Education Executive September 12

SEPTEMBER 2012 / ISSUE 83

SEPTEMBER 2012 / ISSUE 83

EDUCATION EXECUTIVE

EDUCATION EXECUTIVE supporting business and financial excellence in schools and colleges

CAREER RIGHTS

FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS

n

Are you doing enough to stick up for your profession?

DIPLOMACY n ACCOUNTANTS VS. SBMS

EdExec partners

A DIPLOMATIC APPROACH Employing diplomacy to get what you need from senior leadership meetings

HOLDING TO ACCOUNT WWW.EDEXEC.CO.UK

In defense of school business managers who aren’t qualified

editor’s letter

EDUCATION EXECUTIVE

SEPTEMBER 2012

www.edexec.co.uk

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 right here, every month.

EDITOR julia dennison julia.dennison@intelligentmedia.co.uk ASSISTANT EDITOR carrie service carrie.service@intelligentmedia.co.uk REPORTER george carey george.carey@intelligentmedia.co.uk PUBLISHER vicki baloch vicki.baloch@intelligentmedia.co.uk SENIOR SALES EXECUTIVE neil pauksztello neil.pauksztello@intelligentmedia.co.uk DESIGNER sarah chivers sarah.chivers@intelligentmedia.co.uk PRODUCTION AND DESIGN peter hope-parry peter.hope-parry@intelligentmedia.co.uk CIRCULATIONS natalia johnston natalia.johnston@intelligentmedia.co.uk

Education Executive is published by intelligent media solutions suite 223, business design centre 52 upper street, london, N1 0QH tel 020 7288 6833 fax 020 7288 6834 email info@intelligentmedia.co.uk web www.intelligentmedia.co.uk Follow Education Executive on Twitter at Twitter.com/edexec Printed in the UK by Buxton Press www.buxtonpress.co.uk

Come back fighting

(diplomatically, of course)

A

fter NAHT data confirmed the hubbub at EdExec Live earlier this year that school business managers indeed face a huge discrepancy in how they are treated in schools (salaries are just the start) – we got to work finding out how we can do something about it.

This issue takes a cold hard look at how SBMs are faring professionally in the world of education. In our article on p8, assistant editor Carrie Service finds out what support options are available to school business managers looking for help landing the respect they deserve. There are a wealth of organisations at your side – from the NAHT to the NASBM and ASCL. Although on the face of it these membership bodies are in competition, in reality they are working more than ever as a united front, promoting your profession to the powers that be in Westminster. Indeed, there is only so much that can be done on a grassroots level. For the voice of school business managers to be heard on a national level, it has to get political. If you do need to get your voice heard, turn to page 47 for top tips on using diplomacy to get what you want in senior leadership team meetings.

While we’re on the subject of SBM professionalism, one of our regular contributors, and speaker at EdExec Live, Stephen Morales, business director at Watford Grammar School for Girls, writes a diary page in response to an interview we published earlier this year with an academy that preferred a qualified accountant to be running its finances. Morales explains why having an accountancy qualification may not necessarily be the solution to better financial management in academies. Being an expert in all things money does not necessarily mean you are experienced or qualified to deal with the raft of other duties that form part of an SBM’s job description, as many of you will know all too well.

As the kids return this September, and the majority of converter academy business managers prepare for their first external audit, things are only set to get busier. But knowing the tough spirit of your average school business manager, you’ll be more than just fine.

EDITOR

Contents 32

rocure

lan

make your school’s budget go further

38 ADVICE

Greener pastures How to run an earth-friendly school, from the experts at Eco-Schools

40 CASE STUDY

The Gates and beyond How one state school in Deptford got Bill Gates to speak for free

management

tune up your management skills

44 HR

Gaining from training Are you getting the most out of staff training?

47 TOP TIPS

sector

the lowdown on the business management world

A diplomatic approach Employing diplomacy to get what you want in SLT meetings

48 LEGAL

06 SECTOR NEWS

08 ADVICE

50 WORK/LIFE

The latest news in the school business management world

Fight for your rights Where SBMs can turn for professional support

Strength in numbers The ins and outs of academy federations Break time Put your feet up and take your break right here

12 DIARY

Holding to account Stephen Morales in defense of SBMs who aren’t accountants

ICT matters

the latest technological innovations in schools today

14 CASE STUDY

Ambitious effort Juliet Benis of Ambler Primary School in Islington deals with a £250k deficit

52 ICT NEWS

The latest updates and developments in school technology

56 CASE STUDY

schools in focus

what’s happening at a primary or secondary school near you

20 PRIMARY UPDATE

Absence minded Val Cameron of Park Lane Primary takes absenteeism head-on Secondary school news and views

32 INTERVIEW

Academic calling Sue Edwards of Ripley St Thomas answers to a higher calling

34 INDEPENDENT UPDATE

Independent school news and views

36 ANALYSIS

24 CASE STUDY

30 SECONDARY UPDATE

58 ADVICE

Making the move Northfield School on moving from two sites to one

60 ADVICE

Primary school news and views

Leadership by example

Clevedon school talks about its Digital Leaders programme

Technology with a difference Using ICT to boost attainment

63 GUIDE

Talking shop A back to basics guide to ICT procurement

66 HELP DESK

Techno Geek

A run-down of the ICT grants available

No compete clause?

Can academies and free schools compete with private schools?

Look out for news, products and competitions from our sponsors

06

sector Sector news is brought to you by

Free banking for schools supported by local specialist relationship managers Lloyds TSB Commercial - well educated banking

SEN WATCH NUMBERS IN FREE-FALL AFTER GREEN PAPER

The number of children in England identified as special educational needs (SEN) has dropped by 90,000 in two years, according to Department for Education figures.

This fall in numbers comes after last year’s green paper on the subject claimed children were being overidentified as SEN as a result of inadequate teaching.

The official DfE figures show that after years of growth, SEN numbers are now falling significantly.

In January 2010, 1.48 million pupils were identified as having SEN, whereas this year the number was 1.39 million.

A particularly significant drop was seen in the number of children identified by schools as having less severe needs who are then placed on the School Action and School Action Plus registers. The number of statemented children, who are identified by third-party experts, has remained stable.

Paul Williams, chair of the NAHT’s SEN committee, told the TES that the fall in numbers could be down to Ofsted’s report two years ago criticising schools for over-identifying SEN. The removal of the contextual value-added measure on school league tables was thought to have also contributed, as Ofsted inspectors said it provided an incentive for schools to label children as SEN in order to get a higher score.

Williams also said there has been a focus on SEN training in recent years, which could be helping teachers employ their skills to support earlier intervention before a child is put on the SEN register.

School leaders have also said schools may be wary of using the SEN register due to insecurity over local authority funding.

STORY OF THE MONTH THINK TANK: PROFIT-MAKING IN SCHOOLS ‘DOES NOT WORK’ There is no evidence that turning a profit improves standards in state schools, new research has found.

A report, by think tank IPPR, argues that schools in England should remain public institutions run in the public interest with innovation driven by the not-forprofit and public sectors.

The research comes in the wake of a report released last month that called for the Government to allow state schools to be run for profit.

The IPPR reviewed international evidence and concluded that an expansion of for-profit providers will improve standards.

It found that in Chile and Sweden, not-for-profit independent school providers generally out-performed for-profit providers, while in the US the evidence from a small number of cases is mixed.

It argues that international OECD (PISA) evidence demonstrates that more competition-orientated systems only serves to widen the attainment gap through higher levels of school segregation between children from different backgrounds.

There is a strong case for allowing new providers to set up or take over schools, says IPPR, but it believes there are already a good amount of not-for-profit organisations in England’s education sector to do this without the involvement of for-profit businesses.

Associate director Rick Muir commented: “The argument that the profit motive is needed for raising schools standards is simply ideological. It is not supported by the international evidence at all.

“There is a good case for allowing new providers into the system to foster innovation. But given the strength of the not-for-profit sector in this country, there are no compelling reasons for thinking that commercial providers would add any value.”

He also said the financial case for private sector involvement was “particularly weak”: “Even at a time of budget cuts across the public sector, the Government has recently found hundreds of millions of pounds to meet the rising demand for new school places. In the long term, it is much cheaper for the Government to raise this capital funding than for the private sector to do so at the taxpayer’s expense.”

