Challenge the Gap Marketing Strategy

1. Challenge the Gap Marketing Strategy Project Summary and Handover Pack

2. 4_89 Agenda • Project scope • Summary of project outputs • Recap of key insights • Action plan

3. 23_85 24_85 25_85 26_85 27_85 28_85 29_85 30_85 Scope: Four key questions to answer 3 4 How can CtG facilitation and lead schools best recruit? Which areas and schools should be targeted to achieve future growth? Which alternative routes to market should be pursued? 1 2 How can schools best recruit? What should the key marketing messages be? • Articulation of best practice recruitment • Marketing approach playbook for facilitation/lead schools • Diagnostic of key sales triggers (KPCs and decision making process) • Identification of key marketing messages and scoped materials update • Identification of priority locations and future Facilitation schools for targeting for expansion • Identification and prioritisation of routes to market • High-level action plan for approach Deliverables Key Activities • Conduct workshops of facilitation school heads and program leads • Conduct interviews with heads of member schools (facilitation, lead and accelerators) • Conduct interviews with heads of member schools • Scope update to marketing materials • Prioritise areas for expansion (impact vs. ease) • Identify group of high priority “future facilitation” schools using defined criteria and assign to current schools • Brainstorm alternative routes to market with management • Conduct interviews with heads of member schools • Conduct interviews with key decision makers

4. Workplan: The project has run for a total of 6 weeks Working Group #1 Interim SteerCo Final SteerCo Key meetings Facilitation school workshop Programme lead workshop Working Group #2 Working Group #3 1 What is the best recruitment approach for schools? Interview facilitation schools to identify key sales themes Consolidate findings Schedule and conduct school customer interviews 2 What should the key marketing messages be? Schedule and conduct school customer interviews Scope update to marketing materials 3 Which areas and schools should be targeted to achieve future growth? Prioritise areas for expansion Identify target schools 4 Which alternative routes to market should be pursued? Identify potential alternative routes to market Schedule and conduct interviews on alternative routes

5. 6_85 7_85 9_85 11_85 Sources: 16 primary interviews as well as school workshops, secondary research and mgmt. discussions In-depth school interviews, n=16 School workshops • Head teacher, Feltham CC (Facilitation School) • Head teacher, Royal Wootton Bassett School (Facilitation school) • Head teacher, St. Fidelis School (Facilitation School) • Head teacher, Hayes School (Facilitation School) • Head teacher, Stanville Primary (Lead School) • Head teacher and Assistant Head teacher, Olive Hill Primary (Accelerator School) • Head teacher, Athelney Primary and Elfrida Primary (Accelerator Schools) • Head teacher, Sandhurst Junior School • Head teacher, St. Catherine’s Primary School • Head teacher, St. Mark’s School • Head teacher, Bishop Justus School • Programme Lead, Feltham CC (Facilitation School) • Programme Lead, Kingsbridge CC (Facilitation School) • Programme Lead, Rushey Mead School (Facilitation School) • Programme Lead, The Earls High School (Facilitation School) • Programme Lead, Gilbert Scott Primary • Workshop conducted with Heads of Facilitation Schools during Management Board meeting • Similar workshop conducted with Programme leads of Facilitation Schools on Tuesday 20th May Secondary research/analysis • Department for Education schools database • Challenge Partners internal data • “Unseen children: access and achievement 20 years on” – Ofsted • OLEVI facilitation school data • Office for National Statistics census data Management discussions • Multiple informal collaborative working and handover sessions with Challenge Partners management • Two marketing messaging workshops conducted by Chris Davision (Permira) with Challenge Partners management

6. 4_89 Agenda • Project scope • Summary of project outputs • Recap of key insights • Action plan

7. Summary of Project Outputs Output Description Location OWNER 1 2 3 4 5

8. 4_89 Agenda • Project scope • Summary of project outputs • Recap of key insights • Action plan

