Education Executive May 2021 Digital wrap edition

EDUCATION

EXECUTIVE

MAY 2021

Digital wrap edition

SUPPORTING BUSINESS AND F INANCIAL EXCELLENCE IN SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES

There is a solution to everything

Nikki Edwards on the lessons she’s learnt during her career

P A R W L A T I G I D ALSO INSIDE THIS MONTH: JOIN US AT EDEXEC LIVE 2021!

CREATING A CULTURE OF WELLBEING IN YOUR SCHOOL

BECOMING A MORE SUSTAINABLE SCHOOL

We’re back, and can’t wait to see you later this year!

Putting staff wellbeing at the forefront after a rollercoaster year

Taking steps towards a greener future

Contents NEWS & VIEWS

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NEWS Latest school business management news in brief

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THOUGHTS ON: GOVERNMENT FUNDING CHANGES Phil Burton gives us his view

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POST-COVID, IS ONLINE LEARNING GOING TO BE THE NEW NORMAL? Do the benefits of remote learning outweigh the negatives?

10 ‘INADEQUATE FUNDING’ IS SCHOOL COVID

RISK, SAYS NASUWT Why underfunding is undermining COVID control

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JOIN US AT EDEXEC LIVE 2021!

The inside scoop on our events coming up this year LEADERSHIP BY EXAMPLE

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THERE IS A SOLUTION TO EVERYTHING Nikki Edwards reflects on her career

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KICKSTARTING FUTURES How the Kickstart Scheme has worked in one trust

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BECOMING A MORE SUSTAINABLE SCHOOL Steps you can take to enhance your green credentials ICT MATTERS

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EMBRACING EDTECH A year of digital transformation in schools

MANAGEMENT

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26 CREATING A CULTURE OF WELLBEING

Education Executive is the first business management magazine written exclusively for school business managers and bursars, bringing you the latest issues affecting your role, from finance to premises, procurement to HR. EdExec delivers the lowdown on all the hottest topics in education management.

@EdExec

IN YOUR SCHOOL Ross McWilliam’s top tips for staff wellbeing

28 MAKING YOUR RESERVES WORK HARDER

Design

29 60 SECONDS WITH

Editorial

Graphic designer Amanda Lancaster alancasterdesign.com

Ian Buss discusses the impact of low interest rates Lorraine Gillot, school business manager at Field House Infant School

Assistant editor and social media lead Ellie Potter eleanor@intelligentmedia.co.uk

30 GUIDANCE FOR SCHOOL TRANSPORT

Sales

info@intelligentmedia.co.uk

The DfE’s updated guidance

Publisher

Vicki Baloch vicki@intelligentmedia.co.uk

LIVE IT

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LIVE IT Close your eyes. Inhale. Count to five… now exhale. Time to take a few moments out for some light and interesting reading – a well-earned break from numbers and statistics!

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The weather is warmer, the evenings are lighter, and we can all get down the pub again! Things are looking up and, as we head towards the summer, we hope restrictions will continue to be lifted, cases continue to fall and that life will start to get back to normal.

A lot has changed in the last year, especially for schools, and we start this digital wrap by looking at some of these changes.

We kick off with looking at how funding changes have affected schools before exploring whether the increased use of edtech will be here to stay.

Nikki Edwards reflects on her career through the education sector and we talk to the LEO Academy Trust about how they have used the Kickstart Scheme in their schools to help those starting out on their career journeys.

We then talk all things green and look at how you can make your school more sustainable. A green-thinking culture is certainly important in today’s schools and so, too, is a culture of staff wellbeing. Ross McWilliam explores how you can create this, and benefit both staff and pupils. Ian Buss discusses low interest rates and, importantly, how schools can improve their interest earned, and we share the updated DfE guidance for transport for schools. Edtech is just one of the many buzzwords of the year; our ICT MATTERS section focuses this month on how schools have embraced edtech.

As always, we finish with a bit of light relief with our LIVE IT section which includes a fun 60 seconds with!

As always, we’d love to hear any suggestions you have for the magazine. If you’d like to get involved with EdExec, or if you’d like us to cover a certain topic, please do let us know. Contact eleanor@intelligentmedia.co.uk or tweet @edexec with ideas, opinions or success stories

Contributors

Editor’s comment The education sector can be difficult to navigate at times, and those in school business management play a pivotal role in steering schools to success. Tasked with everything from finance and procurement, to HR and admin, you keep the education cogs turning.

Education Executive addresses the most pressing matters faced by SBMs, offering meaningful insights and practical advice – essentially, all you need to run your school.

Our contributors, drawn from the Education Executive team and sector innovators and experts, offer invaluable business insights from both the sidelines and front line.

ELEANOR POTTER Editor Education Executive

NIKKI EDWARDS Finance and operations director Warrington Primary Academy Trust

ROSS MCWILLIAM Mental Health First Aid England instructor

IAN BUSS Director Education Banking Consultancy

ED EXEC WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

EDITORIAL TEAM

Is your school doing something wonderful? Do you have an opinion or experience you’d like to share? A story suggestion? Or some advice you’d like to share with your peers?

Get in touch – email eleanor@ intelligentmedia.co.uk

GET YOUR DAILY DOSE OF SBM NEWS, ADVICE AND GUIDANCE AT

WWW.EDEXEC.CO.UK

Education Executive is published by Intelligent Media Solutions

NEWS STORIES R E SOURCES Tel 020 3794 8555 | Fax 020 3794 8554 E X P E RT BLOGS Email info@intelligentmedia.co.uk Intelligent Media, 115 Mare Street, London, E8 4RU

Web www.intelligentmedia.co.uk

EDUCATION EXECUTIVE

News and views {NEWS}

NEWS

The latest news and views from the world of education

Schools a ‘lifeline’ for students during pandemic School staff have been giving clothing, food and furnishings to families that have been struggling financially in the coronavirus pandemic, teachers say. Some pupils have gone to school without winter coats, while others have been worried about having enough to eat, a National Education Union poll suggests.

The Department for Education says it has invested £2bn to help pupils in England in the wake of the pandemic. In April the NEU surveyed 10,696 members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in and

concluded that schools and colleges had been a ‘lifeline’ to many disadvantaged students during the past year. Asked about the poverty they had witnessed, one union member said: “We have children that aren’t clothed properly, without coats in winter, or have holes in shoes, and my school’s inclusion team are excellent at working with the families to get them the support they need quickly and efficiently.

We also have a stock of spare clothes that, on occasion, we can give to families.”

@SbmSea: Working in school today. Hopefully by the end of the day I will have a budget that balances. #sblconnect #sbltwitter

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@CherylSBM: So excited to have filled 3 positions today using the Kickstarter scheme from @DWP. Can’t wait to get them started #SBLTwitter #SBM

Children’s laureate leads call for £100m primary school library fund

Children’s laureate Cressida Cowell has published an open letter asking the prime minister to ringfence £100m a year to help primary school libraries The How to Train Your Dragon writer told the BBC she wanted “something hopeful” to come out of the “darkness” of the pandemic. “If you want to level up, libraries have to be a key part of that,” she said.

She wants funding to be guaranteed for primary school libraries in the same way it is for physical education via the PE premium, which was introduced in 2013. “It’s just as important as sport – it’s about children’s life chances,” she said.

Cowell’s flagship project for her two-year tenure as children’s laureate is called ‘Life-changing Libraries‘.

Over the course of a year, six primary schools across England – all of which have at least 25% of pupils eligible for free school meals – will be helped to develop a reading for pleasure culture, with the support of Cowell and the charity BookTrust.

