What School Leaders Are Really Looking For: A LocaeShift Insight
What This Week's Staffroom Stories Reveal About What School Leaders Are Actually Buying Right Now
This week on In My Kitchen with Yvonne, we had Fozia from Lift Montgomery School talking about belonging, aspiration, and what it actually takes to make every child feel seen.
It was a school leadership conversation. But if you're a vendor, you need to read today’s blog and then click on the link and listen to this episode, (and of course, click the link to subscribe, so you can receive future episodes, where we pull up a chair and talk to school leaders, who tell us what matters to them, in real time. Remember to click the like button so this message reaches more people, to enable us bring more leaders to my kitchen).
Because buried in what Fozia described is a direct brief for exactly the kind of partnerships schools are actively trying to build and often can't find.
The Brief Schools Can't Always Articulate
Gif by johnbcrist on Giphy
Fozia said something that should stop every vendor in their tracks:
"I'm going to make sure they visit an office like KPMG because I want them to see that this is a space that they can be in.
I'm going to have a careers fair, and I'm going to make sure there is a diverse range of people coming."
That's not a wish list. That's a procurement decision waiting to happen.
Schools are putting community engagement into their School Improvement Plans.
That means it has leadership backing, it has scope and in many cases, it has budget.
The question is whether your business is positioned to be part of that conversation.
What "Belonging" Looks Like as a Vendor Opportunity
Here's what Fozia described as the tools her school is using to build belonging:
Careers fairs with diverse, visible role models
Workplace visits to offices and environments children wouldn't otherwise access
Mentoring programmes for students at risk of persistent absence
Enrichment sports, arts, theatre, anything that opens a door
Every single one of those is a vendor opportunity.
If your business delivers careers talks, workplace experiences, enrichment programmes, mentoring, sports coaching, wellbeing workshops or creative education you are exactly what schools like Lift Montgomery are looking for. Get in touch with them directly or book a call with us and we will put you ahead of the queue.
Either way, you now know, they're not looking for a product catalogue. They're looking for a partner who gets it.
And this is What "Guaranteed Match" from LocaeRise Match Actually Means. A school who have named their priority.
The Real Currency in School Partnerships
Fozia described what she calls the golden thread the idea that belonging isn't a programme you buy. It's woven into the culture.
But here's what that means for vendors:
Schools don't want a one-off transaction. They want relationships that stick.
The vendor who comes in once for a careers talk and disappears is forgettable.
The vendor who builds a relationship with a school who becomes part of that golden thread becomes indispensable.
"It's the people already on the ground.
How could you bring them into the culture?"
That's what schools want from you.
Not a service.
A presence.
The Attendance Economy (And Why It's Your Entry Point)
This might surprise you.
One of the most urgent issues in schools right now is persistent absence children below 90% attendance.
Post-COVID, it has become a crisis.
Fozia's intervention?
Mentors who make persistently absent children feel seen.
Sports coaches who give high fives in the corridor.
The schools that are cracking this are doing it through connection and belonging not punishment.
If your offer touches wellbeing, enrichment, sport, confidence-building, or aspiration you are a strategic solution to a very live problem.
Lead with that.
Schools aren't just buying your service.
They're buying the outcome: a child who wants to come back tomorrow.
You Can't Aspire to What You Can't See
There was a moment in the conversation that landed hard. A group of students at Oxford. A note passed between two of them:
"There's nobody here like us. What the heck are we doing here?" (paraphrased from a Sir Dan Moynihan talk at a leadership conference)
Fozia talked about how this shapes what she brings into school. Who she invites. Who she puts in front of her children.
If your business is led by, or employs, people from underrepresented backgrounds that is not just a diversity footnote.
It is a competitive advantage in school procurement.
Remember: Schools are actively looking for vendors who reflect their communities. If that's you, say it clearly. Put it in your profile. Lead with it.
What Vendors Should Do This Week
Three things this episode tells us about what schools need from vendor partners right now:
Enrichment with purpose, not activities for activities' sake, but experiences that expand what children believe is possible for them
Consistency over transactions, schools want partners, not suppliers
Proof that you understand their world, the language of belonging, aspiration, attendance, and community signals that you are someone worth letting through the door
Real Talk, Real Vendors, Real SOLUTIONS
The schools that Fozia describes are not passive. They have SIPs. They have priorities. They have leaders who wake up at 5am thinking about which child didn't feel seen yesterday.
What they often don't have is an easy way to find the right vendor.
That's exactly the gap LocaeRise Match was built for.
"I'm going to make sure there is a diverse range of people coming, because I want you to see that you can be the next CEO."
Fozia, Staffroom Stories, In My Kitchen with Yvonne - click to watch, like, subscribe and share.
Your business could be in that room. Is your profile live?
One Big Change for Your Business
Reframe your offer around the outcome, not the activity.
Don't say: "We provide careers workshops."
Say: "We help schools show pupils what's possible for them through real conversations with real professionals who look like them."
That's the language that gets you through the door at Lift Montgomery.
And the 2,690 schools like it on LocaeRise Match - 53 Lift Schools joined this past week.
Yvonne
LocaeRise Match
Where school buying really moves.
Ready to get matched with schools like Lift Montgomery?
Your profile is your foot in the door.
Get started on LocaeRise Match, link to Join Momentum to get matched to a school like Lift Montgommery.
P.S. This week's guest, Fozia, is on LinkedIn. The conversations she's having with school leaders are shaping procurement decisions. The vendors in those rooms will win the contracts. Make sure you're one of them.
Next week: We're back with another Staffroom Story, this time talking about the academic pillar and how schools set up the perfect 1st week. Follow LocaePulse so you don't miss it.