Making the Switch to Co-Ed

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When a single sex school switches to co-education, the reaction from parents is nervously anticipated.  For Richard Merriman, Headmaster of Birchfield, the surprise response was: why haven’t you done this sooner?

For all of us involved in independent education, continual adaptation and change is both necessary and inevitable.  But the key component of successful change is control.  We should seek to achieve change through evolution rather than revolution.  When change is uncontrolled, the vision becomes confused, the outcome unpredictable, one becomes reactive, lurching from one dilemma and unconsidered consequence to the next.  You are controlled by events.  To manage change, one has to have the vision, develop the strategy and secure the change through informed and planned evolutionary steps, steps which involve all constituent audiences.  This is a difficult process against a backdrop of economic   uncertainty, not only at governmental level but also in households in which the risks of reduced salaries and redundancy make the potential cost associated with independent education unaffordable.  All of this makes it difficult for schools to plan and certainly to have confidence in that planning.  What will be the effect, if any, of a change of government?  Whatever the results things will be different.  The economic implications for our sector are numerous.  This is not to mention the stresses created by the burden and incessant march of a bewildering array of regulations and compliance, falling demographics, the Charity Commission, Contact Point, Tier 4 & 5, and Third Cycle Inspection etc.

The successful schools will be those who have planned the potential scenarios; plan for the worst and you will most likely be pleasantly surprised when the upturn begins.  As my esteemed Chairman of Governors repeatedly reminds all of us at school, these are unprecedented times, structural change is inevitable; schools must anticipate and respond.  We are, however, not immune to this all-invasive economic meltdown.  Difficult decisions have to be made about planned expenditure, teachers’ salaries, class sizes and future investment.  Is it still true to say that a business which is not moving forward is a failing business?  All problems provide opportunities.  The development of a robust strategy is key for all schools, whatever their size.  In my experience, the active engagement of governors is critical to the process.  Finding a team of committed individuals who have both the time and skill sets to fulfil their required and dedicated roles is not easy.  Having a Board comprising both those with commercial business experience as well as educationalists is a challenge and leads to stimulating debate but, without those elements, I am in no doubt that we at Birchfield would have struggled to achieve a practical way forward over the last five years.  I am also very conscious that, today, so much is required of governors, particularly in respect of the ever increasing burden of compliance and regulation.  I feel fortunate to have such a supportive Board and Chairman.

I believe that the strategy development that we have undertaken at Birchfield has borne fruit.  Five years ago, we would not have foreseen the cataclysmic economic downturn, no more than anyone else, but we were able to view the future demography.  At a time of benign economic conditions, of secure incomes, high equity withdrawal, rising house prices, low unemployment and a culture of bonuses, we took the counter-intuitive decision to reduce the size of the school.  Rather than be a two form entry school, 80% full we decided to become a single form entry school, full.  In September 2005, with Prepcare LLP, we created Birchfield Prepcare, a co-educational day-care facility for children up to age 4, open every day, save statutory holidays, from 8.00am to 6.00pm.  Today that facility has over 100 names registered, has added a new building and is securing a throughput into our Reception year on year.  Waiting lists exist up to 2011 for that class.  Having determined the vision and agreed the resulting strategy, the school had to communicate its message to a variety of audiences.  There are both internal and external audiences who need to be engaged.  How and when you communicate is also of vital importance; carrying your audience with you is essential.  I have found that the creation of our Parents Forum some four years ago, as a conduit between parents and governors, allows not only parents to have their whole school concerns raised and reported to the full governing body, but has also allowed me to ask parental opinion on initiatives, ideas and possible developments.

It is important to have courage in your convictions.  That said, there is a myriad of issues to address.  Are the reasons for change valid, if yes, what is the time line?  How will this be funded?  How will it affect the pupils and their learning environment?  What will the reactions be of constituent parties, teachers, parents and the alumni?  By addressing the questions that each party may rightly ask and ensuring that appropriate answers can be given to each, which are interlinked, helps enormously.  Clear and consistent responses must be prepared so that key messages are delivered.  Some resistance to change is almost inevitable but by careful preparation all but the most reluctant can usually be persuaded.  In other words we need to anticipate people’s concerns and answer them clearly and emphatically before any presentation to any directly involved group.

The presentation is vital, if one constituent party finds out before another, the risk factors are raised.  Consideration of the medium for presentation is also of primary importance – public presentation, a letter, newspaper, and the website?  Each has to be considered and probably a combination of each method used to ensure the delivery and the successful outcome.  All is in the preparation and joined up thinking.  As the hours drew nearer for our big announcement of an evolutionary co-education, the tension grew.  Had we overlooked anything?  How will people respond?  The response we received was a total surprise; ‘why haven’t you done this sooner?’

I look back on that moment nearly four years ago and realise that the success came from understanding our market, the constituent parties and thorough preparation.  Yes, there have been pot holes along our journey and we continue to plan assiduously, ensuring our evolution and preparing to answer the questions before they are asked.  Planned in this evolution was the move to evolve into a co-educational facility from the bottom.  Guarantees were given to all those parents who had signed up for an all boys school, as Birchfield was, that they would at least remain within an all boys class.  Our girls will in September 2009 have travelled through to Year 3; numbers joining Reception in 2010 show equal numbers of boys and girls.

As Salopian Captain Webb said ‘nothing great is easy’; heads and governors have to make brave decisions.  Together, you have to model your school to fit the demographics and the market.  We all need a business model which works and particularly now one that will permit us to emerge from the current financial maelstrom the stronger and better equipped to invest in the future and keep our school happy, confident and moving forward.  Those decisions, though difficult at the time, have proved to be sound.  We constantly review our position in order to anticipate future trends. 

We also seek initiatives that have benefits across the school.  There is an advantage in being a relatively small school in this respect as we can act quickly to seize opportunities if they contribute to our strategic approach.  A recent example has been the creation of a ‘closed’ professional business network forum for our parents, through the facilitation of ‘LinkedIn’.  The original idea was suggested by a parent who has experience in this area.  Parents who did not know each other are now making contacts through wider networkings and doing business together.  The value added is considerable. 

We are also seeking to broaden the payment options open to parents.  We will, in line with the new regulations on qualifying child care, be accepting commercial child care vouchers for a range of extra curricular activities provided by the school.  We also provide a meal ordering service for all parents.  In this time-deprived world, convenience and value added is increased; collect your child at the end of the day and your supper. 

Parents want their child’s school to do well; they have commitment and loyalty, knowledge and understanding, multi-skill sets and connections and more often than not a deep desire to be involved, particularly when they are asked or invited to contribute.  Occasionally, as Heads we have to be tactically agile, but by doing so one can often seize the moment, grasp the opportunity and rise to the challenge.  Yes, in our right-sizing and evolution to co-education, we have had to invest in cultural change, curriculum development, improved and appropriate facilities.  It remains vital even in these unprecedented economic times to invest proportionately in the future, in order that in the future savings can be made.  Ultimately, when economic matters start to settle that investment will pay off and permit investment in the bigger projects once again.

Putting one’s head in the sand is not an option.  Successful outcomes emerge through vision and controlled evolutionary strategy.  At Birchfield we believe we have had the vision and action to change our school through evolution.  We continue to have a highly successful, happy and purposeful establishment which is always striving to provide the very best for every child inside and outside the classroom.  This aspiration remains constant, what we do know is that through vision and strategy, we are a different school today than five years ago, and that with continued vision and action, we can continue to enhance our reputation, be aware of the pertinent risks and evolve into the next stage of development, comfortably and confidently.  As our strap line reads, ‘Securing the best of the past with an eye to the future.’

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