News and views {NEWS}

News in brief

Ofsted to conduct a review into sexual abuse in schools Ofsted has published plans for a review into safeguarding policies and practices relating to sexual abuse in state and independent schools and colleges. The review was announced by government after anonymous testimonials of sexual abuse were published on the website ‘Everyone’s Invited’. It will seek to find out whether schools and colleges have appropriate safeguarding processes in place and will also consider whether current guidance is understood by schools and colleges, and whether it is sufficient to help them respond effectively to allegations.

Ofsted will visit a sample of schools and colleges where cases have been highlighted; they will talk to school and college leaders, pupils and students, and will look at how well systems of support and response are working. They will also discuss the wider issues raised by the evidence.

Tutors call for inquiry into catch-up scheme for pupils A group representing professional tutors has called for a public inquiry into the running of the government’s national tutoring programme, designed to help children catch up with lost learning, saying that the programme’s managers ignored its offers of help. The Tutors’ Association, which says it represents more than 40,000 tutors in the UK, said the national programme’s managers “strongly favoured organisations with which they had worked before ahead of professional tutoring organisations” and, in some cases, selected providers with no track record of delivering tuition to schoolchildren, or those relying on inexperienced volunteers. John Nichols, president of the Tutors’ Association, said: “Disadvantaged children are getting a bad deal. It’s like the food parcels all over again.”

Williamson: mobile ‘phones should be banned in schools Mobile ‘phones should be banned from schools because lockdown has affected children’s “discipline and order”, the education secretary has warned. Gavin Williamson told The Telegraph that ‘phones should not be “used or seen during the school day”, though he also said that schools should make their own policies. ‘Phones can act as a “breeding ground” for cyber bullying, and social media can damage mental health, he added. “It’s now time to put the screens away, especially mobile ‘phones,” he wrote. “Technology has been invaluable in keeping children learning during lockdowns, and we support its use,” he said. “Outside the classroom, the use of mobile ‘phones distracts from healthy exercise and good, old-fashioned play.

@PeterhouseSBM: Considering the Sewell Report; when the much delayed SEND review is released, will it actually be a genuine review or will it just say whatever the government wants it to say?

May 2021

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News and views {THOUGHTS ON}

Thoughts on: GOVERNMENT FUNDING CHANGES PHIL BURTON, business manager at Hallbrook Primary School, gives us his thoughts on the government funding changes that have occured over the last year

Phil Burton, business manager at Hallbrook Primary School

This is a topic that every business manager and school leader could happily vent on for hours, but I have just a few words to cover the whole thing. Firstly, let’s talk about pupil premium funding and, in my opinion, the appalling decision to change the census date to calculate this.

You will know that, traditionally, the January census point would determine pupil premium funding for the future year; however, the government, in their wisdom, decided to move this to October, stating something along the lines of ‘making it easier to calculate’ (though we all know that SBMs are very capable of working with numbers, and have always managed to calculate this before).

In one of my schools this small change would have represented a 15% increase in funding to support those children most at need. I am not alone in this, with work carried out showing that there are millions of pounds, if not hundreds of millions, now not going to schools to support the children most at need. Following a recent Freedom of Information request it is reported that the DfE stated they would not release the data because it would have such a negative impact on their image – this speaks volumes to me!

Schools have also received additional

funding as part of the catch-up plans which are designed to support children and ‘bring them back’ when they have ‘fallen behind’.

All schools will have analysed their data to establish the best ways in which this money can be spent in order to get the greatest impact for the children. The true cost of this work far exceeds the amount we are being given, as is always the case, but we have the right people making these decisions – people who know our children.

Disappointingly, this funding is set to decrease next year - when we probably need it the most - and will be based on disadvantaged numbers, although this has still not been confirmed. A rather bizarre way of assessing the need per school, in my opinion, as those falling behind have not always been those who are traditionally disadvantaged but, rather, those who had limited access to ICT, and those whose families were trying to balance the work/schooling side of lockdown.

There are lots of other funding streams, or claims, being created for schools, but they all follow a similar pattern for me; very hard to access, not enough monetary value to do a good job, or just targeted in the wrong way.

However, what you can be assured of, is that school leaders will work with what we have to do the very best for our children!

The true cost of this work far exceeds the amount we are being given

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News and views {SPONSORED}

Learning, growing and moving forward with ISBL How can a professional gain assurance of their knowledge, skills and competency without interaction, discussion, or engagement with others in their field?

THE IMPORTANCE OF PEER ENGAGEMENT During the pandemic we have drawn on those around us for insight and collaboration as we have faced new and emerging challenges. There were few opportunities to attend conferences and events as we had done previously; this meant missing out on engaging in rich dialogue with colleagues.

Technology has given us the opportunity to continue our interactions with colleagues via multiple platforms, and we have seen growth of virtual meetings and events which have allowed colleagues from across the country to meet and interact more regularly and, of course, share good practice.

MOVING FORWARD As we move further into 2021-22, with renewed hope that the end of the pandemic is in sight, we should be considering what positive aspects created, and opportunities grasped, from the pandemic we want to retain in our strategic planning.

It is time to look closely at what is happening within our sector, through consultation and engagement with colleagues, to share the ‘quick wins’ which have been achieved in order to further develop and enhance learning opportunities for the communities we serve.

As school business professionals you will be working with other leadership colleagues to identify the actual financial impact - including lost income and how quickly this can be recouped.

Personnel will also feature on the immediate ‘things to do list’ as you reflect on the long-term impact the pandemic has had on their working patterns, and any anxiety or stress they may have, and also the opportunities that flexible learning and working may now provide.

Across the country, school leaders will be discussing and considering these opportunities and ISBL’s events and

networking opportunities can provide access to: ● thought leadership discussions; ● practitioner-led insights; and ● impact-orientated developments.

These will bring insights into how this change management and cultural shift have been achieved.

ISBL is creating conference opportunities for SBPs As we emerge as sector leaders from the pandemic, we want to reinvigorate ‘development’ and ‘growth’ while still ensuring that we meet the needs of our community, making sure that both are possible within available resoures. ISBL is creating conference opportunities for SBPs which, once again, allow rich discussion facilitated and inspired by leading sector specialists through panel discussions and evidence-based, practitionerled, workshops. Provided via both virtual and physical attendance, our events will focus on navigating the new horizon, lessons learned from the pandemic, and the growth opportunities presented - particularly through flexible learning and working.

ISBL National Conference 11-12 November 2021 The early-bird booking is now open for the 2021 ISBL national conference. Given the clamour from colleagues to be back at live events and networking with colleagues, we recommend that you consider booking your place now at the early-bird rate of just £335, which includes overnight accommodation on day one of the event.

Visit www.isbl. co.uk for full details of our conferences and events.

May 2021

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News and views {BIG ASK} {COMMENT}

Post-COVID, is online learning going to be the new normal?

Schools have embraced apps and remote classes in the past year. Some see benefits in virtual learning, but others fear the impact on disadvantaged children, and privatisation by stealth, reports The Guardian

H

istory is likely to record that Britain’s teachers were better prepared for COVID-19 than government ministers.

With cases rising in Europe, 14 schools in England had already closed their gates by the end of February 2020.

When senior staff at Barham Primary School began drawing up contingency plans, on 26 February, they realised they needed to up their use of digital technology.

