Independent school improvement · London · English & Français
Fewer recommendations.
More that actually happen.
For heads and governing boards of independent, international and French schools. We find your three most important levers, turn them into actions your staff can absorb without extra workload, and report progress on one page your board can read.
30 minutes · confidential · no obligation
New: are families quietly leaving? Take the free 5-minute Family Retention Health Check and see your three priorities instantly.
You commissioned the review. You received the report. Then term started.
Forty recommendations, no priorities
When everything is important, nothing moves. Staff stop believing in the next initiative before it starts.
More work, not better work
New processes land on top of full timetables. Adoption stalls by half-term and the report goes back on the shelf.
No owner, no measure
The board cannot see what has changed, and inspection evidence is assembled after the event rather than built along the way.
Families are choosing more carefully
VAT on fees, the cost of living and uncertainty about the future mean families weigh every year of enrolment. Some leave quietly. The reasons rarely appear in your surveys: a reply that took a week, a child who did not feel known, a problem passed from desk to desk.
An outside view
Families, staff and students tell an independent outsider what they rarely tell the school, and point to what people inside no longer notice.
The family journey, tested
Leaver conversations, a mystery enquiry from first email to open day, and how quickly concerns really get an answer.
Three fixes that keep families
Systems, communication and reputation: three changes with owners and dates, tracked by re-enrolment, leavers and response times.
Keeping one family for four more years is worth far more than the whole Sprint.
Offered to independent schools across the UK outside Greater London, and to French and international schools abroad.
Not sure where your school stands? Twelve questions, an instant score and three first actions.
Six weeks from evidence to visible change
01 · Weeks 1–2
Analyse
We start from the evidence you already hold, add at most one short staff pulse, and listen to staff, students and parents.
02 · Week 3
Interpret
With your leadership team we agree the three levers that matter most, with one measure and one named owner for each.
03 · Weeks 4–6
Act
Small actions with owners and dates, one practical staff session built for Monday morning, and a live dashboard for your board.
The workload rule: nothing new is added without something being removed.
Work that has already changed practice
Digital strategy · International school
From technology audit to a programme people actually use
The review gathered evidence from staff, pupils and families and started from what learning required, not from new tools. It then moved into implementation rather than stopping at a report.
What was put in place: a clear digital policy, named owners for each tool, and one communication routine for staff, students and parents.
Assessment practice · Languages department
One shared standard across a whole department
Teaching, curriculum, mock examinations, marking and feedback aligned into one collaborative approach. Teachers designed it together, so it held when the pressure came.
What was put in place: common mock papers, shared marking criteria and a feedback routine used in every class.
What your board sees: one page
Three levers, one measure each, a named owner and a status anyone can read in five minutes.
| Lever | Measure | Start | Target | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff time | Admin hours per teacher per week (staff pulse) | 5.5 | 4.5 | Deputy Head | On track |
| Parent communication | Parent queries answered within 2 school days | 62% | 85% | Business Manager | At risk |
| Staff development | Teachers using the Monday session in class | 30% | 70% | Head of Teaching and Learning | On track |
Three ways to start
Explore · Free
A confidential conversation
Thirty minutes on one current priority, plus the one-page Top 3 Levers template to use with your senior team.
Implement · 6 weeks
The Top-3 Sprint
Evidence, three levers, owners and dates, one staff session and a live board dashboard. On-site work runs in half-days during term and the deeper work happens in the holidays, so your timetable is protected.
Sustain · Termly
Progress that continues
Each term: review the dashboard, reset the three levers, run one practical session for staff or middle leaders, and brief the board.
Fees are fixed in writing before we begin and scaled to your school. No day-rate surprises, no extras. Compare the three options →
Our week-3 guarantee
If, at the end of week 3, you do not agree with the three levers we have identified, we stop there and you pay only the first instalment.
Someone who has lived school improvement from both sides
I’m Vincent Sellier. I have been the teacher asked to make the plan work in the classroom, and the leader responsible for making it coherent and sustainable. A inAct exists to close the gap between the two.
- 20+ years in French, British and international schools
- 15 years leading departments
- DBS checked · Designated Safeguarding Lead (Level 3)
- Working in English and French
Start with one priority
In 30 minutes we look at one current priority, what is already working, and whether an independent view would help. Confidential and without obligation.
Or write to vincent.sellier@ainact.co.uk
A inAct works alongside your finance and legal advisers. It does not provide financial, legal or statutory audit services.