Financial management

Considering the ethics of fundraising

scameron — Thu, 19 May 2011 15:59:42 +0100

As more and more schools look to increase income through their own efforts, we are beginning to see a greater diversity in fundraising methods, from events such as school fetes, fashion shows, raffles, competitions and sponsored activities through to applications to the Lottery and grant-making trusts.

Raising higher education tuition fees: a serious mistake in the making

scameron — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 10:43:47 +0000

I should have been a carpenter, not a headteacher. I would of course have been awful at the job, unable to use a chisel or saw without doing myself a serious injury. However, that is what my family history had prepared me for. My grandfather was a ship's carpenter, working on the light ships for Trinity House. Unlike me, he was a master craftsman, able to work minor miracles with his carvings in wood.

Leading schools forward in times of financial uncertainty

scameron — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 12:47:57 +0000

One of the common reasons good teaching staff give for not wanting to enter the world of school leadership is that politics gets in the way of leading a school's development. Politics have certainly had a part to play over recent months since the general election. I don't know about you, but I have now abandoned my car CD collection for the drive into school in order to catch the daily news bulletins on the latest coalition education plans, government cuts and economic reorganisation.

What the spending review means for schools

scameron — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:28:45 +0000

A little under a year ago Primary Headship reported on the education cuts planned by Ed Balls and the Department for Children, Schools and Families as it was then known. In case you have forgotten the details, here is a recap: Balls claimed he could cut £2bn off the £42.8bn education budget.

Get more for less from your ICT budget

scameron — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 16:54:30 +0000

From next year the education budget will be scaled back by 25% over four years. While the government has pledged its commitment to protecting front-line services, few are under any illusions that schools will be expected to play their part. For the foreseeable future, ‘more' is increasingly likely to be expected ‘for less'. According to Becta, only one in five schools makes efficient use of its technology.

Linking the school budget to the school development plan

scameron — Wed, 26 May 2010 17:13:02 +0100

As we are all aware, the objective of a school is to improve the quality of the educational outcomes for our students, and to do this we need money and resources. With a new government now in situ it is vital to ensure that we plan for the future and ensure that our resources are sustainable, especially with the uncertainty as to what cuts (or day I say increases!) the government will make to the education budget. At the moment it is not looking too promising.

The Financial Management Standard in Schools (FMSiS) – supporting your school through assessment

scameron — Mon, 10 May 2010 10:35:30 +0100

The Financial Management Standard in Schools (FMSiS) can at times be very demanding of business managers and we have all had different experiences of how it is handled by assessors. I have successfully gained the standard twice and I can confirm that it is frustrating but it is also an ideal opportunity for business managers and governors to evaluate financial procedures. I found that the process of the second audit was far easier than the first, because I knew by then what was required, from completing the first round of the standard. Basically, there are five components:

Educational visits coordinators – what you’ve asked to know

scameron — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 13:40:05 +0100

I have been amazed at the number of emails I have received from SBMs regarding the previous issue, ‘Being an effective educational visits coordinator’, so I would like to expand on the role of the EVC and share with all of you the information that SBMs have requested. First of all I would like to remind EVCs that the LA has overall responsibility for health and safety on all outdoor visits; this is a responsibility that cannot be devolved but elements can be delegated to individual establishments, ie schools.

Charging for school visits

Being an effective educational visits coordinator

scameron — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 09:35:25 +0000

After attending a recent workshop I discovered that most of my school business manager colleagues were also educational visits coordinators (EVCs), something that surprised me. I took on the role of EVC because I was already responsible for risk assessments within the school, I knew I had an assistant to help with the detail and I wanted to ensure that school visits are planned correctly and that risk assessments are completed and adhered to.

Managing rarely cover

scameron — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:36:26 +0000

Welcome to the first edition of our new e-bulletin, School Financial Management. This fortnightly electronic newsletter, published alongside our print newsletter of the same name, will provide you with topical information and advice to support your work as school business manager. It will highlight key issues in the world of school business management, providing you with practical ideas and guidance to help you carry out your role with confidence.

Over the coming months we will look at:

Improving school efficiency: valuable lessons from the Audit Commission

scameron — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:49:50 +0100

What could you do with £400m per year? Not you personally, of course – though it is nice to dream – but if you were in charge of education throughout the country, what would you do with an extra £400m per annum?