They decided to upload work daily to ClassDojo – a popular app they were already using to communicate with parents. The

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problem was that some parents, many of whom do not speak English as a first language, didn’t have the app. When, three weeks later, it was announced that UK schools would close to most pupils – with just two days’ notice – Barham’s staff, especially the Gujarati, Tamil and Hindi speakers, took to the playground, digital devices in hand, to help parents get connected.

“We decided ClassDojo was a nonnegotiable,” says Laura Alexander, a senior leader at the school and nursery attended by 930 children aged three-to-11 in Wembley, London. “Every single parent had to be on there so we could communicate with them and

News and views {COMMENT}

The pandemic had forced almost 1.6bn children and students out of their schools and universities worldwide, putting many of their teachers on a steep edtech learning curve get work to the children.” Ensuring they could distribute work remotely was just the first of many challenges staff at Barham faced as they turned towards greater reliance on edtech, in response to COVID-19.

They were, of course, far from alone. By April 2020 the pandemic had forced almost 1.6bn children and students out of their schools and universities worldwide, putting many of their teachers on a steep edtech learning curve. And now,with UK schools having closed to the majority of pupils again on 5 January, edtech was once again used to provide mostly remote lessons.

For some, the resulting global edtech boom is long overdue. Andreas Schleicher, head of education at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, has described the pandemic as creating ‘a great moment’ for learning. In May, New York governor Andrew Cuomo publicly questioned why physical classrooms still exist at all, as he announced that former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Bill Gates would help rethink education in the state.

DIGITAL DIVIDE Sceptics, however, warn that a ‘digital divide’ further widens existing attainment gaps and inequalities faced by disadvantaged children. Others say schools are ill-equipped to protect their pupils’ data, and that the growing role of commercial interests – both within state education and through a booming direct-to-consumer edtech market – amounts to privatisation by stealth.

At the end of March, with such short notice of the shutdown, most UK schools turned to their existing digital tools to help their pupils continue learning. For some this meant simply uploading links to worksheets on school websites, while others gave live lessons via video conferencing. It didn’t take long for problems to emerge.

“We were putting work on ClassDojo, but the children couldn’t send me back the work, so they weren’t getting the feedback they need,” says Laura, who was teaching year four pupils at Barham last spring. In the summer the school began transitioning to Google Classroom,

as a more interactive remote learning tool, and set up face-to-face lessons via Google Meet for those unable to return or self-isolating.

BIG TECH ON THE MOVE Pre-COVID, Google had already gained a dominant position in many schools by providing its edtech tools free, or at low cost. In the first month of the pandemic, the number of active users of Google Classroom doubled to 100m.

The government has helped facilitate big tech’s expansion in education. In late April it announced a scheme to provide free technical support and training in Google and Microsoft education digital tools. More than 6,500 primary and secondary schools in England – over a quarter of the total – signed up. Since then, some 2.4m new user accounts have been created for the two platforms. In April Google donated 4,000 free Chromebooks, and 100,000 wifi hotspots, for students in rural areas of California for home learning.

Critics, like the writer Naomi Klein, say the tech giants were quick to see COVID-19 as an opportunity to accelerate their ambitions in education. In June, for example, Microsoft published a position paper called Education Reimagined. “The fallout from COVID-19, continuing advances in digital technology, and intensifying pent-up demand for studentcentred learning have combined to present an unprecedented opportunity to transform education across whole systems,” it states.

But will schools continue their digitally enhanced approach, post-pandemic? Investors certainly think so. Global investment of venture capital in edtech more than doubled from $7bn in 2019 to a record $16.1bn in 2020, according to market intelligence consultancy HolonIQ. Others, too, believe the shift will be permanent. “COVID has given an impetus to schools to adopt, roll out and use more of the functionality of edtech tools,” says Hannah Owen, of the Nesta innovation foundation. “It’s likely, and optimal, that we’ll move to blended models, where remote and digital platforms support in-person classroom teaching, and contribute to minimising teacher workload.”

May 2021

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News and views {COMMENT}

‘Inadequate funding’ is school COVID risk, says NASUWT As reported by BBC News, lack of ‘adequate’ funding for schools in England during the pandemic is placing staff and pupils at risk, NASUWT warns

T

he NASUWT teachers’ union is warning of funding shortfalls and job losses in schools, particularly among support staff who might help with COVID control measures outside of lesson times. It says it has reports of redundancies of staff who are vital to COVID safety measures in schools, and

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online delegates at the union’s annual conference heard about the high pay of academy ‘fat cats’.

Meanwhile, the Department for Education has offered support to schools for increased staffing and safety costs. Last November the DfE announced a fund to help schools which were hardest-hit by funding pressures from the

News and views {COMMENT}

Public money has to be protected from the worst excesses of a deregulated eduction system during the coronavirus pandemic is placing at risk staff, pupils and local communities’ says a report from the union, called Where has all the money gone?

During the first lockdown, in March 2020, the DfE announced funding for additional school coronavirus costs such as free school meals and cleaning - but the teachers’ union says the terms of this funding were ‘unnecessarily restricted’ – for example, schools could claim for extra cleaning costs if there was a COVID outbreak, but could not claim for cleaning to prevent an outbreak.There were also high costs in some schools for covering teachers kept at home because of the pandemic – but there was limited eligibility for reclaiming staffing costs, says the union.

MAKING FUNDING FAIRER

pandemic – particularly to cover high levels of staff absence. There has also been the promise of a further £1.7bn in catch-up funding for schools to help children recover from the disruption of the pandemic.

The NASUWT remains unimpressed.

‘It is not an exaggeration to say that the government’s failure to fund schools adequately

Its funding report also warns of excessive pay for some leaders of academy trusts; research by the union found that the combined salaries of chief executives in the 20 largest academy trusts in 2018-19 was £4.72m, or an average of £236,000 for each chief executive.

NASUWT president Phil Kemp told the conference, “The snouts have to come out of the trough” - and public money has to be protected from the worst excesses of a deregulated education system, which he likens to the ‘wild west’. He called for a national pay scale “as soon as possible, and measures put in place to ensure all employers in education adhere to it”.

The annual conference heard debates about how the poor mental health of some teachers has been exacerbated by unmanageable workloads during the pandemic, and challenging pupil behaviour.

GOVERNMENT PROMISES On academy pay, the DfE says: “We consistently challenge trusts where we deem executive pay to be too high, and will continue to do so when it is neither proportionate nor directly linked to improving pupil outcomes.”

May 2021

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News and views { EDEXEC LIVE 2021}

Join us at EdExec LIVE 2021!

W

Manchester- 12th October 2021 London- 30th September 2021

We’re back, and more excited than ever to bring our London and Manchester events to you this year!

e all love a good get-together and, after the year we’ve had, we think we can all agree it’s needed more than ever. As well as a chance to socialise and catch-up with your fellow SBLs (and we know there is a LOT to catch up on!) the day will be packed with opportunities to learn, share experiences and meet like-minded individuals - and will, as usual, be topped off with a welcome glass of wine.

We are so excited to currently be planning for our 2021 events in London (30 September) and Manchester (12 October) after a year of social distancing, lockdowns, cancellations and postponements of countless events.

We can’t wait to see your faces and we’re sure you can’t wait to attend an event that isn’t marred by poor wi-fi, or interrupting family members!

You’ll experience tangible, targeted, relevant information that makes a difference to your role and your school or academy. We have a stellar line-up of expert speakers confirmed, presenting on a broad range of school business management aspects.

