Coming from a family of teachers, I know that teaching
is still as much of a vocation as it has ever been. However, a
recent meeting, at which I was advising a specialist timber frame
company that designs and builds school buildings, demonstrated that
running a modern school is as much about business as it is about
education.
In one contract planning meeting, we had to satisfy more than a
dozen stakeholders from different departments of both the local
authority and the private sector partner running the school (some
of whom disagreed with their departmental colleagues), while the
head teacher trod a delicate line seeking the best building
possible on a limited budget. This experience highlighted the
juggling act that school leadership teams have to perform in order
to deliver new buildings or refurbishment projects and the pitfalls
they must negotiate in the process.
