility, compassion and resilience in the face of a challenge.

Weekday mornings now see a breakfast to boost concentration, memory and focus. Porridge comes with a ariety of health-boosting options such as sun o er seeds, goji berries and cranberries; omega-rich smoked salmon is

Winter 2022 | schoolmanagementplus.com | 13

BURSARS

...very honest feedback so it’s very important for me to get the nutrients in,” says Year 13 student Keira, who likes the new food offer.

“We’ve noticed the changes in the menu, especially recently; there’s been a lot more rice and noodles incorporated into our diet, which is the carbohydrate we need to release energy slowly when we’re doing a prolonged activity.”

ard

or and finan al n e

en

“The ambitious menu took hard work, dedication and financial in estment, explains ordonstoun s rincipal, Lisa Kerr. “We now invest 25% more in nutritious ingredients. Due to COVID it’s hard to compare this year ith other years, but e are already seeing the benefits in terms of improved focus in the classroom and more energy for activities. Above all, though, we are all enjoying the tasty new dishes on the menu!”

To the uninformed, the menu board might not look that unusual. A typical day could include roast chicken with a spicy crust, potato wedges and vegetables; or tacos; or roast aubergine for vegetarians. However, look more closely and you ill find that the chicken crust is made with quinoa and the vegetables are all colourful and fresh, ha ing been sourced from ithin fi e miles of the school otatoes are baked rather than fried and the taco raps contain hole heat our almon is e en smoked in the school’s own smokehouse using wood chips from a windfall tree which once grew on campus.

According to Jamie Campbell, some of the new vegetarian options have also proved a surprise hit. “They’ll ueue out of the door for our baked hole cauli o er steak,” he said, “and they also love our Quorn nuggets.

Even the committed meat-eaters love these dishes..”

The most innovative aspect of the menu, though, is its close alignment to the curriculum. Chefs worked closely ith the examination office to match meals to the exam schedule

ay ng focused

“The new, healthier menu has helped students to remain focused in the classroom and during assessments,” said Deputy Head Curriculum, Danielle Cowan. “If you want to give yourself the best chance of success, do some research on brain-boosting foods, select the ones you enjoy and build them into your weekly meals. My top tip is that dark chocolate aids memory!”

“We added brain-boosting foods such as spinach and red kale, and made sure they were available the day before the exam and on the day of the exam, says Jamie. “But we never forget that young people want comfort food, too. When students heard about the ne menu, they thought that fish and chips and pi a would be stripped out, but because they are here seven days a eek they ha e to ha e fun food, too o-called ‘junk food’ does provide some nutrition and certain fats.

Those foods are still there, but perhaps more spaced out than before.”

It’s been a long but rewarding process for the efectory team, ho ere recently finalists for a healthy eating a ard in the ndependent chools of the ear 2021 awards. ●

ELEANOR BRADFORD, Eleanor Bradford, a former BBC correspondent, is the Head of Marketing and Public Relations at Gordonstoun School.

ELEANOR BRADFORD, a former BBC correspondent, is the Head of Marketing and Public Relations at Gordonstoun School.

14 | schoolmanagementplus.com | Winter 2022

What is Drama Based Learning?

T R A I N I N G

F O R

E D U C AT I O N

Oh no, not ANOTHER training course!

Ever had that feeling of completing compulsory training and wishing the hours away? We have all felt it. But why does training have to be boring and tick box? As educators ourselves, we are focused on making lessons for our students engaging and interesting, but often our own training is death by PowerPoint, dull and unmemorable.

Completing annual safeguarding training doesn’t necessarily refresh or challenge current knowledge, it is often a tick box requirement that we know we must go through.

Training shouldn’t be like this though – it should be engaging, different and fun and lead to long lasting change. But so often, training doesn’t inspire; whether that is in front of a computer screen and simply moving the course along to get to the end and achieve the certificate or sitting at the back of the training room wishing the time away as you see slide 212 of 500 appear!

At Eighteen Seventy, we have created a new training business from the ground up but with the experience and passion of the ted Learning team. The business is built by people with an educational background (including qualified teachers) who too often have sat through these types of courses and wanted to make learning FUN and memorable for everyone who attends one of our courses. We also wanted to make them relevant to the world of education.

Too often off the shelf products are shoe-horned into the world we all work in and not really fit for purpose or understanding the uniqueness of working in education.

Regardless of the subject matter, people need to enjoy learning. So, we create real experiences by using drama in all our courses.

Visit our website for more information & examples of our drama-based work

www.eighteenseventy.co.uk

We use professionally trained actors who lift the learning off the page by creating something observational and participative without ever using role-play. This approach appeals to the sense of feeling, aswell as the more traditional senses of seeing and hearing. By approaching our delivery this way, we create a connection to the learning. If we are training in how to have a difficult conversation this isn’t just the theory – we see a difficult conversation play out between two characters sent within your organisation and based on our initial DNA call with you. This ensures it feels real and those attending the learning connect with the characters and scenario and recognise that it takes place within their own work environment. By observing a drama-based scene we can intertwine the theory, discussion and best practice and observe what a brave conversation should look like if this process is followed. Learning that is experienced and felt is much more likely to be embedded than just learning that was heard or seen.

We also use actors of all ages to play the roles of students and staff, so it really resonates. We utilise talent behind the scenes to write our scripts and bring different perspectives to the training.

Why use Eighteen Seventy?

Our courses are designed by educators FOR educators – whether you are student facing or support staff, we have first-hand experience of developing impactful content that learners enjoy and engage with. We deliver courses around inclusion, equality and diversity, mental health awareness, getting stuff done, brave conversations, coaching and mentoring, emotional intelligence, leading through change and more.

Don’t just take our word for it!

Eighteen Seventy crafted a bespoke package of anti-racism training for us which addressed the issues we needed to consider in a sensitive but unambiguous way. It had a significant impact on raising awareness and understanding of language and behaviours.

It has also had a lasting legacy in terms of initiatives which followed on.

Mr Tom Carter, Headteacher, King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford

Learner from Thames Learning Trust commented:

I feel we were provided with the skills we needed to have these conversations.

The actors were very good and adapted well to our challenges.

The whole experience was interesting, useful & inspiring.

I had to attend virtually and it felt like I was really there!

I really enjoyed the acting aspect of it and it was useful to be able to observe things they were doing.

Winter 2022 | schoolmanagementplus.com | 15

Scan me

to visit our website

Miele brings a breath of fresh air to the education sector.

The high performance AirControl air purifier from Miele makes taking preventative action against Covid-19 (and other viruses that circle around schools) easy and effective. Available in three sizes, the unit is mobile, safe, and durable, making it an ideal solution for the school environment.

Miele Professional. Immer Besser.

Integrated CO2 sensor Enables CO2 controlled operation, adjusting air throughput to the quality of room air.

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16 | schoolmanagementplus.com | Winter 2022 Independent School Managment Plus_Full page_250x195mm.indd 1

06/01/2022 12:11

MARKETING & ADMISSIONS

THE WORLD VIEW WILL OVERSEAS STUDENT NUMBERS DROP AWAY? As the country continues to navigate the pandemic, many independent schools are wondering about the future recruitment of international students. We asked Dominic Moon for some insights.