Knowledge is the basis for good decision-making; with this in mind, we have compiled a list of frequently asked questions for you:

So, what can you expect from EdExec LIVE? EdExec LIVE is an event specifically aimed at school business leaders and finance directors – offering an interactive learning and networking experience for our delegates, quite different from other events currently on offer. We focus on a targeted group of engaged delegates who make the purchasing decisions on behalf of their schools, or cluster of schools.

Is the content only based around school business management?

School business management is the focus of our event – but its remit is broad. For us it’s not just about finance, funding and income generation, marketing, HR and compliance – we also focus on personal development and address CPD, leadership, wellbeing and progression.

What can I expect when I attend one of your events?

EdExec LIVE is not about reiterating a situation that we are all very aware of – it’s about addressing that situation, speaking to peers and sharing experiences. It’s also about facilitating discussion and providing concrete advice to benefit you, your school or academy, and your wider network.

How do I get involved?

Flag your interest in receiving a free or discounted ticket by emailing hello@edexeclive.co.uk! If you have an area that you would like for us to cover, or a session idea, please email eleanor@intelligentmedia.co.uk.

I would like to come to EdExec LIVE but I’m worried about coming alone!

You won’t be alone! If you are attending an event on your own, and are a bit anxious, please let the EdExec team know so they can introduce you to some other people in the same boat and help you to feel comfortable right from the start.

Can I bring members of my SBM network/group or a colleague?

Absolutely!

Will I be fed and watered at the event?

Yes! On arrival there will be beverages and pastries to get you going, coffee breaks in the late morning and afternoon, a really great hot lunch plus post-conference drinks. We will contact you about dietary requirements closer to the event.

SAVE THE DATE! Manchester - 12th October 2021 LondonICT - 30th September 2021 MATTERS email hello@edexeclive.co.uk to reserve your place Learn more at edexeclive.co.uk

OUR NEW, ENHANCED WEBSITE IS LIVE!!

Take a look at our new offering at

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We wanted our website to better support its many and increasing users on a daily basis, so we built a bigger and better website that does exactly that!

The new website allows you to scroll through a shop-window style home page that showcases the latest, and most interesting, content across the most relevant categories to you role.

From finance and funding, to management and leadership, to ICT and case studies from your colleagues, there’s a wealth of filtered, relevant content to inform, innovate and advise. We hope you like it!

edexec.co.uk

your one stop shop for school business management and leadership support!

Leadership by example

to everything

There is a solution

{CAREER REFLECTIONS}

NIKKI EDWARDS, finance and operations director at Warrington Primary Academy Trust, reflects on her career journey so far

I

was born and brought up in Knowsley, in Merseyside, and in 1989 joined Knowsley Borough Council’s finance department straight from school as a 16-year-old clerical apprentice, which gave me a really good grounding in financial administration.

At the age of 24 I moved from the finance department into the education department and, apart from a short career break when my two daughters were younger, I’ve been in and around the education world ever since.

I made the move out of the local authority in 2011, when that shift of power from councils to schools was really picking up speed.

I took voluntary redundancy, and went to work in the private sector, but needed to get back to my passion of schools. I took a temporary role and set to work as a business manager at a

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Liverpool secondary school.

It was a bit of a strange start - and a bit of a baptism of fire. On my first day the headteacher spent most of her time in her office behind a locked door. When she did emerge her only words to me were, “The wheels have fallen off.”

It turned out that this short and sharp assessment wasn’t very far off the mark. The school was in freefall; the head went on long term sick, and the school closed nine months later.

CAREER MOVES I joined Warrington Teaching School Alliance straight after as a business manager as part of the teaching school. When Warrington Primary Academy Trust (WPAT) was formed in 2016 I moved into the role there, with responsibility for finance and operations.

The next-generation MIS that keeps things simple Easy to use, access and navigate, IRIS Ed:gen really is the next-generation MIS. No more battling with clunky legacy systems, it’s cloud-based meaning you can update information whenever, wherever you are.

Better data means better decisions and better outcomes for pupils, while improved school management and instant communications help schools get the right information to the right people at the right time.

Even better, a range of time-saving tools and apps let you give teachers their time back.

TO LEARN MORE, VISIT www.iris.co.uk/iris-edgen/

Leadership by example {CAREER REFLECTIONS}

COVID has had a big impact on my professional growth I love the sheer variety of the role I have here at WPAT. No two days are the same. As finance and operations director I’m responsible for anything to do with the business functions of the trust. This means I have to be a trouble-shooter sometimes; if I can’t fix a problem then it’s down to me to arrange for someone who can. It’s a role that gives me great professional satisfaction.

My career has been inspired by my personal interests. When I was working in finance and accountancy roles at the local authority we were having an extension built at our home. Overseeing this work became a bit of a passion project of mine, in my spare time, and this was picked up on by one of my managers, Mike Rees, who asked if I’d like to take on a school estates/health and safety management role.

That was a really fulfilling move for me. The government’s Building Schools for the Future school rebuilding programme was happening at the time and part of my role was to manage the decommissioning of old school buildings and the transfer of the school into its new home.

We had a real team spirit during this project.

I remember going into old Victorian and pre-war buildings and being struck by the emptiness and absence of school life. We found some surprising artefacts, including antique school registers which we handed over to the local museum. It was also a race to ensure that the buildings were made safe for demolition, that all IT was removed, that nothing confidential was left behind, and to make sure that any structures that were to be conserved were protected from vandalism and theft.

I’ve carried that estates and health and safety experience into my current role. We’ve undertaken a lot of capital works across our trust - which has now expanded to seven schools.

We’ve secured more than £4m in funding for our improvements through capital improvement fund bids to ESFA and these have made it possible to create new buildings and replace roofs, windows and heating systems.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PROFESSIONAL GROWTH Professional growth has always been part of my working life. As a young apprentice at Knowsley, alongside my role development training, I completed my BTEC, CIPFA and masters in

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management. I’ve not really stopped learning since then. It’s been tricky to continue this over the past 12 months, but I have enjoyed logging into webinars because they are so accessible and easy; rather than a conference or training event taking up a whole day it takes just a couple of hours at most and I can then carry on with my working day.

COVID has had a big impact on my professional growth. I led the co-ordination of our pandemic response across the MAT, making sure that we took into account every piece of guidance, and ensuring that the right measures were put in place. It was a very challenging time for us all, certainly in the early stages, as we worked out the best response to what was happening and got used to home-based working. Looking back, it has been quite a ride, but it has made us stronger, more confident professionals - and I think we feel ready for anything now.

The pandemic will have a lasting impact on the way I work in the future; I won’t be working

Leadership by example {CAREER REFLECTIONS}

We can move on from it, learn from it, and try something else in the office full time for a start! The experience of the past year has proved that we can work just as effectively at home, although we will come into the office for face-to-face meetings when they are necessary.

INSPIRATIONS AND CHALLENGES I’ve drawn inspiration on what to do (and what not to do) from the many people I have had the honour of working with over the years.

One was the late Sue Johnson, who was deputy director of education at Knowsley. She took me under her wing in the early stages of my career and taught me a few rights from wrongs.

Diane Williams, a former finance manager at Knowsley who now sits on the WPAT members board, is another. She taught me that you could be totally committed to your work but still maintain a balance with other aspects of your life.

Our CEO, Louise Smith, is another inspirational figure. Louise reminds me in many ways of Sue Johnson. She’s driven, insightful, and very focused on her role. Our business support teams are another huge source of inspiration. We’re a close-knit group of people, and we learn from each other all of the time; every person takes pride in, and is passionate about, their contribution to our children and families, whether they are based in the central office or one of our schools. I feel honoured to work with such talented and professional people.

