independent Executive Jan/Feb

Man on a mission Toby Belfield takes a radical approach to school business

The state of pay How to keep staff happy when budgets are tight

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BRANCHING OUTFinding and becoming a feeder school

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Independent Executive, brought to you by the publishers of Education Executive, is a bi-monthly magazine that supports business and financial excellence in the modern UK independent school – whether it be fee-paying, an academy or a free school. Every issue features a host of original editorial content aimed at bursars, headteachers, finance directors and development officers and focused on issues to do with the financial and administrative management of a school.

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Welcomehe Inspired Minds section of this magazine is intended as the reserve of schools with outstanding, extraordinary stories to tell. This issue is no different (p34), as we visit the ground-breaking UWC Atlantic College

in South Wales, which claims Nelson Mandela as a president and a Hearst castle as its home. As I arrived on a gloomy December afternoon, Casualty was filming and our tour guide pointed out that the ladies loo was a set for Doctor Who. Not someone who watches the show very often, I was pleased to say I recognised the arched doorways as the dungeon backdrop to the one about she-vampires. Anyway, I digress. Not only is this month’s Inspired Minds a doozie, but every school I interview in this issue has an impressive story to tell – whether or not they make a good film set.

Toby Belfield, principal of the Ruthin School, for example, used to be a bursar and has inspiring ideas on how to keep independent schools financially robust and cutting-edge – even when, like his, they have been around since 1284 (p16). If you think you’re school is in need of a little modernising, check out our article on rebranding on page 12. This will be particularly relevant for maintained schools becoming academies.

On the subject of academies, we interview Langley Hall, a new free school in Berkshire that is leading the way under the coalition government’s favourite education initiative. The people behind the school had experience running private schools and wanted to apply their knowledge to establishing a state-maintained independent school – and it looks very promising (p20). I only hope the funding will be there to sustain its impressive initiatives, like giving every child a violin.

SECTOR

05 NewsThe latest news and developments in the world of independent schools

08 AdviceFeeding frenzy Tips on finding or becoming a feeder school

MARKETING AND DEVELOPMENT

12 DevelopmentTurning over a new leaf Thinking of rebranding your school? A few things to consider...

16 InterviewRevolutionary road The Ruthin School’s Toby Belfield thinks differently

PROCURE AND PLAN

20 Case studyFree to be uniqueLangley Hall is a free school with a difference

24 Top tipsSurviving the winterFive things you can do to ensure your school makes it through the cold months

MANAGEMENT

26 HR The state of payWith not many pay rises to speak of – how do you keep a workforce happy?

ICT MATTERS

30 SafetyProtect and serveHow safe is your school’s data?

32 Techno GeekStaying positiveThe second in a series on the best software on the market

INSPIRED MINDS

34 Case studyWorld peace visualisedAtlantic College asks: why can’t we all just get along?

39 DiaryMan and the modSt Matthew Academy’s David Cregan on the Modbac

EDITOR

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INDEPENDENT NEWS

INDEPENDENT EXECUTIVE | JAN/FEB 2012 05

The proportion of parents who would send their children to an independent school far outstrips the proportion who would not, according to a recent survey.

Over half (54%) of parents said they would send their child to an independent school, while only 26% said they would not. In the 15 years that the Independent Schools Council (ISC) has been running the survey, the gap between those who would and would not has never been greater. In 1997, for example, the gap was 10 percentage points.

When those parents who said they would send their child to an independent school were asked why, the most popular answer was: “better standards of education”. Other popular answers were: “better start to life/more chances in life/better chance for future careers”; “better

PARENTS VIEW INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS MORE FAVOURABLY

TOP STORY

Parents who would send their children to an independent school if they could now outnumber those who feel loyal to state system

Private schools make cutbacksOne in three teachers and four in 10 non-academic staff in independent schools did not expect to receive a pay raise last year, a study by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers found.

The results come at a time when private schools have been increasing fees by over two per cent or more in the past year, with one in 10 increasing fees by four or more per cent, with the average increase between four and three per cent.

The study surveyed 1,483 teaching staff and 168 non-academic and support staff and found that a further 19% of teachers and 23% of support staff had a pay rise of less than one per cent this year.

Teachers told the ATL that the effects of the trend had started to wear on their morale.

One teacher from Edinburgh stated: “Despite working with more pupils and increased admin, we have had no increase. I have never known such discontent among staff in Scotland.” Other teachers say they do not expect a pay rise for a few years.

Despite these findings, predictions over redundancies remain optimistic, with two in three teachers not expecting redundancies at their school this year. Support staff were less hopeful, with 45% expecting at least one of their colleagues to lose their job.

The study also found that 46% of schools had cut spending throughout 2010/11 and many expected this to continue.

A school leader told the ATL: “Financial constraints meant when a member of the leadership team left they were not replaced…and we are all doing extra work to cover it… Very long hours are now almost impossible hours.”

Dr Mary Bousted, ATL general secretary, said: “The majority of staff in independent schools are feeling the full pain of a pay freeze or a well below inflation increase. But despite this many are being expected to work longer hours and take on more duties.

“While it is understandable that schools need to keep their costs down in the current economic climate, it is not acceptable for any to use it as an excuse to exploit their staff. We will vigorously fight to defend members interests in any schools where we find out this is happening.”

The performance of independent schools during the past few years has shown itself to be mixed, while some schools see pupil figures flourish, as others are forced to look elsewhere to sustain pupil numbers.

A teacher from Lancashire told the ATL: “We are a boarding school and we certainly seem to be recruiting fewer pupils from within the UK and Europe, but more from Nigeria.”

In another survey of private school headteachers, the ATL found that a third of UK independent schools had increased pupil numbers, whereas just over a quarter stated that their school numbers had reduced last September.

Fast facts 76% of people think

independent schools provide pupils with good university and employment prospects

Three-quarters think that independent schools provide opportunities for pupils to fulfil their potential

68% of people think independent schools provide excellence in the teaching of maths, science and languages

Little over half think independent schools offer bursaries and scholarships that help to broaden access and increase social mobility

Just over on one in 10 adults have attended a private school

Eight per cent of parents have a child currently attending an independent school.

discipline”; “smaller classes/smaller pupil-teacher ratio”; and “better results/would get on better”.

The survey also revealed that 57% of adults believe that educational standards are higher in independent schools than state schools, a higher proportion than for all previous years of the survey; only seven per cent think the opposite is true, while 27% think standards in both are similar.

Commenting on the findings, ISC’s head of research, Rudolf Eliott Lockhart said: “These findings show that the public recognises the high quality of independent schools, associating them not only with high academic quality but also with a broader education, including arts, drama, music and sport. As a result, a clear majority of parents would like to send their children to an independent school.”

INDEPENDENT NEWS

06 INDEPENDENT EXECUTIVE | JAN/FEB 2012

NEW DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT AT PORTSMOUTH HIGH SCHOOL

Kate Shaw has been appointed the new director of development and alumnae relations at Portsmouth High School. Shaw, who recently relocated to the south coast with her family, brings a wealth of experience with her, having worked in a similar role at Nottingham Girls’ High School. Prior to that, she successfully completed a £1.4m capital appeal at Treetops Hospice in Derbyshire.

Shaw commented: “I am really looking forward to this new career challenge and working in such an inspiring environment as Portsmouth High School. I am keen to engage with corporate companies in the region and build some mutually beneficial relationships. I am also looking forward to building the alumnae network at the school and would urge alumnae of the school to get in contact with me. There is a busy diary ahead, including a reunion for all years in May 2012.”

HISTORIC BOARDING SCHOOL BRINGS PARENT COMMS INTO 21ST CENTURY

Loretto, Scotland’s oldest boarding school, has taken an initiative to bring its communications into the 21st century following a consultation with parents, who wanted to feel more informed and closely connected to their children’s school life.

The prestigious 184-year-old independent school, steeped in history and tradition, is renowned for its academic achievements, golf academy and distinctive red blazers. However, the school was also one of the early pioneers in education, founded on the belief that education should benefit the student’s all round development including creativity and imagination.

In a bid to reach out to parents, the school developed, with the help of IT firm Concept4, an interactive website, with multiple news feeds and events calendars; a Google Earth sitemap; 360˚ tours of the school; blogs; an e-newsletter; and its own iPlayer and media centre to house videos, audio and photo galleries. One of many features to enhance user experience is the ability to personalise your homepage content on repeat visits.

The school also launched an online personal prospectus, which is tailored to the experience of the individual visitor. Based on their preferences, the journey is customised for the user in terms of text, video and photo gallery content, culminating in a personal prospectus PDF. This provides targeted marketing data for the school and enables them to respond appropriately to enquiries. Analytics on the prospectus allows the school to see what has been viewed and when, so they can fine tune and tailor the content over time to maximise the visitor experience.

