When a Head, Chair of Governors, or Bursar gets in touch, we are always humbled and feel honoured to be trusted to provide support. Helping a school, especially during challenging times is a professional privilege.
Pinch Point Communications (PPC) is 10 years old this year. Since our inception we have helped many independent schools across the UK.
The schools we have worked with are all led by people who have one thing in common, a desire to do the very best they can for every pupil under their care.
We are sometimes asked to help raise awareness of bursaries, or of investments the school is making. We support schools with understanding their stakeholders, or looking at mergers and acquisitions. And, we have advised on communicating the UK values of a school in their overseas locations.
Sometimes we are asked to help schools during really testing and heart-breaking times.
We have supported Heads under extreme stress; this includes preparing them to attend official hearings and coaching and supporting them to face the the media.
We have also worked with schools during changes in governance and staffing. Ensuring that what is said, to whom, and at what point, is crucial. We have a lot of experience and knowledge about the changes to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, for example.
As well as giving professional and personal advice we can also be a sounding board for policies, ideas and plans.
In all our work with independent schools, one topic is raised more than any other. Student mental health.
Heads openly say that it worries them more than any other aspect of school life. And the role of social media in influencing young people’s mental health is powerful.
Recently we have worked with several schools planning for how they would deal with some of the worst possible situations. As one headteacher shared with us recently, “It’s not a question of if, but when”.
Preparing for such circumstances, however challenging, provides an opportunity to test the model of ‘preparing for the worst and hoping for the best’. For Heads it is a chance to see how they and their colleagues would respond, and how they would work together to deal with the practical and emotional aspects of a situation.
Each time we take a school through a crisis planning exercise they become more acutely aware of the importance of doing it. Heads, senior leaders, both academic and in support services, find it a truly absorbing experience and nobody ever approaches it with anything other than the utmost engagement.
The result is a tangible and lasting understanding of what it would be like to face, and deal with, such a difficult event.
I have no doubt that as we learn more about the pressures on our young people, this has become the most important aspect of training that we can provide to any school, anywhere in the country.
We often take a brief directly from a school, or through their legal team. We have worked alongside some of the organisations representing the sector, including the Independent Schools Council and the Independent Schools’ Bursars Association.
If you would like to have a confidential conversation with us, please do get in touch.