EduHub

An important aspect of the school, however, is engaging students at every stage of their education and teaching children to take responsibility for the process of learning, independence and making choices.

The school is a socially responsible organisation. Its students accept themselves, appreciate their potential, use it and develop it. They make their own choices and consciously create their own life path. An adult in school supports the student by creating a framework and conditions for development in the areas of academic education and social and emotional education.

The school provides 100% program implementation, and is based on the international IPC (International Primary Curriculum) program.

Challenge overview

The pandemic was an unfavourable time for the development of the company in the educational industry, and in particular in residential education. The first major challenge was the issue of financing the school by external investors, who found it difficult to assure the success of the venture as the whole world struggled with problems and uncertainty about tomorrow.

Procedural and formal issues during the pandemic, such as arranging meetings with potential partners, were an additional challenge.

Bartek – the president of the school, decided to approach the problem from a different angle with the assumption that if it starts to operate despite the current difficulties, it will overtake the competition. He also focused on strengthening relations with partners and investors, conducting meetings and recruiting teachers online. It was important to be flexible to changing conditions. The founder’s motivation and sense of mission resulted in the opening of the first school in September 2021.

Establishment of the organisation/initiative/enterprise

Bartek is an art school graduate and for 6 years he worked as a music school director. This experience gave him an overview of the challenges and problems of modern education, especially on the parent-child-teacher level.

During this time, he observed and experienced many situations where the education system was inefficient and disadvantaged the students. In addition, in a fairly short time, the education system in Poland has undergone several key changes, which have caused many problems and challenges both for the teaching staff and for the students themselves (e.g. change in the age of starting school education, liquidation of lower secondary schools, teacher strikes, etc.).

It was then that Bartek had his first thoughts to what extent education was an area in which such rapid changes and problems should take place. In response to what he experienced as the headmaster of the school he ran, and to what the students themselves experienced, he decided to create a place of education where changes would be less invasive for students.

The ideas failed to apply in the school where he was currently working, so he started looking for external investors and a building for his own school.

Management structure and governance

The activity is commercial. From a legal point of view, the school must be represented before a legal entity, therefore it operates as a limited liability company, which consists of 4 persons with shares. Bartek is the president of the board of the company and the founder of the school, his tasks include, among others, management issues and company strategy. The co-founder of the school is Magdalena – she is the director of the school, deals with methodology and other operational issues. In addition, there are two other partners in the company – investors who are less substantively involved, but have the company’s shares. The school additionally employs 10 teachers.

Principles of work, objectives and activities

The initiative operates as a startup in a small team, therefore current challenges, needs and problems are discussed on an ongoing basis. In addition, a certain framework for activities is imposed by the specificity of the educational industry – the school year for students lasts from September to June, although the holiday season also requires a lot of work. Acquiring clients (students) in education is very time-limited and focused on September, when the school year begins, so everything needs to be planned in advance. Before the new school year, the team and teachers meet in August to properly prepare for the classes.

In the short term, there are founders’ meetings with investors once a week, and there are review meetings of the team and teachers every two weeks. As a result, the team stays in touch and can flexibly respond to current challenges.

The principle that differs from other schools is that teachers are employed under the labour code under an employment contract, and not on the basis of a “teacher’s card”, as is the case with most educational institutions.

Thanks to this solution, the weekly working time of teachers is clearly defined, divided into: 20 hours for working with students, 20 hours for meetings with parents and the team, and 10 hours for remote work – preparation for classes, personal development, etc.

Currently, the school is focusing on recruitment purposes, i.e. recruiting new teachers and the students themselves. However, these are goals closely related to the financial and marketing plan, so the team must manage them effectively. The recruitment goal for this year – the recruitment of 50 students has been achieved.

Target groups

The direct recipients of the EduHub Primary School are students aged 6 to 11. On the other hand, the offer is indirectly addressed to the parents of children who decide to enrol their child in school. It is an age group in the range of 25-45 (mainly women), middle class, inhabitants of Katowice and neighbouring cities.

EduHub is a school where children enjoy learning, discover and develop their interests and meet the requirements of the Polish core curriculum. Students and teachers create an exciting learning environment that is tailored to each student. The parents of the pupils appreciate the harmonious development of the child: social, emotional, mental and physical.

The EduHub school teaches: cooperation, development orientation, empathy, dialogue and trust, readiness for change and responsibility.

Innovation

The innovation on the market is the model of education itself, modern and alternative. The education system in Poland had undergone various reforms over the years, but mainly these were changes at the structural level. For example: division of an 8-class school into elementary school, middle school and high school, or neglect of vocational schools. However, the teaching methodology itself has not been changed over the years.

The education of students at the Edu Hub School is based mainly on providing them with practical knowledge in a way that will prepare them for adult life, including the development of soft skills. It is also about educating students’ ability to acquire knowledge, as opposed to relying on administration (provided only by the teacher). Such a model motivates children more and teaches independence, which is very crucial in a dynamically changing world.

In addition, students in older grades also have the opportunity to talk to tutors with whom they can discuss future plans, ideas for further education or potential career paths.

The Edu Hub school also has an innovative approach to the subject of parent-teacher meetings. Meetings are held in this school with the participation of three parties – the child, the student’s parents and the teacher. During the conversation, students have the chance to express themselves, among others, what they do well in a given period and what was difficult. Then, together with the parents and the teacher, they look for the best solution for their further development.

The principles of employing teachers on the basis of the labour code are also an innovation, as they offer more options than the “teacher’s card”.

Currently, the facility is also trying to implement IT solutions that will improve the current work and scaling of the company.

Key partners

The school cooperates mainly with the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) – it is an international curriculum that supports the learning process from an early age. It is dedicated to teaching children between 3 and 12 years of age. The program is structured in such a way as to enable the child to learn and develop soft skills in the most pleasant way possible, as well as to acquire academic knowledge. Edu Hub uses a program subscription which it then tailors to suit its students.

The key partner of the school is also Spark Academy – a foundation that was the first in Poland to run a similar program and which conducts training for EduHub teachers.

The school also has a lot of support from the Katowice city authorities and the management of the local technical school.

The other partners are acquired by the school as part of the current needs.

Impact and Evaluation

From the very beginning, the school is in constant and direct contact with children and parents. Before admission to the school, a recruitment meeting is held, in which 3 parties take part: representatives of the school, parents and the student himself, the main part of the interview takes place with him to get to know his development needs and assess whether the school will be suitable for him.

Additionally, during the school year, meetings and individual talks with parents are held, so all feedback is collected on an ongoing basis. Additional opinions are also collected by email and in the form of reviews on the Facebook profile.

Recommendations

• Don’t get discouraged.
• Be humble about surprising situations.
• Build and care for relationships with everyone, including not always sticking to your convictions. Be open minded to the opinions of others.
• Do not always believe the tables with calculations – practice and reality strongly verify the numbers and you need to have a flexible approach to it.
• Be understanding for oneself and for employees – we live in a culture of indicators and continuous growth, but it is not worth pursuing them for any valuable purpose. It is worth taking care of yourself and relationships with others.
• If the president / owner wants to be a leader, he should often have as little say in the company as possible – his idea and concept is important, but if he wants his team to be satisfied and effective, he must listen carefully to him and be open to the opinion of others.

Lessons Learned

The biggest lesson was working on relationships with partners and understanding that when tensions arise, it is most often because both parties care about the best possible result. Sometimes there are great emotions and it is worth waiting for it, then listening together and finding a compromise.

References

Edu Hub School website.