The innovations have already been praised by the school and appreciative parents, many of whom live long distances from the school or abroad. Parent Rory Hammerson said: “The new website is well thought out, extremely easy to navigate, and provides me with useful up-to-date info on anything from sports match times to match reports.”

Headmaster Peter Hogan commented: “We like to keep at the forefront of web technology, but the personal touch is so important to prospective parents who are seeking information about schools. We are keeping well ahead of the game and, as far as I know, there are no other educational establishments in the UK using this type of ‘personal prospectus’.”

Eco-friendly school makes a commitment to reduce food waste

The Royal Hospital School, a coeducational independent boarding and day school in Ipswich, was accredited the Carbon Charter at Bronze Level for ‘highly commendable environmental commitment’ following an assessment by the Suffolk Carbon Charter panel. The school hopes to gain a silver award by April 2013 and gold by 2014, and as part of this aim, has addressed the issue of food waste disposal.

The 700-pupil school, set in a 200-acre estate, operates 24-hours a day, seven days a week and has its own self-contained water ecosystem and sewage treatment plant.

In August, the school purchased a food disposal system that uses bacteria to break down up to 180kg of food waste per day. Catering manager Gavin Yuill explained: “We have already been successful in educating the school community to take just what they will eat, therefore reducing food waste overall, but this new system is incredible. The end result is no solid waste at all but grey water that can go straight into the school’s water treatment plant.”

Kate Shaw, director of development and alumnae relations

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If you have a story to share, please get in touch on [email protected]

DIARY9 February MARKETING IN HIGHER EDUCATIONCentral London

LORETTO SCHOOL, Musselburgh

THE ROYAL HOSPITAL SCHOOL, Ipswich

Estates manager Mike Beard commented: “Not only do we put less pressure on our own eco-system but we no longer use contractors to clean the drains and lorries to take waste products to landfill sites.” He has estimated that the overall financial saving will be in the region of £34,000 over five years.

The Royal Hospital School’s servery

INDEPENDENT NEWS


Ben Medlam, a Year 10 pupil at St Benedict’s School, Ealing (pictured second from right), was presented with an architecture award, along with his classmate Pablo Wheldon (not pictured), at a prestigious ceremony at the Cowcross Gallery on 13 December, hosted by Open City. Ben won the Key Stage 4 Model Making Architecture in Secondary Schools Award

IN PICTURES

LONDON ACADEMY RECEIVES PR AWARD

The City Academy, Hackney, a co-educational state-funded independent school, sponsored by KPMG and The City of London Corporation, has been awarded the PR Guild Herald’s Award.

Kate Egglestone, communications manager at the academy, was presented with the award in November by the Windsor Herald, William Hunt, during the installation dinner of the new master, Brian Moore, at Butchers’ Hall.

The school was nominated for the award by the court of the PR Guild after it was impressed by its creative and successful communications campaign, which Egglestone has been running since 2010, and in particular, the school’s newsletter.

The campaign focuses on getting parents more involved in their child’s education through improved communication. These include an active parent-staff association, student planning diaries and regular newsletters. A new e-portal and text messaging system allow parents to monitor their child’s attendance, behaviour and academic results.

The success of the campaign is underlined by the 2011 annual survey, which shows a 12% increase in parents who rated the academy’s communication ‘good’ or ‘very good’ and a seven per cent increase in those who rated its performance in ‘encouraging and listening to parent views’ as ‘good’ or ‘very good’ compared with 2010.

Moore said: “I was very pleased our award was presented to The City Academy, Hackney. They have done an excellent job of communicating with parents and students and are an outstanding example of how relationships can be strengthened via well thought-through communication, making all the interested parties better informed about and more involved in the school.

“The court felt there was really no competition. The award was given specifically for the school’s very high-quality publications: the monthly City Times, for students and parents, and the excellent community newsletter, aimed at local residents and feeder primary schools.”

He added: “As a secondary education institution the Academy is very innovative in having a communications manager. It also has a clear strategy and a well thought-out approach to PR.”

Egglestone said: “Ensuring that parents are able to fully engage with their child’s secondary education can be difficult, so we place high importance on communicating key messages in a creative, honest and open way.

“It was a real honour for our school to accept the award from the PR Guild. It is rewarding to see both parents and students take an active role in Academy life, and for parents to feel they are well informed.”

The PR Guild gives the award each year to recognise and reward good communications on the part of a charity, a not-for-profit organisation, educational establishment or Livery Company, operating primarily within the City of London or closely associated with it.

THE CITY ACADEMY, Hackney

Inspiring students with ARCO

Safety company Arco has teamed up with the Bloodhound SSC (Supersonic Car) Amabassador Programme to help create a national surge in the popularity of science technology, engineering and mathematics by working closely with schools and colleges across its 40-branch network.

Arco ambassadors recently visited Hull College where eight schools were invited to a science and engineering project day. Students made balloon cars and were given a presentation from Richard Noble, 1983-1997 land speed record holder.

For more information, visit www.arco.co.uk

The number of boarding pupils rose by

1.7%

In 2011 the number of female boarders rose by

3%

(Source: Independent Schools Council)

SECTOR > CASE STUDY


Feeding the stream

SECTOR > CASE STUDY


Though many secondary schools in the independent sector will have their well-known feeder schools, it never hurts to explore outside these boundaries to find other like-minded schools, as a successful feeder relationship can be worth its weight in gold. Jonathan Hills speaks to John Crofts, head of Glebe House School, on his journey into feedership

ecoming a feeder school can transform the status of a junior school by boosting its renown within the independent sector and draw in new interest from prospective parents. Benefits for a senior school, though often less

advantageous, can still be significant. By establishing a network of feeder schools, senior schools can expect a certain predetermined level of educational attainment and behaviour from their future pupils as well as their understanding of specific subjects, topic areas and school ethos.

John Crofts, headmaster of prep Glebe House School, in Hunstanton, Norfolk, talks about the process of becoming a feeder school and the complications and benefits that can arise as a result. “When looking to establish a feeder relationship, headteachers would be looking for the administrative, educational and staff benefits for both schools,” he says. “There are benefits of generally being associated with a successful school and a successful business, and a feeder relationship is one such example.”

As Crofts suggests, feeder relationships are something that are generally formed between individuals within two separate educational institutions for mutual benefit. Time will determine the extent of the feeder relationship and the level of intimacy between the schools themselves, but in almost all cases the relationship starts with a familiarity between headteachers, staff pupils or alumni.

FORMING THE RELATIONSHIPRelationships between schools usually take the form of an enterprising friendship at first as schools build up a rapport over a period of years due to mutual alumni and their headteachers becoming better acquainted.

By using the connections that already exist between schools, you can open up the channels of communication and instigate the feeder dialogue. School governors are another useful channel to exploit in order to forge relationships between schools – as they can offer an independent perspective that can be hard to replicate internally.

Another method of establishing initial connections is through parents of pupils at your school, (especially those who are also alumni of the senior school), pupils currently attending your school with siblings at the senior school, as well as mutual alumni and pupils that have recently joined the senior school.

References to successful alumni can be employed by the junior school in order to demonstrate the quality of pupils that they will be offering the senior school in the future. Similarly, any existing pupil at the junior school that is showing exemplarity qualities can be used as an ambassador to the senior school and help to strike up the feeder relationship.

BIf you are a junior school with a consistent flow of

pupils channelling to a senior school each academic year, but lack any formal agreement with that school, try to crystallise the relationship and take the next step. Suggest the possibility of a partnership with the head of the senior school, gauge their reaction and determine whether becoming a feeder would be a viable option.

WHO TO PICKDetermining who to pick as a feeder, or from the junior school perspective, who to approach, should be based on a list narrowed down to a select few schools that have an existing relationship with your school.

“The thing we would obviously be looking for would be a stable school – a school that many of our parents might have used in the past and would aspire to in the future,” says Crofts. “We would look for a school that would give us a certain cachet with being linked with that school, but more than that, the feeling that it is the right school to be involved in as a whole,” he says.

It is also important that the two schools share a similar educational ethos. If well maintained and properly nurtured, feeder relationships can prove to be massively beneficial over a sustained period of time.

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS Once the feeder relationship has been established, attention on the junior school gained by affiliating themselves to a larger and better known secondary school can really put them on the map. However, both senior and junior schools should be aware of exactly what the other wishes to gain out of the relationship from the start and ensure they have similar pastoral and curricular strengths and aims for their pupils.

Crofts suggests that senior schools can provide their feeders with the use of their facilities for occasions such as sporting events, theatrical events and other extracurricular activities that would be either unfeasible or too expensive to enact otherwise.