There are big challenges in a role like mine - that’s what makes it enjoyable, in many ways. My

attitude is that there is a solution to everything; you won’t necessarily know what it is immediately, but there is always a solution. Everyone wants to do a good job, so I want to be there to help them to achieve that. My aim is that, as we grow, we increase the leadership capacity of our teams so that they have the freedom to lead on these solutions more and more.

As we continue to grow – we are at seven schools now and we are looking to expand into double figures over the coming years – there will be a point where I can’t be involved in everything, so my next challenge is how to empower more people as we continue to scale up.

I’ve been in that situation before at Knowsley.

About 18 months before I left the authority my team was transferred out of the education department into the corporate estates department.

It was an opportunity to manage a large and growing team in an organised and controlled way.

We achieved this by giving people the permission, the trust and the back up to lead their own areas.

LESSONS LEARNED I’ve learned a whole book of lessons during my career; being open to every opportunity that comes along is probably the most important one for me. When I started as an apprentice at the local authority there was no way I could predict that I would end up in the role I have today. My career has developed in the way it has because I didn’t close myself off to new opportunities, and I had managers who saw the potential in me and were prepared to give me the freedom to try things out.

I’ve tried to emulate that approach in this role, and I would urge other school business professionals to do the same. If it doesn’t work out then we need to remember that we’re not the NHS and that, thankfully, someone won’t die. We can move on from it, learn from it, and try something else. It’s the way we move forward and improve, and it’s a principle that I’ll carry with me for the rest of my career.

About the author Nikki Edwards is COO at Warrington Primary Academy Trust (WPAT), which is made up of seven primary schools in Warrington and Widnes, Cheshire. WPAT’s guiding principle is to deliver a first-class education through partnership, innovation, school improvement and accountability, and has developed a national reputation for excellent standards. wpat. warrington.sch.uk

May 2021

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QUESTION TIME

SALES SUCCESS

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Leadership by example {CASE STUDY}

g n i t r a t s k c i K f utures

We speak to SHAN MOYLAN, CFO at LEO Academy Trust, about how they have used the Kickstart Scheme - and how it has been a mutually beneficial Tell us a bit about your trust, and your role there.

The LEO academy trust has six primary schools based in South West London; we’ve got 3,500 pupils and about 450 staff. I am the CFO so I’m responsible for HR, governance and finance. One of our focuses this year is to ‘be the heart of the community‘ and that’s where the Kickstart Scheme worked well for us because you’ve got local young people who, probably through no fault of their own, due to COVID, came out university unable to get a job, or they’ve been made to go onto universal credit because businesses have closed, and people aren’t recruiting at the moment.

For those schools that don’t know, how would you explain what the Kickstart Scheme is?

It’s a government-led and funded scheme that offers young people who are on universal credit a work placement for six months, 25 hours a week. A trust that takes them has to offer support so, when we applied to take kickstarters, we had to state what jobs we would place them in.

They can’t replace jobs; it’s not like you say, ‘I’ve got a vacancy, so I’m going to take a

Kickstart person’ - you have to look at areas where you can use that extra support, develop this person’s experience of working so that, going forward, they’ve got work experience, and they can say what they’ve done.

The Kickstart Scheme funds the wages of the Kickstart employee for six months and employers are also given a start-up grant of £1,500. The start up grant should cover the resources and support you need to put in place for each Kickstart employee. At LEO, we provide a comprehensive training package of both statutory training and post-related training. For example, if the post was in catering, we would offer a food hygiene course.

At the end of the six-month period the placement finishes. Unfortunately, we are not able to offer all of our Kickstart employees a position in our trust but we do commit to support them with their search for employment.

It’s quite simple to apply actually - there’s an online application, which you complete. You outline the roles you feel that you can offer the scheme, and you also have to outline what support you can put in place for that particular person,

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Leadership by example {CASE STUDY}

Giving a young person the opportunity to develop their skills, and watching them grow as a person, is very rewarding in that particular role. They then review all of that, advertise the job through the Jobcentre, and the Jobcentre refers the applicants to us.

Now, just because you get a referral that doesn’t mean that there’s somebody there who’s going to take that place you’ve offered; the applicant has to choose to apply to you.

Why did you get involved in this scheme?

We got involved in the Kickstart Scheme as we felt we had both the experience and capacity to support young people. We’ve got 10 apprentices at the moment; we’ve always had about 10 a year. We’ve been able to offer our apprentices employment, and that has worked

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really well. We’ve learnt a lot from people undertaking apprenticeships, as well as them learning from us.

Giving a young person the opportunity to develop their skills, and watching them grow as a person, is very rewarding. Many of these young people have used this experience to look at a change of career and to help them decide their future plans. Others, like those who accepted a placement as a learning support assistant, have used this experience to further their chosen career, for example, to train as a teacher in the next academic year.

What reservations did you have before implementing the scheme - and how have these turned out?

I think you have to go in with an open mind. My reservations were that you’re taking someone on trust based on a CV and an interview. You also have to remember that you’ve got to be able to support this person - so workload is a huge factor in this because, you can’t just say, ‘Hello, come in, sit down and get on with it’ - you’ve got to have

Leadership by example {CASE STUDY}

Identify the possible positions you have really carefully

COVID quickfire:

somebody to be their mentor, and you’ve got to have a training programme.

I have to admit that there has been a huge impact on our HR department. Our HR manager leads a great team. They have stepped up to the challenge and have been amazing. We knew it was going to be hard and we learnt a lot of lessons on our journey, so I think you need to be prepared for that. We are very proud that we now have two Kickstart applicants working in our HR department and they have proved to be a huge asset, in fact, they are now helping with the Kickstart recruitment. So, you can make it work!

What advice would you give to schools who may be reading this and thinking, ‘This sounds like something we could do’?

Identify the possible positions you have really carefully, and the staff you have in place to support these people. Make sure you’ve got a structure in place – if it’s just one person I don’t think it’s got to be such a huge amount of work but, if you’re an academy trust, you really need to think about it, and actually plan

BIGGEST CHALLENGE: Making sure that it’s a safe environment for children to learn, and staff to work, in.

BIGGEST ACHEIVEMENT: Keeping the schools open; keeping them staffed and making sure everyone has access to good resources and distance learning.

BIGGEST SURPRISE: I think if you said what you’re proudest of I would say how the staff stepped-up - but I wouldn’t have said that was a surprise, as school staff always work together to make it work.

BIGGEST LESSON LEARNT: I think the biggest lesson learnt is that you need to be adaptable, and you need to move with the times, and move quickly! Technology is key to looking at your communication methods, and making sure they work in whatever situation you have to be in.

out how it’s going to work and, maybe, build on the experiences that - perhaps a trust like ours – which has gone through the process and can let you know where the pitfalls are. Recognise that this is a valuable resource, but also that you really need to plan where you will place these people and make sure you’ve got people who can mentor and support them. Always be aware that this placement is going to come to an end in six months, so you’re going to have a gap to fill.

Running this scheme is not something that we went into lightly, but I think the benefits outweigh the negative things As I said, these young people are a valuable resource, we are supporting them and the local community. It is a great feeling when you offer a placement to a young person who has been out of work for a considerable length of time, to see their faces, it’s just amazing, it really is.

Schools are more than just a place where people learn, they’re the heart of the community. It seems that Kickstart has really helped you with your community focus this year.

