St Peters Primary School

When the school caretaker at St Peter’s School in London left two years ago, bursar Maureen Scales saw an opportunity to reassess the Job Description for the role, taking account of the way the school’s requirements had changed over the years.

However, she explains, “We did face a challenge in matching potential caretakers’ skills to our individual needs.”

Around the same time, Maureen met with Strictly Education, at the request of the Diocesan Board, to discuss their outsourced payroll services.  It was during this meeting that she became aware of a possible alternative – Strictly Education’s Mobile Site Officer (MSO) service.

There were some initial concerns about whether a caretaker not employed directly by the school would give the same level of loyalty and support as an employee, but Maureen felt the benefits of the service made it worth trying.

“The MSO service allows us to access essential skills for today’s situation – and to be able to change the support given as our needs change.  This flexibility has already proven invaluable.  We worked very successfully with one brilliant MSO but then needed some different expertise. Strictly Education was able to bring in a new person with the competencies required, something that would have been impossible with an employee.”

Maureen’s concerns about using an outsourced service have proved unfounded.  “The quality of the MSOs supplied has been excellent. Using the MSO service removes the administration and management that employing staff brings.  Any type of performance or other issue is dealt with by Strictly Education, without anyone at the school needing to be involved.  One of Strictly Education’s team pops into school on a regular basis and if I have an issue, I raise it directly with them and it’s dealt with for me.”

Asked to sum up the service received from Strictly Education, Maureen states, “what the MSO service gives St Peter’s is a more flexible approach than an employed caretaker, at a comparable cost.”