“The knowledge that there would at least be a definite link with the school so that children would be able to, for example, attend events at that school much more easily would be really helpful,” he states.

Through a closer relationship with senior school, some junior schools can start to look into offering certain extracurricular activities such as sailing, shooting, riding and climbing, which may not have been ordinarily viable. On an irregular basis, the prep school can then use these facilities to help to attract the attentions of prospective pupils and their parents.

There is also an added incentive for parents looking to send their children to a junior school if they are more likely to secure a bursary or scholarship for their child in the future.

SECTOR > CASE STUDY


“If the relationship is right between the head of the prep school, the head of the senior school and between the governing bodies,” says Crofts, “then when it comes to saying: ‘Look, I’ve got his cracking child what can you do for him bursary wise?’, there is greater likelihood of getting a positive response.” For junior schools at least, the process can be about offering themselves as a provider of pupils educated to a trusted standard, which means they are often more likely to flourish once they enter the senior school.

Feeder relationships can also provide pastoral benefits for pupils. The transition from the junior to senior school for many students can be a great worry for parents, teachers, headteachers, and in particular, the students themselves. Pupils who enter a full-time boarding situation often find it difficult adapting to the first term or two, and teaching and behaviour can suffer as a result. Having a feeder school relationship mitigates this process, as students often find it easier to settle into a system where they already have established friends.

Feeder relationships can offer immediate benefits and give both schools concerned a boost to their awareness and marketing. “One of our significant problems for smaller schools is marketing,” says Crofts. “Being able to link in to a senior school’s marketing effort is hugely advantageous and working with a larger school’s bursarial department makes things an awful lot easier too.”

Crofts talks about the attention that a senior school could bring to Glebe and the way that this would affect his school. “If it became known that our school was the preferred feeder in the east in England for an eminent senior school in the Home Counties then obviously this would be hugely advantageous for us,” says Croft. “For example if you are a fledgling business producing some sort of component, the fact that your components are produced by Rolls Royce its better than saying that you use someone else’s. It gets people coming to the school that might not have otherwise not have done so.”

Crofts also suggests that staff from both schools can also benefit from the feeder relationship as they are offered the opportunity to trade advice and teaching methods with each other. For teachers, this can prove a vital element in keeping their subject fresh and insightful. “What the teacher may not have is someone whose passion is the same as theirs and who they can talk to on a daily basis about things concerned with their subject,” says Croft. “Our art teacher does not have someone whose passion is art, so we have to send her out occasionally to visit other schools, but it is not like having a senior school that you could naturally drop in or call up and say: ‘I am doing this topic do have any ideas?’.

Feeder relationships introduce an element of consistency to pupil recruitment for senior schools and offer substantial service and administrative perks for junior schools. They also help to increase security and renown within the independent sector and generally boost awareness for both educational establishments. Feeder relationships generally grow out of an existing familiarity and understanding between established schools, but for new schools, interaction between heads, governors and staff is a vital component.

If you are a fledgling business producing some

sort of component, the fact that your components are produced by Rolls Royce is better than saying that you use someone else’s. Same goes for schools

AROUND THE GLEBE The campus of Glebe House School and Nursery in Norfolk

MARKETING AND DEVELOPMENT > REBRANDING


ebranding your school can seem like a daunting task, with new logos and uniforms to design, prospectuses to produce, a marketing strategy to plan; and all of this to be completed within budget. But with the right

preparation and an open mind, it can be an opportunity to rethink and refresh your image, giving your school a whole new lease of life in the process.

A STEER IN THE RIGHT DIRECTIONKnowing where to start and deciding which direction to take with your marketing campaign is often the first hurdle a school faces, particularly when converting to academy status. John Brennan is account director at Concept 4, a marketing and branding agency specialising in education, and has steered many schools through the rebranding maze: “Every school who is considering a rebrand should really think about what it is they are trying to achieve in the first instance, especially with schools looking to convert to academies. It’s a good time to reassess what you are doing as an organisation,” says Brennan.

“Now with different types of schools being allowed to change to academies, many are using it to reinvent themselves, through curriculum and everything really, and that’s where the heart of any brand needs to come from: the vision, aims and ethos of the school.”

Anthony Buckland, joint-MD of school uniform manufacturer Price & Buckland believes that schools are more aware of their image than ever, since the gap between academies and traditional fee-based private schools has become less apparent. “With increasing competition amongst secondary schools, it has become more important for schools to differentiate themselves from one another.

With more schools converting to academies, many are updating their image to reflect their new status. Carrie Service looks at the ins and outs of rebranding, and the methods schools are taking to get their new message across

R

BORN AGAIN



Many have wanted to reflect a more academic image with traditional values,” he says.

Brennan believes that as schools become more aware of the importance and power of their brand, the benefits of getting an outside opinion could prove invaluable: “I talk to and do workshops with schools...looking at how they can make the brand work harder for them and what their new status [as academies] should mean going forward… More and more schools, irrespective of which part of the sector they’re from, are considering their brand much more deeply, because they’ve got an understanding of what branding’s about – the way in which you express yourself as an organisation.”

TRENDY OR TRADITIONAL?The essence of any school, whether privately owned or state-run is, of course, its uniform. Chris Drew, from uniform manufacturer School Trends, says that a new uniform plays a key role in promoting a school’s values: “When schools undertake the rebranding process one of the most common things to change is the school’s logo and uniform. Changing a school uniform is a vital part of the process when trying to instil a new sense of togetherness, identity and equality within a school. Both from an internal and external perspective”.

Clare Whiteford from School Blazer, a company that specialises in providing exclusive uniforms for private schools, has noticed that many seem to be dropping more traditional styles to make way for a contemporary look. “Cresting every single garment is sort of going out,” she says. “We used to find that schools even had crested blouses. This isn’t really necessary and creates more cost for parents, so now we are starting to see schools giving



a uniform its branding via the use of a core colour in the blazer lining, or in a bespoke tartan skirt, rather than cresting absolutely everything.”

Drew agrees that simplicity is key: “It is important to keep a uniform simple. We see many schools make the mistake of choosing a uniform that is difficult to fulfil and expensive to parents.” Interestingly, Drew has observed that many state schools becoming new academies have taken the opposite approach to private schools, and are adopting a more old-school style: “Many new academies are moving towards a more traditional form of uniform, including blazers and school ties.” What is interesting, listening to Drew and Whiteford’s differing experiences, is that state-funded schools are choosing to adopt the style long associated with fee-based private schools, and lose their ‘local comprehensive’ image. Whereas private schools want to be seen as moving with the times and are contemporising their look; this is further evidence of the decreasing gap between how schools of different statuses brand themselves.

BREAKING BOUNDARIESGosfield School, an independent school in Halstead Essex, has taken a different approach to transforming its image. In order to make the school more financially accessible at a time where fewer and fewer parents are considering independent education, they have reduced their prep fees by a considerable amount: “In independent prep schools across the country, parents are being asked to pay more money for their children’s education. We wanted to reverse that model entirely and enable more parents to pay less in fees…parents simply cannot continue to be asked to pay more and more every year,” says Kim Betts, registrar at Gosfield School.

Taking bold steps when rebranding will set your school apart from others – essential as the gap between independent and state schools becomes smaller, something that Betts was well aware of when Gosfield School made the changes. “For us, it is important to

set national trends, both academically and financially,” she says. “We believe we are the first school in the independent sector to take such a bold initiative and we are confident it was the right thing to do.”

IDENTITY CRISISSo, rebranding is about becoming more aware of yourself and the message you give out to prospective parents and students. Can you become too conscious of your image, and start to lose sight of your original values?

In a bid to break free of stereotypes and modernise, private schools are now embracing new forms of communication such as Facebook and Twitter in their marketing strategies. But could this be damaging the long-established traditions and culture of some of our oldest schools? Brennan thinks not: “You might suppose that a prestigious boarding school would be more ‘allergic’ to social media as it were, but that simply isn’t the case; you can still have a traditional set of values and beliefs and you can still be branded as a traditional organisation, it’s just that the way you wish to communicate needs to be as up to date and effective as possible.”

In other words, don’t be afraid to try new methods and platforms when creating your marketing and communications plan. By implementing innovative ways of communicating you open up your school to a broader dynamic of prospective students. “You should consider all appropriate channels,” says Brennan, “be that traditional, such as a new prospectus, but also digital avenues...things like mobile websites and apps, and utilising your existing website correctly.” Most schools have their own website, but many do not take full advantage of it. Adding a live Twitter feed, or linking to your Facebook page means that the information parents receive is always up to date. Using social networking shows that you are willing to open yourself up to comment and interaction, which builds people’s confidence in you as an organisation.