Audit commission: SEN budgets

scameron — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:07:20 +0100

It’s a harmless enough request, but one that invariably leaves some SENCOs nervously shuffling their papers. ‘Could you put your hand up if you are absolutely clear what your income is for special educational needs/additional educational needs?’

Academy schools: the ultimate career move for school business managers?

scameron — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:57:47 +0000

In April this year I took up post as finance director at a new academy school. Since referring to my new role in SFM, I have received a number of queries from readers who are interested in exploring the possibilities of taking up similar posts.

Value in linking school governors and school bursars

scameron — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:49:42 +0000

School business managers can save up to 30% of headteachers’ time, substantially enhancing school capacity and improving the quality of teaching and learning.

According to the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) the importance of sound business management skills is widely accepted. The challenge now for governors and headteachers is to create a culture where the role of SBM is valued as a senior member of staff, rewarded financially and given the senior leadership responsibility it needs to have an impact.

Independent schools: contracts and credit control policy

scameron — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:13:44 +0000

On 31 July 2008, the Times reported that the independent girls’ school Wentworth College had been put into administration. The school, which is over 100 years old, apparently had its funding withdrawn by its bank and was forced to close.

Independent schools, like many commercial ventures, face difficult times ahead as a combination of rising food and fuel costs and a shortage of lending put financial pressure on parents and schools alike. When parents struggle with cash flow, unfortunately the problem often filters through to the providers of private education.

The role of school business manager in support staff CPD

scameron — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:29:14 +0000

Effective CPD is a fundamental part of a successful school. All too often, it can be approached in an inconsistent and ad hoc manner, which is why a good CPD framework is crucial. And with the increasing professionalisation of support staff, such a framework must take note of their needs as well as those of teachers. In this article I describe my contribution as SBM in the reframing of our school’s policy and how I have been able to advance the position of support staff in relation to training.

Financial Management Standard made easy for schools

scameron — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:39:30 +0000

By the end of the financial year in April 2007 over 76% of secondary schools had successfully achieved the Financial Management Standard; most of these had undergone an external assessment, either through their local authority or using an independent assessor.

Specialist schools: what are the financial implications?

scameron — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:59:37 +0000

Specialist schools are an important part of the government’s plans to raise educational standards. They are likely to benefit from the funding and staffing to undertake and lead collaborative ventures with other schools, and have the capacity to work with like-minded organisations within their local community, not to mention time to trial and develop all sorts of innovations for their own students. But specialist status also brings a particular set of issues to the desks of those responsible for their financial management.

Building Schools for the Future: a personal view

scameron — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:58:15 +0000

I decided to respond to the request in a recent issue of School Financial Management for anyone with personal experience of Building Schools for the Future (BSF) to come forward. I am a school business manager at Stoke Newington Media Arts and Science College in the London Borough of Hackney and building work has just started on our site.

Reflecting on a school private finance initiative (PFI)

scameron — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:40:58 +0000

Our PFI story has three parts. Previously in Secondary Headship I have described the chase by different consortia, all competing for the possibility of negotiating a contract with my local authority (LA).

School bursars: advice when joining the senior leadership team

scameron — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:36:37 +0000

I have been a business manager in my present school for 18 months, and this represented my first experience of being a member of the senior leadership team. The transition to becoming a fully blown member of the leadership team in any school can be a difficult one, and this article provides some guidance for those who are readying themselves for the challenge.

The school business manager's role in sustaining a VLE

scameron — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:34:09 +0000

In our previous article we described what a virtual learning environment (VLE) is, and then considered the process which a school may go through in establishing a VLE. We can all identify occasions in schools when large sums of money have been spent on purchasing IT systems, yet, over time, they have become forgotten.

Grants for schools: the Foyle Foundation

scameron — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:59:21 +0000

When you think of Foyles you probably think of the famous bookshop in London, or you might connect it with the Poetry Society’s Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award. However, its association with education and creative arts is considerably more complex as can be seen by the work of the Foyle Foundation. This is an independent grant-making trust that distributes grants to charities whose core work is in the areas of learning, the arts and health.

The school business manager's role in implementing a VLE

scameron — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:50:57 +0000

Virtual learning environments (VLEs) have become one of the hot educational topics among both senior leadership teams and at partnership meetings between groups of schools. The government’s direction that all schools should have an operating VLE embedded in their working practices and those of students has certainly concentrated the minds of many school leaders. School business managers may have been part of debates over the respective merits of different VLE platforms, and many colleagues will understandably have been asked to investigate their suitability in the context of cost.