STATS & FACTS

93% of Team GB gold medallists were educated at a state school

(Source: The Good Schools Guide)

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DIARY 12 September Changes to School Funding and Admissions: Impact and Implementation Central London WestminsterForumProjects. co.uk 26 September Capita’s National School Inspections Conference Central London CapitaConferences.co.uk 27 September EduKent Expo & Conference Kent Event Centre, Kent Showground, Detling EduKentExpo.co.uk

sector NEWS

PICTURE STORY

INBRIEF PREMISES RULES RELAXED Education Secretary Michael Gove has relaxed government regulations on school buildings, including the minimum amount of outdoor space schools needed and washing facilities. These new rules, which will come in force in October, give schools more freedom to sell their playing fields if they have to. But critics fear this could put the future of school sport in jeopardy.

Previously, secondary schools were expected to provide pitches from 5,000 sq metres for smaller schools to 35,000 for schools with more than 600 pupils. Under new rules, schools need only provide “suitable” outdoor space to teach PE and let pupils play outside. The Education Funding Agency is due to draw up new budgetary guidance based on the new regulations.

Ben Dillon, 18, Alex Jobson, 17, and Ivan May-Jones, 16 from Caterham School in Surrey were winners of the British Schools Karting Championship 2012 last April. As part of their prize, they were treated to a VIP tour of McLaren’s Technology Centre this summer (pictured).

What we learned this month

London has the best schools. State schools in the capital are now the best in the country, according to a survey of exam results by the Financial Times. The newspaper collated 3.5 million results and found that in 2011, London pupils did better in five GCSE topics, including maths and English, than pupils from any other region in England. In the previous six years, exam results improved, bringing them up from fourth place in the country to first. The analysis suggests that this improvement is unique to London.

They said...

These results show how important it is to ensure every child living in poverty gets a free school meal and – at the very least – that we keep good school meals affordable for everyone else Judy Hargadon, chief executive of the School Food Trust, after pilots found improvements in attainment and diet as as a result of offering free school meals to all children

NOT ENOUGH TIME SPENT TEACHING OUTDOORS

A new report, released by eco-classroom provider The Learning Escape, has analysed how much time children spend learning about the environment and the percentage of the school day spent outdoors. A staggering 14% of headteachers were unable to say how much time their pupils spent outside during the school day, saying that they “didn’t know”. There was a dramatic tail-off of time spent outside over the three years from reception through to KS2. In the majority of cases this was reduced from 75-80% of the school day spent outside, in reception, through to as little as 15% (in some cases) by KS2. When asked, the biggest barriers to success mentioned were the pressure to cover other curriculum areas (45%) and lack of staff understanding/training (39%).

Interestingly, however, when asked what they needed to solve the problem, the majority of schools/settings said that they needed more money (53%) with staff training a close second (42%).

www.lloydstsb.com/schoolsbanking | 0800 681 6078 www.edexec.co.uk

/ september 2012

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sector CAREER SUPPORT

Teachers have their unions and colleagues to turn to when they are in need of someone to fight their corner, but are SBMs sometimes forgotten about?

CARRIE SERVICE talks to readers about the challenges they face as school business managers

T

here is rarely a month that goes by without a story in the press exposing teachers’ ludicrous workloads, or the enormous amount of pressure placed on heads. And I think that the majority of us would agree that this attention is more than justified. But it seems that along the way, an integral part of the senior leadership team – who also works long hours and has a great deal of responsibility – has sometimes been overlooked.

THE FORGOTTEN ONE One school business manager I spoke to about the support available to SBMs said that despite teaching staff within her school having plenty of backing in the form of colleagues and trade unions, she felt like she was the “forgotten one”. She added: “Support staff generally are not as highly valued as teaching staff and this is the same for SBMs.” The National Association of School Business Managers has had similar feedback from its members and is acutely aware of the additional pressures that are being placed on SBMs, especially as schools convert to academies. One member recently told them: “SBMs are on occasions being expected to lead the overall [academy] conversion processes and in almost all cases have the extra work around establishing new systems without additional capacity and remuneration.” Val Andrew, business management specialist at ASCL, believes that academy conversion isn’t just affecting those who have converted, but is also having a considerable impact on the workload of non-convertors too: “Because of the sheer number of schools that are converting, there are some local authority areas where the traditionally managed services that they were able to offer are now no longer sustainable. So schools that are not converting and remain in the maintained sector in these areas are being forced to outsource services, which is obviously impacting on workload.” SBMs in this situation are now being expected to manage contracts in an independent way, something that they may have been completely unprepared for as non-convertors.

But not all feedback has been negative; another SBM had a more positive experience: “Within my school I am well respected and supported by my colleagues on the senior leadership team and by governors,” she said.

However, she did recognise that this isn’t the case for everyone, admitting that the picture varies nationally depending on local networks. She found joining forces with other SBMs in surrounding schools had proven to be an invaluable source of support. “We have a strong network group of academy school business managers where we all support one another in a variety of ways,” she explained. This is one step you could take towards gaining more support, but it still doesn’t get around the fact that many of you work alone on a day-to-day basis. So what formal help is available to you?

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sector CAREER SUPPORT

Support staff generally are not as highly valued as teaching staff and this is the same for SBMs

JOIN THE CLUB The NAHT now offers membership to school business managers as well as headteachers, and has done so for the past few years. But how much practical help do unions actually provide to school business managers? Some feel that the NAHT may not have been hugely proactive in their efforts, with one SBM in the south east saying: “I joined the NAHT last summer, and have noticed an increasing desire to help SBMs. However, so far there have been no practical solutions, just communications about the issue.” The same SBM suggested that the NAHT could join forces with Unison, which also has SBM members, in order to have more of an impact. I forwarded the comment to Russell Hobby, general secretary of the NAHT and he responded as follows: “We certainly do have an increasing desire to help SBMs, though, as your correspondent notes, it’s still early days for concrete achievements. We’re expanding our range of work from the traditional (and necessarily private) employment representation to national campaigning on issues like – most recently – SBM inclusion in the leadership pay spine. Our view is that the SBM is a leadership role which requires the support of a leadership union. We are also in the middle of elections for a dedicated SBM position on our National Executive, which should further help develop their profile within the association.” Andrew believes that this is a really positive step towards getting the message across: “I think within any organisation where business management individuals are represented, they should have a voice at the highest level.”

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However Christine Lewis, national officer for education and children’s services at Unison, believes that a national pay scale for SBMs is now off the cards anyway as academies begin to take over: “Hopes of a national [pay] scale died with the SSSNB and the nearly 2,000 academies and rising are free to set their own pay anyway,” she said. Unison is now concentrating on tackling the issue by targeting the system used to evaluate individual roles: “We are currently working with the local government employers to use job profiles to score all school staff and improve job evaluation. We will then offer training and promote them so that groups like SBMs have a better chance of pay that reflects the enormous and vital job that they do.”

So it seems that the unions are keen to help – at least judging by the speed at which the NAHT responded to my email – and I think that the more school business managers who sign up to a union, the quicker the ball will start rolling. Joining a membership organisation could at the very least put you in touch with other like-minded SBMs and might also help to change some of the attitudes of people within your school. If the senior leadership team know you are a member of an official trade union it could just be the wakeup call they need to start taking your concerns seriously. The importance of collaboration between schools has also been reaffirmed by the SBMs who contributed to this article – nobody should feel as though they are the “forgotten one”, no matter what their role. For now though, at least you can count on one publication to fight your corner.

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sector PROFESSION

DIARY

Is it the qualification that counts?

WHETHER AN SBM SHOULD QUALIFY AS AN ACCOUNTANT CONTINUES TO BE A CONTENTIOUS ISSUE, PARTICULARLY AS THE ACADEMY PROGRAMME TAKES SPEED. STEPHEN MORALES, BUSINESS DIRECTOR AT WATFORD GRAMMAR SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, RESPONDS THE TOPIC

F

irstly I should make my biased position clear – I am not a qualified account.

