New Website, New Direction, New Solutions

Welcome to our New Website

This month saw the launch of our brand new Opogo website. We wanted to design a site that turns a daunting task into an exciting prospect, that’s straight-forward and easy to navigate.

But the site isn’t just a refresh, it’s the culmination of a whole lot of research, debate and future-gazing around all things education and it represents a new direction for us at Opogo.

Did you know Opogo is a Social Enterprise?

A Social Enterprise is a business that ploughs its profits back into a strong social or environmental mission.

At Opogo we come to work every day because we want to solve one of the biggest problems in our industry: Keeping educators in education.

46% of people in education leave the industry after just three years. Our mission is to break new ground for socially conscious recruitment and retention by:

1. Creating Opogo Social, a safe, inclusive, dynamic social network improving the wellbeing of educators and building enriching and long-lasting careers.
2. Equipping schools with Opogo Talent, a creative technology platform designed specifically to help them find and keep the best educators and staff. Our technology can save an incredible 20% of school’s recruitment budget, and cut down on wasted admin time and resource.

We reinvest more than 50% of our profits into creating these platforms. They are given to educators and schools for free.

Recruitment + EdTech + Talent

My background is in recruitment. I’ve spent my whole career putting people into jobs and seeing clients as partners. I’ve seen firsthand how one person can make a massive difference to a team, a department, an organisation. I know when we place the right individual in the right role, it can lift an entire school. My primary focus is one of distributing the current market traditional supply lines and tackling one of the biggest hurdles in the education sector: Recruitment & Retention.

Robin, my Opogo co-founder, spent the last twenty-something years using digital technology to transform businesses, giving them the freedom to adapt quickly and creatively to complex problems. Something we want for the education sector.

As a recruitment agency, we spend our days engaging with and listening to educators. Their feedback paints a picture of a workforce who struggle with a lack of support, poor work-life balance, an unclear career path and a shortage of resources, amongst other issues. Something that comes up time and again is the shortage of dedicated social media spaces where educators can connect with one another and accelerate their careers. 

 Opogo Social

In our modern world social media has become second nature for almost all of us. People under the age of 30, in particular, rely on social media for connection, guidance, knowledge and all manner of things that keep us sane and happy in our day-to-day lives. But there are confines and barriers for teachers on social media, for obvious reasons.

So here we have a big slice of the education community who are missing this integral work-life tool just when their industry is under incredible pressure and they are most in need of support.

That’s why we pour 50% of our profits into building a free online professional community for educators. Our safe, secure social networking space is about wellbeing, supporting, connecting and equipping everyone who works in education so they can forge a successful and resilient career.

Opogo Talent

Schools spend over £1.3bn a year on agency staff and more than £900m with recruitment agencies. I believe that appointing supply teachers simply to fill the gap is a mindset that needs to change.

Opogo’s Social Enterprise programme provides schools with free cutting-edge technology, called Opogo Talent, designed to transform the way they recruit, manage and retain their staff.

Opogo Talent can save an incredible 20% of schools’ recruitment budget and cut down on wasted admin time and resource.

Opogo Social and Opogo Talent is our Social Enterprise in action.

EDUCATE

We must be doing something right because we’ve been accepted onto the UCL EDUCATE programme.

EDUCATE is a pioneering research accelerator for innovators in educational technology. Based at the UCL Institute of Education, they match best practice in business and enterprise with academic research to ensure effective learning remains at the heart of educational technology.

We’re thrilled that EDUCATE is supporting Opogo as we tackle the wider issues facing the education sector through proactive thinking, smart technology and the drive to make a lasting, tangible difference to this vital industry.

Join The Opogo community

Opogo Social is designed to empower and inspire educators across the globe. It’s free to use, provides a safe space to be yourself, has an inclusive culture and is career-oriented.

We’d love you to join our Opogo community.

Down load our app to harness the power of modern, leading-edge social technology to improve wellbeing and forge a long-lasting career that is rewarding in every sense of the word.