School Business Manager/Bursar - Teaching Expertise

Under the extended schools agenda, all schools are expected to enhance their community provision and open up their sites to embrace a range of wider community initiatives. Nina Siddle explains how one school in East Yorkshire is developing an innovative garden area, and outlines the key role that school business managers can play in such initiatives read more

THE ADVENT OF ICT across the curriculum is beginning to place a whole range of new resource demands on schools that usually fall to the bursar/business manager to manage. read more

Ruth Bradbury explains why it is vital to create development plans for support staff in schools, and outlines a range of practical measures to make the process more manageable in your own school. read more

Judy Durrant and John Bartholomew of Canterbury Christ Church University describe developments that are leading to real and sustainable improvements in CPD and pupil’s learning. read more

Locally produced food is increasingly popular in schools and may become more important than going organic, writes Angela Youngman read more

Ross Midgley of the Crocus Early Years group offers some practical ideas for managing payments by voucher. read more

Anne Clarke explores the role of the headteacher and asks: ‘Is the notion of a headteacher an out-of-date concept?’ read more

Kris Lines takes the story of a girl who wanted to play mixed football after the age of 12, and explains its implications across the spectrum of school sport.

New initiatives, including travel plans and school transport advisers, are being introduced. Managers ignore these at their peril, writes Ingrid Sutherland. read more

Schools are having to tighten up their record keeping after an Ofsted survey found confusion surrounding procedures for vetting staff. read more

Risk assessment and needs analysis are key areas of school security. Gill O'Donnell and Brin Best guide you though the systems that need to be in place to ensure that your school is prepared for all eventualities

Dave Cotton, Force Crime Reduction Officer at West Midlands Police Force, looks at security risks and gives safety advice for schools, staff and pupils. read more

Advice and ideas for securing the school site and buildings, compiled by Dave Cotton, West Midlands Police Force and Nick Bason, Arson Prevention Bureau. read more

Half of all primary schools and a third of all secondary schools are due to be open from 8am to 6pm throughout the year by 2008 read more

The Foundation Stage induction process can be supported by existing staff in your setting, as demonstrated at Nottingham University's Day Nursery read more

Angela Youngman looks at a scheme in Norwich that is raising interest around the country and two other awards that encourage good hygiene and healthy eating. read more

Marketing a nursery is more than advertising and promotion. Marketing covers other activities, including the development of the nursery, market research and what prices should be charged. Whether your nursery is at the planning stage or is an existing business, you will still have to think about marketing. Joanne Taylor talks us through. read more

How much does food affect young children’s behaviour? Mary Whiting reveals some research-based facts and offers some tips

Nathan Archer, from the children’s house consultancy, guides you through the regulations relating to managing any money that you have raised from outside sources, and reminds you of the legalities surrounding local fundraising. read more

We all have policies; we monitor them, we evaluate them and every year or so we review them. Lynn Cousins suggests a different approach. read more

If you have equipment which is fixed or too large to be put away, what can you do to prevent the threat of damage overnight? Police Sergeant Cotton of West Midlands Police has some advice for you to follow. read more

Schools should be at the centre of professional support for children and heads should champion change, argues Nick Johnson OBE. read more

Changing attitudes is fundamental to achieving full inclusion for disabled pupils, argues Liz Fitzpatrick. Here she discusses the right to equal opportunities for those with disabilities, set out in the Salamanca Statement, as well as how to go about achieving them

Creating an effective school read more

Sue Moores, headteacher of a secondary school in the Isle of Man, compares the island’s educational system with that of England and concludes that she won’t be moving back here! read more

Headteacher Ian Bauckham attacks some common myths about faith schools and argues that their abolition would seriously reduce parental choice as well as being detrimental to the government’s commitment to raising standards.

Deputy head Rob Bray considers how his responsibilities have changed over the years as the core function of deputy headship has developed from ‘management’ into ‘leadership’

Richard Bird, former headteacher and now legal consultant to the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), suggests that heads – and those appointing them – should consider the myths they need to match. read more

Headteacher Carole Hawkins lays to rest the common perception that independent schools enjoy a privileged and problem-free position in today’s education market

Healthy meals for children, pristine premises and lovely grounds are within the grasp of every school, argues headteacher Mark Barnett

This month’s professional update summarises the requirements of the Disability Equality Duty (DED) for the public sector and outlines the steps that schools, colleges and local authorities will need to take to ensure that they comply with new legislative requirements

In my own school, and I suspect in many others, each summer holiday sees the introduction of more and more ICT equipment. read more

I’ve been on maternity leave for over two months now, and although my hands are more than full most of the time with my beautiful baby daughter, I find myself occasionally considering what might be going on at work in my absence. read more

What are the legal implications of truancy?

The cashless school will bring a dramatic range of benefits for students, parents and schools. read more

The Certificate of School Business Management is fast becoming an essential qualification for all school finance staff. But what is the course actually like from a delegate's perspective? SFM asked a recent delegate to share her views

Charitable trusts give more than £350m to education annually. Louise Germaney looks at some of the biggest grant-giving foundations. read more

Gill O'Donnell provides practical advice on looking after these key staff and argues that a proactive approach to health and safety is needed to ensure that they are protected from injury. read more

Many communities are keen to know what is happening in local schools and the profile of your school can be raised and presented in a positive light by successful use of the media. This counters a great deal of the damage done to the public view of education by more generalised central reporting, where sensationalism is the main criterion for publishing/reporting. By Linda Trapnell read more

There is always room for enhancing the curriculum through the creation and development of special events in school that pull teachers, pupils, local businesses and the wider community together, writes Rosemary Cairns read more

Headteacher David Dixon considers the inequalities of the schools admissions system, including negative effects on social cohesion and the ability of some schools to raise achievement and attainment. read more

The BSF scheme relies on successful public-private partnerships. Sharon Jones and Rachel Williams look at how the local authority goes about putting these in place. read more

Amelia Wallington looks at what schools can do to counteract increasing appeals from parents.

The Education Act 2005: an overview for school staff. read more

The new framework comes into effect this September. It will give schools more freedom — but this comes with tough new duties, says Mark Blois

Headteachers working together in a National College for School Leadership (NCSL) research project have announced progress in overcoming differences in performance between departments within schools. read more

The security risks faced by schools are many and varied. This breadth of scope is mirrored by the numerous legal issues relating to security. Mark Blois from Browne Jacobson LLP offers an overview of some of the most important issues, followed by some advice on good practice. read more

Some time this term your school will be sent an email which will give a site reference and password for downloading the template of your school profile. read more

A report by Ofsted is largely enthusiastic about the success of a selection of full service extended schools. read more

The DfES has produced an extensive toolkit to support financial management in schools. read more