Similar to many other business manager/director colleagues, I do, however, possess 25 years operational and financial management experience in both the public and private sectors.

My own personal experience includes responsibility for large-scale change management project budgets within a local authority setting and global investment banking.

My qualifications include FSA regulatory and compliance accreditation, I have a postgraduate certificate in educational research and I am part way through a masters.

Additionally, I represent the academy sector on all the DfE’s key financial consultation panels.

This is not intended as a personal sales pitch, but merely serves to illustrate the depth of knowledge and experience that myself and many other highly skilled and qualified non-accountant colleagues possess.

Operations directors in the hospitality, leisure and indeed many other service-led sectors task non-accountants to lead large operations with huge budget responsibilities.

These multifaceted individuals need to develop strong competency level across multiple disciplines: procurement, HR, health and safety, legal, PR, customer service etc.

Financial competency is, of course, central to the role but it is not the only area of consideration for school managers.

Look at a typical MBA course and you will see the diverse considerations required of managers operating at the highest level.

So why is there an insistence from some that an academy’s back-office operations can only be adequately overseen by qualified account?

Of course their needs to be an appropriate level of financial expertise within the school organisation. Following the passing of the Academies Bill in September 2010, the secretary of state suggested that school leaders and governors should be mindful of the school’s need to ensure adequate financial expertise within the organisation but that a qualified or certified accountant would not be a requirement.

The new academy financial handbook has been amended to reflect the secretary of state’s comments. I hope that this will bring an end to offensive commentary that suggests that many hundreds of outstanding business managers/directors across the country are ill-equipped to continue to manage the affairs of their newly converted academies due to the narrow view that they are not accountancy professionals.

I do concede that there are weaknesses in the system and there are indeed individuals tasked with the huge responsibility for financial matters without appropriate prior experience and perhaps never having operated outside a school setting. There is a role for us all here, both accountant and non-accountant, to support these individuals during this important period of reform and change in the education system.

The article Stephen Morales is responding to was called ‘Holding to account’ and appeared in the April 2012 edition of Education Executive

Financial competency is, of course, central to the role but it is not the only area of consideration for school managers september 2012

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sector ANALYSIS

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sector ANALYSIS

Attention to deficits JULIET BENIS, head of Ambler Primary School and Children’s Centre in Islington, has faced an on-going annual deficit of more than a quarter of a million pounds with no business management expertise to help. She brought in the experts to assess where savings could be made and now for the first time in years, the school books balance

W

hen I arrived four years ago at Ambler Primary School and Children’s Centre in Islington we had lots of problems. The state of the buildings, bad results and a ‘satisfactory’ Ofsted rating was all that many parents saw, causing many to just choose other schools.

Ambler has an above average proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals, and many are from minority ethnic groups, mostly from Somalia, Turkey and Bangladesh, which presents a challenge in terms of delivering schooling for children at very different starting points. More than half of our pupils speak English as an additional language. Other challenges have included a fall in roll numbers in my school and more widely in the borough as larger families have moved out due to increasing housing costs. There has also been the merger of our children’s centre with other local provision, opening an additional nursery and running breakfast and after-school clubs and provision as well.

We’ve moved on since then, supporting and developing teachers or helping them to move on. In 2008 the proportion of pupils achieving level 4 in both English and maths was 64%. This has been increased to 84% in 2011 with a value-added score of 100.6. In February this year we had a really positive Ofsted inspection where all the hard work we have

been doing and all the priorities we have been focusing on were acknowledged and praised. We were graded as ‘good’ in all areas by Ofsted, which has helped more parents see our successes and buy-in to what we’re doing. Despite our improvements in teaching and learning and some other key areas of our provision we have a budget deficit in both the school and children’s centre, for a number of reasons including challenges with funding formulas, historical funding issues, falling roll and staffing structures that are not relevant to the provision today. The budget deficit was predicted to be around £227,000 and severe pressure was on the school and children’s centre to turn itself around for the long-term and make the systems and processes more streamlined and also more sustainable.

I took advice from our human resources manager, who recommended we speak with the specialist firm which had been brought in by the borough itself back in 2001 to take over the running of primary and secondary school services, Cambridge Education. The local authority had used their support in a similar way themselves to streamline its financial management in 2009, leading to £1m in savings.

In our case, we needed to find cost-savings that wouldn’t have negative effects on the day-to-day teaching and learning at the school – and if possible, add to the school’s efficiency and approaches

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sector ANALYSIS

which, in turn, would be a greater support to the staff. There were a number of potential obstacles to implementing the changes, not least one of culture, where any involvement from an external source that didn’t know the school on a personal level, and particularly a ‘consultant’, was going to be seen as a threat. We needed open minds. For myself, I was relishing the idea that everything was going to be looked at because I knew it had to be done; contracts and procurement had to change. The deficit meant it was inevitable and my approach in life is very much around looking at all aspects carefully, as the smallest detail can sometimes make the biggest difference.

We undertook a process known as ‘look-up’, interviewing all the management and admin office staff involved in running the school – tracking the systems of procurement and the nature of all the supplier contracts we had, checking all items of expenditure and how things were being done. Both information and opinions were gathered in order to capture a detailed picture of the strengths and weaknesses of the existing structure, use of resources and productivity. Most importantly, this kind of approach made it possible to pick out what is necessary and fundamental for the school compared with what is a matter of choice in our expenditure – facts not perceptions. Often in schools there are issues around understanding of finance issues, which can lead to communication problems among staff and individuals running their own budgeting and procurement systems. By making an assessment in this way, we were in a position to quantify potential savings in each area and clarify where different approaches were being used.

Of particular interest was where the review identified activities that were unnecessary or could usefully be replaced by an automated system. For example, a member of staff at the children’s centre was needing to manually record attendees and then go on to spend time entering the information into an IT system. We were able to remove duplication of tasks, and either up-skill staff involved in unnecessary low-level work and move them into other roles where possible, and use more IT solutions to reduce administration.

It was so important for a school like ours to have a view from outside, for a pair of fresh eyes to see through the complexity of our everyday challenges and see a bigger picture of how things could be. Our aim, deficit or not, was ultimately to make things better for the service users, the children and parents. We’ve just announced the restructure and I know it is a difficult and uncomfortable process – but it’s not about individuals, it is about creating the best possible provision for our children and families. We did not know that we could approach procurement differently, and would have continued on the same path had we not been given this opportunity to look at everything with an expert in this area. This way we are able to save money which can be spent on the children and not on unnecessary processes and bad contracts.

The whole process has been a big eye-opener for us and my deputy and I agree that this has been the best piece of work we’ve been involved with for a long time. The consultation ends in two weeks and then we’re interviewing, by which time the dust will have settled and we’ll be able to start assessing the

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Exterior of Ambler Primary School

We did not know that we could approach procurement differently, and would have continued on the same path had we not been given this opportunity to look at everything with an expert in this area impact. Quite often people offer advice about staffing solutions but the difference here was that the advice was based on a really informed view that offered clear options, a way of looking properly at all the skills we had available and could use, leading to a more thoughtful and understanding approach.

Very importantly, it has been a very positive process with staff, who appreciated being asked for their views and knowledge, and to be part of the changes.

The consultative ‘bottom-up’ method combined with clear evidence-based reporting allowed all of the staff to understand the rationale behind the decisions being taken in the restructure. They understood and shared in the feeling that the school had to transform itself and could see the recommendations were objective and fair. The consultant had very strong people skills and confidence in this area, and as a result the consultant was accepted as being part of the team rather than providing a threat.

We’re now able to set a balanced budget and when the new procurement process has been in place for a period, I’m sure we’ll see a big difference in our costs for the long-term. The work hasn’t just affected our costs but has been about reshaping the whole school as an organisation. The change has been structural and cultural, not just about superficial trimming back of some costs. We also know we can return to ‘look-up’ again in future, as a check on whether the change has been genuine and keep an eye on how we work.

Head Juliet Benis

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sector ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

Are you ‘spreading’ yourself too thinly?

Spreadsheets are useful – to a point – but forwardthinking schools are looking to web-based budgeting software as a viable time-saving alternative

G

ood budgeting systems are designed to minimise errors and inconsistencies, and spreadsheets have been the tool of choice for many business managers when it comes to producing their budget forecasts.

