Pre-Opening Project Management
Our experience
PAG has worked with many single and multi-academy trusts to write successful free school applications, in fact we have proposed, opened, or acted as advisor on over 150 free schools via the Department for Education and local authority competitions. PAG has significant experience in pre-opening project management and can help guide clients throughout the rigorous pre-opening process.
PAG offers a high-quality, personalised service to help with the volume and complexity of tasks in pre-opening. Our reliable team of professional, proactive, and punctilious project managers will build trusted relationships with all stakeholders, ensuring the success of the project and the timely opening of your new school. Our team will bring to the project skills and expertise, including managing the critical path and risk control. PAG will also ensure effective and efficient communications between key individuals and stakeholder groups.
We can provide a combination of strategic advice, practical guidance, and task delivery. In such projects there are areas where there is no definitive right answer to an issue (although there are usually many wrong answers!), PAG will set out a range of solutions and their respective strengths and weaknesses so that you can make an informed decision.
How can we support you?
PAG can support the entire lifecycle of pre-opening by providing expert advice or brokerage on any one of the following elements:
Site and buildings
Recruitment and resourcing
Marketing and engagement
Governance and due diligence
Business planning and finance
MAT formation
Procurement
Policy writing
Statutory Consultation (S10)
I have worked with Tom and the team from PAG for a number of years, most recently on our successful application to open our second school. I have always found PAG to be ultra-responsive and able to anticipate the needs of the trust and the project. The trust also retains PAG's services on a range of matters from policy work to advice on trust strategy.
We're delighted to have appointed PAG to project manage the Michaela school in Stevenage"
Katharine Birblasingh
Headmistress, Michaela Community School
We have proposed, opened, and acted as a DfE or new schools' network advisor for over
free schools via DfE and LA competitions
Securing our support
PAG's pre-opening services are tailored directly to the requirements of its clients. Those interested in procuring our pre-opening project management service can do so by via the Crown Commercial Services MCF2 Framework or the NHS Consult-18 Framework.
In the first instance we would be happy to discuss your project and share some of our experiences as both free school proposers and as professionals that worked with free schools when it was a movement, not a programme. Book some time with us on the link below.