DOS AND DON’TS FOR REBRANDINGJohn Brennan of Concept 4 shares his tips• Don’t rush into it• do plan for it• don’t think it’s going to cost a

fortune• but do budget for it• don’t be scared• and be innovative!

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MARKETING AND DEVELOPMENT > INTERVIEW


A C H A N G E W I L L D O Y O U G O O D



et in the Vale of Clwyd in rural North Wales, Ruthin School has been a venerable educational institution in the area since its founding in 1284. When a

school is as well-established as this, it’s rare to see it make many changes, but change it had to. Despite its renown, when current principal Toby Belfield started as its bursar in 2008, it was suffering from dwindling pupil numbers. Known in the industry for his radical approach to education, Belfield would lead the school to improve significantly in a remarkably short amount of time, first as its bursar, then vice principal and now principal.

One of the changes, in September 2010, was to turn the three-to-18 independent coeducational boarding and day school into an 11-18 school, with a greater emphasis on boarding. “Effectively, the senior school was deemed to be in expansion, but there was not enough classroom space, while conversely,

the junior school’s pupil numbers were in decline, so the sensible business decision was to close the junior school and use the buildings, space and associated cost-savings from redundancies towards improving the senior school,” explains Belfield of the motivation for the change. To give an idea of the junior school’s depleting pupil numbers, at the time of its closure, only 15 pupils were affected. This small a number meant an average of two pupils per teacher, which Belfield recognised was financially impractical and took the hard decision to close the junior school and make seven teachers redundant. “If you go into a school that is struggling as I did when I started here in 2008, you just have to look at the whole school and think about what is good about it – or what could be – and then hard decisions, such as changing its focus, have to be made,” he says. “You have to do a little bit of work to understand why it’s not full of students.”

Even the most long-standing of schools can change and Ruthin School, founded in 1284, is a great example. Julia Dennison speaks to forward-thinking principal Toby Belfield about how he’s turned the school around

S



A NEW FOCUSBelfield’s advice to struggling independents is to find a unique selling point. Traditionally, Ruthin was a small, non-selective and very family-oriented school. This description was too vague for Belfield, who was concerned that a lack of focus was contributing to the decline in pupil numbers. “It’s quite hard in the recession to recruit students unless you have an absolutely spot-on focus for what you’re going to deliver,” he says. The new principal decided instead to focus on academic excellence by making the sixth form selective. To accommodate this, he changed the school’s approach internally to focus on a smaller number of A-level subjects – predominantly maths and science – taught to a higher quality. Part of this was to extend the length of the lessons from 30 minutes or an hour to 40 or 80 minutes. “Children get five hours 20 minutes a week per A-level subject, in the state sector they get four hours in our local area, so it’s an hour and 20 minutes extra,” explains Belfield. “I have a view that the children need to have as much contact time with the teachers as possible. I don’t subscribe to self-study at school level – though I know some colleges do.” He has also extended the length of the academic school day and publishes students’ academic ranking in their class. As a result, the school moved from 440 in The Times league tables in 2006 to 31 last year. “It’s easier to recruit students because we can say we are focused on academic excellence and more than 50% of our students apply to Oxford or Cambridge – and then people are interested, if they want that,” Belfield says. “Then what you don’t get is the children applying to the school who have no chance of [getting into] high ranking universities.” This emphasis on academics also means less competition from the state schools. “The state provision locally doesn’t really provide for those at the top end,” he adds.

The academic lean also appeals to overseas students looking for a high-quality British education, essential when around 60% of Ruthin’s students come from abroad. The school has also seen boarding numbers increase from 20, when Belfield started, to 114. This has been achieved by proactively marketing the school to a number of different countries. “If you only have one or two countries [feeding into the school], then you have a problem because then the parents of those countries don’t want their children to go to a school with just pupils from those countries,” he explains. Popular countries represented at the school include China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. At the moment, Belfield is focused on recruiting from other countries, namely Mexico and Nigeria. “We are looking at different areas and are trying to get the boarding as diverse as possible,”

he says. “Otherwise, we could fill the whole school with pupils from China.” Of course, more pupils means a need for more space, so Belfield and his team are expanding the boarding facilities to accommodate a wave of new boarders this month.

THE FREEDOM OF FEESBudgets are a challenge for any private school in this financial climate, but Ruthin is managing, thanks in part to its more affordable fees. Boarding costs £21,500 a year, on the low side when compared with some boarding schools’ fees that are rising to around the £30,000 mark. Belfield has also made it so the fees are all-inclusive. For example, lunch is covered for all pupils and the boarders are allowed to stay in school over the holidays at no additional cost. He’s also changed how parents can pay. The school issues invoices twice a year and collect fees electronically, which helps the school’s cash flow.

Charging the right fees for the right education is imperative, particularly when there is increased competition from the state sector in the shape of free schools and academies. “The state sector has had a huge investment from government in the last 10 years or so. The facilities – such as computers, laptops and science labs – are all very good and arguably better than the independent sector in many cases, so you actually have to explain to parents that the provision is quite different,” says Belfield. He also believes there’s a closer relationship between the two sectors now than there was a decade or two – in as such that teachers will teach across both. “The academies and the free school agenda will just provide more competition, particularly as the new-style academies are being set up to be academically strong,” he says. However, the per-pupil budget in academies still tends to be lower than most private schools, so therefore the class sizes are set to stay bigger. “They might have wonderful buildings and amazing facilities, but they won’t necessarily have the small class sizes,” Belfield says.

At a time when parents are finding it difficult to justify school fees, it’s important for schools to ensure that what they are offering their children is worth the money. Belfield has proven that to do this, a school will sometimes have to make tough decisions. It’s also important to have a clear raison d’etre – whether it be through impressive academics, like Ruthin School, a brilliant music department or extensive sports offering. “Some schools will try and be all things to all people and that’s the problem, because in this day and age, parents want to choose the school for some reason, and it’s not enough to just say it’s a happy school,” he adds. Indeed, you have to have that something else.

SCHOOL

RUTHIN SCHOOL

TYPE

11-18 INDEPENDENT COEDUCATIONAL BOARDING AND DAY SCHOOL

PUPILS

183 (114 ARE BOARDERS)

STAFF

58

PRINCIPAL

TOBY BELFIELD

BACKGROUNDToby, a graduate of Cambridge University, started his career as a teacher and worked as head of sixth form at Ruthin School. He left to work for Capita in 2004 for four years, latterly as deputy director, and returned to the school as bursar in 2008. He became vice principal in 2009 and was soon promoted to principal in 2010 when his predecessor retired.

It’s quite hard in the recession

to recruit students unless you have an absolutely spot-on focus for what you’re going to deliver

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PROCURE AND PLAN > CASE STUDY


Where some free schools struggle at the first hurdle of logistical challenges, such as finding a suitable building or putting together an effective business case, Langley Hall Primary School in Berkshire has found success. Julia Dennison speaks to proposer, Sally Eaton, and head of school, Jane Sculpher, to find out about their experience since opening for the first time in September

A fresh start-up

isiting Langley Hall Primary Academy a couple months after its opening, it managed to feel refreshingly new

and at the same time, like it had been there for a hundred years. If schools had souls, this one had an old one. As I approached the school’s Georgian façade from the school’s gate, the children played in the schoolyard and their bright turquoise uniforms against the backdrop of the older building felt like a nod to the school’s modern take on traditional education.

Langley Hall was set up under the new government free school scheme by Sally Eaton, who is the school’s education director, and her husband and finance manager Chris Eaton, who both have a background in running nurseries – including one of the largest nursery chains in the country, the head office of which was in Langley. When they felt they had made the most of working in nurseries, they decided to sell the business and look for ventures elsewhere. The plan at the time was

to open a fee-paying independent school and nursery, but when the opportunity arose to open a free school, they went for it. “When I put in my first proposition [to open a free school] one of the things I said was that the education that we’d only ever been able to give to those who could afford to pay, we wanted to offer to all children whose parents wanted this sort of education,” says Eaton when I meet with her and head of school, Jane Sculpher in their newly painted offices. “The one thing about free schools that’s very important is that they’re all so different. They’re not a group with a corporate ethos; they’re purposely run very differently.” With this in mind, she doesn’t pretend to offer all things to all people; she just wants to be able to offer her take on primary education to the community, for free.

When it came to putting the proposal together for the Department for Education, Eaton was determined to do the business case herself, and she did so – with the help of educational consultancy firm Tribal

as the liaison between the school and the government department. “It was a really good relationship,” she says of working with the firm, “because they have skills and knowledge of the way of the DfE works that I didn’t. Although it was great for me to choose all the furniture, and talk to the architect over rooms and where things should be, I wasn’t totally au fait with the DfE speak and how they wanted information presented.”