Do you believe that international student recruitment is still viable in the post-pandemic world?

Yes, 100%. International students will continue to be at the heart of many a boarding school. No doubt many of your readers have already digested some of the recent surveys and reports which confirm that a ritish boarding education is still considered a premium product and thereby very desirable by families from all around the world.

That said, not every boarding school is prospering and a number are now considering the viability of continuing to provide boarding as an option. Many of these schools have too few British boarders – often offset by a COVIDled resurgence of day pupils – and are considering whether to stay the course or simply deliver what their own local market wants. A number of schools are taking stock and reviewing their offering longer term.

Where are the new international markets?

If I had a penny for every time I was asked that question... Well, the simple answer is that there are no ne markets ur agency recruits pupils from 140 different countries and we believe it’s understanding the ebb and o bet een the markets that is important. Schools need to recognise hen to be in country or, more importantly, when not to be.

Do schools still need agents to recruit international students?

This is a question that comes from the finance team more often than not as they see the invoices from agents asking for 10% of paid fees (sometimes 15%, sometimes up to 25%!). However, it would be imprudent to under alue the hea y lifting’ undertaken by agents in recruiting international students. In many cases they are responsible for up to 90% of the overseas pupils on the school roll, so now may well be the time to work those channels harder than ever rather than making a false economy.

What advice are you giving schools reviewing their overseas student recruitment plans?

Quite simply, not to put all your eggs in one basket. For many years, we have prescribed regional diversity as a recruitment tactic and now is the time, more than ever, to invest in a sustainable and diverse student recruitment programme. With geopolitical shifts across the globe – from West

Africa to Russia – compounded by Brexit (and the associated visa issues), creating a robust international student recruitment strategy that doesn’t rely on particular regions is advisable. It will require investment and hard work to achieve this, just as it did in the good old days when all the markets were new. But good groundwork now will provide future security and protect a school’s boarding legacy. However, there is no uick fix or golden nuggets out there, so patience is essential.

MARKETING & ADMISSIONS ‘business’ attitude of which I have spoken coming increasingly to the fore. In recent months, this has manifested itself through requests from our partner schools for mystery shopper audits, boarding reviews (we analyse and present our thoughts on the boarding standard against other schools) and tailored customer development workshops for schools’ ‘client-facing teams’. This navel-gazing exercise is all part of the schools’ ambition to ‘control the controllable’ and be the best they can; ‘customer journey’ is the new buzz phrase!

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket Will South East Asia (most notably China and Hong Kong) still continue to deliver high numbers of international students?

Well, this has been a real cause for concern for many schools. The issue is not the ambition and desire from parents in those places to send their children to our schools but more to do with interference from government; education is today’s political hot potato. Over the years, there has always been a discouraging narrative and rumours of a risk to the pipeline of Chinese and Hong King students, which never seems to develop further or impact on our schools. However, there is now a real sense of nervousness amongst agents, parents and schools about the future in this respect. We think that there is definitely change in the air and possibly a bad moon rising!

What should be done to ensure that international student recruitment remains robust?

We have been working with many of our schools on new marketing strategies (not new markets but new strategies!). Getting an ‘in’ within a region where a school has no history but which nevertheless offers growth potential is all-important. This can be done best by tracking down relevant 18 | schoolmanagementplus.com | Winter 2022

contacts amongst the school community which you can leverage. Do you have ‘local’ speakers who can help you? Alumni perhaps? (Oh yes, your alumni and admissions should be working very closely together!)

What would you like to change about our independent schools?

Our schools are great and can boast a world-class product which is the envy of all o e er, most of the significant changes that we are helping schools with nowadays are centred around becoming a better business. Improving the skills of admissions staff by training and de elopment, redefining brands and streamlining the customer journey on which domestic and international parents and students embark are all critical tasks. If we are weak anywhere as an industry, it is here chools need to operate as efficient, forward-looking businesses in order to ourish It’s an interesting time to be involved with schools and in many you see that

Do you feel that marketing and admissions staff are properly valued?

It’s really important to recognise that without these two functions a school cannot survive. Sure, academic rigour and great results are important, but if a parent doesn’t know who you are or how good you are then, quite frankly, you’ll have no pupils in school very quickly.

Unfortunately for most schools, families do not queue up outside waiting to be let in. It was telling to see how many schools furloughed marketing and admissions staff at a time when they were needed most. This is a concern as it highlights either how little they are respected or how little is known about what they do.

I haven’t made my mind up on which is worse. Furthermore, the admissions job is so huge now that we are seeing a mass exodus of amazing staff from the sector because they feel underpaid, undervalued and exhausted. Business-savvy heads and those schools looking to the future now realise that these people are at the very heart of any success plan and need to be looked after, managed and developed.

And, dare I say, given the odd thank you or pat on the back. Our sector’s success is down to these people just as much as the academic staff! ●

DOMINIC MOON is Senior Education Consultant at Metropolis Education, which has served the boarding school community for over 25 years. dominic.moon@metropolis.co.uk

Winter 2022 | schoolmanagementplus.com | 19

MARKETING & ADMISSIONS

- IN CONVERSATION WITH -

ALI HENDERSON CEO, ROYAL NATIONAL CHILDREN’S SPRINGBOARD FOUNDATION

Zoe MacDougall talks to Ali Henderson about the role that independent schools can and are playing in helping to bridge the educational divide through harnessing the power of bursary opportunities for those young people who need them most.

How would you describe the Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation’s history and current mission statement?

Our mission is to provide young people facing the most challenging of circumstances access to fully funded bursaries at boarding and independent day schools. We target those opportunities for young people who either currently, or have been, looked after in the care system; are vulnerable and on the ‘edge of care due to difficult home lives; or are from areas with high levels of social deprivation.

We were launched originally in 2012 to scale up the model of the Arnold Foundation of Rugby School, which worked with young people from a community organisation in East London, all of whom had been identified as young leaders but ho faced really precarious situations in their home environment, often related to drugs, county lines and knife crime. Through this partnership at community level, young people were provided with the opportunity to attend Rugby School.

We took this model of collaborative partnerships to scale – offering schools across the UK the infrastructure to help identify, prepare and support some of the UK’s most marginalised and vulnerable children to gain bursary places and thrive within those schools. Our way of working ensures that we remain in close contact with all ‘SpringBoarders’ beyond their bursary placements, to enable them to secure the fulfilling future careers that we know they desire and deserve. In 2017, we merged with RNCF to become the UK’s largest bursary charity,

Ali HENDERSON Ali Henderson is CEO of Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation (RNCSF).

She has over 15 years’ experience of leading programmes and policies to address social inequality, having worked across central and local government in policy and programme management. Ali worked for Oxfam in a strategic policy role prior to joining RNCSF to lead their approach to impact and learning. She was appointed as CEO of RNCSF in March 2020.

20 | schoolmanagementplus.com | Winter 2022

MARKETING & ADMISSIONS which has allowed us to support hundreds of young people to attend schools on fully funded bursaries each year.

o do you find e young eo le ll enefi o ro a ur ary

o

We work in partnership with local organisations that know those families facing the most precarious situations.

