How does the application process work?
The four steps below explain the process, which begins with an application to become a Round Square Candidate School.
All schools that join our community begin as Candidate Schools for a period of up to two years. This affords a school the opportunity to access all of the same networks, resources and opportunities as a Global Member School, within an introductory period.
RS Candidacy lasts for a period of up to two years, during which time, our local Schools’ Support Director will work with the school to determine when it is ready to make a Global Membership Application.
Website enquiry
To register interest in applying to become a Round Square Candidate School or for more information on membership, please complete the enquiry form on our website.
Our Membership Secretary and your local Round Square Schools’ Support Director will then contact you with more information on what is involved in becoming a Candidate school, and the commitments and responsibilities involved in the school’s Round Square journey.
At this stage an initial discussion takes place to determine your aims and expectations for joining the Round Square community and answer any initial questions you might have.
Please note that Round Square is a membership-based organisation for schools and does not work directly with individuals, businesses, charities, or other third parties. The school must also be well-established and have students currently enrolled.
Application
In order to make an application for Round Square Candidacy, a school completes and submits an application form. In order to fill in the form, in the first instance you will need to consider your school’s current approach to the six Round Square pillars – our IDEALS – and how you plan to develop and integrate these. The application form is available from your Schools’ Support Director, who will guide you through this process providing ongoing feedback until your application form is complete.
Once your application form is submitted, a follow-up visit will be arranged in which representatives from the Round Square Community will spend up to a day at your school discussing your application and your objectives with your Leadership Team, members of your faculty, a group of students and a member of the school’s Board.
This visit also includes a tour of the school and is intended to add weight and independent perspective to your application, identifying any areas that may have been missed and bringing it to life with commentary from your school community. The resulting written report accompanies the application form when it is passed to the collective Heads of School within your Round Square Region for review and a decision.
On successful completion of the application process an applicant school will join the Round Square Community as a Candidate School.
Candidacy
On successful completion of the application process an applicant school joins the Round Square Community as a Candidate School. At this point we ask schools to:
- sign a Candidate Agreement with Round Square that outlines our shared commitment;
- designate a member of faculty to act as the “Round Square Representative”, taking responsibility for co-ordination between the RS Community and the School;
- quickly establish a RS Student Committee so that the student body is fully engaged in the development of Round Square themes within the school.
An incoming Candidate School is not expected to have all six of the RS IDEALS fully embedded from day one. Instead, each school is supported throughout the Candidacy Period to share in the good practice of other RS schools, to try out the various opportunities on offer for students and faculty and to develop the schools’ own approach to the RS IDEALS.
Of course, we understand that Round Square Membership is not right for every school; nor is every school necessarily right for Round Square. We certainly hope this will be the case, but the application process and the period of Candidacy are designed to help both your School and Round Square determine whether there is synergy and value-add.
RS Candidacy lasts for a period of up to two years, during which time, our local Schools’ Support Director will work with the school to determine when it is ready to make a Global Membership Application. For a school that joins Round Square with our philosophy and themes fully embedded, and which engages quickly with the RS network, the Candidacy Period may only last for a few months. Other schools may wish to take the full two years before making a Global Membership Application.
Global Membership
Schools join Round Square as Candidate Schools for a period of up to two years. When a school is ready to progress they are invited to make a Global Membership application.
There is a further, shorter, form to complete to make an application for Global Membership. This process asks for a summary of the school’s progress during the Candidacy period and objectives for the coming years.
Once complete, a Global Membership Application is submitted to the Heads of School in the Round Square Region in which the school is situated and they are asked to endorse the application. It is then passed to the Round Square Board of Trustees via the Membership Committee (a sub-committee of the Board) for a decision.
On successful completion of this process, the School will progress from Candidacy to Global Membership of Round Square. At this point we ask schools to:
- sign the Round Square Global Membership agreement and continue to embed and grow commitment to the Round Square IDEALS within the school;
- increase the range of opportunities for student exposure to the IDEALS.