Elected as Chair of the Board Cabinteely Community School
I am truly honoured to be recently elected as the Chair of the Board of Management in Cabinteely Community School, a growing public school in Dublin, after a year on the board.
This is quite a serious step up in involvement & responsibility, as I quickly learned after already being asked to review & sign some very serious formal documents...
I was honestly a little surprised to be elected, as I have always brought my own energetic style which might not seem as the "typical" school style, and my commercial experience (I'm still learning the education system in Ireland) to the board meetings - but actually the principal, management team & the board are all aligned & ambitious in their vision & targets for the school (so a very good fit, which is all you really need).
Also, in many ways a school is like any other organisation:
- A lot depends on the leader: principal or CEO
- Needs to grow (profitably) to be able to enjoy economies of scale, provide more services to more people and have a bigger impact
- Needs to invest in marketing (see new booklet below, and a new website to follow), build a strong brand and have good reputation in the market
- Needs to communicate well with its customers (parents & children): a new mobile app launched recently for that, in addition to phone, SMS & emails
- Adapting to the digital world, and the new ways of learning / working it brings
- Stick to a long term strategy, despite the daily operational issues & pressure
- Deal carefully and sensitively with the challenges of Covid (still...), increasing diversity / inclusion / multiculturalism requirements, mental health and more
So, not easy but at least familiar...
I am grateful for the trust & the opportunity and will do my best to support the school with all of the above and beyond.