Spreadsheets are widely used for statistical analysis; and while they are incredibly useful tools, they are practical only to a certain point. As practical tools, they lack the collaborative capabilities necessary in developing accurate, comprehensive and flexible budgets. Schools should not settle for the limited functionality of simple spreadsheets when their financial planning process involves complex calculations around staffing costs, pupil number fluctuations and future year forecasting. Web-based budgeting software is a viable alternative to the traditional spreadsheet, and can promote collaborative, sophisticated and reliable budget production whilst saving time and offering uncompromising data security.

WHY SPREADSHEETS ARE LOSING THEIR BUDGETING APPEAL Our budgeting software started life as a spreadsheet and we know that creating a well-designed error-free spreadsheet is a laborious task that consumes countless hours of administrative and testing time. In fact, a study found that 90% of all spreadsheets with more than 150 rows contained errors. Spreadsheet errors occur for many reasons, including logic mistakes, incorrect formulas, accidentally overwritten formulas and misuse of built-in functions. Many business managers are simply not adequately trained on how to work with spreadsheets and inherent errors are just one of the limitations of using spreadsheets for the budgeting process. Our experience has shown that using a web-based solution: n removes the use of large files that are prone to crashing and are slow to open or save n enables data sharing between accounting software packages n takes away the isolation in budgeting, as budget data can easily be shared between SLT members

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n supports data security and removes the need to protect/unprotect spreadsheets n increases the integrity of the data; with spreadsheets, there is never just one set of facts. Members of the management team can all too easily work from old, out-ofdate numbers. n and allows frequent budgeting reforecasting. Spreadsheets are not up to the task of budgeting in today’s changing education environment.

Spreadsheets are not up to the task in today’s changing education environment WEB-BASED BUDGETING APPLICATIONS We have recognised that web-based software is a viable alternative to the traditional spreadsheet and schools that make the switch can experience benefits, often beyond the anticipated. If developed correctly web-based budgeting applications can support your school with more accurate budgets and forecasts, faster planning cycles and foster a collaborative management environment in one integrated system. Business managers have never before had to respond to changes in national funding policy quicker, making any system that supports this a valuable tool.

FPS WEB Our education consultants and software developers have worked closely over the last 18 months to create the next generation of our strategic planning software for schools and academies. FPS Web has been built from scratch based on our experiences in the education sector from over the last 30 years.

This new web-based platform will support business managers in developing sophisticated strategic plans in today’s challenging education environment by making the very best of everything a web platform can offer.

KEY BENEFITS n

n

n n n

the ability to plan numerous financial scenarios, enabling you to review the financial impact of all changes, allowing critical decisions to be made faster and confidently knowing that data is accurate and up-to-date easy-to-use and visually informative reporting, assisting the communication of your financial performance to your stakeholders in an effective and efficient manner links with a number of accountancy packages the ability to develop a five-year financial projection with ease and compliance with the WGA reporting format.

CONTACT DETAILS HCSS Education hcsseducation.co.uk 01625 511011 michelle.livingstone@hcsseducation.co.uk

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schools in focus

PRIMARY UPDATE

What’s going on in the world of primary school and nursery management

NURSERY NEWS

Get ready for a boom The number of children in state primary and nursery schools in England is set to rise to 700,000 by 2020, the highest levels since the 1970s, risking a strain on school budgets.

The number of children in England is expected to rise by 18% in the next eight years, according to the Department for Education and will reach levels last seen in the 1970s by 2020.

Between now and 2015 alone, primary and nursery school numbers are predicted to rise by eight per cent.

Numbers in secondary schools, on the other hand, are expected to fall until 2015, when they will rise again as pupils grow up.

The boom in numbers stems from a rising birth rate, which is predicted to continue until 2014.

Certain regions are set to experience the squeeze more than others, with London seeing a 18% rise in primary school pupils, while the North East and the South West will only see nine per cent.

The Government says it promises to spend over £4bn on extra places.

“The last government knew there was an issue as early as 2004, but sadly did nothing,” said Schools Minister Lord Hill.

“Worse than that, they actually cut funding for new places while squandering millions on expensive secondary schools.”

STATS & FACTS

4:1

The ratio of female to male teachers in primary schools.

This is set to change as the number of male trainee primary teachers has increased by more than 50% in the last four years. (Source: Teaching Agency)

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LONDON

Government programme to boost exercise in primaries A national movement of community volunteers is being created to help encourage a new generation of healthy, active kids in the wake of the success of the Olympics and the record medal haul by Team GB athletes.

The scheme, called the Energy Club, will consist of a programme of physical activity before the school day starts for children aged four to 11 in primary schools delivered by trained volunteers, including family members and young adults, as well as volunteers from local schools and companies.

The new programme is part-funded by the Government’s Cabinet Office through the Social Action Fund with an initial grant of £900,000, which provides the scheme for 900 schools but requires financial help from the commercial sector to support 10,000 more primary schools.

Nick Hurd, minister for civil society, said: “We’re backing Energy Club so that young people can follow in the footsteps of their sporting heroes and do more sport at school. We are urging people to get involved in this initiative and volunteer in their local school so that we can make a real difference to our children’s sporting potential as well as health, self-esteem and academic performance.

It’s an exciting chance for volunteers to be part of a national movement to help more children get all the benefits of physical exercise.”

The programme, which will be formally launched this month, is supported by the Cabinet Office for an initial period of one year. Sports Leaders UK is working with Fast Track to create the clubs and train the volunteers and deliver 900 Energy Clubs in nine regions of England.

Linda Plowright, CEO of Sports Leaders UK, said: “Energy Club is about mobilising a new group of volunteers to get our kids having fun, and getting active. It is different because it takes the people who care most about kids, gives then training and support, so they can make a difference in their local community.

This is about communities taking social action and I urge anyone interested in signing up their school, or who wants to know how they can train to become a volunteer, to visit our website and fill in their contact details. This is an exciting time to help keep our kids, and their families’ active after the success of London 2012 and we want as many people as possible to be involved.”

Alan Pascoe MBE, chairman of business network Fast Track, said: “This is the perfect way to combine government support with the private sector offering schools proper support from experts and harnessing their skills in a way which massively benefits general levels of physical activity.”

Any primary school interested in volunteering should visit EnergyClubUK.org

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schools in focus PRIMARY NEWS

Healthy Havering school meals worth their weight in gold Havering Council’s school meals service has been awarded the prestigious gold Food for Life Catering Mark for serving fresh and healthy meals in primary schools. It is the first time a London borough has achieved that high a level on the award.

Havering was first awarded the bronze catering mark in September 2010 and since then has continued to work to improve the sustainability of the food.

Ten thousand gold-rated meals are provided every day across 68 primary schools in the borough.

To qualify for the rating, at least 30% of the ingredients must be organic (or Marine Stewardship Council-certified for fish); 50% locally produced; organic meat, dairy products or eggs are served, which achieve the highest welfare standards; and a variety of non-meat dishes are being promoted as part of a balanced, climate-friendly diet.

Both parents and children are starting to become more interested in their food as a result and children are asking about what they are eating, where it comes from and how it was made.

Pupils also have a chance to try out a variety of new foods, as well as dishes from other parts of the world, such as chicken tikka fillets, enchiladas and moussaka.

Councillor Paul Rochford, cabinet member for children and learning, said: “There have been a lot of studies to show how food improves the way children perform at school, so it is really important that good quality food is on offer.

“I am really pleased that the service has achieved the gold Food for Life Catering Mark. It shows that parents can know that their children are getting a choice of food from a wide range of healthy, fresh meals.”

PICTURE STORY

competition WIN A NEW PLAYGROUND WHAT? British outdoor play and sports equipment company, Wicksteed Playscapes is offering a school the chance to win a new outdoor play area worth up to 25,000.

WHO? Open to all nursery and primary schools across the UK and Ireland.

HOW? The ‘Win a Wicksteed School Playground’ competition will be launched on Facebook this month. To enter, schools must upload a picture of their current play area – with the headteacher’s permission – onto the ‘Win a Wicksteed School Playground’ Facebook page and explain in no more than 150 words why your school should win the prize.