We’ve got those partnerships in about 30 locations across the UK now. Each one is a place that’s facing a cocktail of complex challenges – whether due to high rates of child poverty, knife and drug crime or, equally, where there are entrenched issues such a generational unemployment and lack of available good state schools.

Those community partner organisations work with families where there may be intervention from social services, police involvement or housing issues. We also work directly with social care professionals who can refer pupils ho ha e significant care experience or are formally ‘looked-after’.

We’re deliberately targeting our efforts on young people who would otherwise face a very different life path. Each year, we take on 120 or 130 young people.

o do you re are young eo le ro ery d eren o al ul ural and e ono a ground or l e a oard ng ool

The preparation process is hugely important and it can last for up to 18 months. Our programmes work carefully as part of a very deliberate and well-scaffolded programme, to ensure that young people feel ready for the opportunity and will settle and thrive. We match the young people to a partner school that we think best suits them, according to their academic profile, co-curricular interests and pastoral needs. Prior to attending school, all of our young people undertake our Preparation for Boarding Programme. Many of our young people have got care experience, so we talk to them about how they might describe that, for example. As part of the preparation process, we often talk about issues of diversity and inclusion – to help SpringBoarders consider how they might react when faced with discrimination, particularly around ethnicity and socio-economic circumstances.

We connect our new students to a buddy, who is ideally a SpringBoarder from the school that they are about to attend and a couple of years ahead and organise Zoom conversations between them about what to expect. And then, when they arrive, that buddy remains a presence for them. We encourage taster visits, so ordinarily the young people will attend their intended school overnight at least once in the summer term prior to a September start. And we do sessions with parents,

Photo credits: Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation

too, to prepare them for what to expect. Then, when they’re attending the schools, they remain connected to the community organisation who worked with us to place them. When they return home in the holidays, these community organisations will touch base with them.

When they’re at school, colleagues in our partnership organisations call them and visit them.

It’s not always easy for the young people to make these transitions. But we are immensely proud of our retention rate of 96%. Which is to say that very few SpringBoarders fail to continue through to the end of their intended school journey.

o doe a ool find e und ng o ena le e o u or a r ng oarder o a end e r ool About 40% of our schools will fund the entirety of the bursary, made up of 100% school fees plus 10% for extras. These schools may fundraise for their bursaries from within their own development operations or they set aside funding for a place from within their operating surplus o it s a financial commitment on the part of the school. For the remaining 60% of our schools, we provide a small grant for the school to use to match our funding with that from other donors and build up a funding package that enables the school to unlock a bursary place. But the funding model is one very small part of what we do. Our primary role is to help schools to identify, prepare and support bursary holders from within their existing bursary schemes.

Winter 2022 |

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| 21

MARKETING & ADMISSIONS

... a real belief in widening access

When you become an accredited RNCSF school, how does that status impact the rest of the school community?

Participating schools really see that SpringBoarders can play a vital part in building an interesting, vibrant pupil community that represents the diversity of contemporary society. These young people bring a real hunger and appetite for learning, and a real enthusiasm for the opportunities on offer, and this can help their peers to appreciate the fortunate position that they themselves are in. Every year, we have SpringBoarders who become Head Boy, Head Girl, Head of House and often that’s within just a year of being in the school. That truly tells us how quickly they adapt and settle, and also shows how they really are young leaders. They have faced very different circumstances and as a result they are resilient, confident, extraordinary young people

What reactions do you see from existing parents as schools introduce SpringBoarders into the student body?

Parents, in general, want their child to be educated in a ay that builds di ersity of thought, that exposes them to a range of opinions and that helps them to understand the vibrancy of modern Britain. Therefore, many see a SpringBoard kite mark at their school as a really important sign that the school is deeply committed to bringing these objectives to life.

a are e enefi o ar a ng schools of being involved in bursary provision as part of a national organ a on o do ey find ou more about what you do?

We are really proud of the number of partnerships and relationships which we have developed over the years to provide schools with the assurance that, by offering 22 | schoolmanagementplus.com | Winter 2022

a bursary place to a SpringBoarder, they are targeting opportunities on those who most deserve them. This is hard for individual schools to do alone, and we talk often to schools about the benefits of being part of the collective effort and the economies of scale that can be gained in working through us at a national scale. By virtue of having 120–130 young people on bursaries each year, we are also ensuring that individual bursary award holders are connected to a broader community of others sharing similar experiences, hich is incredibly important to their wellbeing and is hard for one school to recreate independently. We also provide the bespoke alumni offering to help ensure that schools can feel confident that their bursary award holders can continue to access the support they need to aim high and thrive in their lives beyond school. chools can find out more about orking ith us from our website: royalspringboard.org.uk/about-us

Do you have any thoughts about how schools may be able to continue to support full bursaries when the political tone towards the independent schools sector may mean an increase in fees for all families?

n the future, it may become increasingly difficult for some independent schools to survive and thrive in what could be a challenging economic environment. Schools will need to make hard choices about the opportunity costs of setting aside a place for a SpringBoarder as opposed to a fee-paying family. I feel optimistic that schools are deeply committed to building diverse and interesting pupil communities and playing their part in widening access. It may get harder, but it will still be equally important to do so. The political environment requires schools to demonstrate that they are playing their part in ensuring that they are accessible to the most marginalised young people, to those facing the most complex and challenging circumstances. So, our argument is that if you have bursary funds to set aside, then set those aside for SpringBoarders, because politically you can then be clear that the sector is playing its part in bridging the educational divide. ●

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

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If the past year and a half has taught us anything it’s that we are not doing enough to support the educators of today to empower the adults of tomorrow.

Global changes have only increased our awareness of an already long list of issues facing schools today and it’s our responsibility to provide the education that enables a multicultural, healthy and connected world.

Young people around the world have been locked out of classrooms, sequestered in their homes and robbed of the everyday joy of playing with friends — all consequences of the pandemic. A wellrounded person is someone who cares about themselves and is aware of their wider community and how to integrate with others.

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UNICEF’s 2021 report The State of the World’s Children says: “Around the orld, mental disorders are a significant and often ignored cause of suffering that interfere with children’s and young people’s health and education and their ability to reach their full potential. “ Within our PSHE framework, the themes and units encourage young people to engage in topics about self-identity, families and friends, relationships, societal change and learn about the importance of dealing with mental health and wellbeing.

In turn, this helps increase interest in what is happening around the world. Overall, it inspires young people to act and behave more responsibly when around others.

While it is important to dedicate time to learners to understand these themes in more detail, we also need to recognise that the schools’ actions will also affect how the school and its young people interact and contribute to the wider community. Integrating the curriculum across the school allows for small steps to be taken in boosting mindfulness and wellbeingwhich then have the potential to impact more far-reaching actions.

Personal, Social, Health, and Economic education (PSHE) is now a mandatory subject for schools who follow the UK curriculum. By following the curriculum provided by Jigsaw you are not only inspiring children to become more globalised citizens but ensuring schools follow statutory requirements from the DfE and Ofsted.