It really has, and we have so many areas for them to go into. For example, we have Kickstart people with a digital illustration degree who found it very difficult to get work. They are now working in our marketing and communication section, and looking at our website. Then we’ve got staff working to support PE in the school, and learning support assistants, and catering.

Because we are an academy - and because we have all these different services - there seems to be something that they will fit into.

We also have the flexibility to try and make their working day suit them. All of this hard work pays off when you see the dedication that some of these young people have. We have a young lad who is a qualified plumber, but he can’t get work at the moment.

He travels something like an hour and 20 minutes a day to come to one of our schools, as part of our Kickstart Scheme, just because he wants to work!

Schools are more than just a place where you can learn, they’re the heart of the community, and after such a difficult year for so many people it’s really one of the best places to support the rebuilding of the community.

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Leadership by example {SUSTAINABILITY}

Becoming a more sustainable school There are over 30,000 schools in the UK. If each school made a conscious effort to become more sustainable it would have a considerable impact

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ach year, on average, secondary schools produce 22kg of waste per pupil, and primary schools 45kg of waste per pupil. The majority of this waste is thought to come from two main sources; paper and food. So, what steps can schools take to try and enhance their green credentials?

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REDUCING MEAT CONSUMPTION Avoiding meat and dairy products is the single biggest way to reduce your environmental impact on the planet, according to the scientists behind the most comprehensive analysis to date of the damage farming does to the planet. This new research shows that, without meat and dairy consumption, global farmland use could be reduced by more

Leadership by example {SUSTAINABILITY}

than 75%. The Meat Free Mondays schools programme includes ideas for how schools can reduce their meat intake.

GROW YOUR OWN Growing your own food is not only good for the planet, but also educational. By dedicating a small area of school grounds to growing food you can teach pupils the importance of knowing where food comes from which will help them develop a more sustainable-focused mindset.

For more information and resources take a look at Food For Life’s Get Growing page.

FOOD WASTE DIARY Having children keep a diary of how much food they have thrown away, and the reason why, makes them more conscious of their decisions, and less likely to waste food.

GOING PAPERLESS The world is becoming increasingly paperless in an aim to reduce paper waste. The majority of people in the UK have access to a device on which they can receive digital communication.

Do you really need to print out endless letters

Growing your own food is not only good for the planet, but it is also educational to send to staff, pupils and parents? When you go to press that print button think to yourself; is this really necessary?

KEEPING AN EYE ON ENERGY The Carbon Detectives’ Kit allows schools to work out their carbon footprints and compare them to other schools; this comparison should allow you to be able to see whether you are doing enough - or whether you need to do more - to reduce your carbon footprint.

The Sustainable Learning programme encourages schools to make energy reductions of 10%, on average, and develop a better understanding of how energy and water is used within their buildings.

Remember - encouraging sustainable is all about encouraging understand – the more you know, the more you know how you can help!

May 2021

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ICT matters {EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY}

Embracing edtech

Although there haven’t been many positives to come out of the pandemic, the increasing use of technology in education has been viewed by many as a step in the right direction for the future of education

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ven for those schools that had already embraced technology, COVID put the accelerator on and forced a step change that would have usually taken years to acheive. The speed with which schools managed to switch to remote learning was nothing short of remarkable – and showed how agile and innovative they can be when needed. In the last year the possiblities that online learning can provide have been brought to the forefront, and have demonstrated the many different ways that it can be used.

However, the move to online learning has also exposed a digital divide and accessiblity issues; to turn this on it’s head, the exposure of these issues does allow them to be addressed more directly. These problems have always existed – and would have continued to do so – but the attention that has been drawn to them will allow many of these inequalities to be actively tackled, rather than forgotten about.

KEEPING MOMENTUM The challenge will now be whether this momentum and progress in the use of technology can be kept up once schools begin to open up to all pupils when they return to the traditional setting of the classroom again.

It is hoped that the foundations that have been developed over the past year can be built on, and a longer-term strategy can be set out which explores how the potential and advantages that an increased used of edtech can bring to education can be secured and exploited.

Schools will need to continue to progress their digital capabilities in order to make the most of the potential that new technologies can bring. The government has introduced schemes like the EdTech Demonstrator programme to help schools develop in these areas.

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This programme involves a network of nearly 50 schools and colleges which will provide peerto-peer edtech support. Currently, over 11,000 schools and colleges have benefitted from the programme through the use of webinars, bespoke advice and tutorials.

As the world continues to adopt technology more widely and rapidly than ever, it makes sense for schools to do the same so that digital skills are honed at a young age to prepare pupils for the working world. The rate of change that the education sector managed to adapt to this past year won’t leave much doubt in anyone’s minds that they will be able to continue to innovate, and embrace edtech, to use it to its full potential.

In the last year the possiblities that online learning can provide have been brought to the forefront

Management {MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS}

Creating a culture of wellbeing in your school

ROSS MCWILLIAM, Mental Health First Aid England instructor, gives his top tips on how you can ensure your school is focused on staff wellbeing and mental health

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ellbeing, mental health, and even resilience, are the buzz words that are at the forefront of everyone’s mind at the moment.

The COVID pandemic has changed how we live, work and generally interact with each other. The school setting is no different from most other workplaces, except for one small detail – staff are always concerned for the emotional welfare of their children, and sometimes this concern can be to the detriment of their own emotional and physical health.

Whilst this noble, even altruistic, approach is commendable, an exclusive focus on child welfare may make some school staff susceptible to challenges to their own mental health and emotional wellbeing.

There must be a balance, as emotionally healthy staff are more able to provide an even more comprehensive wellbeing service to their charges.

For many educational professionals the term ‘mental health’ itself conjures up an image of weakness, or a lack of emotional stability, and the very mention of mental health may suggest a negative deficiency that could slip into conscious or unconscious

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communication bias. Sadly, from my anecdotal experiences, there is also a gender bias, with many males not seeing the need for school wellbeing - with some even hanging onto the, almost prehistoric, notion that you just need to ‘suck it up’ and be more resilient.

A more intelligent and bespoke approach to organisational wellbeing is one that not only considers individual strategies, but also looks at the impact of a considerate, gentle and holistic approach to improving collective wellbeing. Here are six key areas of this collective approach: Growing a school culture of conscious and subconscious non stigma, and the use of acceptable mental health language Whether we know it or not, we could be perpetuating a negative stereotype of mental health. Worse still, this attitude could actually stop those in need accessing support and recovery. Everyone has mental health, with some having more or less mental health, so we simply need to be aware of any language, or nonverbal communication, that suggests somebody is less.

Examples of non-stigma and positive language could be ‘Experiencing a mental health challenge’, ‘They

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Management {MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS}

are currently accessing support,’ ‘They have a current diagnosis of bipolar’ (or other specific condition), ‘Is there anything I can do to assist you?’

Development of self-awareness and awareness in others Take notice of how you are actually feeling especially when you take off your professional hat, remove your resilience shield and set down your achievement orientation. Check in to your emotions, feelings and behaviours – what is driving each of these?

In line with this, actively practice self-care by taking yourself away from your ‘stress’ points on a daily basis, either on your own or with others.

Listening non-judgmentally, rather than always trying to solve something with advice Try and listen to understand, rather than listen to interrupt by giving advice about how to fix things; often, it’s the process of just being listening to that is the solution. Everyone has been through a different pathway - and been exposed to various mental health risks and protective factors – so let’s not judge by our own standards.

Asking questions which engage a colleague and show you care If we are going to ask questions, open and closed can both be equally effective. For example, using a closed question, if you simply ask, ‘Are you okay?’ the easiest response is ‘Yes’ - but this might not be true.