A DIFFERENT APPROACHThis tactic clearly worked, as Langley Hall’s application was accepted and they soon received a series of government grants to get started. It was very much a case of hitting the ground running from the start. For example, the carpets were installed the night before it opened; a new furniture company had to be found when one went into liquidation; and the school had no IT or phones for the first few days. “We literally opened with the children in front of us and we had to do it the old-fashioned way,” remembers Eaton.

V



Free schools are not a group with a corporate

ethos, they’re purposely run very differently

SCHOOLLANGLEY HALL PRIMARY ACADEMY

TYPE MIXED 4-11 FREE SCHOOL

PUPILS 182

STAFF33

The building came about when Eaton had heard of the budget cuts being made to further education and thought she’d enquire at East Berkshire College as to whether they still required the older building on their site, which they had been using for administrative offices. The college had plans to sell the building – but not for a few years. Eaton encouraged them to consider moving their plans forward, and the DfE soon negotiated with the college and purchased the building for the school’s trust.

But with its high ambitions, it remains to see whether its state funding will be sustainable for what the leadership team has in mind. “We’ve worked out our funding on 26 children in a class,” says Sculpher, “so unless funding is cut, it should be adequate.” She feels confident that the leadership and administrative teams have a sound approach to business and the parents are supportive enough so that if the school needed to fundraise, it could.

The funding has taken them far so far, as when you walk around the school, it feels more like a fee-paying prep school – right down to the felt hats and small class sizes. The school is divided into an upper and lower phase. Numeracy and literacy are a high priority, but art, drama, dance, sport and music feature heavily – with every child taught to play the violin. The school also boasts a film and radio studio, as well as ICT in every classroom. In addition to this, there are sound and lighting equipment in the main hall, a room with plasma screens on every wall, and banks of laptops.

Currently, the school’s administrative team spends a lot of time dealing with parental enquiries. “The parents need a lot of

communication, so we currently have an area where they can come and talk with someone,” says Eaton, and that area has been buzzing with queries until 10am every morning since the school opened its doors. “We do need to have somebody who looks after the parents – as their liaison.” The school also has an administrator who ensures every part of the school functions effectively – from repairs to dealing with admissions for next year.

WITH FREEDOM, COMES CHALLENGESLaunching with 182 pupils has meant Langley, could start with adequate staff and facilities from day one. The school is lucky in this respect, as this isn’t always the case for other free schools. “We’ve met with some of the free school heads and they’ve told us they’re changing the loo rolls and light bulbs because they haven’t got a caretaker,” says Eaton. “Part of that is because they’ve started with one-form entry.” “Or a phased entry,” adds Sculpher.

The school has proven extremely popular since its launch. The aim is to eventually have 364 pupils. It could only accept 182 this year due to the number of classrooms they could get refurbished in time for opening. When more rooms are complete in time for September, an additional 156 pupils will be joining, with another 26 joining the year after that. Eaton’s marketing campaign was short and effective: “I placed one advert in the local newspaper and the phones didn’t stop ringing.” Among the interested parents were those who had their children in private schools, were considering moving back to the state sector, and a half-way house of a free school appealed to them. There were also parents with children in

the state sector who were seeking a more rounded education for them. “They’ve definitely got the pioneer spirit and are up for something new,” says Sculpher of the school’s parents, for whom, at the time of applying, there was no school or headteacher, so they had to be adventurous enough to buy into an idea. “The people that came, came from such a wide variety of backgrounds. It wasn’t as if one school was unpopular. It’s what they wanted that they had in common.”

A JOURNEY’S BEGINNINGIt’s been an interesting journey for Langley Hall, but they stand by the fact that the DfE has been supportive where it can – though there have been challenges. “It’s new for them,” says Eaton. “I think we’ve been the guinea pigs and the people following on behind for this year will probably have an easier time of it.” She explains further: “They would ask us to do one thing, then realise they’d missed something out, and would go back and fix it. But you have to be patient with these sorts of things; nobody’s going to get it right first time.”

Eaton and Sculpher’s advice for those considering launching a free school is to have a good reason. To which Sculpher adds: “You need to make sure you are a part that is needed because it needs to be sustainable.”

Head of school Jane Sculpher and founder Sally Eaton

PROCURE AND PLAN > TOP TIPS


TOP TIPS

BE ENERGY AWARE. Being energy efficient is of the utmost importance and not just because it will save you money (by allowing your buildings to retain heat better), but also because it helps the environment. In

anticipation of your heating running constantly through the winter months, you should change your HVAC filters every month. You should also inspect the insulation in any attics or crawlspaces because hot air rises and leaves buildings through their roofs.

HAVE EMERGENCY SUPPLIES AT HAND. If there is the possibility that any staff members will be

staying in any of the school buildings for an extended period of time, then making adequate preparation for emergencies is necessary. Blackouts and snow-ins can happen at any time and can leave you stranded, therefore you should

have certain items easily accessible to anybody inside a school building. These include flashlights,

non-perishable food items, blankets and first aid kits.

GET GRITTING. It is probably worth making sure the immediate external surroundings of all school

buildings are safely accessible. Slipping feet and skidding cars are commonplace in winter and both are potentially very dangerous. In order to minimise the risk of injury, you should ensure that all building entrances, pathways (especially sloping ones) and access roads are treated with high quality salt grit. This will keep the frost and your feet under control.

FOLLOW THESE FIVE SIMPLE STEPS AND THE WINTER MONTHS SHOULD BE A (SLIGHT CHILLY) BREEZE.

1

34

How to survive the winterWhile there hasn’t been much snow these winter months, it is worth remembering that there are a multitude of icy hazards that can strike schools – white stuff or not. Every school needs buildings that can brace and survive the winter cold, and in order to ensure this certain precautions must be taken. Timi Olotu takes a look

CHECK YOUR PIPES. Burst pipes are endemic during winter, but with a little foresight, such damage can be prevented. When sub-zero conditions are expected, you should make sure your heating is on a constant setting

between 5° and 10°C. Furthermore, you should check that water pipes in areas that cannot be heated

are well insulated and if they are left exposed, you should fit trace heating.

2

BE HIGH MAINTENANCE. Finally, you should make sure that all yards, gardens, or any part of the compound with trees, are well

maintained. You should make sure that tree and shrub branches are well away from buildings and their windows because icy conditions can cause branches to break and damage buildings. Many rodents tend to seek warmth in the winter by entering buildings through cracks, so it is especially important to prevent unnecessary exposure.

5

MANAGEMENT > HR


THE STATE OF PAY: motivation and morale in difficult times

MANAGEMENT > HR


s the economic turmoil endures and budgets continue to be squeezed, school leaders face increasingly difficult decisions. When there are insufficient funds for a pay rise to match inflation – or worse, for any increase at all – how can you ensure that the teaching professionals at

your school stay at the top of their game?The pioneering humanistic psychologist, professor Abraham

Maslow (1908 – 1970), established a ‘hierarchy of needs’ (see p28), which offers a useful model for approaching the challenge.

Starting at the top and working down the scale, he defined those needs as:

1. Self-actualising2. Esteem3. Social4. Safety/security5. Physiological.

Simply put, Maslow asserted that one could only progress up the hierarchy if the needs immediately below were already met. If we assume that physiological needs such as accommodation, food and the working environment are met in the school (unless times really are bad!) then we next turn our attention to the need for safety.

SAFETY FIRSTIf the teaching positions in the school are safe, has that information been clearly communicated to all concerned? Some safety initiatives:n Where possible, taking proactive preventative measures at the

earliest opportunityn Using MIS data to identify other expenses that could be

rationalisedn Sharing key information with the teachers about the wealth,

welfare and financial position of the school.

SOCIAL STUDIESSocial needs in an independent school are about more than just a sense of belonging. Where job uncertainty does exist, do teachers perceive themselves as collective stakeholders in the school and therefore part of the solution? Here are some social needs initiatives

A

With fewer people in the independent education sector lined up to receive a raise this year, how do you incentivise them and keep morale high in other ways? Derek Thompson looks at what to do to prevent losing your best staff and how to handle this tricky situation

MANAGEMENT > HR


n Engaging the staff in dialogue about the issues and keeping them at the heart of the process going forward

n Holding weekly meetings to enable teaching staff to voice any grievances, to be heard and to discuss how the situation impacts upon their lives. Even if there are no quick fixes or easy solutions, staff concerns are demonstrably taken seriously

n Arranging a fun team-building event to celebrate successes and boost morale.

Julie Booth, head of independent schools at Capita SIMS, believes that setting high expectations and recognising achievement is key for driving up performance. “Teaching is a life-long career that isn’t solely defined by pay. We’re in the business of educating children to the highest standards. To do that, we need to have highly motivated, professional teachers,” she says. “The reality is that staff movement between schools is slowing down. This makes it imperative that independent schools develop their staff to [their] full potential and ensure that they know they are valued.”

