Pre Opening Support
Recruitment Support
Having worked with you through the initial stages
of getting the school approved, we will be ideally
placed to fully understand the calibre and personality
of the people you will need to run it, and to teach
in it. The recruitment process involves firstly creating
the correct organisational structure for your school,
and then finding the right people to fill the roles
identified – from headteachers and the senior
leadership team, through to subject specialist teachers
and support staff.
Our aim is to assist you
in the search and selection progress, using our experience
of staffing the first Free Schools and other work
in Academies, to ensure that the people we shortlist
for you share your vision and ethos. Our track record
in successful appointments to senior leadership teams
and other key positions means that you can leave the
attraction and initial selection of candidates to
us, allowing you to concentrate on the final stages
of choosing the best people to deliver your vision.
Ongoing Marketing
Support
Through the community engagement which will have been
carried out as part of the proposal development, the
need for a new school within your community will be
well defined – and parents should be aware of
the new facility which is being developed. However,
it’s still important that ongoing marketing
activity is carried out, not only to make everyone
aware of the new school – but also to create
the right impression of the school and its vision.
The marketing support process
includes long term relationship development within
your local area, building strong relationships with
potential parents and students, as well as with key
community stakeholders. We can assist you in achieving
this through the development of a wide range of marketing
and publicity tools – from websites, brochures
and even a logo design, through to advertising, PR,
open days and other publicity activities.
ICT Support
We can support you in creating an ‘ICT Vision’
for your new Free School, which will be designed to
facilitate and enhance Teaching and Learning, whilst
also supporting the administration and management
aspects. This can include:
- Working with Partnerships
for Schools to procure the correct technology from
the most appropriate supplier, on the most favourable
terms
- Supporting the implementation
of selected technology, to ensure that everything
is in place and fully tested before the school opens
its doors to students
- Full training for staff
and pupils, working with the technology supplier
as appropriate, to ensure that the chosen ICT solution
is functioning at optimum levels and providing all
of the benefits which were originally visualised.
Post-Opening Support
There will be a very high level of focus around getting
the school open on day one, but we never forget the
importance of what happens the day after. Our areas
of expertise extend well beyond the opening of new
schools and cover all aspects of their day to day
running.
With the requirement from
the DfE that any new school must provide evidence
of how it will create a ‘success culture’,
it is important to lay the foundations for this pre-opening
and to have a clear delivery plan. Our support in
this area focuses on brokering or providing many supporting
services, such as:
- Finance
- HR
- Recruitment
- School Business Management
- Leadership Training
- Catering
- Facilities Management
- ICT Support
- Marketing and Communications
This is just a selection
to give you an idea of the ways in which Place Group
can support your school both before and after it is
open. Please email tom.legge@place-group.com
for more details.