9. Scope of the work: Our work has focused on four key questions What is the best recruitment approach for schools? 1 What should the key marketing messages be? 2 Which areas and schools should be targeted to achieve future growth? 3 Which alternative routes to market should be pursued? 4

10. 4_85 We have identified five key success factors for recruitment by Facilitation schools 1

11. 46_84 56_84 31_84 Structured process: Best practice recruitment by schools begins early, continuing throughout the year 1 Summer Autumn Spring Summer Illustrative Draft Deadline for sign-ups Key events Head forum (agenda item) Run open info session on CtG Taster session Teaching school forum (agenda item) 2-3 hours twilight session, with some content, showcase by Challenge the Gap team 1-2 hours, run by Programme Lead, focused on programme structure Acquisition Identify targets and event timeline, feed back where CP support needed Key Facilitation school action Conduct meetings between Facilitation Head and target Lead school Heads Key event/mile-stone Conduct meetings between Facilitation/Lead Head and target Accelerator school Heads Conduct follow up conversations/chase up by email as appropriate Retention Collect feedback from Lead and Accelerator Heads and gauge likelihood to join Conduct meetings between Facilitation Head and target Lead school Heads

12. 8_89 Targets: Medium-high FSM schools with high attainment gaps are Challenge the Gap’s current core base 1 FSM POPULATION ATTAINMENT GAP Core customer base • Within-area recruitment should focus on schools within this segment • Expansion of the programme should target areas which have a lot of schools in this segment ~75% of schools ~80% of schools *Attainment defined as % of pupils achieving level 4 or above in reading and maths tests and writing TA for KS2, % of pupils achieving 5+ A*-C or equivalents including A*-C in both English and mathematics GCSEs for KS4 Source: DfE schools database; Challenge Partners membership data

13. 27_84 37_84 Targets: There is a potentially attractive segment of “Good”/“Outstanding” schools with a volatile gap 1 Illustrative “Ofsted is really crucial as so much hangs on how the disadvantaged children are performing. The schools most receptive to this message are those in danger of falling from “good” or “outstanding”.” Programme Lead, Facilitation School Alternate base Core base • “A school with a low proportion on FSM is quite vulnerable as each individual child counts for a huge amount. Your data over time is going to be variable. With CtG you can demonstrate that it might fluctuate, but that you are doing a serious piece of work.” Head teacher, Facilitation School Attainment Gap Potential attractive secondary segment, where “Good” or “Outstanding” and volatile gap • “Being “outstanding” is about continually evolving. A school needs to demonstrate that it is dealing with Pupil Premium in an effective way. Those schools would naturally be attracted to CtG.” Programme Lead, Facilitation School Free School Meal Population Source: School interviews

14. 5_89 Resource: A question remains as to whether the current Lead school fee structure is appropriate 1 • Currently Lead schools receive a small payment for participating in the programme, regardless of how successfully they recruit or execute the programme • Some Lead schools are not effective at recruiting to the programme; most benefit equally from the programme as Accelerator schools do • It may be more effective to provide Lead schools with a discount for each school they recruit to the programme, but to still charge them to participate in the programme

15. 7_85 9_85 10_89 11_84 Next steps: We’ve produced a draft how-to guide that needs further project management to complete 1 HOW-TO GUIDE NEXT STEPS • Objective to produce short, sharp document that can be used to train Facilitation Heads/Leads to recruit effectively • Content focused on “how-to” vs. collateral • Playbook requires further project management to completion: • Align internally on guide preliminary content • Distribute draft to Facilitation Heads and Leads and solicit feedback • Collate feedback and incorporate into final internal draft of specific content (“copy”) • Brief copywriter and coordinate production/printing • Distribute to Facilitation Heads and Leads • Plan and run training workshop • Run planning meetings with Facilitation Heads and Leads • Contents items: • Tips for success • Messages – which are important • Common questions/challenges and responses (TBD) • Overview of marketing materials (TBD) • “CRM” notes page (TBD) • Case studies of success of sale e.g. Blackpool (TBD) External expertise to be utilised, requires internal sponsor to drive to completion