DEADLINE 30 November 2012 DETAILS Visit Wicksteed.co.uk or Facebook. com/WicksteedPlayscapesUK

WHAT WE LEARNED DOWNHILLS BECOMES AN ACADEMY AFTER ALL. Campaigners have failed to stop Tottenham’s Downhills Primary from becoming an academy. The DfE said the ‘underperforming’ North London primary school would become an academy this September, but parents sought judicial review after accusing the Government of bullying the school into conversion. However, a High Court judge ruled the decision rational given the school’s “egregious” performance.

Campaigners told the BBC they were “disappointed but not surprised”.

Cape Town Opera, whose production of George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess was at The London Coliseum this summer, ran a workshop to teach pupils from Thomas Buxton Primary in London’s in Whitechapel to sing songs from the musical. (Photo

by Antoinette Haselhorst.)

september 2012

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SEND IN YOUR STORIES We are always looking for local school news. If you have a story to share, email editor@edexec.co.uk

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schools in focus CASE STUDY

Absence minded As the government tackles absenteeism, there is pressure for primary schools to spot patterns of absenteeism earlier.

JULIA DENNISON speaks to VAL CAMERON, headteacher at Park Lane Primary School in Peterborough, about how tracking and monitoring her pupils’ absence has paid off

A

lthough absenteeism is technically in decline, Department for Education figures show that almost 400,000 children missed at least a whole month of school in 2010/11, so it’s no surprise Schools Minister Nick Gibb still insists that persistent absence is a serious problem.

Overall, pupil absence has fallen marginally, from six per cent in 2009/10 to 5.8% in 2010/11, thanks to the hard work of schools and parents. However, unauthorised absence has increased slightly by 0.1%, despite an investment in combating truancy by successive governments. Stephen Clarke, MD of Contact Group, said a “hard core of persistent truants” is behind the problem and that schools need to address truancy in its early stages.

START ‘EM EARLY One school that is doing just that is The Park Lane Primary and Nursery School in Whittlesey, Peterborough. Headteacher Val Cameron has focused on spotting patterns of absenteeism early in the school and tracking and monitoring those absence patterns, which has had a positive impact on overall attendance. “I’ve always

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schools in focus CASE STUDY

FACT BOX HEADTEACHER Val Cameron SCHOOL The Park Lane Primary and Nursery School TYPE Foundation LA Peterborough

been hot on [attendance] because we are accountable for it,” she says. “Ofsted looks at your attendance and children lose great amounts of learning when they’re off school and that can’t be made up.”

She also points out that one child’s absence can have a knock-on effect on teaching and learning for the whole class.

“The parent may expect the teacher to provide the missing gaps and of course the teacher can’t because the teacher has the next week’s teaching to do, so then the child may ask his classmates and that takes the attention away from their learning and the child feels uncomfortable,” she explains. “It’s not a good thing to do.”

Cameron shares the philosophy that primary school is a good place to start getting kids into good attendance habits.

“You’ve got to get into good patterns of schooling from very early stages,” she says.

Park Lane even encourages good attendance among its nursery-aged children, even though they are not legally

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required to be in school. As part of this, Cameron does not authorise term-time holidays. The only exception is if it’s for a very special reason, like a holiday to recover from a bereavement.

All parents, including those of nursery children, are asked to speak to the headteacher if they have to take a term-time holiday. And she does not let them off lightly: “I always say to them: ‘You know this isn’t authorised?’” She continues: “I always make a big show of looking on the calendar to see what’s going on in the week [their child will be absent] to show them what they’re going to miss.” These meetings are a powerful weapon in Cameron’s absentee-fighting arsenal, even if they take up her time, since she says parents often “feel a little bit daunted about coming into school”. While these rarely result in a parent cancelling their holiday altogether, Cameron hopes they will at least make parents think twice about booking another last-minute trip to Tenerife.

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schools in focus CASE STUDY

Children lose great amounts of learning when they’re off school and that can’t be made up

THE UGLY TRUTH Using data from the school’s management information system has helped Cameron greatly in these meetings. “It enables you to look at the attendance across the whole year on one screen and then you can highlight different areas of absence,” she explains of her software system. For example, she can use her MIS to identify a child with more frequent Friday and Monday absences. “This is very, very handy because then you start to see a pattern that perhaps children are being taken away for weekends, etc.”

She tells the story of parents a few years ago who had wanted to take their daughter out for a caravanning weekend. This is something they had done before, but they had no idea just how many Fridays and Mondays their child had missed due to ‘sickness’ (read holiday) until she showed them the figures on the data system.

“You can bring that screen up and it’s very powerful,” she explains.

FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT Cameron continues to address the issue of absenteeism at her school, with the support of WhitCo.Nect, a cluster of five schools of which Park Lane is a member. Every year, the federation sends out a brochure to parents highlighting its joint policy on attendance.

“So parents can’t play one school against another, which they’ve done in the past,” Cameron explains. Being a member of a group also gives her support from other schools when discussing tactics.

Another tool in the belt is an education welfare officer who goes through the schools’ registers on a half-termly basis to identify problem cases. Parents who repeat offend will be graded on how often their child has an unexplained absence. Those with higher grades could receive a visit from the officer, which could result in court proceedings. Park Lane has one family going through this at the moment. Cameron, however, feels slightly jaded by the whole process, as she finds parents often get out of paying the fines.

She tries to counteract this negative reinforcement by promoting good attendance at Park Lane. The school gives out a weekly attendance award of a teddy bear for the week to the class

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with the highest attendance. Children are also eligible for halftermly certificates for good attendance, which are listed on the school’s website. Cameron hopes this will put pressure on parents.

PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING So has all this hard work paid off? Not as much as Cameron would like. One variable she uses to judge this is how often parents come in to request term-time leave. The first year she tracked the data she had 109 interviews. The year after it went down to 74, then 40, but last year it went back up to 102. She attributes this to the economy.

“I think that [initial] drop was more down to the recession than our activities,” she admits. But there is hope: it has gone back down.

She does not believe threatening parents with benefit cuts for persistent absenteeism, which has been a tactic of this government, will make one bit of difference at Park Lane. “In our school, it doesn’t tend to necessarily be parents on benefits, these are parents that are taking their children out on holiday,” she comments. “They aren’t parents who aren’t supportive about getting them to school, but of course, their holiday doesn’t mean that. It’s their holiday and it’s their right – that’s how they consider it. So, it’s not absenteeism by lack of parenting.”

Cameron doesn’t just blame the parents, but also holiday companies for making out-of-term holidays so expensive and in-term breaks so cheap. “The Government swore years ago that they were tasking the holiday companies to make sure the costs were more equitable so that families didn’t feel disadvantaged if they did stick to the rules and book their holidays in holiday time, but if you look yourself you know for sure that they double or triple,” she complains.

“The parents will come to me and say: ‘I know I shouldn’t do it but I can’t afford it otherwise.’ I can absolutely understand that.” She urges the Government to look once more at this issue and asks the tabloid newspapers not to run cheap deals to lure children out of school. “It’s not ethical. It’s setting the tone that education and schools don’t matter and it’s wrong. You’re not teaching work patterns for the future if you say it’s OK.”

schools in focus SECONDARY NEWS

SUNDERLAND

SECONDARY UPDATE

DURHAM LIVERPOOL

What’s going on in the world of secondary schools and further education

Cameron calls for sporting change Prime Minister David Cameron has called for more competitive sport in school to benefit from GB’s performance at the London 2012 Olympics.

This follows the announcement that state schools will no longer be required to adhere to “tick-boxing” sports targets, in a hope to free them from bureaucracy.

MP Jeremy Hunt has also been in the news for criticising school sports, calling sports provision in English schools “patchy”.

Cameron said the problem lies with the attitudes schools have towards extracurricular sport. He told LBC radio: “Too many schools are not willing to have competitive sport and some teachers [are] not willing to join in and play their part.”

The Association of School and College Leaders said the PM’s criticism of school sport is unjustified in the extreme. Deputy general secretary, Malcolm Trobe, said: “We

all want to build on the immense success of our Olympic teams and we understand that schools have an important part to play in this.