Better to ask a different type of closed question such as, ‘Can I buy/make you coffee?’ which has an inference of sitting down together and chatting. Another example of a good open question might be ‘What can I do to assist you now? What would you like?’

Signposting for independent support This could be set up on a school online hub where all staff can add useful contacts, organisations, ideas and tips. Access can be gained anonymously.

Collective acceptance and responsibility in forming a school positive mental health and wellbeing culture Identify this in the school mission statement, and on pupil and staff noticeboards. You can also create regular, independent wellbeing meetings - on or off site - staff mentoring/buddy systems and make accredited mental health a CPD focus.

Miriam Alexander, an NHS consultant liaison psychiatrist writing in The Guardian not only re-enforces the message of self-awareness, but also warns against the danger of almost ‘outing’ weaker staff members. She talks about being able to open up, without stigma, about the demands of dealing with this, seemingly never ending, COVID onslaught, where death and illness have, sadly, become an all too familiar daily sight.

“It’s vital we create a work culture that encourages

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self-awareness rather than self-criticism,” she says. “There may well be individuals who are more susceptible to burnout, but they are not the ‘weaker’ ones; they’re the canaries in the coal mine telling us something is wrong with the system. The lesson is to improve the NHS to make it healthier for all of us.” There will be some staff members who are more liable to burnout before others, for various reasons that we as colleagues may not be aware of, such as their own exposure to historical risk and protective mental health factors. Equally, self-awareness must drive organisational culture, where a collective awareness of the needs of others must be recognised.

Not only must we be more aware of our own feelings, emotions and behaviours, we must also tune in to be being more aware of the needs of others. We must also not fall into the trap of keeping going, being superresilient, as nobody can surely keep going forever without there being collateral damage to themselves or others. Even if we could be super resilient to every challenge in front of us, this warrior-type approach might set uncomfortable precedents and expectations for others to live up to. This is the individual and collective resilience caveat that must be respected.

From leaders to the led, we must create a workplace culture that is gently receptive to potential warning signs of burnout and we must signpost, and make available, recovery pathways. Collectively, we must see mental health and wellbeing as a number one priority where the mantra must be ‘mental health non-stigma’.

On a final, slightly lighter note, supposedly the world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos, knows a thing or two about growing a successful business empire. Yet, what many people might find surprising, is that he talks so much common sense about the way we emotionally categorise work and home life, and how personal energy can enhance collective energy.

Bezos is disdainful of the metaphor ‘work-life balance’; he thinks it suggests a loss of one or the other, like a compromise. Rather, he suggests we should call it ‘work-life harmony’, where one positively fuels the other, like a symbiotic relationship. As a practical pointer, he suggests we think about the energy we create or take away when we enter a room of colleagues at work or family members at home!

It might start off with us, but no person is an island, and so we must keep working collectively to secure good wellbeing and mental health, whether that be at work or at home.

We must create a workplace culture that is gently receptive to potential warning signs of burnout

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MANAGEMENT {MONEY TALKS}

MAKING YOUR RESERVES WORK HARDER IAN BUSS, director of Education Banking Consultancy, discusses how to make your reserves work harder in a low interest rate environment

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e saw interest rates on deposits tumble during 2020 with many schools now seeing significant reductions in the interest they receive and getting a shock when existing fixed rate deposits mature, and they look to renew them.

In fact, we have seen some banks offering as little as 0.03% interest fixed for one year; putting that in perspective, depositing £1m for a whole year at this rate would return you just £300.

I have seen a significant increase in multiacademy trusts and independent schools seeking help in increasing their returns on reserves over the last couple of months and I’d like to share the top three most common areas we work on to help schools improve their interest earned.

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AN ‘INVESTMENT POLICY’ THAT IS FIT FOR PURPOSE Many investment policies I see are outof-date, unworkable, excessively restrictive or non-existent. An investment policy should reflect a (realistic) view of counterparty risk. If counterparty limits are stated, they should be workable; I’ve seen a policy which states that no more than £500,000 can be kept with any one bank when the school in question receives over £2m in funding each month, and has reserves of over £5m. They breach their policy with their current account and have not spread their reserves over 10 banks to meet their £500,000 per bank counterparty limit.

A policy that states deposits must be kept with a ‘AA’ rated bank is likely to be overly restrictive, or to not actually reflect the counterparty risk the school is prepared to take.

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LAYERING DEPOSITS Schools can access longer term rates, yet keep regular access to part of their funds, by layering multiple deposits over 12-month fixed terms, each with a different maturity date.

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UNDERSTANDING HISTORICAL AND FUTURE CASH FLOWS One of the first things we will ask our schools to do is to identify their month end balances over the last 12 months and use this information to prepare a forecast for month end balances over the coming 12 months. This will help identify historical and predicted ‘low balances’ allowing us to identify a spread of cash deposit accounts to give the liquidity needed and allowing for increased interest on reserves.

With interest rates so low at present, schools may think that reviewing their deposit strategy shouldn’t be a priority. I would suggest that any school with more than £1m in surplus total cash (current account balance plus deposit balances) at the month end would be likely to benefit significantly from reviewing their deposit strategy.

I recently worked with a school that had £3m sitting in a 32-day notice account; they were receiving interest of circa £900 per year (0.03%). Having reviewed their investment policy, and calculated historical and future month end balances, the school reviewed their liquidity requirements, and appetite for counterparty risk, and were able to explore bank deposits that will, at current interest rates, return them something in the order of £19,000 per year.

If you would like to update your investment policy, we have a draft policy document you can personalise and use without charge: www. educationbanking.co.uk/resources

MANAGEMENT {60 SECONDS}

60 seconds with We speak to LORRAINE GILLOT, school business manager at Field House Infant School, part of the Embark Federation Trust family in Derbyshire, about retrieving Lego from toilets and dinosaur snot!

What led to your current role?

I’m not sure ‘led’ is the right word, more like ‘How the hell did that happen?!’ It was a new role within the school as I was previously job-sharing an admin role and my better half of the role retired. So, the governors decided to take the opportunity to introduce a SBM and, for some reason, they had faith that I could pull it off.

Tell us something unusual or interesting about yourself.

Lorraine Gillot, school business manager at Field House Infant School, Derbyshire.

I have a habit of knowing unusual information at the right time - a knack for turning everything upside down - and have made confusion a new art form.

What has been your favourite aspect of working as a school business professional so far?

Variety. No two days are the same and it can range from having to fish Lego out of the urinals to showing important guests around. I am very grateful that the school I am part of is a community, and all roles are equally important, so when I am seen out in the classrooms or corridors - and even the supermarket - I am not known as just ‘the woman in the office’ by either the children or the parents.

What’s been your greatest professional achievement to date?

Gaining my Level 5 (DSBM) qualification without adding more than 10 grey hairs, and only two additional frown lines.

How do you ensure that you continue to grow personally and professionally?

By sharing experience and ideas with others - not just those in the same role as myself but

with all within the school community and supporting services.

Where do you take inspiration from, both work and life-wise?

Everywhere; my own kids, life experiences, opportunities that arise and social media memes.

What three words would you use to describe your role?

Random, intense, worthwhile.

If there was one thing about your job you could change, what would it be?

Too hard to pick just one.

Funniest SBM moment you’d care to share?

We have a flooding risk during heavy downpours, and I am usually the idiot that runs out to sandbag the doors in six-inch heels as it never seems to happen when the caretaker is on site!