Benefits of in-house school catering

scameron — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:26:41 +0000

Why would a school want to organise its own catering in-house? Surely the whole business of feeding students is time-consuming, complicated, fraught with health and safety regulations and simply not worth the hassle when your local authority will do it for you?

You are probably correct to be sceptical if your local authority already provides a quality service, meeting the needs of all your students at an acceptable cost. However if that is not the case, going it alone can offer significant benefits in terms of:

School bursars as heads?

scameron — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:13:40 +0100

Ruth Bradbury, school business manager

I have written many times on this topic, and I know that it is one on which people have strong views, and which excites debate on both sides. My own view is that there are a number of skills that the leader of a school needs to have. These include:

a commitment to maximising the life-chances of young people
a vision for their school as first and foremost a centre of learning
read more

How to finance and manage a sports hall

scameron — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:23:12 +0100

Research published in January 2008 by Sport England shows that sport-related economic activity in England is now running at over £16bn a year, an increase of over 50% since 2000. The sport and fitness industry is one of the fastest growing in the UK, as the nation becomes ever increasingly concerned with living longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives.

The financial side of becoming an academy

scameron — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:55 +0100

‘Academies embody all that we are seeking to achieve as a government, tackling social exclusion and transforming the prospects for the least advantaged in our society. My passionate belief is that educational success is the route to social justice.’

School business managers: utilise your advanced fundraising skills

scameron — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:55 +0100

In many schools, school business managers (SBMs) and bursars are playing an increasing role in sourcing funds for whole-school improvement initiatives. Some schools may even be under the impression that the appointment of a new SBM means that they pass on this responsibility entirely to this person. The reality is that large-scale fundraising needs to be a team activity and rarely works successfully if one person is solely responsible.

Speaking school finances: business and education

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:51 +0100

A couple of weeks ago, I contributed to an online debate on the NCSL website about schools’ approach to financial management. The discussion focused on the relationship between headteachers and business managers, and on the level of understanding of finance required for the leaders of a school whose primary focus is on learning and teaching.

Achievements and failures of 'local management'

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:49 +0100

In 1982 Cambridgeshire set up a pilot scheme for what it called ‘Local Financial Management’ (LFM). Six secondary schools and one primary were allocated, as a lump sum, the money they would have had spent on them by the LEA but were given the freedom to spend it as they wished.

Overcoming common outsourcing concerns: BSF

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:47 +0100

The schools sector will experience a radical transformation under the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) initiative as every secondary school and half of all primary schools across England will be rebuilt or refurbished through the government’s £45 billion investment by 2020.

Using accounting principles to improve school financial management

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:46 +0100

The launch in 2006 of the Financial Management Standard in Schools (FMSiS) can be seen as part of a drive towards the professionalisation of school financial management. The introduction of local management of schools in the early 1990s gave governors and headteachers significantly increased control over financial and other assets. However, there has not historically been a requirement for headteachers or the staff (such as bursars) who offer financial support to have any formal financial management training.

Speaking school finances: making mistakes

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:46 +0100

A headteacher was walking around his school one afternoon when he was stopped by a member of support staff. She explained that the interment of her mother’s ashes had been arranged for the following Tuesday and asked for permission to have time off to attend. The headteacher smiled sympathetically and nodded his agreement: ‘Of course’, he said, ‘no problem at all’. He then paused for a moment, as if settling on something appropriate to say. ‘So’, he finally asked, ‘how is your mother?’

Developing medium term financial plans

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:46 +0100

Over the past few years, the government has been keen to help schools improve their medium term financial planning. It is proposing to provide more stability in school funding and to align the funding and academic years for schools. In return, schools should be developing 3-5 year strategic financial plans.

Speaking school finances: the local authority

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:43 +0100

By Ruth Bradbury

Balancing workloads and creating staffing structures for the future

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:42 +0100

Starting work as a business manager in a large secondary school just a few years ago, not having worked in the education sector previously, presented a new challenge – one that I was extremely enthusiastic about. I was particularly attracted by the diverse nature of the role, being aware that it had undergone huge change over the years, its scope and size increasing dramatically to include a whole host of areas of responsibility including finance, human resources, premises, administration, income generation, catering and contract management.

