The ISASA School Sustainability workshop is an ISASA offering that allows independent schools to interrogate their own historic data to ensure financial sustainability in the future. The workshop was originally adapted from a workshop designed by the National Business Officers Association in America and was run by ISASA up until 2018. It is being re-introduced to meet a need identified by ISASA schools. The format of the workshop is to guide schools in analysing their data trends over the recent past to allow a more factual understanding of their current sustainability position.
The workshop focuses on a sequential series of sessions to get to the end point. These are:
- Trend Analysis where the trends of various data (including student applications vs. acceptances; enrolment; staff and student attrition; tuition increases and many other) are interrogated;
- Variance Analysis where the school’s specific trends are compared with the general trends of similar schools in the ISASA fold;
- Understanding of a number of Planning Assumptions which form the boundaries for future financial planning;
- Identification of the Brutal facts that come to light from the above;
- Formulation of a plan for the way forward to address the Brutal Facts.
Once guidelines have been given, school teams are given time to discuss each of the above in the privacy of their own groups to allow candid interrogation of the facts that come to light. School teams are then in a better position to make planning decisions based on facts.
To ensure the best results a team of five which includes the school Head, the Bursar, one other senior staff member and two members of the Board is recommended.
It is critical that schools attending the workshop have filled in the sustainability section of the ISASA Census and the ISASA Salary Survey. If this has not been done, school do have the opportunity to complete these requirements before the workshop.
Facilitators: John Lobban and Amy Naicker-Morrow.
Duration: 1 day (usually 09:00 – 16:00)
In-person Cost: R5 500 per team (excluding Value Added Tax).