From the management

by Petr Pospíšil

On Wednesday 6/Feb we received the final version of the inspection report. This report is an outcome of a thorough inspection that happened at our school last term. The inspection report provides, on one hand, information on how the school meets the standards prescribed for British School Overseas (BSO) and, on the other hand, what the quality of education and personal development provided is like. This report was distributed via email to all parents on 19/Feb but you can also download it here if you wish to see it. There is also a link at the bottom of our homepage that can be used to access the report.

It has been a busy first half of the school year. We are happy to see that compared to the last report there have been some great results we are truly proud of. The two most satisfying outcomes for me arethe judgement made about personal development and all the positive comments made about the educational programme and care we give to our little ones in Preschool. Given all the difficult factors, such as the recent transfer of preschool into the new part of the building and the fact that both Marketa, who was responsible for Preschool and Barbora, who was the main lead for the personal development program have both been on maternity leave already for some time; consequently such a positive evaluation does really mean something. Both clearly made a good mark. Yet I would like to thank all current teachers additionally, since it is thanks to their effort and hard work that such a great impact on our children has been achieved.

Besides all the positive results, the inspection has identified a number of areas which we need to develop further. Firstly, it is mainly the administrative processes linked to recruitment of new staff and the fact that all background checks need to be accomplished strictly according to the prescribed standards used in the UK. Compared to what is normally required in the Czech Republic these standards are much higher; especially when recruiting new staff from abroad. Nevertheless, we have already started to implement some changes in order to prevent delays and develop the processes to meet all the necessary requirements. We also developed processes linked to regular attendance of children which I believe you as parents have already noticed. These developments will be subject to another follow up visit by ISI soon.

For me personally, however, the biggest challenge ahead is about improving the quality of education in the primary and lower secondary school, especially in our challenging context. How to move from good to great in a situation when, compared to other international schools, we recruit most of our children locally and so are firmly based in the local (still) developing economy. Being dependant on primarily a local market is obviously a positive aspect when you consider the long term stability as our existence is not dependent on one or two major international companies. Despite the latest developments in the ratio between the number of czech and foreign students the majority of our parents are still embedded in the local economy. In order to achieve even better outcomes in the quality of education we will have to develop further our monitoring and training systems, school middle management structures, employ and retain good quality and experienced staff. Certain things can be done fairly quickly but other things such as employing and retaining experienced staff may come at cost.

I am glad that the inspection process is now over and that we have had the opportunity to review again all the different areas and standards so that we can now plan and deliver improvements. Overall the inspection was a challenging, yet positive experience and I am glad that even in Olomouc we can all be part of something really exceptional, which is building an international and, more importantly, an independent school.