Case Studies

Consultancy Services

The Background

Birmingham Authority is one of the largest local authorities in Europe with over 400 nursery, primary, secondary and special schools. It has always been recognised as being at the forefront in delivering unique and diverse initiatives in education.

The Challenge

Birmingham Authority recognised that it was losing significant skills and experience through senior leadership retirement. ITN Mark Education identified that this experience could be harnessed and used to support schools and was commissioned to assist in delivering an effective and efficient outsourced school leadership support programme.

ITN Mark’s Consultancy Services division partnered with the Birmingham Advisory Support Service (BASS) - Birmingham Authority’s special education leadership division - to allow individuals struggling with management to redeploy into alternative fields. This service also provides secondment opportunities for current serving senior leaders.

The Consultancy Services Solution

Working directly with school leaders and BASS, ITN Mark Consultancy Services created an outsourced, staffing-based solution. The key drivers for the initiative were centred on quality assurance, service delivery, cost effectiveness, transparency and a measurable impact to schools and leaders alike.

Presentations were delivered at all local primary consortium meetings to ensure that every senior leader was made aware of the initiative. This was followed up with an online survey to establish the needs of potential candidates. All responses were followed up with direct contact and subsequent registration which has lead to the formation of the Interim Impact Managers strategy.

This strategy developed a pool of “Interim Impact Managers” - school leaders looking for a change of direction - which can make an immediate difference using their skills and expertise through unique schemes which allow:

Opportunities to work on secondment in local schools and remain within the authority education system
Redeployment initiatives for competent school leaders who are retiring
Engagement of retired school leaders to support identified schools on a temporary basis
Delivery of a service operated by experienced recruitment professionals, dedicated to speed, efficiency and response

Results

Creation of a fully compliant, senior leadership database
Access to local consortia and authority specialists
Initial contract for two terms now extended for a further twelve months and extended to include all schools in the Birmingham Authority
Schools seeing ITN Mark Impact Managers as a solution to their education issues

Partnerships

The Background

In the last three years ITN Mark Education has devised and developed bespoke ‘ring- fenced’ recruitment partnerships with single faith school communities. We currently have three partnerships one situated in Newcastle working in conjunction with Hexham and Newcastle Diocese, the second partnering with Birmingham Catholic Primary Partnership and we have recently launched Leeds Diocese Supply Service working in conjunction with Leeds Catholic Diocese.

The Challenge

Single faith school communities identified that their previous supply staff providers were unable to fully understand the ethos of their schools. As a result some of the staff supplied would be ineffective in the classroom due to lack of knowledge of the holistic learning appropriate to pupils attending faith schools.

The Partnership Solution

ITN Mark works closely with each faith community to build a bespoke supply service brand, including branded websites, marketing literature and branded stationery
A dedicated consultant team sympathetic to the communities principles and aims is implemented and is responsible for the recruitment and retention of the partnership’s supply staff
Each partnership is promoted to their local community via e-marketing, online branded advertising, specialist (faith) and local press advertising, and recruitment exhibitions
ITN Mark form close working relationships with the faith schools to promote referrals of prospective candidates
Each partnership has a select steering group which represents the schools of that particular Diocese to ensure that clear communication is consistent between the client and the partnership recruitment team
The operational infrastructure of all partnerships is based on the ITN Mark core business recruitment model

Results

Have successfully built a talent pool of leaders and supply staff that are fully conversant with the ethos of the schools’ faith for these three communities
Three successful supply staff partnerships
Sustainable, robust, and transferable supply staff service

“I’m delighted with the professional and efficient ways in which ITN Mark have worked with us in setting up the Leeds Diocesan Supply Service. I have no doubt that the service will go from strength to strength as more schools use it and find that it meets their specific needs. I have been particularly impressed by the manner in which the faith requirements of our Catholic schools have been taken so seriously in the recruitment of supply teachers and the excellent communication that has happened at all levels of the process.”

Deirdre Rowe, Principal Education Officer, Leeds Catholic Diocese