WCBS International has appointed James Whale, a Hong Kong resident for nearly 15 years, as the company’s Business Development Director for the Asia region.

A sales professional with a wealth of business-to-business experience, James has set up and managed international sales teams across the region for software and conference companies.

As he says, “WCBS already has a strong presence from the Gulf right across to China.  My role is to build on this excellent platform by first introducing our products to more schools and then developing local networks.”

James was attracted to WCBS by the company’s solid growth record and its continual reinvestment of profits into research and development.  As he says, “It’s immensely reassuring to see how committed management is to constant improvement which makes the product sustainable for me and more importantly the clients.  It’s also a tremendously exciting time to be joining just as WCBS launches what is without doubt a world-leading new product portfolio.”

He is confident that he can add value to the company’s expansion across Asia.  “To do business in this region, it’s very important to properly understand the culture,” he says.  “Part of my task is to ensure that we work with local people with local understanding as we expand our network – people who speak the right language and fully understand the key priorities and challenges facing all our clients, wherever they are.”

You can contact James directly -

• email  james.whale@wcbs.co.uk

• Skype  JamesWhale8

• Phone (HK) +852-9138-9280

As he says, “After a period of intensive product and company training, I am looking forward to meeting the users face to face.”

Last week's IDPE Conference gave delegates the opportunity to hear a range of speakers talking on development issues and challenges faced by schools.

It included topics to address "a range of issues from core fundraising activities, the expansion of the Development role and to the wider issues confronting schools’ Development today."

The conference provided an excellent opportunity for WCBS to meet and discuss the fundraising and alumni management solutions provided by our webALUMNUS product. Thank you to those who stopped to speak with us at our stand.

If you did not have a chance to see us and would like to find out more about our cost effective answer to building good relationships with your former students, you can contact WCBS on 01458 833 344 or email sales@wcbs.co.uk

“Users are very, very happy with it, because it enables them to see and access the information they need very quickly – essentially, it does what we want it to do.”

These are the words of Barbara Flynn of the Maadi British International School in Cairo, highlighting just one of the reasons why she and her colleagues are so satisfied with the PASS system that the school has installed.

Barbara is one of four managers from schools across the Middle East to feature in the forthcoming case study from WCBS International, which highlights some of the reasons why PASS is emerging strongly as the school Management Information system of choice right across the region.

Sarah Taylor of  the Horizon School in Dubai is just as positive about the system. “I think it’s great,” she says.  “It’s easy to use, and the user interface is straightforward to follow with all the menus and tabs in the logical place.  As administrator, it’s the work of five minutes to change user profiles to read-only or to enable updates.  It makes my life far easier.”

Gary Bushfield from the English Academy in Kuwait highlights the major efficiency gains that PASS is enabling: “All staff are now spending a lot less time on paperwork – where we used to have all our data backed-up by paper copies, we have such confidence in the system that we’ve now done away with this.”

And Peter Hill of Dubai College is extremely impressed by the system’s flexibility.  “We’ve been delighted with the way that WCBS have been able to personalise PASS for us, including the use of Arabic script, matching some of the special requirements of the Ministry of Education in Dubai, and adapting it to our particular reporting needs,” he says. 

Click here for the full version of the case study.

If you would like to organise a meeting to discuss the particular Management Information needs of your school, please feel free to email sales@wcbs.co.uk or call us on + 44 (0) 1458 833344.

WCBS is continuing to build its fast-growing international business, with attendance at recent conferences in Lausanne and Hong Kong where we met with several existing customers as well as a number of new and interesting prospects.

The International School of Lausanne was the beautiful backdrop to the 2010 Swiss Group of International Schools Teachers’ Conference, which focused on how schools can make the best use of their time, material and financial resources to provide the most effective possible learning experience for pupils.

WCBS managers Richard Walling and Simon Lewis attended the conference, where they met up with existing customers including the International School of Basel, Aiglon College and the Haut-Lac International Bilingual School.

Managing Director Tony Child was at the Association of China and Mongolia International Schools (ACAMIS) Conference at the Canadian International School in Hong Kong.  This followed a visit to the English Schools Foundation (ESF), which is on the verge of going live with a PASS billing system for over 16,000 pupils.

As he says, “This is a very important moment for ESF, and I was delighted to be there as the final tweaks were being made.  The ACAMIS Conference, on developing the leaders of tomorrow, was celebrating its 10th anniversary which made for a particularly interesting and valuable event.”

Further upcoming international conferences to be attended by WCBS include April’s European Council of International Schools (ECIS) Spring Conference in Malta, and the Council of British International Schools (COBIS) Annual Conference to be held in London during May.