Providing 'value for money' secondary education

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:41 +0100

In the days before schools received their own budgets and virtually all financial control was maintained by the local education authority, few headteachers would have heard of the concept of ‘value for money’. Nowadays headteachers ignore it at their peril and it is perhaps disappointing that the NPQH course does not yet consider it a focus area for study.

Saving money through energy monitoring

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:41 +0100

The role of the bursar/business manager has never been easy – holding the purse strings, maintaining budgets and looking at funding, all while trying to focus on the heart of a school: education. Today’s schools face another major challenge: the rising cost of energy. With the steep rise in these costly overheads, the need to raise awareness on how, when and where energy is being used in schools – and how usage can be reduced to save money – has moved up the agenda.

Understanding the classroom - what school financial managers need to know

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:36 +0100

As school financial managers become more involved in school leadership, gaining an understanding of the learning process becomes more important. Our belief is that every decision in a school – be it about buildings, personnel, or equipment – should be informed by a vision for learning. The challenge for a school financial manager is to develop the fullest understanding of the learning processes, so that this can form a basis for their decision making.

A changing role

Providing ICT network support to a cluster of schools

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:36 +0100

ICT technical provision is now a crucial lifeline to any school. If this support breaks down, it causes major problems and disruption to the life of the school. The primary schools in our cluster in East Yorkshire found themselves in this predicament early last year and had to act very quickly to resolve the problem. This article will focus on the recent developments in our cluster that stemmed from this challenge, showing how an innovative approach can bring a wide range of benefits.

Exploring the options

A new era for school leadership?

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:25 +0100

The impetus for the Independent Study into School Leadership came in November 2005 when the School Teachers’ Review Body recommended an independent study to examine the roles, responsibilities, structures and reward systems for school leaders in England and Wales.

Budgeting for development

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:25 +0100

Since the advent of school development planning, there has been an increasing emphasis on realistic plans, which are costed and feed into the school’s budgeting process. This is an aspect that is emphasised within the Ofsted process, and is a requirement of the new Financial Management Toolkit, yet the exact mechanism is poorly defined. Do you recognise any of these scenarios?

Meeting the procurement challenge: support from government

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:25 +0100

SFM reports on Darron Cox’s recent conference address on the Centre for Procurement Performance and an online market place.

At the second School Financial Management Conference in January, Darron Cox, deputy commercial director at the Department for Education and Skills, discussed how the DfES could assist schools in meeting their procurement challenge. He described the work of the Centre for Procurement Performance (CPP) and highlighted the role OPEN, the Online Procurement for Educational Needs system, would play.

Nursery franchising

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:23 +0100

Many people who run successful nurseries think of opening more than one – but how can standards be maintained when operating on several sites? And what of the costs involved? It can be an expensive business. Likewise nursery managers often think of setting up their own business but are aware of the risks involved. Franchising is one possible solution to these problems.

A key role in raising school standards

ewtemp — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:21 +0100

Long gone are the days of the ‘school secretary’. School business managers (SBMs) can now look to a structured continuous professional development path, with our objectives being to help raise standards in teaching and learning and support leadership and governance in school improvement planning.

Moving forward with falling numbers

ewtemp — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:21 +0100

A GROWING CHALLENGE faced by our schools today is how to lead the school successfully through a period of falling numbers on roll. This has more often been an issue facing the primary sector but, inevitably, will affect the secondary schools in the years to come. The impact of falling rolls is far-reaching. As well as the obvious budget cuts, there will be other repercussions that will need to be planned for and managed strategically to avoid impeding the school’s development.

Becoming a bank account school

ewtemp — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:21 +0100

More and more schools are now seeing the benefits of financial autonomy through bank account status. But what would becoming a bank account school mean for your institution?

Speaking school finances: extended schools

ewtemp — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:21 +0100

By Ruth Bradbury

At the conference, there were several mentions of the extended schools agenda – particularly in relation to fundraising issues – but also a number of more general points about the role of the extended school in the community. A couple of the speakers clarified and reinforced my own views about the initiative and the way that it fits not only into wider national agendas but also – ultimately – into the drive to raise standards of attainment in our schools.

Speaking school finances: Should managers become heads?

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:20 +0100

At the beginning of 2007, I had the honour of being featured in the Times Educational Supplement in an article about my work towards NPQH and my aspirations towards headship. The tone of the article was fair and measured enough, although the author felt that my ambitions are something of a tall order.