Member Article

Barnsley education firm wins first overseas customer

A fast-growing Barnsley-based education company which supplies a thousand schools in the UK has secured its first customer overseas.

A Cyprus school which educates the sons and daughters of British Armed Forces personnel has signed up for Cornerstones’ creative curriculum learning materials.

The order from Ayious Nikolaos Primary came in via the company’s website just days before Cornerstones signed up its 1000th school in England and Wales.

It is the first international customer for the company and kick starts Cornerstones’ campaign to build on its success in the UK and export its expertise.

Cornerstones managing director Simon Hickton said: “We are very pleased to welcome Ayious Nikolaos Primary as our first international customer and look forward very much to supplying the school with our full curriculum package of teaching and learning materials, online resources and support.

“When we set up the company four years ago one of our long term objectives was to extend our reach beyond schools in the UK and develop an international customer base.

“It’s great to be embarking on this part of our strategy now and we are keen to introduce many more international schools to the benefits of creative learning with our support.”

Ayios Nikolaos Primary is based in east of Cyprus close to the city of Famagusta. In common with all British Armed Forces schools, it follows the English National Curriculum and is subject to Ofsted inspections.

Cornerstones’ projects are written as structured frameworks, but with flexibility built in too, so schools can adapt them to suit their requirements and locations, whether they are in Kent or Cumbria; Portsmouth or Peterborough; Cyprus or Singapore.

Simon said: “Our curriculum is ready to go international and doesn’t need any tweaks. We designed it to provide structure where needed but to be flexible and fit-for-purpose for every school from Barnsley to Cyprus.

“We’ve always been fascinated to see how different schools work with our projects and many share news and examples of their work with us via our social media platforms. It will be great to see what school children in Cyprus do with the Cornerstones curriculum.”

Cornerstones Education, based in Goldthorpe, Barnsley, was established in 2010 by a team of three directors each with 20 years’ experience in the teaching profession behind them.

Sales have risen year on year and Simon, Melanie Moore and Graham Bell now employ 30 people. The company also produces additional curriculum resources that focus on reading, scientific investigation and languages.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .