Strategy News for Schools Newsletter

Online at https://spectrumanalysis.com.au/resources/newsletters/strategy-news-for-schools/2023-12-05

Strategy News for Schools – 36th Edition 

Hello

In this edition:

1. Season’s Greetings
2. Are you creating a new Strategic Plan in 2024?
3. Information is golden – hope is not a strategy AHISA
4. New student projections for Islamic students
5. From SERPs to CHERPs Educate Plus
6. Demographic Mapping for School Strategic Planning Webinar Recording

1. Season’s Greetings
We would like to start by wishing you Season’s Greetings! Special thanks to the schools who have utilised the services of Spectrum Analysis Australia in 2023. We trust that our analysis and mapping for schools services are seen as the best in the industry.

We are happy to receive new ideas if you feel we can add additional information to our reports or online tools. We plan to attend several conferences in 2024 and we look forward to meeting you in person.

Our aim is to keep you informed about data and information that can help you make better business decisions.

2. Are you creating a new Strategic Plan in 2024?
Most schools update their Strategic Plan every three years. It should be based on facts and data and look at the direction of the school and be supported by the Board, the Principal and the senior staff who are all committed to the stated directions.

The basis of the Strategic Plan should be “where are we now” and “what do we expect to happen in the next few years?” 

We believe you need the following facts:
• Changes in enrolment numbers over the last few years – are we growing or shrinking?
• What is our major catchment area for future students?
• Where are the growth pockets within our catchment area?
• What market share do we have now, and can we retain this level?
• Can we meet the Board’s expectations in relation to future enrolments?
• What are the demographics around our school, and will this support our current and future fees?

If you cannot answer these basic questions, how can you make decisions on complex areas like future capital investment, planning for bus runs, operational plans such as staff numbers and fees?

We can provide the facts, data and mapping you need whether you are the Principal, Business Manager or a Senior Executive in your school. If this is in your 2024 KPI’s, please contact me directly and we can prepare the exact data you need.

3. Information is golden – hope is not a strategy AHISA
Published in the AHISA Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia Independence Journal Vol 48 No 2 Pages 86-88. It includes information on the type of data that is now available for your Strategic Plan and discusses the directions and changes we have seen in students moving from Government Schools to Independent Schools and Catholic Education, which is where we feel our type of work is most needed. The big question is, will this trend continue or will we see a correction now we are over the “COVID lockdown years” and heading into tighter economic times? https://independence.partica.online/independence/independence-vol-48-no-2-october-2023/flipbook/88

4. New student projections for Islamic students
Spectrum Analysis Australia has worked with a number of Islamic schools around Sydney and we have now created a separate dataset projecting student numbers of Islamic students across Australia out to 2032. Whilst we can’t go into the details here, we use the Islamic population percentage for any specific areas, and some data available on family size as it relates to Islamic families. This data has been tested with our Islamic schools and the feedback is that it is superior to just using total student projections, as the correlation between Islamic population percentage and the number of students attending Islamic schools is very strong. If you represent an Islamic school and are interested in these projections and the logic used, please contact me directly and we can discuss your data needs.

5. From SERPs to CHERPs Educate Plus
Our Marketing Consultant, Sue Ellson explains how we need to make sure we appear in Search Engine Results Pages SERPs and Chat Experience Results Pages CHERPs in the latest Educate Plus Face2Face Magazine https://issuu.com/educateplus/docs/2023_educate_plus_f2f_magazine

6. Demographic Mapping for School Strategic Planning Webinar Recording
Check out the webinar slides and recording at https://spectrumanalysis.com.au/blog/demographic-mapping-for-school-strategic-planning