OF HIGH ESTEEM Issues around esteem may have the most direct impact on personal performance. Fortunately, even in the absence of budget, much can be accomplished here. Statistical information about each teacher’s contribution to the wellbeing and advancement of the school should already be readily available. Some esteem needs initiative: n Providing teachers with relevant MIS, so that they can quantify

the positive impact that they have on pupils’ developmentn Giving authentic and proper praise for actions taken and role

modelling behaviourn Creating a mentoring scheme, where teachers who show potential –

and their mentors – can be developed meaningfully at low cost. This demonstrates that the school is committed to invest in its people in other ways and that their continuing development is a priority.

If you only have a hammer, you tend to see

every problem as a nailABRAHAM MASLOW

GET SELF-ACTUALISEDSelf-actualisation may be better appreciated as a concept if we use the words creativity and autonomy. In practice, this means giving teachers sufficient responsibility, trust and freedom to do their job well. Some self-actualising needs initiatives:n Devolving budgets to heads of department, so they can determine

best value economicallyn Giving people genuine autonomy for the quality of their work

and their approach to teaching the curriculumn Enabling staff to shadow other roles/departments. This can

broaden their skills and experience, which may enhance their progression prospects when posts arise

n Developing a teacher exchange programme with a state school to broaden your team’s skill base and experience and give them an insight into the public sector.

David Hanson, chief executive of The Independent Association of Prep Schools, places the emphasis on a holistic view of teaching and delivering value. “For the IAPS, recruiting and retaining the very best teaching staff is an absolute priority. Salary is a factor in the role, but other things matter too: professional respect, commitment to quality, and trusting and empowering teachers to teach well,” he says. “There is no safety net. Independent schools – and their staff – do not operate in a vacuum. Parents make a huge commitment in choosing private education. Our responsibility, in our 600 schools, is to understand what best value looks like.”

While in no way diminishing the immediate challenges and concerns for teachers, it may be useful to stress the positive benefits of working in independent education, as opposed to within state education.For example:n Accommodation that may be free or subsidisedn Access to facilities such as sports clubs, which may be free

or subsidisedn Access to independent education for teachers’ own childrenn Less government inference in how the curriculum is taught.

Ultimately, every teacher is an advocate for the school. Whatever the prevailing economic conditions, the more informed, empowered and supported your teaching staff is, the better they can fulfil their vocation for the good of pupils. n

SELF- AWARE

PERSONAL GROWTH

SELF-WORTH, ACCOMPLISHMENT

BELONGING, LOVE, FAMILY

SAFETY, STEADY JOB, INSURANCE

FOOD, WATER, SHELTER, AIR, WARMTH

Self-actualising needs

Esteem needs

Social needs

Security

Physiological

MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS (1943)

ICT MATTERS > DATA PROTECTION


Data expert Paul Evans looks at tougher new penalties for breaching data protection laws and the technologies available to ensure schools remain compliant as the use of mobile devices continues to grow

HOW SECURE IS YOUR SCHOOL’S DATA?

ICT MATTERS > DATA PROTECTION


here have been a number of news stories recently about high profile data loss incidents, particularly in the world of education. These stories increasingly involve laptops being taken off premises.

One such incident earlier this year saw London Councils of Ealing and Hounslow fined £150,000 after two laptops, containing the details of almost 3,000 individuals, were stolen from an employee’s home. There was no evidence to suggest the data was accessed by a third party but as the laptops were simply password protected with no encryption the councils were fined for breaching the Data Protection Act (DPA).

Similarly a school in Oldham breached the act after an unencrypted laptop was stolen from a teacher’s car while it was parked outside their home, leading to sensitive data relating to 90 pupils falling into rogue hands. The school was also required to sign an undertaking to ensure that portable and mobile devices used to store and transmit personal data are encrypted using appropriate software. Staff will also be trained on how to follow the school's policy for the storage and use of personal data, and the school has agreed that its policies on data protection and IT security issues will be appropriately and regularly monitored.

Under a Ministry of Justice ruling, organisations can now be fined up to £500,000, 100 times more than the previous maximum fine of £5,000. The organisation charged with enforcing compliance with the DPA and imposing fines is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The DPA requires all organisations to have appropriate security to protect personal information against unlawful or unauthorised use or disclosure, and accidental loss, destruction or damage and the ICO has powers to change the behaviour of organisations that collect, use and keep personal information and are able to fine those who fail to adequately protect personal information they hold.

With these new ICO powers to impose fines and enforce undertakings, as well as the bad publicity and embarrassment that has come from the news headlines surrounding data breaches, schools cannot afford to underestimate the importance of ensuring all devices securely store and backup data and are able to protect and/or destroy information taken outside of the school boundaries.

The explosion in the use of personal devices and laptops, and increasing mobility of teachers and school staff means sensitive school or pupil information is increasingly stored on rogue devices often with little or no data protection. Few teachers back up the data stored on a daily basis and the information is held on portable devices which, in many cases, do not have adequate protection against device loss and data is unprotected, with little encryption, which extends the risk of data breaches outside the workplace, through broken lost or stolen laptops.

Schools need to make sure they are securing any device that contains sensitive data, data which could cause damage or distress to individuals, whether they are personal or corporate devices, PCs, laptops, tablets or smart phones. The DPA dictates that computer security measures must ensure that: if personal data is accidentally lost, altered or destroyed, it can be recovered to prevent any damage or distress to the individuals concerned and where the information held on a portable device could be used to cause an individual damage or distress it should be encrypted. There are various technologies available, here are my pick of the best technologies around to ensure your devices are compliant with DPA on and off premises:

1. AUTOMATIC ONLINE PC BACKUP AND RECOVERY Back-up-as-a-service can offer fully automated, encrypted backup and recovery services online, which allow schools to back up their data on and off site over the internet. This can also eliminate capital expenditure and offer reduced operational costs compared to running backup and recovery in-house.

2. AT REST ENCRYPTIONFiles and folders selected for backup are automatically encrypted as well as metadata to ensure no sensitive information can be gleaned, enabling you to be fully compliant with the DPA and the strictest data privacy legislation.

3. REMOTE DATA DELETIONThis enables you to delete files in the backup dataset remotely if a device is lost or stolen without needing the device to come online, while also allowing you access to recent backups of any files you have deleted, safe in the knowledge that the sensitive data is encrypted.

4. PORT ACCESS CONTROLPort access control makes sure sensitive information doesn’t leave the device or enter the device if it shouldn’t contain sensitive information. It allows you to prevent unauthorised USB use and control access through any port or media including CD/DVDs, USB, serial, Bluetooth and wireless ports, as well as letting you enable read or write access only or lock down a port completely on a user by user basis. 5. DEVICE TRACINGDevice tracking technology helps track the location of a laptop or desktop if it connects to the internet after being lost or stolen.

Paul Evans is the MD of Redstor

T

ICT MATTERS > TECHNO GEEK


TE

CH

NO

G

EE

KIn the second of a two part series, Techno Geek asks: “How do you deal with negativity online?”

ast month we looked at how to find your voice online, to make your online contributions worthwhile and beneficial and not like Charlie Sheen’s

apocalypse-scale rants. In this month’s thrilling instalment we are going to take a peek behind the veil at how to deal with a negative reaction to your online demeanour.

For various reasons, since its beginnings; the internet has been a place that can naturally harbour a lot of negativity, which can manifest itself in a multitude of ways. If you’re engaging online, and it doesn’t matter where, you’re going to come up against it and it’s good to have a think about how you can deal with it, turning it into a chance to engage with any issues people might have and ultimately into a positive opportunity. Here are a few handy tips from Techno Geek.

TAKE A DEEP BREATHThe natural reaction to anyone saying something less than positive online is to jump straight on the defensive/offensive and smite them with some cutting words (this is how Techno Geek rolls anyway) but my council is to think about it first. Chances are you’re representing an institution with a hard-won reputation, and you don’t want to jeopardise that. You need to remember the internet golden rule, never write anything you wouldn’t be happy for your mum to read.

The serious point is this gives you time to assess your response; if it’s a valid point it gives you thinking time about how you’re going to address it, but if its mindless idiocy then its best not to reply at all.

DON’T GO LEGALWithout doubt trying to take legal redress for something said online will do more harm than

good in the majority of cases, even drawing more attention to the indiscretion than it warrants. Plus it makes you look as if you are thin skinned and don’t know how to handle yourself in the online world, which is crucial for building a successful online reputation.

