Eteach’s Gerry Hillier-Manolas attended the latest event hosted by the Council of British International Schools, for the launch of Quality Standards and voluntary inspection for British Schools Overseas. Here she reflects on lessons learned about successfully launching a new product or service.

On Thursday 15^th September I had the pleasure of being the guest of my CEO Paul Howells as we attended the latest event to be hosted by the Council of British International Schools (COBIS). It was here I learnt the recipe for ensuring the instant success and support for the launch of a new service or product. All credit goes to Executive Director Colin Bell, the COBIS Committee and their team. Their reception to mark the successful launch of Quality Standards and voluntary inspection for British Schools Overseas was definitely ‘Gold Standard’ and worth the equivalent of a Michelin Star.

Michael Gove

I realised you must start with launching your product or service at a venue that is highly exclusive, well known and full of prestige. In our case it was the Attlee Room in the House of Lords.

To ensure a full complement and punctuality from your guests, choose a weekday and an early evening start. Attendees will be delighted to have the excuse leave their offices a little early in order arrive on

time.

Line up as many well-known speakers as possible, but only give them a couple of minutes each to talk.

Ours were: the Minister of Education Michael Gove and Hon. Vice –President of COBIS Alastair, Lord Lexden – both experienced in this procedure.

Eteach CEO Paul Howells

Mouth-watering entrees

Sprinkle the event with a few glasses of quality wine; ours was sponsored by Eteach, along with some mouth-watering entrees expertly served by a professional team.

Blend together your carefully selected guest list. Ours included senior representatives of government and its agencies, COBIS educational members, training and service organisations,

NGO’s corporate clients, approved inspectorates and the educational media. Leave to steep for an hour or so.

La crème de la crème!

Our result was a crisp cocktail of professionals who were able to discuss and promote the many advantages of an independent inspection system for British International Schools. This included the importance for COBIS member schools this Gold Mark to differentiate themselves from those just calling themselves ‘British’.  By upholding the highest standards

expected by the approved Inspection Teams and COBIS itself, both parents and teachers are able to choose schools with complete confidence. These schools can then promote themselves and the British education system they provide with

confidence, and know they truly are ‘la crème de la crème!’

And as we all know from celebrity cooks ‘the cream always rises to the top’……

1. 2011 will see the continuing decline of daily and weekly newspapers

Online will increasingly be the place where recruiters and jobseekers will come together to find their perfect match.

2. Blue-ray will become the format of choice

The entry price point for Blue-ray will continue to decline, more and more titles will be released on the format and it will be the beginning of the end for DVDs. Meanwhile it’s more than possible that 3D TVs being pushed by manufacturers will fail to make headway.

3. Video will become an increasingly important way to deliver content

Improvements in technology will significantly increase the amount of online content viewed by video on every type of website, from corporate and personal to TV on demand and social media sites.

4. Consumers will demand greener gizmos

Environmental concerns will fuel the market for eco-friendly gadgets, from tablet computers to phones and music players.

5. The demise of email will accelerate

Know people who prefer to message you via Facebook rather than email? The simplicity of in-built messaging systems on networks like FB (which provide many with their main online experience) will continue to develop and be preferred as a general communications protocol.

6. Google’s Android will become the number 1 smartphone system

The Android operating system is competing hard with both the iPhone and the Blackberry and is heading for the top spot.

7. Apple will move into search

If anyone could rival Google then Apple could. They certainly have a lot of money that they might want to invest, plus an increasing user base of their own browser bundled with iPhones, iPads and Macs, currently using Google as the default engine…

8. Organisations will increasingly try to embrace the ‘social revolution’

With more than 500 million active Facebook users, and more than 250 million engaging with FB via external sites, organisations will continue the rush to integrate social media strategies, to stay ahead and try to capitalise on this uncontainable trend.

9. The browser wars will return

Forget Explorer and Netscape battling it out in the 90s: now there’s Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Safari – while the new Rockmelt will bring social media browsing to the party.

