Are people not doing their own research?

Firstly, thank you to those who have left comments. Most of them I could not publish as they were rude and threatening. Some actually used four letter words beginning with 'f'.

Shame on you.

Likewise the emails. 13 received so far.

Non are printable - except one which was very long. I have put an extract at the end of this post.

Well, at least people are beginning to take notice as to what is about to happen to Bolitho.

At least some are not so blinkered to let bank balances rule their hearts.

Now, more research. Remember, see these quotations IN CONTEXT i.e. read the whole article or the whole thread.

"Parents at Bury Lawn have presented Gems with a list of demands after the school lost its fourth headteacher in two years.

Pupils marched out in protest last week when the school's latest acting head Mark Olejnik was dismissed days before the start of A-levels. Mr Olejnik, who had been a history teacher and deputy head at Bury Lawn for 15 years, was replaced by Gems with Dr Sheila Kaye.

A group of 250 parents this week drew up a list of demands for Gems, including that the company give parents a say in the appointment and dismissals of staff and explain why it replaced Mr Olejnik.

The company said in a statement that it had greatly improved Bury Lawn's facilities and curriculum and reserved the right to make staff changes when it deemed them necessary"

How safe are the teachers?

Bolitho will become a business:

"Mr Roche said: "Private companies have developed considerable expertise in cutting costs and will pare down unnecessary expenditure by centralising as much leadership, management and servicing as possible.""

Source

"My impression is that GEMS are a bunch of accountants with a thin educational veneer. "

Read the whole thread

"Is there anyone working at GEMS who has had a good experience there? Do they provide decent accommodation, pay,..etc? "

Read the whole thread

He came like the promised saviour, Sunny Vary and his dream team at Global Education Management Systems (GEMS) - rather like Roman Abramovich at Chelsea - so why is it they are already proving to be something of a disappointment?

Because apparently, despite all the expertise, the gathering together of a hybrid team of all the great and good, they have managed to completely ignore the fundamentals.

GEMS appears to have seriously underestimated parents' knowledge and understanding of the independent sector. State-of-the-art facilities are no longer their primary motivation - as is clearly demonstrated by the fact that they are prepared to pay fees even though facilities offered at the local maintained school are frequently superior to those at the school of their choice.

Research shows that class size is the main driver for parents when opting for the independent sector and therefore to increase class size in order to provide enhanced facilities does not in any way reflect the needs of the key stakeholders.

There appear to be deep-seated flaws in a business model that does not enable a product to meet the basic needs and expectations of its customers - surely not an intentional own goal for the dream team at what could have been the start of such a promising season?
Dr Rosemary Taylor
Educational Consultant & Advisor
Harrogate

Source

Are GEMS seen as the Saviour for Bolitho?

"If people tell the truth about this company this thread will soon be deleted. I lost the use of one of my fingers whilst working for them in Doha - my advice is avoid them! Good luck with your search"

Source

Can you trust the managementspeak?

"Job losses follow assurances by schools chief that there was no call for 'panic' over impact of recession on expat employment

One of the world's largest providers of private education has made some 40 staff redundant because of the global downturn, prompting a campaign from pupils to have popular teachers reinstated.

The staff, axed by Global Education Management Systems (Gems), include administrative staff, teaching assistants and five teachers in schools in the United Arab Emirates, where it operates 25 of its 60 international schools.

The redundancies come just months after Gems' chief of schools Professor Ralph Tabberer said there was "no reason to panic" over predictions of a 17 per cent population drop in Dubai this year due to heavy expat job losses.

At Wellington International School in Dubai, the decision to lay off popular British maths teacher Neville Hopwood has prompted an online campaign by hundreds of students.

A Facebook group with nearly 500 members claimed the teacher, from Leeds, had been unfairly treated and pupils initially threatened a walkout."

Source:

Who else could run Bolitho?

Finally, a quote from one of the emails received:

"What you are doing is detrimental to the future of the school. The financial details are in the process of being completed and your blog merely serves to unsettle those closely involved. Remove this blog immediately or I will instruct lawyers to start making sure that you personally are held liable for any financial penalties imposed on Bolitho."

The email sent in response to this threat...bounced.

Interesting response to a blog that largely exists of quotations from other sources...

I wonder who really benefits out of the GEMS takeover. As an exercise make a list of the WINNERS and LOSERS in this sage.

See if you are on the 'LOSERS' side.

Then remember:

"Headmaster Mark Shere said even without a buyer the school could open if parents committed to paying fees"

So, even without a buyer...

Emails are welcome: bolithophoenix@googlemail.com