By Matthew Wemyss, Assistant School Director
As Assistant School Director and Strategy and Development Lead, I support the Cambridge School of Bucharest, an all-through British international school delivering the British national curriculum and international qualifications. Our core strengths as an organisation include academic excellence, leadership and character development, innovation, and vibrant school community – built around our school values of confidence, success and belonging. My remit covers competitive analysis, exploring external partnership opportunities, and data-driven strategic planning to support the sustainable growth and progress of our school.
During a leadership team meeting, our School Director shared the International Schools Global Market Overview profiling in detail the state of international schools across the world. I was thoroughly impressed by both the breadth and depth of intelligence and data provided on schools worldwide. Given our strategic goals around benchmarking, future planning and understanding industry trends, I began extensively exploring the ISC Research website for insights to inform decision making.
We aimed to stay informed about school competition in Europe and Eastern Europe, while also monitoring global trends. This involved understanding changes in student populations and popular curricula, as well as forecasting both local and global demographic shifts.
Integrating ISC Research analysis has significantly enhanced our overall strategy, encompassing benchmarking leading schools and conducting risk analysis on unseen threats. This approach has boosted our confidence in responding to new opportunities, with their global perspective broadening our thinking beyond local assumptions.
The International School Leader magazine, focusing on the practical challenges today’s school leaders face, has been a trove of invaluable insights. It offers fresh perspectives and essential knowledge for effective school management. Additionally, the detailed, visually engaging data presentations in ISC Insights have revealed potential partners to support our school development plans.
My relationship with ISC Research has been nothing short of fantastic. Their team’s responsiveness and support have been invaluable. Whenever I had questions or needed guidance, they were always there to provide comprehensive answers and insights.
My experience with ISC Research has been a journey of growth and learning. It has profoundly impacted how we approach strategic planning and development at the Cambridge School of Bucharest. Collaboration with ISC Research has allowed us to better understand our place in the international education landscape and to plan confidently for our future.
