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SEC Conference 2008

Private and Voluntary Sector Engagement in Direct Provision of Education

Here are some photos from our successful 2008 conference. Click thumbnails to view full-sized versions.

Working breakfast session

The conference started with early-morning coffee, pastries and croissants for those who joined the ‘breakfast shift’. Nick Zienau (Chair) and Dick Beeden (Treasurer) shared their knowledge and experience of the practicalities of setting up a consultancy. Among the topics covered were the type of business - sole trader or limited - what kind of accounts to do, separate banking, VAT and professional indemnity insurance. Delegates, especially those new to consultancy, were reminded about the importance of staying up to date and the challenges that presented.

Main session

Following a break and welcome for the main body of delegates, David Tomlinson opened the main session with a presentation about how the private and voluntary sector are becoming increasingly involved in the direct provision of teaching children as the role of local authorities becomes more one of the commissioner and less that of the provider. He explained his understanding of commissioning as distinct from procurement (although that is of course part of it). He drew our attention to how children’s trusts are becoming the strategic commissioner and how the local strategic partnerships are involved in distributing the Area Based Grant (money taken in part from the standards fund and out of LA and school control). There is more at www.commissioningsupport.org.uk

Peter Jenkins provided a contrasting perspective. Peter has built his own management consultancy company (www.symbia.co.uk) and works mainly for the public sector, including the police and London Underground. They provide IT-based systems to support management. From time to time, projects have an educational element, and that is when companies like his have to find people like us. That is difficult and in his experience the SEC is rare and a good resource. He and his partner recently sold their company to a much larger Indian concern. His contribution concluded with a description of their latest project and their search for a permanent leader to head up a team to provide state education in at least one of the states in India.

Workshops

Lunch was followed by workshops. Delegates had time for two out of the four on offer. Bill Rigby is a Director of VOICE International, (www.voice-international.net ) an education consultancy promoting education for sustainable development. His workshop considered some of the threats as well as the opportunities inherent in the involvement of the commercial world in the process of education in the UK and elsewhere.

Graham Cook, one of our new members, provided a fascinating insight into work going on the USA with challenging children. He described how challenging physical environments and responsibilities in the Utah Desert - rather unfairly described as “Brat Camps” - are being used to change youngsters. The therapy that goes with it is intense and involves the parents. It works about 50% of the time but is expensive (about £15k for about one term's worth of fully residential treatment). Consequently at the moment it is only available to those with deep pockets, but is there something here of wider application or might there be a case for state funding?

Bill Brown shared his very down-to-earth and practical view of the service we provide, with about two-thirds of our delegates. He described how he is often called in to rescue a private school in trouble either because Ofsted has found it wanting or might do so in the next few weeks. They want quick, effective and efficient solutions. There is a bottom line: to keep in the black. Minds are focused. It’s not a time for advice and debate, but action. You are judged on whether the business survives. See more at www.theeducationpartnership.org.uk Bill is keen that we remember that Education Consultants are businesses and that if we are to thrive rather than just survive we too have to act, act swiftly, manage and market our businesses in the most economic and practical way that yields best returns on the investment in time and energy we put in. He emphasised the importance of knowing the regulations and being on top of the latest trends so that clients are confident that the advice they buy from us will keep them ahead of the game and able to grow their businesses.

Pauline Fraser, another new member, ran a participative workshop where those who attended had to use a deceptively simple but yet powerful tool for bringing about change and improvement. By thinking about a few things that need to be improved, how good they are now, what they would look like if they were perfect and thinking of a few things that improve your business, progress is possible.

Review

By now we were close to four o’clock. Nick Zienau called us together for a brief review of the day. The consensus was that it had been a success, varied, relevant and informative. Delegates networked over tea, said their farewells or joined the AGM that followed.

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