And finally:

10. Wales will beat England in the Six Nations Championship

Mark my words. The match starts at 19.45 on 4^th February at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

What’s your view? Feel free to comment on this blog

Our recent survey about the high proportion of teachers looking to work abroad has revealed a demographic time bomb that could hit the industry over the next few years. Here we look at the figures – and ask you for your views…

The recent Eteach poll suggested that more than a third of UK teachers are actively looking for work overseas in the hope of finding better working conditions. Some 34.6% of almost 800 teachers questioned said they are actively looking for a position abroad, while a similar proportion are “open” to the idea.

Problems for schools
These findings could spell problems for schools in the UK, as many of those looking to move abroad have years of experience. Three in ten (30.7%) of those saying they want to work overseas have between six and ten years’ experience, while a quarter (24.9%) have been teachers for between 16 and 20 years.

The survey also revealed that many older teachers are now looking abroad – 27.9% of those polled who are searching for jobs overseas are between 41 and 50 years old, and 26.9% are between 31 and 40.

Great teachers looking to move permanently
This could create a demographic time bomb for schools – with around a third of heads set to retire before 2012.

Eteach chief executive Paul Howells says that there’s been a marked increase in the demand for international posts, often by very experienced teachers. He says that while teaching abroad can add a whole new dimension to a teacher’s career prospects, and to their classroom when they return to the UK, he’s most concerned about the great teachers looking to move permanently:

“We all need to address the reasons why they are leaving – we can’t do anything about the ones looking for better weather but we shouldn’t be losing excellent, experienced teachers because of working conditions.”

Would you like to work overseas? Are you one of those actively looking for a post abroad, or might you consider it in the future? Why? Is it just about the weather, or does it run deeper than that? Share your views and experiences with the Eteach so we can all learn more about this trend.

How to save £80m a year

Large schools, and particularly academies, are burning their budgets due to a lack of training, understanding and control – particularly in the area of staff recruitment advertising.

Schools should boycott expensive newspapers like TES, The Guardian and even the local press, and to use more competitive online alternatives.

For example Eteach.com offers a fixed-price unlimited advertising service that will save money especially for larger schools who advertise regularly enough money to employ more teachers, or avoid impending cut backs.

UK schools spend around £68m a year on National Press with the bill for recruitment advertising in the local press coming in at around £20m. Then there are the additional costs of paper-based admin and postage bringing total expenditure to at least £90m a year. (DCSF said it was £120m in 2008).

Just take a look at the figures!

The following comparison takes 100 job postings across 10 schools as an example:

* Eteach Premium: unlimited adverts = 20,000 fixed cost
* Schools Recruitment Service (SRS): Local press @ £500 +250 SRS = 52,500 + TES
* TES Gold: = min 90,000 + newspaper ads

The above is based on Eteach’s unlimited ad package, priced at £2,000 per school.

The Schools Recruitment Service (SRS) would cost £250 per school – plus the cost of media. This flawed DCSF-backed system is incapable of bringing the savings schools need.

The TES Gold service is based upon £900 per advert, with newspaper advertising costs still to be added – typically £1600 per combined advert.

The worrying thing is, by using SRS or just TES/Guardian or Local papers schools have no control over their expenditure.

Eteach is a proven medium, with excellent traffic and responses delivered at a fixed price.

The total cost if all secondary schools in England and Wales used Eteach (e.g.5,000 schools x £2,000) would be just £10m – and primary schools could receive a FREE service.

Now that’s a saving at least £80m per annum immediately!

This is an equation I have discussed many times with various MPs, and yet none has had the power or inclination to drive home the obvious savings that we now need.

It’s time to act…

JPH

SIX MONTHS no way….. I could never have taught PE in a London Comprehensive after 6 months training.

This will put undue pressure on prospective teachers and schools who will have to handhold these (I presume) graduates through the process and beyond extending the induction period to two or three years maybe…. !!!!!

Is this the end of formal vocational teacher training ??

JPH