Barlow Robbins Education Conference

Tuesday evening, our Independent Schools and Charity expert, Annie Lee, was invited to Barlow Robbins' education conference held in the stunning location of Pennyhill Park Hotel in Bagshot. The conference, "So who's in charge of this school anyway?", looked at the relationship between the Head, the Bursar and the Governing Body.

Key note speaker was Ken Durham, former head of University College School, who gave an insight into his wealth of experience, explaining the relationship between Head, Bursar and Governors, while drawing on his own experiences and challenges he had to deal with.

The panel comprised of the Head from Benenden School, Samantha Price; the Bursar from Cranleigh School, Patrick Roberts; and the Chair from Royal Grammar School, Sarah Creedy. Intriguing discussions included whether the Head and the Bursar can be joint CEOs; should the Head be financially attuned to the financial affairs of the school and whether governors should be involved with the management of the school. Various questions and observations were shared amongst the panel and the audience.

The event had a great turn out, drawing people from as far as the South Coast to come and listen to the panel discuss the challenges they faced and offered their top three tips. The key messages were all about communication. Without clear leadership, strategy and objectives, the school is likely to fail. Secondly, without good quality, understandable and clear financial information, the governing body can not make their decisions. Finally, the senior leadership and management teams need to be held accountable.

Congratulations to Joanna Lada-Walicki, Partner and Head of Independent Schools for a successful evening. We look forward to next one!