If a comment is offensive or derogatory then simply hit the delete button (though in the majority of cases I would try and challenge them in a positive manner first).

Don’t get personal; challenge the point, not the person.

It may seem obvious but the last thing you want is a personal slanging match, casting aspersions about the fidelity of each other’s mother. Tackle the issue and not the person. This will get you maximum respect if you address the issues that warrant reply and stay above the fray. This is a key factor in turning a negative into a positive.

TURN IT INTO A POSITIVEWhile you wont be able to keep everyone happy, by engaging people’s complaints in a positive and open way you can actually come out of the situation with a win, by improving peoples’ perceptions of you. n

Staying positive

Follow us @ i_exec for the latest news updates and insight into the issues that affect the role of the business manager.

L

If you feel the need to add your thoughts to this, then by all means do head over to edexec.co.uk/technogeek and leave a comment. If you have any areas you would like techno geek to lift the lid on then get in touch: [email protected].

Next month I will look at having an online policy, and where schools’ voices are appropriate, and where they are not.

INSPIRED MINDS > CASE STUDY




n the approach to the 12th century St Donat’s Castle, through the windy roads of the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales, I was excited – both to be visiting the ground-breaking UWC Atlantic College, and because this would be my second trip to a Hearst Castle.

After visiting the home of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst in California a few years ago, I was duly prepared for the kind of opulence preferred by the man. This castle, which he purchased in the 1920s for his lover, silent movie star Marion Davies, after viewing it in Country Life magazine, did not disappoint. Of course, it couldn't have – for under the gothic eaves and vaults of this grand estate, Hearst entertained guests the likes of Charlie Chaplin, John F. Kennedy and Douglas Fairbanks. It's little wonder George Bernard Shaw called St Donat's the kind of place “god would have built if he had the money”. But I wasn't here to tour a historic landmark – but rather to visit the school that now occupies the site.

O

U N I T I N G

UWC Atlantic College is an international school based in Llantwit Major, South Wales. It is the founding college of the UWC movement and its students hail from 90 countries. Julia Dennison visits the castle it calls home to speak to director of operations and acting principal Paul Motte

N A T I O N S



their own and still to be proud of their own nationality,” he says. Debates do sometimes get fairly heated, but have never gone so far as to require the college to separate the students. “It is almost like a UN meeting where they police themselves,” he adds. “If an Israeli and Palestinian start to have a go at each other, it may be a Malay student that steps in and that's quite interesting to watch.”

Many of the students who attend the college, due to their backgrounds, have often been forced to grow up before their time. Motte uses the example of a fire that nearly destroyed one of the college's boarding houses. “We put the usual Western response to that place in terms of relocating students, lots of correspondence to their parents, lots of assistance and counselling around the whole disruptive affect,” he remembers. “On the second day after it happened, one of the students from that boarding house came up to me and said: 'I don't understand what all the fuss is about. At least there's no crater; at least there are no body parts around, because from where I'm from in Palestine, a fire is nothing compared to shelling or death.' That just makes you realise some of our students have had no real childhood and experiences like that, which for us would be challenging or difficult, are just routine for them.”

SUSTAINABLE VISIONCoupled with the school's ambition for a more peaceful world comes a mission to make the world a better place – and this is reflected both in its community service and respect for the environment. The school has a major focus on the outdoors and the students are encouraged to volunteer in the local community. Although UWC Atlantic College was one of the first schools to embrace learning in the great outdoors, as part of Kurt Hahn's original vision, it now seems to be one of many schools doing the same thing, which keeps Motte and his team on their toes. “You do see it in more and more schools, and I think that's a challenge for us,” he says. “It means either reinventing or rediscovering what makes us different in the next 50 years, and I think our anniversary is a real opportunity to reflect a bit but also to have a think about what we want the world to look like in another 50 years' time.”

Part of this means maintaining a relevant diversity at the school. UWC Atlantic College was originally established during the cold war

UWC Atlantic College is an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme boarding school that was the founding college of the United World Colleges movement and the first school in the UK to follow an international curriculum (see box out on the UWC). The student body is diverse, yet inclusive. The 350 students hail from 90 different countries and 60% of the 16 to 19-year-olds receive support towards their fees.

The college was founded in 1962 by Kurt Hahn, a famous German educationalist. His vision was based on his post-war experience at the NATO Defence College, where he had observed discussion and collaboration between former enemies and wanted to transfer that sense of diplomacy to young people, encouraging a spirit of collaboration and peaceful alliances between students from a range of countries and backgrounds. This developed into the UWC movement and Lord Mountbatten became the organisation's first president. Its headquarters of St. Donat's Castle was donated to UWC by Antonin Besse II, the son of Sir Antonin Besse.

UWC Atlantic College also helped to conceptualise and develop the IB diploma and became the first college to fully engage in it. Favourite subjects include ‘peace and conflict’ and ‘environmental studies’, alongside more traditional subjects. The college prides itself in creating individuals as opposed to focusing simply on academic achievement, and with this in mind reaches out to the local community and encourages its students to do the same.

The school is leading the way when it comes to diversity in education, outdoor learning and sustainability, as well as a number of different innovations, including the design for the classic RIB lifeboat used today, which was invented by students at the school.

A MONUMENTAL TASKWhen I meet Paul Motte, the director of college operations and acting principal, on the cusp of the college's 50th anniversary, which will take place during the 2012/13 academic year, he holds a great amount of pride in the institution he now calls his workplace. Although only three and a half years into his role, his relationship with the school goes back to 1965, when he very nearly became a student. The school remained on his radar during his long-standing career as a bursar in the independent sector, including a stint as chairman of the Independent Schools' Bursars Association. “The ethos and philosophy of the place sits with me, my integrity and professional working life as well,” he explains of his current role. “While some people aspire to be bursar or director of operations at Eton or Winchester, for me, this was the right place to come to end my career.” As readers of this magazine will know well, being a bursar often means dealing with a wide range of issues surrounding the running of a school – having this as a background came very much in handy for Motte. “In a place like this you need the width of all those skills because it's education, it's estate management, it's heritage industry – it's everything really.”

A SMALLER WORLDWhen he first started at the college, Motte was surprised by how different it was to how he'd imagined. “It was more unique than I expected it to be,” he says. “There is nothing like it in the UK, there's no doubt about that.” He was impressed by how dedicated it was to its central principles. “It does not just pay lip service to ideology expressed on the first page of a prospectus,” he explains. “It lived its mission.” For Motte, this mission includes providing an international opportunity for young people to meet in a safe and nurturing environment, which allows ideas and differences to be “shared and aired”. “It's about living in a peaceful world and creating that with young people,” he adds. The school does that by encouraging young people from different backgrounds, often countries in conflict, to learn together, and even, as boarders, live together. For example, the school asks Israeli students to share rooms with Palestinians. And the students embrace this move towards global citizenship. “Young people are very good – perhaps better than we are sometimes – at recognising the issues and knowing what sort of world they want to grow up in,” says Motte. “I do sometimes think they are almost better guardians for what we stand for than even the staff.”

Motte insists, however, that the vision at UWC Atlantic College is not one of naïve utopianism, but something more substantial. “What we're not trying to do is make a United Nations citizen; what we're trying to do is teach the students respect and understanding of other people's points of view, but also the ability to argue their case, defend

ABOUT UWCUWC (United World Colleges) is an educational movement comprising of 12 international schools and colleges based in Canada, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Norway, Singapore, Swaziland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Costa Rica, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Netherlands. Supporters of the UWC movement include: Nelson Mandela, HM Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, and the Emperor of Japan.



1. Face to face community serviceAll students are required to complete a programme of community service that involves providing social service to others. Service can be both internal to the college and external.

2. Action-based service and outdoor pursuitsStudents have to either complete one year of an action based service (CAVRA, Lifeboats, and Lifeguards) or complete a programme of expeditions and/or outdoor experiences.

3. Environmental and sustainable future awarenessStudents either have to complete one year of Estate Service, Marine Environment Monitoring Service (MEMS) or participate in other related projects, student-led initiatives and seminars.

4. Global and intercultural awarenessStudents participate in projects, student-led initiatives, services and seminars. Many of the mission focused periods provide for this.

5. Approaches to learningStudents complete an introductory course in approaches to learning and critical thinking in the first term before they start theory of knowledge. They are expected to reflect on, and develop, their approaches to learning over the two years.

6. Artistic creativityStudents have to demonstrate commitment and growth in one artistic pursuit.

7. Physical health and wellbeingStudents have to take part in the college's health education programme and demonstrate commitment to personal health and do a physical recreation or sport for some of their time at UWC Atlantic College.