16. Backup: Draft common questions/challenges for how-to guide 1 Question Potential response

17. Scope of the work: Our work has focused on four key questions What is the best recruitment approach for schools? 1 What should the key marketing messages be? 2 Which areas and schools should be targeted to achieve future growth? 3 Which alternative routes to market should be pursued? 4

18. 20_85 22_85 41_85 29_85 37_85 Five broad themes with specific key messages 2 PUPIL OUTCOMES UNIQUE PROGRAMME STAFF DEVELOPMENT NETWORK FACILITATION OFSTED RATING Importance (hypothesis) Potential key marketing messages • Case studies of individual impact (schools or children) • Evidence of “soft” measures i.e. lives as well as attainment • Potential to impact all FSM pupils in school • Attainment data • Uniqueness of programme content • Flexible/ tailored nature of programme delivery • Focus on school collaboration/ “joint-practice development” to drive improvement • Leadership development opportunity (staff become leaders within schools on pupil premium) • Staff feel more empowered to address disadvantaged children • Programme facilitates stronger links between schools that already work together e.g. feeder schools • Also Provides possibility to work with other schools outside of usual network • Ability to directly impact Ofsted rating (vs. indirectly through attainment) • Examples of schools which have been impacted positively • Danger of schools losing high ratings Decreasing Source: School interviews

19. 12_84 Five key themes contribute to a proposed new core message and three sub messages 2 PUPIL OUTCOMES UNIQUE PROGRAMME STAFF DEVELOPMENT NETWORK FACILITATION OFSTED RATING Preliminary Importance (hypothesis) Can be rolled into staff development Likely too tactical for explicit use (though important) A proposed new core message… “Challenge the Gap provides schools with practical tools and strategies to break the link between poverty and poor outcomes and to drive long-term performance improvement. Working collaboratively, CtG is about thinking big, starting small and scaling fast to have a far reaching impact and make a lasting difference.” …with three main sub messages Challenge the Gap works Challenge the Gap has a unique approach CtGhas far-reaching benefits for participating schools Decreasing Source: School interviews

20. 4_85 5_85 6_85 15_84 Each sub message is supported by a number of further detailed points 2 • CtG works • On average, pupils in the target cohorts made 5 terms progress in 3 • Loyalty demonstrates effectiveness – 83% of schools from the second year are continuing to a third • It has a positive impact not just on the target cohort but on the whole school – 30% of leaders said they had seen an impact after just one term, rising to 67% after four terms • It’s not just about seeing a different set of results. It is about seeing a different child. Pupils on the programme become more engaged, self-starting and empowered 1 Preliminary • CtGhas a unique approach • The program is a practical, tailored and research-led model that builds in-school expertise in collaboration with other schools • The programme is structured to create tools and processes for each individual circumstance • It is evidence-based, reviewing and refining activities half-termly and tracking progress across a range of parameters termly • It focuses on building competencies specifically relevant to pupil premium pupils – academic competence, self-awareness and resilience • Once the evidence base is established, the program is designed to be cascaded quickly across the school • It is built on a foundation of school to school learning, whereby schools are able to learn from others’ experiences and jointly design improvements 2 • CtGhas far-reaching benefits for participating schools • The program works across all levels at the school to deliver a lasting transformational impact on staff and their ability to tackle educational disadvantage • CtGbelieves that long-term solutions need to be driven from within. That means taking a non-hierarchical approach to work with leaders, teachers and para-professionals to create a cohesive in-school programme • Collaborating with other schools builds powerful and enduring networks • Working on the program helps model the leadership of the future 3

