Inspired Education

[Hungrygiraffe]

Does anyone have any experience of a school that has been taken over by Inspired Education?

The private school we were looking at has been bought by them and a friend has just sent me an article in the Times (Fri 11th) about the owner. It has made me wonder if we’ve made the right choice because the emphasis of the article is all about maximising profit, catering to the needs of a global elite and being competitive.

We want a nurturing school, which I thought the school was, but my concern is that it might change direction. There is a mention of testing the children every Monday morning on what they had learnt so far that term which sounded crazy.

The article describes schools as “cash cows” which sends alarm bells ringing. Maybe I’m just being naive though? I’m a bit taken aback that they’re being so transparent about the emphasis on profit. The previous owners were Alpha Plus (who may have been the same just more subtle in their comms?). The director has a background in global equity/finance and doesn’t seem to have much actual expertise in education. We’ve visited the school and really liked it but our DC isn’t due to start until next year so we have time to consider other options.

We moved from a school in a similar group (dukes) to a charitable status independent. I have to say there is minimal difference as parents. All schools are having to squeeze budgets to an extent. The majority of schools are private equity backed in some way now- especially in London. I did see that article and agree it is not good PR for them in terms of attracting parents!!

I think that article focused on Wetherby which is notorious for very wealthy pushy parents. Sickeningly so! Others in the group are not like that. Which school are you looking at?

Yes I agree it's a poor article in the sense of attracting middle class hard working parents who may already be at or considering an Alpha previously owned school. As Inspired only had 2 U.K. schools before July - Fulham and Reddam - I don't think you can say what the impact will be but I'm sure "heads will roll" over the article. And yes they are going to spend the next few years explaining the "Monday morning" test to prospective parents.

Thanks, that’s helpful. The school we’re looking at is very different to Wetherby in terms of parent profile, ethos and approach. I was horrified to read how pushy it is and how boys so young are drilled for entrance tests. It’s a million miles from what I want for my children and it does worry me that it seems that IE see Wetherby as the jewel in the crown so presumably they endorse this sort of thing, and the idea of the Monday morning test seems to bear this out a bit. I guess it will come down to how much autonomy each individual school is allowed to have. Pastoral care is a big thing for me and I hope this is valued by IE.

I’ve got time to consider so I can keep tabs on the situation.

My children used to ride at a stables where I became quite friendly with a mother whose son went to a school which had weekly tests. The results of these tests were posted at the classroom door each week. The boy was an anxious lad, who developed tics and displayed indications of distress.

I'm sure the PR offensive to distance the Alpha schools from Fulham/Reddam will start today. The Mail online picked up on the article yesterday too although focusing on Wetherby parents.

I can tell you as a teacher and a parent that Inspired care first and foremost about profit. The leadership at inspired don’t have backgrounds in education they are business and ecomonic specialists and make choices based on the bottom line and not on the well-being of their staff or students

Anyone have the link to the article? I can’t find it

Times article on Inspired Education

Here you go. It is behind a paywall though so you would need a subscription to read it.

These were the bits from the article that particularly irked me. Overall the focus was all on profit. Obviously they are running schools as a business but it was very disappointing not to see any kind of vision or passion for education come across.

This was my fear from reading the article.

Thanks for sharing this info @Hungrygiraffe

Interesting to see that Inspired shared the article on their Facebook page so they seem to have taken pride in it. We had been looking at an Inspired school but no longer. Why any parent would choose to send to a school described by the owners as a ‘cash cow’ is beyond me.

I know people who have gone to work for Inspired. Two senior housemasters went to different schools both left within a year - one said "It's just a bank, they don't care about education at all'. A very well-known school in Madrid had a mass exodus of teachers after Inspired took over and now can't fill jobs because the culture is so toxic. You might want to look elsewhere.

Making schools into private equity businesses is a bad move. Businesses are good at marketing and profits. There are a lot of corners cut in areas that parents can’t see. Ask how many students each teacher sees each week and ask yourself if you think that’s a good number or it means your child gets hardly any time. Don’t blame the teachers. Check the class sizes. Visit the lunch hall at lunch time. Check food and behaviour. Ask your children about how children in the class behave and how much disruption there is. Listen to what they say. Is poor behaviour ignored to keep customers happy.