However the prime minister’s criticisms of school sport are ill-informed, unfair and fail to recognise the huge contribution that many teachers make to sports in schools. Many teachers, not just PE staff, willingly give their time to motivate and coach young people in a wide range of sports.”

Trobe added that Cameron was right to emphasise the need to link clubs with schools, but pointed out that two years ago the Government removed the funding for 450 School Sport Partnerships, sports colleges that put specialist PE teachers to work with primary school pupils, linked schools with local sports clubs, brought coaches into schools and promoted competitive matches: “This scheme was devastated by the huge cut in its funding.”

PICTURE STORY

He added: “If the prime minister is serious about wanting to enhance sport in schools the funding will need to be put in place to support those very willing teachers.“

Photograph: Featureflash / Shutterstock.com

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DIARY 2 October FE AFTER THE EDUCATION ACT 2011 The Vincent Rooms, Westminster Kingsway College, London Adrian.stores@edgepublicsolutions.co.uk

Hollyoaks stars Stephanie Davis and Steven Roberts were joined by pop star Chelcee Grimes to open the Liverpool Community College shop at Liverpool One this summer. The store will provide the college with a presence in the city’s commercial district and offer a way for prospective students to learn more about it.

june 2011

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schools in focus SECONDARY NEWS

State-of-the-art campus transformation for Sunderland

FE WATCH

SUNDERLAND COLLEGE

Sunderland College’s Bede campus is to be transformed to provide students with better sports, visual and performing arts facilities.

Principal Angela O’Donoghue commented: “Our students deserve the best – they deserve to learn in an environment which gives them access to the latest facilities and equipment, preparing them for future training, education and employment.

“As a result we have revised our estates strategy and are now focused on the priority facilities. The improvements we are proposing are the most cost-effective solutions.

She said unlike its competitors, the college has been unable to invest in its premises to date due to cuts in government funding. It plans to raise £22m for this project through a mixture of accumulated reserves, loans, grants and sales of assets.

The latter will include the sale of its campus at Shiney Row, with the provision delivered at this centre being transferred to the new facilities and other campuses.

The Bede campus developments will see the creation of two brand new ‘academies’ for arts and sports. The arts academy, for dance, drama, music, media, photography, art and

design courses, will include recording studios, film screening suites, dance and media studios, green rooms, practice spaces, film processing and dark rooms, and teaching studios. The new sports academy will include top class facilities such as a sports science laboratory, fully-equipped fitness suites, treatment room and a four court sports hall – as well as fully equipped classrooms with the latest digital and wireless technology.

O’Donoghue said: “We can now move ahead to get the facilities in place for students joining us on programmes in 2013/2014.”

Sunderland College has been reviewing its facilities for the past three years and initially it had ambitious plans for a new site on Newcastle Road in Sunderland city centre.

But after the Capital Building Programme was withdrawn, the college had to rethink its strategy.

Work at the Bede Campus is expected to take just under two years to complete, with the new facilities due to open early 2014.

O’Donoghue said the capital investment was not linked to the college’s recent restructuring of staff contracts.

Bill Bryson Library opens at Durham DURHAM UNIVERSITY

A multimillion pound investment has been made to create a new library extension at Durham University.

The recently completed £11m extension, designed by Space Architecture, is called the Bill Bryson Library and will open in October after four years in the making.

Following the extension and refurbishment, the library boasts an additional 500 study places, 30 individual and group study rooms and new computer areas. The East Wing provides a variety of study environments ranging from quiet to collaborative, as well as 18.5 kilometres of extra shelving for the library’s printed collections.

Librarian Jon Purcell said the aim was to create more space, but the finished product has surpassed his expectations.

“The academic student experience has been increased ten-fold, as we are now able to offer a huge additional variety of learning and study resources for scholars, in particular work spaces to cater for either private or group study at both graduate and post graduate level,” he said.

“Never in my 30-year career have I seen students run into an academic building with such excitement.”

The extension forms part of a wider £48m project that includes a partial refurbishment of the existing library, alongside the construction of a Palatine Centre and Durham Law School.

One of the main features of the Bill Bryson extension is a curving staircase linking all four floors of an atrium, designed to provide balance to the low floor to ceiling heights of the existing structure and to assist students and visitors to navigate the building. As a result, the library is now full of natural light with vistas of the neighbouring Durham Cathedral and castle, which is home to Durham’s University College.

UNISON SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS FE CUTS A new freedom of information survey sent by Unison to all 248 further education colleges in England reveals what the union calls “the devastating impact government funding cuts” on learners and staff.

More than 60% of respondents said they have had to close courses – from A-levels to part-time adult learning – as a result of budget cuts and changes to funding eligibility rules.

The survey also revealed a drop in enrolment figures for this academic year – with nearly 70% of respondents reporting smaller numbers blamed mostly on the scrapping of the education maintenance allowance (EMA).

Jon Richards, Unison national secretary for education and children’s services, said this, paired with nearly 6,000 redundancies in colleges during the coalition’s first year in power, “paints a very grim picture” of further education services and it was limiting job prospects for young people.

“We know that many employers are looking for the very skills that FE colleges are able to provide,” he said. “If the government does not stop this attack on education services, then we are looking at losing a generation to hopelessness and unemployment.”

Sally Hunt, the University and College Union general secretary, said that if the cuts continued, “quality will inevitably suffer” and that the FE sector cannot continue to do more for less.

“Investment in our colleges is essential if we are to kick-start growth in economy. At a time when other countries are investing in producing more highly-skilled workers we cannot afford a repeat of these large-scale course closures and redundancies,” she said. “We are losing the very people we need to up-skill our workforce and train the next generation.” She said the UCU feared the situation could get worse with the introduction of loans for older learners.

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schools in focus INTERVIEW

A higher calling North West rep for NASBM and founder of the Lancashire Association of School Business Managers, SUE EDWARDS had a comfortable job at a local high school, which she left to work for a nearby academy. What made her move? JULIA DENNISON hears about how the experienced SBM was driven by a sense of purpose

W

hen Sue Edwards left Lancashire’s Norden High School & Sports College to become school business manager at Ripley St Thomas in Lancaster, it wasn’t for the fame, fortune or prestige. It wasn’t for a promotion, pay rise or to work closer to home. Rather, it was for something higher – a “calling”. When I visit her a year and a half into her new role, she tells me how she felt driven to work at the Church of England school, which had plans for conversion to academy status, for no apparent reason other than she felt, as a Christian, it was what she was meant to do. Sceptics would be forgiven for questioning her reasoning; however, there are other forces at hand. With the transformation of so many schools to academy status, it’s no wonder experienced business managers like Edwards feel compelled to help out, for it will be the professionalism of people like her that will drive the academy programme forward.

Edwards has been working in schools for going on two decades now. It’s a career she says she “drifted into”. “I certainly wasn’t looking for a job in a school,” she remembers of when she first started working as an accounts clerk at a school in East Lancashire. Her background prior to that was considerably diverse.

She started out in the Royal Air Force, where she did finance and personnel. After that she sold farm feeds and then she and her husband bought a pub, which they ran for four years. At that point she had a young family and following a career break she trained as a driving instructor and set up her own business. She eventually “got a bit bored doing that”, went to college to update her skills and got a job in a school. She stayed in education and took a job at another school as

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a bursar. This soon developed into the role of school business manager (she credits a forward-thinking headteacher for this promotion) where she finally found her professional niche. She soon built a reputation for her good advice and three years ago was nominated to become North West rep for the National Association of School Business Management board of trustees. “I always found that I was an unofficial mentor to quite a lot of colleagues in other schools and I do my best to help them because I think there’s nothing worse than going into a new job and you don’t know what you’re doing,” she explains. “It was one of those colleagues who proposed me as the North West rep for NASBM.” This post led her to set up the Lancashire Association of School Business Managers (LASBM) a few months later and she’s been advising her colleagues through both these roles ever since.