21. Backup: Select quotes on each key marketing theme (1/3) 2 Case studies Pupil outcomes • “Schools respond very well to case studies of schools that have succeeded by being part of the programme. It’s useful to bring it to life.” Programme lead, Facilitation School • “The hard data is really useful, but the actual story can often have more impact. The individual story is better.” Assistant Head, Accelerator School Softer measures • “It’s not only about closing the gap in terms of figures, it’s challenging what the gap is through challenging the underlying behaviours. It’s changing lives as well as gaps.” Head teacher, Facilitation School • “The qualitative outcomes were important to see before we signed up. It wasn’t about the hard data achievement, it was about the kids themselves. How they see themselves.” Head teacher, Accelerator School Whole school impact • “We’ve had to massively emphasise how you can roll it out to the rest of the school. Schools want to know they can impact more than just the target cohort through the programme.” Head teacher, Facilitation School • “It was primarily about narrowing the attainment gap in school. It’s not enough just to gain an outside perspective, we needed the evidence base.” Head teacher, Accelerator School Source: School interviews

22. Backup: Select quotes on each key marketing theme (2/3) 2 Unique prog-ramme • “We liked the structure of the project. The structure was really quite appealing and we hadn’t seen it before. The fact that you work with other schools was great. It looked really attractive to us.” Head teacher, Accelerator School • “Ichose to sign up to the programme because it was relevant. It involved working with the nearest secondary school and it looked like a good programme. It fitted with the work we were doing.” Head teacher, Accelerator School • “The integrity of the programme was good and it fitted with our ethos. We like to work collaboratively. It just appealed as a programme in itself.” Head teacher, Lead School Staff develop-ment • “If there is one unique selling point it’s how you up-skill your staff. Schools react well to equipping their staff with skills to address Pupil Premium, and train others too.” Programme Lead, Facilitation School • “The staff development is incredibly important. If you get it right it will be so embedded in the school, you won’t even know it’s there.” Head teacher, Facilitation School • “We would need to know that teachers have found it useful and that is has an impact on their practice.The involvement of the para-professionalsis also a big plus. They are often not involved in taking a lead.” Head teacher, Accelerator School Source: School interviews

23. Backup: Select quotes on each key marketing theme (3/3) 2 Network facilitation • “Many schools won’t be exposed to school to school learning and collaboration. They recognise that it’s a useful thing to become involved in.” Programme Lead, Facilitation School • “We knew that the programme would facilitate even closer collaboration with the secondary, which was a good thing.” Head teacher, Accelerator School • “We were already working closely with the schools that we signed up, we even share a couple of staff members. We knew this would help for collaboration.” Head teacher, Lead School Ofsted rating “The programme is a useful box ticked for Ofsted. You know how it is going to look on the development plan.” Head teacher, Accelerator School “Ofsted is really crucial as so much hangs on how the disadvantaged children are performing. The schools most receptive to this message are those in danger of falling from “good” or “outstanding”.” Programme Lead, Facilitation School “You are under the pressure of Ofsted continuously, it’s important to deliver on the attainment of disadvantaged children. The school wasn’t in an Ofsted category, but possibly would have been if it had had an inspection. We needed to address that.” Head teacher, Accelerator School Source: School interviews

24. 5_89 Suggested next steps: Updated marketing material and use of consistent messages 2 • Messages should be refined and finalised, with input from Chris • Updated materials to then be scoped out and produced, with the help of a copywriter as required • Materials should be distributed both to Facilitation Heads and Leads

25. Scope of the work: Our work has focused on four key questions What is the best recruitment approach for schools? 1 What should the key marketing messages be? 2 Which areas and schools should be targeted to achieve future growth? 3 Which alternative routes to market should be pursued? 4

26. 6_89 9_89 We’ve set out to select potential Facilitation schools of the future by ranking Teaching schools… 3 RANKING OF ALL TEACHING SCHOOLS… …BASED ON CRITERIA THAT MAY DETERMINE SUCCESS Collaborative working • Membership of Challenge Partners • Facilitation of ITP/OTP • Membership of other regional Challenges Area feasibility • Population density (as proxy for school density) • % of schools in the area that are in the “core” segment (high FSM %, high attainment gap)

