BUSS4 Bellwork - The School Merger

I did this activity last year when delivering mergers and takeovers and this would make an excellent bellwork activity at the start of any buss4 lesson to get students thinking about some of the issues with mergers and takeovers.

Last year, I got students to think of the issues surrounding a potential merger with another local school. What would the issues be and how could they be managed.

The students loved this as they could directly relate to the possible consequences. For example:

Who becomes the Head Teacher?
Duplication of teachers in departments meaning potential job losses
Students being taught by new teachers
Integrating perhaps two conflicting IT systems
School uniform
Class sizes
More opportunity for staff promotion due to a larger structure
Reduced communication
Change in culture
Differing exam boards

We then looked at how the process could be managed efficiently.

What I like about this is that it is an example that students can actually relate to which opens up more suggestions.