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relationships education, sex education, and health education, are of critical importance in every school, and to every pupil,” says schools inspector Roary Pownall, Ofsted’s subject lead for PSHE Education, RSHE and Citizenship.

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Health and wellbeing have become an increasingly important part of education over the past few years and have now been heightened even more. At Jigsaw we hope that schools around the world contribute to developing the lives of young people through a curriculum that enables learners to in uence change Creating a mindfulness approach across the whole school community can have a major impact on the world. If we support our learners, families and parents around the issues of SEL, mental health and wellbeing we will be creating a new generation of young people who are going to move on to achieve truly great success. From here, who knows what lies in the future. ●

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Winter 2022 | schoolmanagementplus.com | 11 Winter 2022 | schoolmanagementplus.com | 23

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PARTNERS

CHALLENGES AND COMPLEXITIES It’s been a busy start to the 2021–22 academic year. Robin Fletcher looks back at the Autumn Term, and what we might expect in the next few months.

L

ike every part of society, I’m sure the whole boarding community hoped COVID-19 would be well behind us by now. It’s not, but it is being managed, and our schools have coped extremely well.

Schools have experienced varying case numbers, but none have been forced to close. There’s no such thing as ‘easy’ during a pandemic, but relatively speaking, it is easier to manage cases in boarding schools, given their controlled, self-contained environments. Rapid learning throughout the pandemic means it is now very much part of the business model of running a school and will be for some time yet.

International travel

Anything which requires international travel, however, continues to present challenges. The main complication around COVID for our schools will come at the end and beginning of term. A school might have an international student due to y back home and there might be local rules there around re-entering.

It’s possible a student who has

recently had COVID may not have been able to get their vaccination, or they may be in the wrong age group to get vaccinated, so there are still many complexities around travel for schools to negotiate.

BSA has been working with the Department for ducation, ome ffice and other go ernment departments, as well as the devolved administrations and foreign governments, to support boarding pupils who’ve been affected.

Recruitment

As well as managing the health and wellbeing of existing students, schools also continue to face challenges around boarder recruitment. We saw a dip in boarding numbers in the May 2021 ISC Census, primarily because students were prevented from travelling by the pandemic. Numbers appear to have bounced back in the Autumn, but recruitment challenges of course remain. Enquiries have been strong though, and parents are keen for their children to return, so we expect to see healthier numbers when the next ISC Census is published early in 2022.

Staff wellbeing

The other key factor is the health and wellbeing of staff, many of whom have been working in extraordinary circumstances for almost two years now. If boarding staff need to work over a holiday because a school has had to stay open, or they need to look after students who’ve been unable to return home, it will place further pressure on them, and not everyone will manage that situation in the same way.

There’s clearly a need for everyone to take a wellearned break, and schools are doing everything they can to support their staff with this. We’ve also boosted the support available to schools by launching the Health in Education Association (HIEDA), a dedicated organisation providing training and support to members on health and wellbeing matters. ●

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

Winter 2022 | schoolmanagementplus.com | 25

MARKETING & ADMISSIONS

BUILDING BRIDGES REVIEWING THE STAFFING OF MARKETING AND ADMISSIONS

Kathy Campbell describes her innovative approach to revie ing the sta ng structures of marketing and admissions teams in independent schools of all sizes.

A

s we begin to emerge from the pandemic, staffing re ie s ha e been one of the most popular re uests ha e recei ed he brief is usually quite generic, but in almost all cases one of the follo ing phrases ill be used he ead of dmissions is telling me that they don t ha e enough people to do the ob but en uiries ha e gone do n here are lots of staff in the department, can t understand hy e need more arely, do hear, he team are doing a tremendous job and we want to be absolutely sure that the job descriptions of the staff are fit for purpose and fair in terms of orkload and remuneration

Probing questions

he first fe hours of a re ie in ol e a Q&A, with me asking a lot of probing questions; coffee and biscuits certainly help! he ans ers to these uestions pro ide me with an in-depth understanding of the specific challenges faced by a school and the allocation of tasks and responsibilities ithin a department he ans ers ary from school to school ome teams are facing a relentless and o er helming number of enquiries, whilst some are stri ing against all odds to generate enough en uiries for their school to stay a oat n total, think ha e explored the staffing structures of at least 45 independent schools of all shapes and sizes so, as you can imagine, the admissions and marketing departments ha e met ha e faced ery different challenges i en that the recruitment targets of one of the schools can equal the total number of pupils in another, you can perhaps begin to see why there is no one si e fits all template for the structure of a department

MARKETING & ADMISSIONS Following the initial Q&A with the schools isit, need, firstly, to determine hich marketing and admissions bridge am dealing ith and, secondly, to ensure that the prospecti e families crossing the bridge do not fall into the abyss et me explain

If you are good at building bridges, you will never fall into the abyss! Mehmet Murat ildan The bridges

Tower Bridge, London he first example is o er ridge eryone thinks they kno here it is but fe ha e actually crossed o er it ome ha e made the effort to isit, only to find that the road has been raised to allo someone else a boat to pass by and it is therefore impossible to cross his bridge has stood in the same place for many, many years and ery little about its form and function has changed since it as first built he o ners of the bridge ha e ne er thought to ask themsel es or their customers if there is anything they could be doing better hey had no idea ho many people cross their bridge or if those ho did en oyed the experience hey make enough money to enable them to keep doing the same things year after year so there s surely no need to uestions hat they do Kokoda Trail Bridge, Papua New Guinea nd then there is the cane bridge on the okoda rail e ha e no idea hat might be in the ri er beneath but e certainly don t ant to fall he bridge is held together ith ine lea es, but our guide cheerfully sprints across to greet us and encourage us to cross e confidently reassures us that e ill be fine and his friends cheer us as e tentati ely take the first steps across the bridge e reach the other side relie ed and in one piece it

as a memorable experience the people ere onderful and e ill tell our friends about it, but e are not sure e ould ant to do it again Lucky Knot, Changsha, China This bridge comprises se eral intert ined paths all leading to the same destination, all part of the same bridge hich path is the one for our family hould e split up and take a path each or should e tra el together o do e decide and ill each experience be different ill one path be better than another Storseisundet, Norway rom our starting point, this bridge disappears in mid-air it seems to end before it reaches the destination e ha e made a fe en uiries about the destination but e can t find anything out, e only seem to get information about the first part of the bridge here is a oid of information making us ner ous about crossing this bridge Millau Viaduct, Southern France This penultimate bridge has on design a ards t is magnificent, people tra el miles ust to see the bridge but they don t necessarily ant to cross it erything about it looks expensi e and the toll fee re ects the fact that the construction bill as indeed enormous s it o er-engineered for its function o people opt for an alternati e bridge because they percei e the toll fee to be too high his is a road bridge, so you can only cross it if you ha e a car ut ith rising petrol prices, more people are using bicycles PaperBridge, Grisedale Valley, Cumbria his final small red bridge is arguably hat e should all aspire to build t is site-specific built for that exact spot by artist te e essan to become an integral part of the landscape t is self-supporting and straddles the stream beautifully he start and end points are clear and the construction is ingenious t is built from paper manufactured in the area and plentiful rain makes the fibres in the paper s ell, hich in turn makes the bridge stronger f you think that your admissions and marketing department resembles any of these bridges, then may suggest you spend some time re ie ing hat you do, ho you do it and ho does hat

