Quality Assurance review

How good is a school ? What significant achievements have been accomplished without proper recognition? Where are the areas of weakness and potential underachievement? Holding up the mirror to a school across every aspect of operations is an essential periodic exercise in the quest for sustainability and quality assurance.

Acting as critical friends, we ensure the process is both rigorous and supportive.

Benchmarking salary and benefits

It is essential for school leaders to know how their school compares with others by city, country and region. Comparison can be revealing or reaffirming. Either way, being fully informed about the competitiveness of a school affects staff recruitment and retention, admissions and ultimately, viability.

Key Performace Indicators

Admissions, staff-student ratios, staff turnover and class sizes are all vital signs indicative of a school’s health. How do you compare with other schools locally, nationally and regionally? Placing what you know about your own school in context is an essential exercise.

Policy organisation and writing

Policies have a tendency to be written, boxes ticked and the job is done when the accrediting or inspection crisis has passed. Successful schools place their policies in a robust and understandable framework, constantly using them to guide procedure and to make difficult decisions consistently.

Flexible strategic planning.

Reliable long term planning is an essential element embedded in the culture of any successful school, and yet in uncertain times it has never been more difficult. There are two aspects. Firstly, ensuring that things that can be controlled are under control and planned for. Secondly planning flexibly, yet with the final ‘end in mind’ in order to be able to deal with the unexpected.

Financial planning for international schools

A school with the most wonderful Vision and Mission, even if supported by the whole community will achieve little unless it has the financial ability to sustain it. Running school finances effectively is a mark of good stewardship while effective budgeting is a vital skill for all middle and senior leaders.

Establishing the right balance

“Safety is our priority.” But, establishing safe on site procedures, without inhibiting natural school operations, or bringing everything to a standstill has never been more important as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Having a focused conversation about these tricky areas helps.

Recruiting for start ups and new schools

Recruiting the right people – and the right combination of people – for your school is an essential annual operation. Planning for and implementing a  successful international recruitment exercise has changed profoundly in the last 10 years. These changes are still accelerating.

Staffing plan: getting it just right

A school’s staffing costs will always be the biggest part of its budget. The Goldilocks principle applies. Having too few or too many staff can put an unbearable strain on a school as it seeks to sustain its mission over time. Careful, analytical planning to get the numbers just right is vital.

Timetable and scheduling review

Putting the best possible combinations of students and faculty together over time is the scheduler’s mission. No school, whether it offers a radical transdisciplinary program or traditional subject based curriculum is able to operate sustainably without a timetable that serves the curriculum efficiently.

360 Senior Leadership review

Having appointed a Head of School, there here is no more important tasks for a Board or owner to undertake than providing support while  holding them properly to account. Reviewing a leader’s performance is difficult, and best undertaken if facilitated externally.

Leadership mentoring

Leading a school can be a lonely job. The Head is a mediator between Board, faculty, parents, support staff, contractors and suppliers. The pressure is relentless, especially for first time Heads. Talking to an experienced hand puts things into perspective and leads to better decision making.

Safeguarding review and training

There has been no more important development in international education in the last 10 years than the growing importance of child protection systems and protocols. These are now also at the heart of international accreditation processes. All staff need to understand their role. Training is essential.

Counselling mentor

Counsellors in international schools are almost never off-duty. The range of support they provide to promote the well-being of students, colleagues and even parents, requires energy. Having their own trusted and qualified listener is essential for the job, and in many countries a requirement.

International skills for national staff

Great national staff can be among a school’s greatest assets. If they are going to teach an international curriculum, they will need support and training to develop their pedagogical style to fit the programme and meet the expectations of parents. Consilium Education consultants have trained national staff in Bangladesh, Malaysia, Turkey, the UAE, Thailand, Japan and Indonesia.

EAL across the curriculum

If you believe that every lesson is a language lesson – and even if you don’t – with the majority of students in international schools now using English as an additional language, all teachers need to be aware of how they use language in class if their lessons are going to be truly effective.

Planning in the Early Years

Is there any more important part of the school than the Early Years? Getting EY planning right by addressing the learning needs of children aged 2 – 5 sets students up for life, promoting cognitive.

Writing project for teachers

Teachers who are able to express themselves well in writing are simply better teachers. Developing a love for language and its use promotes better teaching (in any subject) and effective communication. Is training for this purpose a luxury?

International procurement and supply

Choosing and planning for the most effective use and care of edcuational resources is essential. Getting value for money suggests that local sourcing is an important part of this planning, but well-judged procurement of resources from overseas can often produce savings in the long run. Consilium Education works closely with UK based educational consolidated supplier, VPJ Solutions to bring a wide range of resources from the UK

Planning for school growth

Very few school sites will remain the same 20 years after opening. Yet how they grow and when they change needs careful long term planning in line with the school’s mission and vision. Last-minute. ad hoc decisions are common and should be avoided at all costs. One of our mantras? Every space is a learning space.

Analysing room and space usage

What can be more boring? And yet what could be more important? An appraisal of the way that rooms are used, and the analysis of percentage of room occupancy by an experienced hand can be revealing. It’s nitty gritty stuff, but well worth the effort and can lead to substantial change supportive of a school’s mission, while saving a great deal of money for essential resources.

Infrastructure and systems

We all know educational technology is important and that it is changing faster than any other aspect of modern education.  We help schools establish the right kind of flexible infrastructure, using a carefully planned and transparent approach to procurement, so they can become digitally indepedent.