Many of the British owned Inspried schools were already owned by private equity under Alpha Plus

We withdrew our children from Fulham Prep for the reasons stated above. Inspired's ethos is very clearly profit first. The management issues became particularly stark last year as the heads of prep and pre-prep left, followed by a large chunk of the teaching staff. PE money may exist in many private schools but the ruthless, profit driven PE agenda is particularly stark with Inspired for some reason. It doesn't work for the kids or the parents.

As a teacher in a school taken over by inspired I only have negative things to say I’m afraid.

Their primary focus is on profit and maximising margin normally by reducing staffing and centralising as many roles as possible.

Totally chaotic place to work after the take over and I wouldn't recommend to anyone attending an inspired school. So much so I’m leaving.

Run by an investment banker only aiming to increase his wealth while creating an utterly toxic environment. He has no place in education and it makes me very sad to see inspired grow to such a large size.

I worked in one of their schools in Madrid and they were awful to work for. Like many have stated it is all about profit, there was barely any support for SEN children, work load for teachers increased while we were still expected to keep the same standard of education and parent contact-it was all consuming. There was a mass exodus of teachers and rightly so. You can see the cost cutting all over, even the food in the canteen was terrible-cheap cuts of meat, full of salt. I felt bad for the parents paying for that slop and think they are meaning well. Even great teachers who have been in these schools a long time are fired and they hire inexperienced teachers and give them a crap salary. Honestly, I just think it’s terrible that inspired have taken on so many schools. Sorry for the rant but I feel inspired are a terrible company to work under and I would never send my child there. It’s all about milking the parents for as much as possible and when their children do have issues there is very little support. I hope that parents will eventually see through this. When I left the school many parents were starting to realize what was going on because teachers end up befriending the parents as their own kids go to the school. I am in a state school now in another country and can honestly say I am treated with so much more respect and the standard of education is better. And rant over😂

Wetherby Prep is the most recent school feeling the full force of the Inspired education effect. We have heard teachers have become increasingly overworked. Salaries are below the equivalent state sector. Large numbers of teachers have left and not all have been replaced leading to larger timetables for remaining staff. I can imagine it is difficult for the teachers to carry out their duties effectively and give pastoral support to the children. Apparently a few years ago there was a management team of 10, now just 4. Staff on maternity in leadership are not replaced with staff expected to muddle through. Inspired have to invest more in their staff if they are to retain them and the pupils on their roll.

Hi, I’ve been following your post about Inspired. So, the particular fund has recently just bought our school in Athens Greece - it’s the 2nd school to be bought up in less than a month… !
I know this is all quite recent for everybody but I would like to know if any of the changes they’ve implemented were any good … are the families, teachers, staff happy? Has there been an effect on tuition?
Also did they initially present themselves as a “co-operation/ joint venture” with the schools’ management not clearly saying that it was a majority share buy-out?

Thank you!

I have the exact same questions as Electra. Our school aquisition was announced a days ago, initially as a cooperation, later as an investment and finally proved to be a buyout. How long is it normally before thay make changes (management etc) and what kind of changes (other than staff) do they normally make? Until now, the Inspired crew keep repeating that nothing will change.

In my experience of schools in Spain, Belgium and Switzerland - there will be a mass exodus of teachers. It's a "cash cow" - direct quote from the CEO. Everything (even the food) changes and not for the better.

Inspired have bought Wetherby Prep. I was a parent of one of the boys there and left recently. Huge numbers of boys, parents and staff have left due the ridiculous amounts of cuts. Teachers timetables and expectations on them are unbearable. They have no time to mark or to oversee the pastoral care of the school. Behavior is getting worse and worse. Many children have left and parents are unhappy. It is remarkable how it is one of the most expensive preps in London yet pays its teachers one of the lowest salaries in London and therefore doesn't retain them! Whilst state schools saw a 5.5% inflation rise this year, inspired only gave its staff 3%. Many teachers have been forced to take on additional roles as no one in management is replaced on absences. Avoid schools owned by Inspired.

Look up 'Inspired Leaves Teacher UNinspired' on LinkedIn by Michael Doherty. That article tells you everything you need to know. But look hard, Google has repressed it.. so maybe try a different browser to find it?

The more I read and hear about Inspired schools is worrying. I was very interested in Fulham Pre-Prep but then the Head has left very suddenly this year and now there seems to be less and less care and attention from what I have heard from parents of the school. I will not be sending my children here.