How important is the quality of education for the commercial success of a school group?
The question seems a simple one – yes, of course it is. But the theory then leads to the next question which is what is the role of the Mother Ship or the licensor in ensuring the highest quality of teaching and learning and what model of governance, monitoring, support and influence works best?
The markets for international schools are becoming broader and more diverse, not only in terms of location but the families who choose them. As such, school groups and licensors are increasingly considering the role they play in ensuring that the quality of education equals what is offered in the Home school.
Large scale developments in emerging markets are attractive to UK based schools who are approached to share their name and ethos overseas but how important is it commercially to ensure that academic outcomes and as well as a wider impact on a student`s wellbeing and contribution to the world after leaving our schools? It is true to say that license fees are a main driver for the Home School but for many, the reasons equal to this are for the school to take their premium educational model to the international market. Also, Home Schools receive much wider benefits than money through the creative possibilities of working with educators from other parts of the world and making priceless links between pupils as eventual alumni.
New and young schools in particular rely on global brand strategies, designed and sometimes delivered by the Home school to set the scene for prospective parents and staff alike. These claim super high standards of education and world class facilities and can directly impact on enrolment numbers and ease of recruitment. The reputation of a group therefore is only as good as the outcomes of its pupils and the quality and retention of the teams who run them.
Approaches to ensuring that the quality delivered in the home school matches those overseas which bear the same name range from a Head Office whereby practices and policies are handed down to each school and delivered according to a single standard to one where common values are expected to be reflected in all aspects of the school but there is a choice of delivery. Establishing and then navigating the latter model of governance enables individual schools to be autonomous but, at the same time, expected to continuously provide pioneering and impactful education. This is where the Mother Ship has the opportunity to influence but not control with ongoing and subtle guidance. It means working alongside school leadership teams rather than above them. Licensors often favour this model as it allows them, as educators, to maintain an integrity to our values and beliefs in how education is best provided and for the schools overseas to be distinctively, in our case, Wellington but outstanding in their local context. Of course, this does mean that the choice of partner is paramount, not only in a financial and due diligence sense but that they share the same values and passions around the importance of a holistic and high quality educational experience.
Accountability through a presence on the governing body plus timely, joint evaluation is key plus the Home School being able to fund academic research and development. In order to be competitive and reflect the purpose claimed and marketed as a new school enters a country, a group needs to offer a suite of academic advice centrally from validating judgements on the quality of teaching to challenging non-inclusive practice; from interior school design to recruitment.
It must be remembered that all of this takes investment in time and money on the part of the Home School as well as the partner. This commitment, in practice, says a lot to not just families and pupils but also to those whom we recruit and aim to retain with excellent opportunities for professional development and pipelines for succession.
In the case of Wellington International, Annual Review teams invite external advisors to work alongside the internal team and then evaluate the impact of inspection on the quality of education overall. The purpose ultimately, is to reassure and inform the school owners, our partners, of the standards of education in their respective schools.
Strategic projects across the group, identified and agreed by heads of school are leading to really scrutinising proactive practices for areas such as Wellbeing, EDI and Sustainability alongside facilitating the use of external experts in their field to train and support action research projects on equity in assessment and ambitious curriculum development.
Another thread to think about is how well the Home/overseas school partnerships invest in educating the teaching community, local to the international school. Ensuring that local academic and non-academic teams are given the chance to acquire qualifications such as NPQs and in-house leadership training help to serve this purpose.
All of these types of measures inevitably will help the commercial success of a group overall whilst remaining true to what we believe as licensing schools. Building a global network who have a shared and common understanding of outstanding education which goes beyond academic outcomes opens up so many possibilities and potential for all stakeholders and can only support sustainable growth financially for all. They do not need to be clones of each other but retain the DNA of the Mother Ship and jointly continue to review quality and purpose.
From the very beginning of any educational partnership with overseas investors, a model needs to be designed where both sides benefit from true collaboration and a shared values-based approach to school set up and delivery. Ensure there is a high enough profile given to educational strategy and evaluation between the licensor and the family of schools contractually as well as in practice so that maintaining the best and most up to date provision happens in parallel with on-going financial benefits to both sides. For us at Wellington International, this approach is delivering real enrichment to the intellectual and cultural development of our pupils and wider school communities as a whole.
Written by Fiona Carter, Director of Education, Wellington College International
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