Edwards’s most recent challenge has been as director of finance and administration at Ripley St Thomas Church of England academy. Why she moved to this job at a time when she was happy enough in her role at an East Lancashire high school was a mystery to some. “There was no real point in me coming; it had actually meant that I had moved, for the same salary, to a much bigger school with much more to sort out that was going down the academy route and I had to move house,” she says. So why did she do it? “As a Christian, I know why – because it’s a Christian school and I really felt drawn to it; that god was calling me to this place,” she explains, bashful of holding such sincere beliefs. “In Christian circles it’s OK to talk like that,” she quickly adds. But faith aside, Ripley St Thomas was a school that needed a strong business manager.

The 150-year-old school was becoming an academy, and with 1,637 pupils, this was no easy task.

The school’s Christian roots played a part in its

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conversion. “It was the headteacher who wanted to protect the church school status and its independence,” explains Edwards. “The way things are going, you never knew whether you were going to be swallowed up by some consortium eventually.” The prospect of having more control over its budget also played a part in the decision.

By the time Edwards came on board, the wheels for the conversion were very much in motion and, as expected, the status has meant new challenges – so many, it’s hard to keep track of them all. “There are so many changes that you can’t even list them,” she says.

“Everything is done differently.” To abate the general sense of overwhelmingness, a local academy business managers’ association was set up and Edwards has been attending their meetings. “It’s good to get together because we’re all in the same boat,” she says.

“What’s most encouraging about that is the fact that you realise you’re not the only one who doesn’t know what’s going on. We’re trying to fill in the gaps for each other.”

Nearly two years into her new role, Edwards has had her hands full. Aside from overseeing the financial administration of a new secondary academy, Edwards has oversight of the Ripley’s expansive estate, which includes Grade-II listed buildings, stables, a farm and a new sixth-form centre. These all mean she rarely has a moment’s rest. In the week I saw her alone she had had queries from staff about tackling the school’s growing population of rabbits; whether children could be taught to use the lawnmower; and whether the school could offer horse-riding lessons. “Where else would you get this in a school? It’s just unbelievable,” she quips. With the strong sense of purpose Edwards possesses, it is inevitable she will continue to rise to the challenge – no matter how whimsical.

It’s a Christian school and I really felt drawn to it; that god was calling me to this place

SUE EDWARDS

FACT BOX SCHOOL Ripley St Thomas LOCATION Lancaster TYPE Church of England 11-18 academy PUPILS 1,637 STAFF 170

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/ september 2012

34

schools in focus INDEPENDENT NEWS

INDEPENDENT UPDATE What’s going on in the world of independent schools

LOCAL NEWS

BIRMINGHAM

HAMPSHIRE

PICTURE STORY

New brand for Birmingham academy VICTORIA PARK PRIMARY ACADEMY Birmingham

Birmingham-based Victoria Park Primary Academy has undergone a complete rebrand on achieving academy status thanks to an ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted four years after the school was in special measures.

The school’s rebrand, carried out by digital media and design agency Substrakt, includes the creation of a new academy emblem and signage, new uniform, prospectus and the launch of new website VictoriaParkAcademy.org.uk.

The agency worked closely with the pupils and staff to create the new identity, inviting them into its offices for brainstorming sessions..”

Headteacher Andrew Morrish commmented: “We’re so happy with the academy status the school has achieved, it is the culmination of three years of hard work, and credit must go to all the teachers, parents and pupils who have made it possible.

He highlighted the brand agency’s “amazing job” at understanding the academy’s ethos and delivering a new, comprehensive brand identity to the highest quality.

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Pupils from Hampshire Collegiate Prep School celebrated the end-of-term in style this summer with their very own Olympic Games spectacle

Private schools urged to share facilities with state counterparts Private schools should be made to share facilities with state schools the outgoing head of the British Olympic Association, and former sports minister, Lord Moynihan has said, adding that this will also allow private schools to benefit from tax breaks.

He expressed his concern at the lack of provision for sport in state schools and has urged a change in PE teacher training. He also called for compulsory inspection of state schools’ sporting activities by Ofsted.

Moynihan told the BBC he believed sharing of facilities was an “essential part” of the public requirement under which private schools have charitable status and said it was important all schools were involved. Figures suggest 80% of independent schools already engage in such partnerships.

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has backed Moynihan. Director of policy, Kathryn James said: “Children will return to school for the autumn term inspired by the London Olympics and we welcome any initiative to keep them active and using a range of facilities, as part of a broad and balanced programme of study.

James said the NAHT would like to see private school-state school partnerships extended across the country. “By sharing not only facilities and equipment but also expertise, children can become more engaged with sport at a young age,” she added.

“Such partnerships can inspire children to participate in a range of sports and help keep them active. Whether these partnerships lead children to compete at the highest levels or simply enjoy themselves while taking part in a range of activities, we hope they will deliver best practice and enable the youngest generation to grow up healthy and with a lifelong love of sport. We already see benefits from independent and state schools collaborating together and it will be good to see this developed as part of the Olympic legacy.”

SEND IN YOUR STORIES We are always looking for local school news. If you have a story to share, email editor@edexec.co.uk

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schools in focus INDEPENDENTS

A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY september 2012

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schools in focus INDEPENDENTS

With the line between the state and independent sector becoming ever more blurred, can academies and free schools really compete with the independent sector? CARRIE SERVICE investigates

D

istinguishing between state and independent schools has become a bit like a game of spot the difference these days. I have visited many schools from both sectors over the past few months, each one boasting the latest in ICT equipment, impressive facilities and excellent pupil performance. And I can’t help wondering whether this could eventually become a catalyst for the demise of the private school altogether. Academies now have control of their own budgets and curriculum, and free schools can be opened by pretty much anyone, meaning that the state sector can offer many of the idiosyncrasies that were once unique to private schools.

A CHANGING LANDSCAPE Sheila Hallsworth, director of communication and admissions at Sir William Perkins’s School, an all-girls independent in Surrey, believes that changes in the education system have certainly been a cause for concern in the independent sector in recent years. “With the education landscape constantly changing and economic uncertainty continuing, I believe that even the best schools can no longer be complacent about their ability to secure pupil numbers,” she says. Although Sir William Perkins’s school consistently reaches its admissions targets, Hallsworth remains mindful that its luck could change at any minute, particularly in hard economic times: “High performing academies are growing in number and these schools can offer an attractive alternative to a fee-paying school for some families. In parts of the country, key local employers are re-locating or contracting their workforce and this could potentially have a significant impact on a school’s intake quite quickly.”

Julie Booth, head of independent schools at Capita SIMS, however, has seen evidence that the private sector is still confident it can offer something unrivalled by the state sector: “Many of the fee-paying schools we work with do not regard free schools as competitors and most are not concerned about the impact they might have on pupil numbers.” In fact a survey carried out by Capita at a recent conference for independent schools revealed that 60% of respondents were not concerned by having to compete with free schools. And 83% said they were not

Academies are growing in number and these schools can offer an attractive alternative to a fee-paying school overly concerned by the possibility of declining pupil numbers. Despite the recession, figures released in May by the Independent Schools Council show that the number of children being privately educated in the UK has actually risen (albeit by 0.1%) for the first time since 2008. This suggests that a high quality education is still a major priority for parents.

FREE THINKING Founder of the West London Free School, journalist and writer Toby Young believes that free schools could bring huge benefits to the state sector, not just because they compete with private schools, but because they have the potential to raise standards across the board: “The advantages for the state sector are clear” he wrote in a column for the Telegraph last year. “Our state education system...is no match for that of China’s, Hong Kong’s and South Korea’s. If Britain is to have a hope of competing on the world stage something urgently needs to be done about falling standards. We need to arrest the decline and, somehow, revitalise the whole sector.” Young opened a free school because he was frustrated by the lack of good local schools available in London.

He wanted his children to be educated in a school where they would read classic literature and learn traditional values, something that he felt the state sector was lacking. Alongside his free school mission, Young is an avid campaigner for independent schools sharing their knowledge, expertise and facilities with the state sector, stating that a “portal” needs to be created in education through which independent

schools can “inject their DNA” into taxpayer-funded schools. And it appears that we are getting closer by the day to that aspiration as state schools take on much of the characteristics usually associated with independents. One example is offering an alternative curriculum such as the international baccalaureate, which many new academies now do. This could see children getting a broader education with an emphasis on extracurricular activities – an approach very much favoured by private schools – making that gap between sectors even smaller.