Reviewing Marketing and Admissions • Audit your department his is the first step to ensuring that the structure is aligned to deliver the strategic aims of the department f the strategic aims themselves are not clearly defined, this e ercise ill provide the perfect opportunity to address this too • Reduce complexity hilst e are o liged to consider part time or ing re uests and to accommodate o shares, e mindful of the impact on the customer the prospective family ome tas s can e shared ut others simply can t dentify the core activity of the department and ma e sure that those responsi le have the re uisite s ills • Validate every job description his ill highlight areas of duplication ithin the department f you can ring clarity to people s roles, responsi ilities and hat they ill e held accounta le for, they are far more li ely to achieve the performance levels you set ontinuity in a role is also important, so avoid the temptation to change things at the first sign of trou le • Create feasible roles uring the pandemic, many prospective families, especially those ho live overseas, needed a far greater level of care oes your admissions and mar eting team have the resources availa le to support any increase in responsi ility and activity

inter

| schoolmanagementplus.com |

MARKETING & ADMISSIONS

Individual skills

Reviewing the structure of your admissions and marketing department is a ital process t ill maximise efficiency, reduce duplication of effort, impro e the customer journey and lead to better staff morale in the department. But be cautious. Throughout the process, be mindful of the importance of maintaining all the touch points crucial to good customer service. nce you ha e defined your ideal structure based upon the activity required to meet your strategic aims, be mindful of the individual skills of your team members. The job should, first and foremost, be defined by the business activity – a solid business structure shouldn’t be built around personality. o e er, if you ha e a alued, respected and experienced team member who meets the criteria for a role in all areas except one, see if that one particular task could sensibly be attached to another role.

throughout your admissions process.

In the same way that you review your academic provision to ensure that it delivers the very best educational experience to your pupils, ask yourself if there is something more that can be done to make the admissions experience the best it can be for your prospective families.

If you are responsible for carrying out a review of the structure of your admissions and marketing department, take great care to ensure that the review is delivered in a timely and sensitive manner and implement any changes with clarity. nd finally, let s go back to job descriptions. When I read the job descriptions of admissions team members, phrases like ust ha e a good eye for detail , ust ha e strong skills , ust be able to ork under pressure’ are always plentiful. But often the skills that I identify in a team when I talk to them – and which make the members so truly impressive – do not appear on any of their job descriptions. atience, attenti eness, strong emotional intelligence, creati ity, resourcefulness,

Above all, exceptional customer service is key

Deliver excellence

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28 | schoolmanagementplus.com | Winter 2022

persuasion skills, the ability to use positive language to describe a potentially negati e situation, acting skills, the ability to handle surprises, tenacity, empathy rarely read about these qualities. I think you get the message! ore often than not, the admissions and marketing functions of the schools I visit display all the requisite skills to deliver excellence in student recruitment. ometimes the bridges encounter need a bit of straightforward strengthening in just a few areas where they have been tarnished by constant wear and tear over the years. But once this work is completed, these bridges ill not only be fit for purpose but, am certain, ill almost always exceed the expectations of all who cross them! ●

KATHY CAMPBELL founded Pair Education in 2016, having worked in the publishing and design industry before moving into school marketing and admissions. paireducation.co.uk

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Sport at Rendcomb College

What is on offer?

Admissions

Sport

“

We’re using Kampus24 to be ahead of the game. It’s such a powerful tool.

Boarding Explore More

Chris Elliot-Jones, Head of Marketing and Communication, Rendcomb College

See how personalised communications can transform your admissions funnel

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30 | schoolmanagementplus.com | Winter 2022

Welcome to Rendcomb College

MARKETING & ADMISSIONS

AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE THE FUTURE OF PERSONALISED STUDENT RECRUITMENT

Hannah Ball loo s at the bene ts o s hools being able to offer prospe tive international parents ustomise in ormation hi h an be tailore to their nee s at the li o a button

T

he UK boarding environment has quickly adapted to the challenges posed by COVID-19. Recruitment of international boarders, in particular, is now taking a far more digital approach to reach a broader audience of parents.

But how can schools differentiate and drive maximum parent engagement? The answer is by providing a personalised, digital customer experience.

Digital marketing is transforming the admissions process for international boarders. Many schools are using a digital marketing mix to grow their reach in international markets.

But it is when these tools are used to personalise the customer journey that schools are seeing real success.

Schools are increasingly realising that personalisation should be intrinsic to their marketing activities to make a real impression on the customer. Parents are making a financial and emotional in estment in choosing a school for their child. Only by tapping into this through a personalised admissions process can schools differentiate and drive more admissions.

he benefits of digital marketing long pro en in many consumer arenas are no being rolled out across the education sector. International boarding recruitment needs personalised, digital techniques; online advertising, email and social media marketing are all cost-effective, easy to implement, secure a wide reach and offer a reasonable level of personalisation.

Yet it is possible to go further still by using a marketing and admissions tool hich deli ers the exibility and capability to tailor information about a school to each and every family’s needs. The aim is to establish an emotional connection with a prospective family in order to offer a more complete experience of school life. And it works. Ian Hunt, CEO of Kazakhstan-based schools Haileybury Almaty and Haileybury Astana, is using a personalised communications platform to drive more student applications. Ian says; “Each family will embark upon a journey with us and at each stage we acknowledge their individual needs. This is a very powerful way to build up a rapport with a family who are making one of the biggest financial decisions that they ill e er make t certainly helps enormously to secure admissions to the school.”

Digital: moving away from the impersonal

In past years, recruitment in international boarding has lacked personalisation. Most schools have offered a standard brochure or website sharing generic information but with nothing tailored to an individual family’s interests. Parallel, costly and environmentally unfriendly recruitment techniques such as overseas school shows have involved expensive air travel, hotel rooms and print materials. While this in-person approach allowed schools to build a one-on-one connection with the family, often momentum was lost when parents were sent home with a broad-based prospectus which didn’t re ect their interaction ith the school Winter 2022 | schoolmanagementplus.com | 31

MARKETING & ADMISSIONS

The British boarding lifestyle: your school’s own offering

Boarding school is a major life experience. Such a change, especially for an international student leaving their roots thousands of miles away, provokes many questions and concerns. Worries about the language, the culture and friendships need to be addressed in order to progress the customer enquiry.

Personalised, digital marketing is a means of communicating and reassuring the entire family on their specific concerns and queries. Everything that boarding life includes can be communicated better through digital. Daily routine, from wake-up bells to breakfast to afternoon games to evening supper, can all be authentically captured in video format.

Day-to-day life in the dorms, including the quirks of sharing rooms and bathrooms, can be recorded in your school’s own unique context. Families can be offered an almost sensory-like experience, as though they can touch and feel the school from their own living rooms. Such strong visual content means that prospective boarders can almost envisage themselves there. Do your current marketing tools provide such an immersi e experience

an emotional connection A bespoke, student-centred approach stands out

An independent school’s primary income stream is tuition fees and, with so many UK-based boarding schools recruiting internationally, the level of competition is high.