27. 15_89 …and have identified a “top 100” list of target schools based on this approach, largely in urban areas 3 TOP 100 SCHOOLS FOR CTG CLUSTERS COMMENTS • Most schools are in urban areas due to a weighting placed on geographical density; we believe that these areas would be the easiest to grow the programme in the first instance • All schools identified are in areas with significant need, due to the importance placed on having schools with large amounts of FSM pupils and gaps (incidentally, many existing Facilitation schools rank very highly in this analysis) • We recognise that the suitability of schools will in many cases largely be determined by individual factors and context, but hope that this analysis serves as a useful platform to further prioritise Click here for interactive map, refer to appendix for full list Top 100 “priority” schools Existing Facilitation schools Source: DfE schools database; Challenge Partners data; ONS; OLEVI

28. 5_89 Suggested next steps: Agree approach and select schools to on-board to the programme 3 • Challenge Partners should align internally on relative priority of this expansion vs. new routes to market • Challenge Partners should recommend and seek sign-off on approach from Management Board on June 25th • It is suggested that Challenge Partners invites each Facilitation school to suggest 3 schools that they would like to work with, and then to assign each school with a new school to on-board through shadowing/adoption of a new trio

29. Backup: Top 100 “target” future Facilitation schools (1/4) 3 Local Authority Rank School name Region Existing Facilitation school

30. Backup: Top 100 “target” future Facilitation schools (2/4) 3 Local Authority Rank School name Region Existing Facilitation school

31. Backup: Top 100 “target” future Facilitation schools (3/4) 3 Local Authority Rank School name Region

32. Backup: Top 100 “target” future Facilitation schools (4/4) 3 Local Authority Rank School name Region

33. Scope of the work: Our work has focused on four key questions What is the best recruitment approach for schools? 1 What should the key marketing messages be? 2 Which areas and schools should be targeted to achieve future growth? 3 Which alternative routes to market should be pursued? 4

34. 1025_84 Routes to market have been prioritised based on how much influence the institutions have on a school’s decision 4 Preliminary Marketing only Attractive routes to market Challenge Partners OLEVI Teach First Other challenges (e.g. Welsh) Teaching Schools’ Council Teaching Leaders/Future Leaders Regional networks e.g. NSEC Pupil Premium reviewers NLEs/LLEs National College LLS School associations Ofsted HMIs Local authorities Regional commissioners Ease to access/size of prize Church dioceses Unions DfE brokers Other networks e.g. SSAT, PIXEL Academy chains Governors DfE Pupil Premium dept. Lower priority routes to market Light touch only Degree of influence on school Head Source: School interviews; Management discussions

35. 6_85 Alternative routes should be prioritised further with likely approach identified (1/2) 4 Who WHY HOW PRIORITY Decreasing

36. 6_85 Alternative routes should be prioritised further with likely approach identified (2/2) 4 Who WHY HOW PRIORITY Decreasing

37. 3_89 Suggested next steps: Challenge Partners should agree priorities and plan approach for each route 4 • Challenge Partners should align internally on relative priority of addressing new routes to market vs. targeting new Facilitation schools • Challenge Partners should agree relative prioritisation of different routes for short-term focus and define the pitch for each specific channel

38. 4_89 Agenda • Project scope • Summary of project outputs • Recap of key insights • Action plan

39. 5_89 We have drafted an implementation action plan for use by Challenge Partners • SBT/Bain have created a draft action plan that outlines the next steps required in order to implement the recommendations arising from this work (it is contained in the handover folder in word document format) • It is designed to be a living document that can be used to track progress; it is suggested that reviews will take place on a monthly basis between SBT/Bain and Challenge Partners to track progress • It is suggested that Challenge Partners should review the content/timings of this action plan and then share an updated version with SBT/Bain