A highly successful international conference season has come to an end for WCBS with the return to the UK of the company’s global sales force.

The most prominent of these is Simon Lewis, International Sales Executive, who is delighted by the numbers of new prospects and existing customers he has met at EARCOS (East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools) in Manila, at FOBISSEA (Federation of British International Schools in South East Asia and South Asia) in Kathmandu and at ECIS (the European Council of International Schools) in Hamburg.

As he says, “The venues were varied, but I have to say that the surroundings in Kathmandu will stay with me for the rest of my life – it’s a phenomenally impressive place.”

Interest in PASS was high right across all three conferences, but it was webALUMNUS that dominated the events for Simon and WCBS MD, Tony Child. As Tony says, “Many forward-looking international schools are very keen to start building fully rounded relationships with their alumni now, and our web-based product is a uniquely flexible offering that also delivers a low cost of entry.”

At the Asian conferences, the recent selection of PASS by ESF (the English Schools Foundation) in Hong Kong to provide its next-generation billing system across 21 schools with a combined total of some 16,000 students proved to be a powerful source of credibility. “People were impressed,” says Tony.

Back in Europe, the company sponsored the ISC Research dinner at ECIS for the fourth consecutive year, in what Tony calls: “a very enjoyable evening spent with many of the leading figures from the international schools. Just as important, though, we received some glowing feedback from our European customers, including the Antwerp and Dresden International Schools.

“All in all, it was the most productive conference season we’ve ever had.”

PASS has been selected by the English Schools Foundation (ESF) in Hong Kong as its next-generation billing system, placing it at the heart of the accounting processes across some 50% of all private education on the island.

Founded in 1967, ESF now runs 20 schools in Hong Kong – five secondary, nine primary, two 'all through', three kindergartens and one for children with special educational needs. The figures are extraordinary, with some 850 teachers serving over 16,000 students representing some 50 nationalities.

According to Rob Bennett, Chief Financial Officer for ESF, "We are looking for the PASS system to bring ESF's billing process into the 21^st Century. With so many students, we need a solution that interfaces easily and provides both communications and connectivity."

WCBS and ESF signed the contract last month, and full implementation will take place from early 2010.

According to WCBS Managing Director Tony Child, "This is an extremely significant account win for us. At a single stroke, it establishes us as a major player in Asia in the provision of Management Information Systems to international schools. We are absolutely delighted, and look forward very much to the start of the implementation process."

WCBS will be at EARCOS Administrators' Conference in Manila, 31 October - 4 November and FOBISSEA Heads' Annual Conference in Kathmandu, 4 - 11 November.

Anybody wishing to find out more about WCBS's services for international schools should call + 44 (0) 1458 833344 or email sales@wcbs.co.uk

We are delighted to announce the further expansion of our international client base with the addition to our non-UK portfolio of the Antwerp International School in Belgium.

According to International Sales Executive Simon Lewis, this is set to be a major implementation. As he says, "The school is making a significant investment in PASS, with a total of six modules covering Academic, Administration and Billing as well as School Reports, Activities and PASS Portals.

"Taking the decision to implement so many modules straightaway is fantastic testimony to the confidence they have in PASS and its ability to help them achieve new levels of effectiveness and efficiency throughout the school".

A full implementation plan has been agreed with the school to ensure that everything goes smoothly, right up to and beyond go-live date.
Among the first fully operational elements will be the Billing Ledger in September, in preparation for the school's first billing cycle in PASS during December. Both the Academic and Administration modules are also scheduled to be live in September for the beginning of the next academic year.

WCBS personnel will be attending international schools' conferences in Asia and Europe during the autumn and early winter, providing an excellent opportunity to meet with existing clients and anybody interested in leaning about our products and services.

First, we will be in Manila, in the Philippines, between 31 October and 3 November, to attend the annual East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools (EARCOS) conference.

Next we head north to Kathmandu in Nepal for the Federation of British International Schools in South East and East Asia (FOBISSEA) conference (5 – 9 November), before returning to Europe for the European Council of International Schools (ECIS Congress) in Hamburg, from 18 to 22 November.

According to International Sales Executive Simon Lewis, who will be attending all the events, "These are opportunities to meet many people from schools with fascinating Management Information and communications challenges that our PASS and webALUMNUS solutions are ideally suited for. It looks set to be an extremely busy and exciting autumn for all concerned."

At WCBS, we have always recognised that the support we offer for our software has to be second to none.

We put this into practice by setting high standards when recruiting, maintaining a commitment to ongoing training,
and constantly reviewing staffing numbers to reflect as best as possible our busy periods.

The Application Support Team is headed up by Jayne Morris who has been with WCBS for 10 years.