Cognita

History

Cognita was formed in October 2004 by its founder management team and Englefield Capital, a private equity firm, now called Bregal Capital, and its former chairman, Sir Chris Woodhead, the former Chief Inspector of Schools in England. From 2004 Cognita started operating its first school, Quinton House School in Northampton. Later in 2004, Cognita acquired the Asquith Court Group, bringing a further 18 schools into the group. From 2004 until 2007, they continued to buy independent schools within the UK.

In 2007 Cognita spread internationally acquiring schools in Spain and Singapore. Cognita established its first school from inception in 2009, Stamford American International School in Singapore. Also in this year, a group of three international schools were purchased in Thailand. Schools in Vietnam joined Cognita in 2011, and in 2012, Cognita bought their first school in South America, in Brazil.

In August 2012 Cognita questioned the financial viability of its Ffynone House School in Swansea. Following lobbying and negotiation by parents and staff of the school, Cognita agreed to surrender the school to its lessor, Ffynone House School charitable trust, from which Cognita had leased the school. Cognita paid the trust £535,000 as a surrender sum and 10 years rent in advance of £270,000 and the school continues to operate with an operating surplus.

On May 6th, 2013 the formerly majority British-owned company Cognita agreed to be invested in by the American private equity firm KKR Kohlberg Kravis Roberts L.P.

In June 2013, Cognita expanded its network of Latin American schools through a partnership with Desarrollos Educacionales (DDEE), a Chilean private schools group operating nine national curriculum day schools under the Pumahue and Manquecura brands.

In April 2014, Cognita transferred ownership of Ferndale Preparatory School, Faringdon, Oxfordshire, to Ferndale Preparatory School Limited, a parent-led consortium. This filed for administration on 22 July 2016 due to lack of pupil numbers and funding issues, leaving staff redundant. http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/14652653.Teacher_s_sadness_after_adminstrators_called_in_to_school/

In December 2014, Cognita welcomed Instituto GayLussac in Niteroi, Brazil and in 2015, The International School of Barcelona and St. Andrews International School, Dusit in Bangkok became the latest schools to join the Cognita group. In March 2016, Cognita started a school from inception in Chile with the opening of Colegio Pumahue Chicauma.

Leadership

Cognita has teams in each region, with overall leadership provided by Group Chief Executive Officer Chris Jansen and Chair Ralph Kugler. Each region has an educational leader. In Europe, this is Director of Education Simon Camby, who joined Cognita in 2015, having previously been a lead Ofsted inspector and Chief Executive of the Focus Trust.

Criticisms

Cognita has been accused of pension irregularities.

In 2012, Cognita staff were instructed to impersonate parents and take tours of competing schools in Wales. This conduct was defended as a "normal" way of assessing the competition.

In 2012 Judge Robert Reid QC ruled that the Cognita-owned Milbourne Lodge in Esher, Surrey, had acted unfairly in removing two children, aged eight and six, without warning after the children's parents criticized the school's parents’ association, the Friends of Milbourne Lodge, for lack of transparency in its fundraising and spending. The Judge said that the parents’ association was "somewhat shadowy" and a "shambles".

Cognita's management of Southbank International School was criticised in 2011, with parents groups claiming it has "no serious interest in maximising the educational experience of ... children if it impacts on their bottom line".

Southbank International School was accused of inadequately vetting staff after a teacher, William Vahey, was found to have abused pupils over several years. The article also quotes the School's Chairman of Governors, Sir Chris Woodhead, stating the school carried out checks dating back 17 years on Vahey but they did not pick up on a 1969 conviction for child molestation in California: "Vahey's CV showed he had been registered as a teacher in the state of New Jersey in 1986, and Woodhead said it was reasonable to have assumed that would not have been the case if he had been convicted of child molestation. 'The system in America broke down, he said."

Parents at Cognita's Saint Andrews Sukhumvit 107 School in Bangkok, Thailand, prepared a petition containing an open email to Sir Chris Woodhead alleging lack of transparency and a disdain for parental views following a decision by Brian Rogove, Cognita's Asia Pacific CEO, to change the leadership of the school.

In 2012 Cognita's former director of education, Geraint Jones, was quoted as saying "13 weeks’ paid holiday is enough compensation for hard work during term time" and that "teachers have a duty to go beyond their classroom duties", indicating that putting up wall displays, collecting dinner money, performing lunch duties and providing cover are vital tasks of the teaching job and should not be delegated to assistants. Controversially, Mr Jones also publicly criticised the inefficiency of state schools stating that it "makes him sick". Mr Jones had also previously been involved in controversy as head teacher of Quinton House School at which former music teacher Sarah Cameron said her job became unbearable after she was put on a ‘hit list’ by Mr Jones. Miss Cameron brought a claim at an employment tribunal that the environment at Quinton House School became so ‘hostile’ that she was ‘too intimidated’ to turn up at the school for exam results having had her classroom moved to a cricket pavilion away from the main campus leaving her 'unsupported and isolated'.

Cognita have closed a number if schools. Typically they inform the parents by a standardised letter at the last minute and then hope there is a parent buyout by distraught parents and teachers. Examples of this are Ffyonne School and Ferndale School Faringdon which closed in July 2016, only surviving two years under parent ownership leaving teachers jobless. http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/14652653.Teacher_s_sadness_after_adminstrators_called_in_to_school/

Schools in the United Kingdom

Schools in Spain

Schools in Singapore

Schools in Thailand

Schools in Vietnam

Schools in Brazil

Schools in Chile