On average, a family will consider six or seven schools, each one with its own website and prospectus detailing information on the curriculum, extracurricular activities, pastoral care and more. With so many competing choices, how can a parent truly understand which school will be the best fit International parents are looking for a school which understands their child. Ultimately, they need a school that can support them through the momentous decision of where to send their child to school in the UK. Most schools currently provide the same information to each enquiry they receive.

This can come across as impersonal and, thereby, not meet parents’ expectations. Only through digital marketing tools is there the exibility to offer a tailored, student-centred admissions experience.

Art, drama, sport … most pupils have their preferred subjects and passions. Digital marketing offers the capacity to customise promotional content to re ect the interests and priorities of each prospective student. Most schools have fantastic video and audio content as well as 360-degree tours – it is only through deploying this digital content that a family can truly visualise their child’s new life in its entirety.

32 | schoolmanagementplus.com | Winter 2022

Monitoring and tracking parental engagement

To progress more enquiries faster, marketing and admissions staff need to know how families are engaging with their content. The digital platforms they use need to provide easyto-read data at each point of the admissions process, allowing them to react at every stage of the funnel, ensuring fewer drop-offs. It is these near-misses that can make the difference.

With most digital tools, customer data can be tracked and displayed in one place, offering a snapshot of the admissions story. Schools should be monitoring which content parents are engaging with the most, how long they have spent viewing certain content – videos, for instance – and the all-important click-through-rate. These insights into the performance of your campaign can help inform future marketing activity.

And, over time, this data can lead to a competitive advantage. It can provide a clearer picture of a school’s potential customer base for more effective segmentation around customer demographics such as age, location, interests, and so on. Getting to know your customers better can help schools plan more effective marketing strategies and messaging to further reach and engage more prospects.

There is no doubt that being able to leverage the best of digital marketing techniques to differentiate your school and offer a personalised customer experience is a key way to drive student recruitment. ●

HANNAH BELL is the Marketing Manager for Kampus24 (www.kampus24.com); she previously worked for Oxford University Press.

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249

2022 is coming – but areisyou ready for a new year?

2022 coming Paul’s Boys School and similarly at King’s College School. Born

2020 start of a new decade in a

experience where they can remain most stable, and happy”.

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or have you actioned them? What

To get you started, you are not going to answer 20 questions, but lessons have you learned? way no one could have imagined.

I want you to take 20 minutes On 1 January 2022, do you want 2021 has not been much fun. reflection on the year that was, 2020 start of a new decadeto in start a or have actioned them? What To get you started, you are not your newyou year with your using some of my favourite 2022 it is time tono focus on to answer lessons have you learned? way one of could havedecade imagined.

2020 start ayou. new Are they amind? distant memory or agoing pen and paper.20 questions, but old experiences in Every it isminutes time to in a way no one could have have you actioned them? In questions I wantbelow. you toNow, take 20 How has 2021 been Onit 1isJanuary you wantgrabOn December, important todo look 2021 hasfor notyou? beenAre much fun. imagined.

2022, do you2022, want to continue 31st December, I opened areflection pen andonget thestarted… year that was, your new year your a letter that I have written to of start your newwith with old your the resolutions you set yourself a at a review your year toyear reflect using some of my 2022 ithas is time to focus on you.

2021 not been much fun. experiences in mind? to had myself of whatfavourite I wanted to describe your 2021 in old experiences mind? Every If youquestions on what did and did notinhappen. long time ago a distant memory it isintime to to be able below. to say.Now, Glass three words, what would they be?

How has 2021 been for you? Are December, it is important to look

–2022 butisare you ready for a new year? here – but are you ready ?

2022 it is time to focus on you. the resolutions you set yourself a One month has nearly gone long time ago a distant memory – how are your resolutions?

It is time for you to become the hand, the table grab achocolates pen and geton started… storyteller future.

Put opening this letter was very at a review of of your your year to reflect If someone wrote a book about If you hadProfessionally, to describe your 2021 in that school development plan different. on what did and did not happen.your life in 2021, what kind of or marking down and reach for personally emotionally three words,and what would they be? covid hasithad genre would be?anAimpact comedy, If someone wrote a book about on us all in different ways. love Some story, drama, filmwhat or of the things Inoir had notof your life in 2021, kind achieved due to covid and something else? genre would it be? A comedy, travel restrictions. How about love story, drama, noir or But, with thefilm gift ofyour Whatyou? advice would you give something else? toyou myself, I looked earlybeing 2022kind self if could?

How at how I could change or adapt What advice would you give can you last month of your one use itemthe to move forwards. early 2022 self youofcould?

How theifgift 2021Sometimes to get a great start inbeing 2022? kind to ourselves allows can you use the last monthusofto onget what westart really Whatreflect was to the funniest moment 2021 a great in need 2022? to achieve and believe. of your year, one that still makes What want moment your What would was theyou funniest it hard to burst laughing future to one sayout on of not yourself year, that31st still makes 2022? it? whenDecember ityou hardthink not toabout burst out laughing

by Tracy Shand at Simply Boarding Written by Tracy Article Shand written at Simply Boarding when you think about it?

Written by Tracy Shand at Simply Boarding

For me, 2021 was guided What one thing‘ Be would by three words moreyou do lighthouse’ take these differently and and Iwhy? words into 2022 as a guide.

What 3 one thing would you do What words would What do you want toyou see,use todifferently inform the direction and why? your discover, future selfexplore? will be taking in 2022?

What do you want to see, What do you want your everyday discover, explore?

Your 2022 story is up to you life to be like? and it starts What do youtoday want with your the everyday first youquestions, write. Happy Answer those add in life words to be like?

2022- it is time for you to start some of chapter your own – and look the next those strong one Answer questions, add in atsome three steps to move forward. action at a time.

Happy of your own – andnew look year ! 2022 the year of you.

Make at three steps to move forward.

Make 2022 the year of you.

Independent Schools Magazine 31

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PARTNERS

SCHOOL COMMS: IS THE TAIL WAGGING THE DOG? Rachel Kerr reminds us that we should sometimes pause and question ourselves about what we are trying to communicate and why.

L

ast year I acquired a ‘lockdown’ puppy. Training Sadie has been more exacting than anticipated. Every night when – for the third time – she whines to be out, fails to do any business whatsoever, then cutely reappears to collect her treat, my (dog-seasoned) dad’s words ring loud in my head f you don t train the dog, the dog will train you.’

Never a truer word was said, and it applies beyond the canine world. If only had a fi er for each of the thousands of lea ets e printed over the years without knowing why!

Back then, everyone assumed you ‘must’ ha e lea ets, in much the same ay everyone now assumes you ‘must’ be active on social media. esigning lea ets and posting t eets both demand time – before you know it, the medium has ‘trained’ you to focus on it instead of your real goal ea ets and Twitter are great tools, but only when we

remember who’s in charge; unfortunately, it’s all too easy to forget that. al ays go back to the s definition “Public Relations is... the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics.”

That concept of ‘mutual understanding’ is vital. If our communications don’t have integrity, we can never achieve that mutual understanding, and goodwill will remain precarious.

