Common sense prevails for a change!
June 29, 2010
I was delighted to hear the news that the new Education Secretary, Michael Gove, is looking to introduce School Olympics in a bid to increase the amount of competitive sport in our schools.
Thank goodness that the PC brigade have been over-ruled on something. I don’t know anyone who is happy that their children are having to participate in non-competitive sports days on the basis that no child should be made to feel bad for losing. All this will serve to do is give us a country of losers! We struggle enough in sporting success on national level – England football, British tennis champion (Mr Murray aside) – and so I am delighted that schools should be encouraging children in team working and striving to be the best they can be.
Of course in this sense the independent sector is ahead of the curve with a much greater percentage of school time being allocated to physical activity in addition to inter-schools competitions.
Using available space to generate revenue…..
I also wanted to make you aware of a recent article in FMX magazine which shows an excellent example of self-funded school St John’s in Marlborough making excellent use of their space in order to generate additional revenue for the school. In these more challenging times any schemes to bolster income can only be positive and I would urge all bursars to continue to look at new and innovative ways of increasing school income from commercial activities.
Kinnarps are a Swedish based furniture company and Angus Kaye, who wrote the article, also gives some interesting insights in to the ‘much talked about’ Swedish free schools model. On a more local level the Kinnarps Account Manager, who worked with the school to help more their ideas to realisation, is Steve Jones who was clearly an integral part of the success of the project.
Kinnarps are currently running a competition where you can win the school a FREE space plan or a Swedish picnic Pack!
And finally…….
If you have missed it, here is a link for the details of all of the schools who have registered their interest in becoming an academy. This was apparently only revealed after a Freedom of Information Act request!
So a mixed bag of updates on the blog today. Hope they’re useful
Trustee Induction and Refresher Training
June 22, 2010
Having recently run a presentation with the Blake Lapthorn team I am aware of their indepth knowledge and expertise in the charity sector. Whilst I have not personally attended the trustee induction course I am sure that it will be delivered to their usual high standards. Whether attending this or another event, I believe it is absolutely imperative for trustees of independent schools to receive professional training in order to help them fulfil their roles as successfully as possible. It will also ensure they fully understand their legal obligations which are often more onerous than trustees imagine when they take on the role. I suspect that it is well worth a small investment to ensure your school has robust and effective governance.
St Margaret’s School Edinburgh set to close
June 15, 2010
More bad news on the school closures front with confirmation that St Margaret’s School in Edinburgh has called in liquidators KPMG.
The chain of events leading up to the appointment of KPMG is pretty typical of a failing school and one quote given is rather stating the obvious when it says that the solution lies in increased fees and lower costs.
The issue highlights the fact that there are no ‘quick wins’ when it comes to fixing the problems faced by a failing school. Attempts by the school to sell off some property assets also failed and this is not uncommon with independent schools due to their charitable status and potentially the legalities behind why property has been gifted to them in the first place.
Whilst it is admirable that the parents wish to pull together some kind of rescue package, especially bearing in mind the emotion attached to the issue, I suspect it’s too little too late. In any event you do have to question why the pupil numbers have halved and how quickly an annual deficit of half a million pounds can be turned around.
From my perspective the salient point here is that at the first signs of a downturn a school must act commercially and decisively to prevent a bad situation getting worse.
What kind of printing culprits are in your office?
June 9, 2010
A great article I spotted on the Envirowise website today taking a humorous look at the characters you might have in your office when it comes to printing documents.
I could certainly identify at least one of every type from my last job which was based in a busy office.
Underlying the humour though there is a very important message. The cost of waste in UK companies is typically 4-5% of turnover and can be as high as 10%. With disposal costs rising and a greater focus on ‘green’ issues it has never been more important to continually review ways to reduce waste. This can ultimately lead to greater efficiency and increased profitability.
Of course my home office is currently staffed with personnel of one so I couldn’t possibly reveal what sort of printing culprit works here!
Lorraine's Twitter feed:
- Not as far or as fast as @MrJaseyD or @brookerh but managed to put in 5 miles this am which bodes well for Great South Run training schedule
- My Twifficiency score is 33%. What's yours? http://twifficiency.com/
- Picked up another new client yesterday! Am so delighted, business is progressing well.
- Post Edited: Concealed consultancy commission is raising energy bills http://bit.ly/dBds5N
- New post: Concealed consultancy commission is raising energy bills http://bit.ly/dBds5N
- OMG how can they describe this woman on @dragonsden as a 'business woman' she's utterly hopeless