SEVEN STRANDS OF THE UWC ATLANTIC COLLEGE DIPLOMAwith the aspiration of bringing together Easter European and NATO country students. Now, as the nature of global conflicts changes, Motte believes the student body should change to reflect this. “The world's a different place now and we've got to think about what we're doing with radical fundamentalism, for example, religious tensions or much more localised international tensions. It's not the big groups that provide that any more. It's much more tribal and local – look at the way Europe, particularly around the Balkans has broken up and Russia etc. I think, as a movement, we need to think about how we address those issues and be savvy and able to see them coming.” For example, he believes the school is behind when it comes to recruiting students from the countries that participated in the Arab spring.

When it comes to student intake, UWC Atlantic College is a bit at the mercy of the UWC organisation, which recruits the students on behalf of the 12 UWC colleges via its 140 national committees operating throughout the world. However, each college is able to request the countries from which it would like its students. There is a small number of students that the college recruits directly, which it does through NGOs and charities operating in areas of conflict, including international organisations, like VSO, as well as local ones, such as Vale for Africa, a charity working out of Uganda. “Fieldworkers are able to identify young people who, without an opportunity like ours, would just never get out of the refugee camp,” he says. “We had a couple of Rwandan students who arrived here on their own from that conflict, with absolutely nothing.” The school also directly recruits a few of what Motte refers to as “international students” who are the children of businesspeople or diplomats and have no one country to call home.

With 60% of the student body receiving some form of fee assistance, giving as many people as possible the opportunity to study within its walls is important to UWC Atlantic College. Bursary funding comes from a number of different sources. Around 20% of the students receive a full scholarship directly from the college, funded by donations from third parties, including alumni. Others are paid for by the country they come from – whether through government funding or philanthropy. Motte and the staff at the college won't always know how a student's place is funded, as this tends to fall under the onus of the UWC committees.

United in knowledge: Director of operations Paul Motte and UWC Atlantic's library



ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGESAs much as the school itself would like to improve its impact on the environment, it's difficult when you call a 12th century castle your home. But Motte and his team are doing their best. They have a modern heating system and biomass boilers and are in the process of looking to install solar panels. In addition to energy saving efforts, the college also makes the most of its 161 acres by farming some of it and looking after its woodlands. “We're looking at how we manage that, both in terms of ecosystems and the environment for natural plant and animal life, but also in terms of whether we can grow some of our own food here,” says Motte, who gets the students to help out wherever possible. “It's challenging, because of course there are periods when the students aren't here, someone else has to look after it and it becomes a cost to us if we're not careful.” There are other barriers to minimising the school's carbon footprint, for example the sheer volume of air flights the students regularly take to go back home. “It's not easy,” admits Motte. His favourite illustration of this is when he bought the students notepads made out of recycled paper and got complaints over the reduced quality of the paper. He had to gently explain to the students that this was in response to their request for him to buy sustainable goods and services. “In running the business, alongside finance now sits a decision about sustainability, so it is now a criteria in decision-making for the procurement of goods and services, when perhaps it wasn't three or four years ago.”

The most financially demanding part of Motte's job is looking after the building itself. While the college loves the building, it's not in the heritage business, so its upkeep proves a constant challenge. A recent survey of the estate concluded that the school would need to spend

£5m on the building over the next five to 10 years to keep it in a usable condition. But pay it they must, because St Donat's is an icon – “not just for every student whose been here,” adds Motte, “but for every UWC student, because we're the founding college and they have a lineage back to this building”. That kind of money will not be easy for the college to source, however important the cause, and means it will have to look at alternative funding streams, potentially from the heritage industry. But running tours – as fascinating as it would be

to the wider public – is difficult when you're a working school. Hearst and Marion Davies' bedroom is now used as a classroom and the grand hall, which hosted parties for the likes of Kennedy and Chaplin, is used for morning meetings. To this Motte adds: “Where does that stack up against your child protection responsibilities? You won't get public money unless the public get access and you can't have public access when there are young people in there using it for part of their schooling. So there are some real tough challenges to face in that area.”

As part of its 50th anniversary celebrations, the college is keen to share its vision with the larger educational community. But what can the world learn from UWC Atlantic College? “It isn't necessarily about grades or points score that make young people,” suggests Motte. “It's about the extracurricular, value-added experience, being able to stand up as an individual and a member of a community that's important.” This follows closely with what Motte refers to as the “UWC Atlantic College diploma”, a focus on co-curriculars alongside the IB (see box out for the seven strands of educational requirements). As Motte prepares to welcome John Walmsley, the new principal starting this term, he looks forward to a positive future at the school. “It's about preparing for the next 50 years and that's the main task for him,” he says. Judging by how much the college has made an impact in its last half a century, it will undoubtedly make waves in the next.

Extracurricular life: Students work on a film; the ladies' loo/Doctor Who dungeon

SCHOOL

UWC ATLANTIC COLLEGE

TYPE

MIXED 16 TO 19 INDEPENDENT COLLEGE

FOUNDING

1962

STUDENTS

350

STAFF

120


INSPIRED MINDS > DIARY

S

A BETTER BACC? The Modern Baccalaureate promises a more rounded approach to education than the controversial EBacc, says David Cregan who is piloting the method

ince the day we opened four years ago we’ve done things differently here at St Matthew Academy. Our goal is simply to do whatever we can to meet the needs of our

students, many of whom face great barriers to success. The twin tracks on which we have focused are high quality teaching and learning and our enterprise and business specialism – challenging students to develop their personal and employability skills and contribute to their community through being enterprising citizens and fulfilling our motto by ‘letting their light shine’.

We emphasise enterprise because it raises self-esteem and social skills and develops the skills which are valued by employers. For example, students at St Matthew start a Level 2 IT course on entry to Year 7 not simply to get the equivalent of two GCSEs in two years but because they will need IT skills to succeed both in the academy and out in the 21st century working world.

Our commitment to developing the whole child is deep – three times a year the timetable is suspended for Enterprise week, during which students work with agencies, charities and business leaders to complete personal and social challenges including personal finance, public speaking and business competitions. This is supplemented by a huge after-school and personal challenge programme during term time. The academy has its own Army cadet corps, places at a local independent school’s CCF contingent; arts and sports clubs as well as the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme and our own Beavers, Cubs and Scout troops. We place considerable emphasis on outdoor education and team working. We are constantly looking for new ways to give our students the widest possible range of educational experiences that really prepare them for working life.

Our decision to pilot the Modern Baccalaureate with our current Year 11s fits in perfectly with this philosophy and answers a key question: How do our students show evidence of the many activities they take part in during their time at St Matthew Academy? We are also fuelled by dissatisfaction with the narrow nature of the ‘EBacc’, which is simply a collection of a few traditional subjects. We are very disappointed that it does not recognise or develop the education of the whole child or accredit important practical competencies or social and employability skills.

In contrast to the EBacc, the Modbac captures the broad range of subjects and disciplines needed for work in our modern knowledge and skills economy. English, Maths and science are core obviously, but ICT, enterprise and finance are also requirements. The ‘three other GCSEs’ in the Modbac allows students to get credit for technical subjects, arts subjects and RE, which enhance their personal and spiritual development. As a Catholic academy, this is important.

For higher achieving students the honours award accredits many other facets of a rounded education: a foreign language either through GCSE or via other qualifications such as the Cambridge certificates and IGCSEs and an extended project to deepen their understanding of a particular subject or area of interest which develops real research skills. Community service is recognised either via the Duke of Edinburgh award, outdoor education or public service BTECs; through church-related activities or existing citizenship sessions. The personal challenge and employability skills requirement offers students the opportunity to really extend and surprise themselves in their ability to achieve and demonstrate initiative, personal organisation and successful collaboration.

We haven’t approached the Modbac as something that can be achieved mainly through additional and ‘bolt-on’ activities – our curriculum planning and both core and option subjects are structured in a way that supports the achievement of the qualification.

We are keeping our expectations modest for this first year of the programme – perhaps 50 of our 140 year 11 students will achieve the Modbac this year, but we anticipate significantly higher numbers in future years.

This is after all, a pilot – we are testing and experimenting for the benefit of the many, and will be sharing our experiences with other schools as we go. In the meanwhile, we are celebrating and now successfully accrediting the complete educational experience of our students – which is more than a series of classroom taught traditional subjects. The EBacc is too narrow a means of accrediting essential skills and competencies and of preparing the wide range of young people for the challenges of a mid-21st century economy. We hope the Modbac will allow employers and higher education institutions see our children letting their light shine in all their knowledge and talent.

DAVID CREGAN IS THE VICE PRINCIPAL OF LONDON’S ST MATTHEW ACADEMY

The EBacc is too narrow a means of accrediting essential skills

and competencies and of preparing the wide range of young people for

the challenges of a mid-21st century

economy

independent Executive Jan/Feb

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