That’s why the role of a communications professional is to be both inward and outward facing, and to challenge colleagues whenever there are discrepancies – however rare – between what we are expected to say about our organisation and what it actually does. To take one example, it’s no good telling the world an organisation is ‘inclusive’ if the reality is somewhat different. We can ‘aspire to be inclusive’, but if we really want to claim that adjective, we have a responsibility to keep nudging and challenging until it re ects the truth.

Fortunately, we work in a sector where healthy debate

...nudging and challenging

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Things can go awry if we get so carried away ‘communicating’ that we forget why or fail to challenge. While mistakes can be great learning experiences (I have the t-shirt!) it can be less painful to go back to basics occasionally and ask oursel es hat are we trying to do and why? Are we using the media or is it using us? Are we acting with integrity? ●

RACHEL KERR joined AMCIS as Communications Manager in October 2021. She previously led communications for the GSA. Winter 2022 | schoolmanagementplus.com | 35

DEVELOPMENT

Photo credits: The Portsmouth Grammar School

GIVING DAYS

SUPERCHARGING SCHOOLS’ FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGNS Melanie Bushell explains how The Portsmouth Grammar School used a postlockdown Giving Day to transform its bursary fundraising activities.

A

bout three years ago, hardly anyone in the UK schools’ development sector had even heard the term ‘Giving Day’, but today Giving Days are the number one hot topic, on the agenda for almost every development conference or discussion amongst peers.

So, what is a Giving Day? How did we get here? What do they mean for schools’ development?

36 | schoolmanagementplus.com | Winter 2022

And are they here to stay?

Big, noisy, multi-channel fundraising appeals like Children in Need and Comic Relief are a form of Giving Day, but in our schools context, a Giving Day is a 24-to 36-hour digitally driven fundraising and engagement campaign which seeks to rally the whole school community behind a particular cause.

DEVELOPMENT

... absolute gamechanger

Making a lot of noise

i ing ays first emerged in the education sector in the USA (where else?!) just over a decade ago.

Schools and universities found they were struggling to make their voices heard on the established Giving Tuesday. Consequently, they decided to take the concept of making a lot of noise on one particular day to focus everyone’s attention on their cause and apply it to a different day in their calendar, often some kind of anniversary or founder’s day.

Five years ago, in 2016, London Business School held their first i ing ay and since then the idea has trickled down into the UK schools’ development sector.

Here at The Portsmouth Grammar School (PGS), we first started to think about a i ing ay around the middle of 2019.

The William Smith Fund

Like many schools, we have been fundraising for means-tested fee support (or bursaries) for a number

of years. Ever since the school’s foundation in 1732, some proportion of pupils have attended PGS on free or subsidised places. From 1944 until 1976, we were a direct grant grammar school and from 1981 until 1997 we accepted pupils through the Assisted Places scheme.

In 2015, we launched The William Smith Fund, named in honour of our founder, with the primary aim of increasing the proportion of pupils on bursaries. We did so by undertaking our first professionally led telephone appeal that summer.

Telethons have remained our primary mass fundraising activity ever since. We had run three (in 2015, 2017 and 2019) and it felt we were getting into a bit of a rut.

It was also clear that the telethon approach ould miss a significant proportion of our potential donors for a variety of reasons: they fall outside of range for our telephone appeals, due to age or other factors such as we don’t have their current phone number; they have told us that they don’t like being approached by phone; or (like me!) they only ever answer calls from numbers already saved in their phone.

Greater scope for creativity

Recognising that different prospects respond to different types of approach, and that a digitally driven appeal would give greater scope for creativity and should therefore help us reach new and different donors, our minds began to turn to a possible Giving Day. Anyone who has read or researched anything about Giving Days will soon learn that matching gifts and fundraising challenges are frequently cited as key factors in the success of a Giving Day appeal. Crucially, they lend credibility, which is especially important with a new fundraising approach. They can help create a sense of urgency, as donors hurry to make their gift before the matching offer runs out. And, of course, they generate momentum as your appeal progresses at double speed. or our first i ing ay, finding a donor illing to match our gifts soon became our number one priority.

A lot was at stake.

A step change

As part of a review of our strategic intentions, following the arrival of a new Head in 2018, the Governors had determined that our long-term aim should be to Winter 2022 | schoolmanagementplus.com | 37

DEVELOPMENT offer means-tested support to one in four Senior School pupils. Over the previous four years, since the launch of The William Smith Fund, we had progressed from having one in nine Senior School pupils on some level of free assistance, to one in seven, but moving to one in four was going to require a step change in our fundraising activity.

We felt that a highly visible appeal such as a Giving Day could be the boost that we needed to super-charge our bursary appeal.

Key donor

e identified one key donor e felt might be susceptible to a matching gift approach. His own place at PGS had been funded by the direct grant system in the 1960s, igniting in him a passion for bursaries, and he was already generously supporting four pupils through the school.

He was also interested in the mechanics of our fundraising e had recently asked hether there ere any professional services that he might fund to help us find more alumni, reasoning that the more alumni e were in touch with, the more money we would raise.

We had already invested in all such services that we were aware of, but his interest in helping us reach more people seemed to link perfectly ith the key ob ecti es of a Giving Day and we started to put together a proposal for him. his as in early nd e all kno hat happened next struck

COVID

uddenly e ere all teaching, learning and orking at home, unable to meet face to face. Everyone aged over 70 (our largest donor group) was being advised to ‘shield’, to stay inside and even avoid doing their own

... democratisation of digital communications food shopping if at all possible. People were disinfecting their mail and anything else that was delivered to their home.

These dramatic developments rendered our traditional methods of fundraising, such as face-to-face meetings or direct mail appeals, complicated or even impossible to pursue.

At the same time, the use of social media went through the roof, with the volume of WhatsApp messages increasing by over 50% in some parts of the world. People across the globe, from Hollywood A listers to tech-shy grandparents, were using their phone or tablet to broadcast their face direct from their home to yours often from un attering angles The democratisation of digital communications had taken a huge leap for ard and the need to dri e more fundraising activity into the digital space could not have been clearer. ur ma or donor said an enthusiastic yes to our proposal and the countdown to our Giving Day was underway.

Culture of philanthropy

ne of our ob ecti es as to de elop a greater culture of philanthropy in the current school community and bring the topic of bursaries into our daily conversations.

For this to happen, the Giving Day would need to be a whole school celebration with every pupil given the opportunity to take part member of the teaching staff was seconded onto our small development team for a day a eek to create and o ersee an acti ity plan for pupils and staff.

Meanwhile, we chose the campaign strapline Be the ifference, re ecting both hat e aim to do for talented local youngsters from modest backgrounds through fee assistance and also what we consider to be the school’s broader role for the communities in our city. e set to ork gathering stories and testimonials from bursary recipients past and present, donors, parents and staff who are passionate about being part of a di erse and inclusi e school community hinking of all our various audiences – young and old, pupils and parents, staff, alumni, and others taking care to ensure there would be something for everyone.

Giving Day dawns

entually, in arch , ust t o days after schools in ngland reopened from the inter lockdo n, our i ing

DEVELOPMENT

Day dawned. I won’t even try to describe what it was like to li e through the next hours, but suffice to say, our amazing pupils, parents, staff and alumni exceeded all our hopes and expectations with their enthusiasm and generosity.

