School rising from ashes of great fire IAIN Robertson is not your usual headmaster.

As well as running the independent Buckholme Towers in Commercial Road, Poole, he is also the joint-owner, having bought it out from charitable status three years ago with his business partner, Eric Bosence.

Having faced a devastating fire in March this year, the school is now back on track and looking to the future, hoping to continue its growth in its refurbished home.

Iain said: “I do wear two distinct hats.

“I have the business hat, which I guess is more part-time than the headmaster’s hat, which takes up the bulk of my time.

“I was a teacher before. I still consider myself to be a teacher and I still teach regularly here.

“I trained as a teacher and joined the school as deputy head in 2006 when the school was a charitable trust. I took over as head in 2007 and the business was struggling under the trustees.

“Times had changed in the 70-odd years that the school had been open and the trustees hadn’t reacted to those changes.

“There was no marketing or advertising.”

He said it took three years to convince the trustees that he was the man to take the school on with Eric.

Iain added: “In 2010 the school was taken out of charitable status and became a private concern.

“I cut my teeth in independent schools and the independent school that I worked in when I joined was in a similar situation as this school and I experienced first-hand how things could be turned around.”

He said that was down to investment in the business, in marketing, advertising and PR.

“Even state schools are run more as a business these days, but we have to position ourselves in the market and we have direct competition in terms of other independent schools in the area.

“Our USP is the small classes and, to a large extent, the grammar school success that we enjoy – a large percentage of children go into the grammar schools.

“There are people around that can afford independent schools but choose not to and that’s a market that we’re trying to tap into,” he said.

In March the school was thrown into turmoil by the fire, but pupils were back taking lessons in Parkstone United Reformed Church the next day. The school was refurbished in time for the new year in September.

Iain said: “The fire was a big test in every way – it was a test as a business, as a businessman, as a headmaster and as a parent – my children go here – and as a person.

“There is no doubt that a number of people in the community thought that would be the end of the school, and of the business, but it’s amazing where you gather your strength and resourcefulness from in times of crisis.

“Eric is pretty driven and focused and kept things on track and the community were just astounding in their reaction in terms of the support that was offered immediately.”

The school has 120 pupils aged three to 11 and numbers have grown.

Iain added: “Recruitment has been excellent.

“We have classes that are full, which we’ve not really had in the last few years, and we have waiting lists in classes.

“The cloud (of the fire) has a silver lining, because we have brilliant new facilities and it’s an easier place to work in and an easier place for children to learn in.

“It’s a new era for us really in terms of the new school and there is a very positive outlook from people in the school community going forward.

“We want to carry on doing what we’re doing and getting the message out there that there is an alternative to 35 children in a class and giving children a tailored education to suit their individual needs.”