SCHOOLS WITH CONNECTION
There is a growing trend for new international schools to be started in partnership with well-established school brands from the UK. Why? Just what do they bring to the party? Andy Homden reports.
British independents schools overseas
At a time when international education continues to grow and thrive, potential sponsors of new international schools around the world are becoming aware of an emerging trend to link their new school project with a ‘branded’ partner school, the majority of which are based in the UK. Cranleigh School, Brighton College, Dulwich College and North London Collegiate School are just four UK ‘brands’ who have worked with international partners to establish successful schools throughout the world, but especially in Asia and the Gulf. There are many others.
However, before reaching out to find a partner school ‘brand’ with whom to work, sponsors of new schools might pause to think about why this trend has become so popular. What can a UK brand bring to an international project?
Here are some pointers.
1. Energy and reputation
A good UK partner will, ultimately, not want to run the school for you, but with their good name at stake, will do everything in its power to make the establishment of your international start-up a success. They will need to adapt their curriculum to fit the local situation, but a good partner will also help establish operational norms, procedures and policies to meet high-level international standards.
Aspiring parents have high expectations of a new school and an association with a well-established brand from the UK gives confidence that these expectations will be fulfilled quickly.
2. Educational, operational and digital support
Good partner schools know what is expected of a modern, world-class curriculum and how it is best taught. Curriculum building for a new school is a complex task and getting this right quickly is an important factor in establishing a local reputation. Knowing how to link a curriculum plan with the schools staffing projections, budgets and long-term development planning will also bring confidence in the new school as it grows.
These days, a good partner school will offer much more than a knowledge of a routine, exam-based curriculum. Expect to find offers of entrepreneurial and enterprise-based education, project-based learning, environmental learning, high level tech programmes that will include AI and community outreach programmes, all of which can be brought to the new school and started as soon as it opens.
The UK partner school’s experience of digital infrastructure needed to drive and support the educational and administrative architecture of the school will be invaluable. Cyber-security and online safeguarding are also key issues for which a partner can provide crucial knowledge and understanding. Even if you choose to use or develop local IT systems with which to run the school, the early advice and supervision of the educational IT experts at the partner school will be a major factor in assuring the stability, security and efficiency of the new systems, which need to be up and running 12 months in advance of opening to support international recruitment and student admissions.
3. Recruitment and training
Recruiting the best possible start-up staff is absolutely essential and the name of the branded partner will be a major factor in attracting the best and widest field. Recruiting the founding principal is especially important: this appointment is the first significant step on the pathway for developing the school as a self-administering entity.
It is also often possible to recruit or ‘borrow’ experienced teachers from the partner itself – people who know the ethos and philosophy of the UK school and who would see working at an international branch of the school as a really positive career move.
Used in the right way, the brand will also attract the best local teachers and support staff, many of whom may have had experience of working in a school offering an ‘ordinary’ international curriculum, but who now would like to take the next step on their career pathway.
Good partner schools will have deep experience of School-centred Initial Teacher Training or SCITTS, the principles and practice of which are transferable to the new school to build standards among locally appointed teachers, which is essential for the long-term future of the school.
4. Safeguarding, wellbeing and boarding
Establishing international levels of student safeguarding starts well before the new school opens: all staff for the new school must be hired according to the principles of safer-recruitment. This will involve, among other things, cross-referencing candidate CVs with independently contacted and verified referees and conducting full background checks to mitigate any risk of bringing the wrong people into the school. Good independent schools in the UK are world-leaders in this process.
You can expect to find well-established structures of pastoral care in place at a prospective partner school, with tried and tested systems in place to identify any issues that might threaten a child’s security and wellbeing. Good partners will be able to help quickly establish the right kind of happy social norms in which great learning takes place.
Boarding is an increasing trend in international schools especially in South East Asia. Developing a positive boarding culture is part of the DNA of many British independent schools and the experience of a good partner will help establish the very best boarding environment at the new school quickly.
5. Governance, accreditation and QA
A UK partner school is most unlikely to franchise its brand without significant involvement in the new school’s governance: reputation is too valuable a commodity to risk. Although this might seem limiting for a regional investor, it is a real advantage. Look for a school partner that will play an active and structured role in the governance of the new school, in order to establish a culture of continual improvement and rising standards.
Good governance is also key to building the new school’s reputation in the eyes not only of prospective families but also of the best teachers. Like safeguarding, good governance is a non-negotiable element in the process of becoming a school recognised by one or more international accrediting agencies such as the Council of British International Schools. The partner school may already be an accredited member of COBIS, but if not will almost certainly have been inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate which has a very close relationship with COBIS, and will therefore be well-placed to support the new school’s journey to internationally accredited status quickly.
6. University entrance and alumni support
Schools are primarily established for the benefit of their students. Preparing them for the next stage of their education and for employment on a global stage is what international schools do. In the early years of a new international school, look for assistance from the partner school’s career guidance and college counselling team to set up a ‘futures’ service for the students at the new school – it will be invaluable.
And having completed their K12 education, graduates of the new school can expect to become part of the worldwide network of the partner school’s alumni association, the value of which will not be lost on parents – even of the four-year-olds – when they join the school!
Andy Homden is CEO of international education consultancy, Consilium Education
Contact Andy for more about Consilium’s services for international school partnerships on ahomden@consiliumeducation.com
FEATURE IMAGE: Credit:urbancow on iStock
Support Images: Credit:Yuliya Baranych, Kamila Baimukasheva, Yulia Sutyagina, Stocknick, Yulia Arsenova and IssaraJarukitjaroon on iStock