A staggering 653 individuals made donations, against our target of 250 donors. 412 of these people (63%) ere donating to us for the first time e had fi e times more donations from colleagues than we had ever had before, and twice as many gifts from current parents.

Some former parents whose children left many years ago even made gifts and 5% of donations were from people previously unknown to us.

Impact

t is no eight months since our first i ing ay, so what have been the other impacts?

There is no doubt that fundraising and the important subject of means-tested support are now much more widely understood and discussed in the school.

Previously, all our fundraising had taken place behind closed doors, literally – either in one-to-one meetings with major donors or, in the case of the biennial telethons, in an empty school during the summer holidays y contrast, the i ing ay as highly visible and took place in the heart of our busy school in the middle of the first eek back after our threemonth lockdown. he ongoing impact of the i ing ay communications’ campaign continues to be felt in our alumni and parent communities who are continuing to donate at a higher rate than previously. In our telephone

campaign during the summer of , the i ing ate as , up from in , and it as e en higher for i ing ay donors, 60% of whom made a further gift when called.

Our major donors have also responded to the obvious increase in support across all our constituencies: two very large gifts which were previously intended as legacies were made to the school this summer.

And, of course, the major donor who was prepared to take a chance and support our first i ing ay is absolutely thrilled at the impact that his gift has made. o, do think i ing ays are here to stay es, ur first and it on t be our last as an absolute gamechanger for us. ●

MELANIE BUSHELL is the Development Director at The Portsmouth Grammar School.

Winter 2022 | schoolmanagementplus.com | 39

40 | schoolmanagementplus.com | Winter 2022

PARTNERS

BURSARIES AND PARTNERSHIPS THE PATH TO SOCIAL MOBILITY?

With the pandemic leading to a widening gap in educational attainment between children from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers, Louise Bennett explores how the independent sector can play a role in addressing educational inequality through developing successful partnership and bursary programmes.

B

ursaries enable pupils, regardless of their financial background, to access an independent education.

This enriches the life of the bursary recipient and the entire school community. Partnerships are now an integral part of school life, enhancing learning opportunities for young people and adding value both to schools and their communities.

With more schools delivering transformational bursary programmes and the surge in partnerships and community engagement, IDPE is once more partnering with HMC and AGBIS to deli er the fifth chool ursaries and Partnerships Conference on Tuesday 8 March. Ahead of the conference, we explore some of the key takeaways and best practice shared at the last conference in 2020.

Define your end goal

Having a simple, authentic story for your school that you can clearly define and share with your community is essential.

You need to explain why you are developing a bursary or partnerships programme and what is your vision.

A great example is Latymer Upper School’s long-running and generous bursary programme which clearly re ects its alues and commitment to social mobility.

Get your whole school community on board

Share your vision with your whole school community. It’s just as important that your staff and pupils understand the value of bursaries and partnerships as it is your alumni and parents. Giving Days are a fantastic way to share your vision and encourage engagement across your entire school.

It takes time

Developing a bursary or partnerships programme won’t happen overnight, it requires a long-term investment, staff, resources and funding, to bring about real change. We know from our regular benchmarking of schools’ development that sustained investment over time produces fundraising success; the longer your development programme has been established, the better the ROI. So start small and be realistic. What is achievable given the size and resource of your school?

Celebrate impact

s first e er i ing eek as held in November 2021 and provided the opportunity to celebrate the impact of philanthropy in schools. Bursaries and partnerships transform lives. Share the impact of your bursaries and partnership programmes with your school community, particularly with your donors who are supporting you to achieve this change. ●

School Vision Latymer Upper School ‘Our ethos of social inclusivity is as strong today as it was in 1624 when Edward Latymer, a prosperous lawyer, left part of his wealth for the clothing and education of “eight poore boyes” from Hammersmith.

Through the Inspiring Minds fundraising campaign, we have been able to increase the number of bursaries, even during the pandemic. At the start of this academic year, one in five of our pupils are here on a significant bursary (average award offers are for more than 80% fee remission).

That’s double what it was 10 years ago and we remain on course to make that one in four pupils by 2024, the 400th anniversary of the Latymer Foundation. When we reach that target that will make us one of the most socially inclusive independent schools in the country.’

LOUISE BENNETT is CEO of IDPE. Winter 2022 | schoolmanagementplus.com | 41

TALKING POINT

OVER COMMUNICATION? NUDGES TO REDUCE STAFF STRESS Nick Gallop believes that senior management has a responsibility to ensure that stress levels amongst staff are not heightened through expectations of near-permanent engagement.

B

ehavioural science has come to play a powerful role in explaining how individuals and organisations function; how they interact and communicate.

Popularised recently in books such as Nudge and Thinking Fast and Slow, it has shifted into the mainstream, driving further fields of study from social psychology to behavioural economics. This has led to new insights emerging into how people behave and how they make the choices that affect their personal and professional lives and determine their levels of health, wellbeing and happiness.

...culture of constant interruption Job-related stress

In a COVID-impacted era of ever-greater change and uncertainty, it is little wonder that job-related stress in our schools, by all indicators, is at an all-time high. Sources of stress among school staff often stem from excessive workload and accountability, feelings of disempowerment, requirements to manage unrealistic expectations and to handle difficult professional relationships on a daily basis.

One of the biggest single sources of stress in schools relates, in part, to a long-standing problem, recently magnified by the further blurring of boundaries 42 | schoolmanagementplus.com | Winter 2022

between work and home. For many school staff, once-manageable expectations of accessibility and availability have become overwhelming.

Near-permanent engagement

Where once e-mail blazed a lone trail, an exponential growth in online communication platforms has given rise to expectations of near-permanent engagement. Research indicates that the average classroom teacher receives 120 e-mails each week during term time, with middle leaders receiving up to double this.

In addition, almost all teachers are involved in multiple, often over-lapping, professional WhatsApp or other social media groups and are in daily receipt of numerous notifications from school management information systems and alerts from school calendars and digital HR, IT or school maintenance platforms. And, of course, in parallel they are engaged in continuous virtual chats with students whilst being expected to be lively engagers with school social media output.

As the volume and variety of technology-based correspondence and communication grows, so too does the culture of constant interruption, over-

stimulation, anxiety-inducing multi-tasking, superficial engagement, endless connectivity and loss of control. Yet this costly – on so many levels – source of stress among colleagues can be recognised and controlled.

Appropriate communication

Behavioural management techniques advise that after a disruptive period in which communication technology has dramatically affected our lives, recognising, understanding and articulating the issue for what it is, is required. Alongside this should be sustained and consistent advice to all stakeholders about appropriate communication expectations. Carefully modelled behaviour on the part of senior leaders – including frequent ‘nudges’ to encourage staff to change unhelpful digital working habits and clear advice to them not to check professional communication late at night or first thing in the morning – is important to reduce stress and help rebuild boundaries in their personal and professional lives. ●

NICK GALLOP is Headmaster of Stamford School, editor of Politics Review and author of Hodder Education’s UK Politics Annual Update.

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