On one particular wet afternoon, I had done the bagging dash, wrecked my fifth pair of heels and had to use a different door than usual to get back into the building. Walking through the reception class area, dripping, a four-year-old proceeded to quiz me about the state I was in and the conversation went something like: Child (whilst squeezing the water out my top hem): Why are you wet?

Me (not wanting to bore the poor kid with a long explanation about flooding problems): I have been outside, to make sure the water stays out there, but I bumped into a huge dinosaurs who sneezed all over me!

Child: Wow, dinosaur snot!

Child runs off to look for dinosaurs out of the window with half a dozen mates - but not before giving me a tissue! 

I have a habit of knowing unusual information at the right time

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MANAGEMENT {COMPLIANCE AND RESOURCES}

Guidance for school transport The Department for Education has updated it’s guidance on transport to schools and colleges for the 2020-2021 academic year

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he Department for Education’s (DfE) updated guidance on transport to schools is in line with the latest rules regarding the pandemic. We‘ve pulled out some of the most important elements which schools should be aware of, and implement.

Local authorities remain under a statutory duty to provide free home to school transport for all eligible children of compulsory school age. Those involved in providing home-to-school transport must do all that is reasonably practicable to maximise social distancing where possible, and minimise the risk of transmission of coronavirus; what is ‘practicable’ is likely to vary according to local circumstances.

It is of vital importance to work through the steps set out in this guidance. In particular: ● m aximising social distancing within vehicles, wherever it is possible, between individuals or ‘bubbles’; ● m aximising the ventilation of fresh air from outside the vehicle on dedicated school and college transport, particularly through opening windows and ceiling vents

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MANAGEMENT {COMPLIANCE AND RESOURCES}

FACE COVERINGS It is the law that children and young people aged 11 and over must wear a face covering on public transport. Public Health England (PHE) advises that children and young people aged 11 and over must also wear a face covering when travelling on dedicated transport to secondary school or college; this does NOT apply to those who are exempt from wearing a face covering on public transport.

Local authorities, transport operators, schools and colleges all have a role to play in ensuring effective measures are put in place on home-to-school transport; this system of controls is equivalent to the PHE-endorsed system of controls as set out in the guidance for schools and for special schools. Local authorities should take into account the particular needs

Local authorities, transport operators, schools and colleges all have a role to play

Schools and colleges will also have an important role in communicating with families, children and young people.

Things to consider: ● e ncouraging

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of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. Where necessary, they should be informed by the views provided by the parents and school. The system of controls is suggested by the DfE as follows: 1. Minimise contact with individuals who are required to self-isolate.

2. Use face coverings, where required.

3. Clean hands thoroughly more often than usual.

4. Ensure good respiratory hygiene by promoting the ‘Catch it, bin it, kill it’ approach.

5. Maintain enhanced cleaning, including cleaning frequently-touched surfaces often, using standard products such as detergents.

6. Consider how to minimise contact and maintain social distancing wherever possible.

7. Keep vehicles well-ventilated when occupied.

9. Engage in asymptomatic testing, where available.

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parents and children to walk or cycle where possible; arents will need to understand that p their child or young person must not travel if they or anyone in their household has symptoms of COVID-19; c hildren, young people and their families will need to understand any arrangements for queuing for, and getting on, home-to-school transport, and where they should sit in the vehicle; children, young people and their families will need to understand who is required to wear face coverings on home-to-school transport; rivers and passenger assistants will d need to understand any rules that they, children and young people, need to follow on home-to-school transport; l ocal authorities, schools, colleges and transport operators will need a shared understanding of the arrangements for children and young people’s arrival at school or college in the morning, and collection in the afternoon; rivers should not be expected to police d arrangements such as seating plans, queues, the wearing of face coverings or use of hand sanitiser - their role is to focus on driving the vehicle safely; s ome parents, children, young people, drivers and passenger assistants may feel concerned about the risk of infection on home-to-school transport, and may want to be reassured about the safeguards that are in place.

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Live it

LIVE IT Time to take a few moments out for some light and interesting reading – a well-earned break from numbers and statistics!

Polish copper with ketchup. Put a dollop of ketchup on a rag, sprinkle salt on top, then rub the mixture on your copper pots or mugs the next time you’re in a rush without a proper polish.

1. Which colour is found on 75% of the world’s flags?

2. If you were to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe films in chronological order, which would come first?

3. What is the name of the evil headteacher in Matilda?

4. What year was Irn Bru invented?

5. What is the collective noun for a group of rattlesnakes?

Answers: 1. Red 2. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) – it takes place during WWII 3. Miss Trunchbull 4. 1901 5. A rhumba

LIFE HACK

Pub quiz

Caption competition Let us know your funny caption ideas by tweeting us @edexec

PLAYING THE NAME GAME A unique purple sea sponge has been named by a nine-year-old girl, a decade after it was first discovered, BBC News has reported. The new sponge species was found in the north Norfolk chalk beds by volunteer divers in 2011, and had remained nameless since then. In January the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) asked local

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schoolchildren to suggest ideas. Langham Village School pupil Sylvie chose ‘Parpal Dumplin’ because “the sponge is purple and it looks like a dumpling”. A panel of MCS experts ‘unanimously agreed’ that Sylvie’s suggestion should be the official name.

“The spelling gives the sponge a strong connection to Norfolk”, they said.

Live it

Thumbs up!

Hugs for heroes

BBC News has reported that a group of volunteers have raised funds for up to 2,500 goody bags to be given to staff at a hospital in Wrexham. ‘Hugs for Heroes’ was inspired after an ICU nurse ‘broke down’ on the ‘phone over the stresses of the pandemic while she spoke to local jeweller Ruth Rees.

“

Ruth said that she had sent a letter informing a customer, the ICU nurse, that her payments were overdue; the nurse explained that she was sorry, and “under a lot of pressure” right now. This made Ruth realise how hard the pandemic had been on NHS staff, and she wanted to thank them for all their hard work. The bags include thank you cards, vouchers, chocolates and hand creams, which are all designed to be ‘hugs’.

The Wrexham Maelor Hospital Shooting Star cancer support unit said staff felt thankful to be shown this appreciation.

Well, knock me down with a feather!

MONKEYING AROUND

Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong. -

“

Ella Fitzgerald

DID YOU KNOW?

In 1981, a black lab named Bosco was elected honorary mayor of Sunol, California.

Elon Musk’s brain implant company, Neuralink, has released a video showing how it has taught a monkey - Pager, a nine-year-old macaque - to play the video game Pong with its mind alone, Sky News has reported. The video follows Mr Musk’s assertion in February that the company has “a monkey with a wireless implant in their skull, with tiny wires” which it uses to play video games.

Neuralink Corporation previously claimed to have implanted similar, coin-sized, wireless sensors in the brains of two pigs. According to the company, the technology could contribute to finding a cure for neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s, dementia and spinal cord injuries.

May 2021

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GET YOUR DIARIES OUT!

We’re back with dates for our 2021 events!

It’s been a tough 12 months, with more challenges to come – so we thought we would bring a little slice of (professional) happiness for us all to look forward to...!

Get ahead of the professional curve, network and re-charge by joining us at EdExec LIVE – our leading school business management conference

Manchester- 12th October 2021 London- 30th September 2021

SAVE THE DATE!

MANCHESTER - 12TH OCTOBER 2021 LONDON - 30TH SEPTEMBER 2021 email hello@edexeclive.co.uk to reserve your place Learn more at edexeclive.co.uk