THE SELECTIVE ELECTIVE However, there is one characteristic that academies and free schools cannot emulate: selective schooling. Unless there is a complete turnaround on policy for opening new grammar schools, this is one bite of the cherry that will remain unreachable to the state sector. Gove caused much controversy this year when it was announced he would be allowing grammar schools to extend on existing land, or open up ‘satellite schools’, getting around current legislation to increase their pupil numbers. Not everyone is in favour of state-funded selective schools, so being able to offer an independent standard of education to the masses, regardless of ability, could be seen as a positive for the state sector and another reason for more people to move over from fee paying institutions.

I think it’s important to point out that new academies and free schools are unlikely to need to pilfer pupils from the independent sector – many are way oversubscribed as it is with applications from the state sector alone.

But there is a significant shift happening in education, opening up the opportunity for children from less affluent backgrounds to attend schools that can compete with well-established private schools like Eton, undoubtedly improving their chances of attending top universities. The recent announcement that academies and free schools will be given permission to employ non-qualified teaching staff – just as private schools have done for many years – goes further to support the change in attitudes in state education. What the future will hold for the independent sector is still unclear, but one thing’s for sure, state schools will give private schools a run for their money.

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Get ‘em to the green With feed-in-tariffs from solar panels a distant dream, is being green still worth the effort? MARK BUXTON of Eco-Schools gives an update on how to run an eco-friendly school september 2012

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he feed-in tariff (FIT) sounded like a dream come true for the environmentally energy-conscious among us – a chance to welcome in a new wave of green energy, expanding our awareness of the issues around energy use and the currently wasteful western lifestyle. Unfortunately, that wave never fully reached the shoreline of reality.

Some fast-acting folk had solar panels and similar schemes installed and so benefit from the FIT. At the moment when many more were on the cusp of doing so the government moved the goalposts and reduced the level of the FIT, causing

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ENVIRONMENT

arguments between the green sector and the cabinet that continue to date.

We could dwell on this turn of events or we could think about things in a different way. In the wake of the FIT has come a new way of thinking for many. At Eco-Schools, we have taken the time to develop both the advice and the products that we offer to schools and to our growing number of Eco-Centres. Perhaps an important fact to note is that the FIT has driven down the price of solar panels and other eco-friendly energy-providing resources.

LIVING THE DREAM So, with the above in mind, you may well be asking what your options are for continuing to green your school. First and foremost, look at the innovations and resources immediately available to you as a school. Primarily consider the resource that makes your school what it is – the students and the staff. Working with your school (and then the wider community) can have a dramatic impact on what you can achieve. If you are not already registered with the Eco-Schools award programme then check out Eco-Schools. org.uk for some ideas and an established framework to help your school become a more sustainable place.

Another key idea is to remember that the community as a whole is a formative part of your environment. Speaking to other schools, community centres and community groups in the area may help you to achieve a bigger dream.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT Good practice is one of the quickest ways to make a difference to your school and to your bills.

Whether this is by turning lights, computers and other energy-consuming appliances off when not in use, saving water by installing push taps or reducing the water volume use of a toilet flush, schools are well placed for this kind of direct action. Appointing students as water or energy monitors with the power to ‘tell off’ their institutional superiors can be a great way of ensuring that the good practice is implemented.

Engaging with and utilising the student body can also be a great way to encourage recycling and composting. In many primary schools this is a relatively easy task; explain what you will be doing, why and how that will help the school and the environment. Secondary school students can be more difficult to engage but, if it is possible to discover a benefit to the student that really resonates with them, it is still achievable. For these trickier older students, the ‘what’s in it for me?’ approach, coupled with ironic humour can really make all the difference. Ask questions, start a debate, allow the more passionate students to pick holes in what you have said. In essence, equalise the power balance for a lesson or two.

For both age groups, working towards a goal can really speed things along. Take a look at the Bronze, Silver and Green Flag Award criteria on the Eco-Schools website. Allow your students to be included in the monitoring of the energy and water bills, this can help them to realise the difference they are making as well as teaching them the value of money in today’s world. If this sounds a little

daunting then please realise that there are many green education options out there, such as the Pod (JoinThePod.org ), offering lesson plans, ideas and campaigns for your school to sink its teeth into. Any work done on programmes like this and with local groups can be used as evidence when applying for the awards.

Outside of the school body, there are other options that can be looked at which are more affordable today than they have ever been. Solar panels are now still quite a viable option for schools with some capital to invest upfront. Eco-Schools ran a very successful solar programme that was unfortunately cut short. Hopefully with a clarified FIT this may become successfully active again. The programme was designed to cost the schools nothing and had maintenance built into it.

In the interim, there are other ideas worth looking at, including LED lighting, biomass boilers and energy brokering. Other options for a school to look at are green cleaning products and ethical purchasing. Step-by-step your school could make a big difference.

Low-energy lighting, such as LED can save a

Appointing students as water or energy monitors with the power to ‘tell off’ their institutional superiors can be a great way of ensuring that the good practice is implemented building 60-80% of its lighting costs and cuts carbon emissions from the first day it is turned on.

This technology has come on leaps and bounds in the past few decades and is now reliably flicker-free and much gentler on the eye.

Looking at how your school generates its electricity and heat can make a dramatic difference to your school’s environmental impact. Most heat and power come from fossil fuels and release ‘out of cycle’ carbon into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. Using biomass boilers, which burn sustainably sourced wood pellets or chip, negates this impact to quite a degree and looking at powering your school with Green energy, or your own wind turbine, can be a great teaching tool and create a feel-good factor in your working environment. In this day and age, acting on these initiatives can even save you a considerable amount of money – up to 50% with a new biomass boiler system for example.

If this article has triggered your thirst for ideas, or inspired you to look again at sustainable technologies, then visit the Eco-Schools website for details of the programme and the ‘Schools Services’ page for our current eco-savvy offers to schools.

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SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES

Inspiring

Finding interesting and engaging speakers to inspire young minds without paying appearance fees can be a tough job. GEORGE CAREY finds out about a new organisation that is changing that

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he BBC’s news editor Robert Peston found that he was inundated with requests from public schools to give talks following his 2007 scoop about Northern Rock’s demise but almost none were from comprehensives. He was also shocked to find that some of the requests appeared to indicate that the schools were doing him a favour by inviting him to speak. He told Metro: “You’d get these letters broadly implying that it would be a great honour for me to join the ranks of these famous people who’d already spoken to them. But hardly any of the requests came from

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the kind of school that I went to – a comprehensive in north London called Highgate Wood.” He added: ‘”One of the big challenges of our time is to reinvigorate social mobility.”

It was with that in mind that he approached The Education and Employer Taskforce charity with his idea for Speakers for schools. Since then, he and the charity have been working tirelessly to make the scheme an incredible success story. Now hundreds of the country’s most eminent men and women have signed up to give one talk a year, free of charge, to schools in deprived areas to broaden children’s horizons. Recent research seems to back up Peston’s assertion that school is a very important

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Hundreds of the country’s most eminent men and women have signed up to give one talk a year, free of charge

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time for children to be exposed to this kind of inspiration: The study, carried out by research charity the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, found that the critical age to boost a child’s ambitions was between 13 and 15. Its report – The Influence of Parents, Place and Poverty on Educational Attitudes and Aspirations – argues that pupils need better information to understand how school, post-compulsory education and work fit together.

The researchers questioned 490 13-year-olds and then talked to 288 of them again two years later.

The stars lined up from the world of politics include Prime Minister David Cameron, his deputy Nick Clegg and the leader of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband. Speakers from other fields include Damon Buffini, former boss of private equity firm Permira, who was ranked the most powerful black man in Britain in 2007 and Marcus Davey, who runs the Roundhouse, a theatre and performance space in London. Scientists involved include Lord Rees, a cosmologist and astrophysicist who was one of the

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first to propose that black holes power quasars. Sir Suma Chakrabarti, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Justice is one of several top civil servants also taking part. As if that wasn’t enough, there are stars of the small screen getting involved, including Jeremy Paxman and Lauren Laverne. The speakers talk about their professions and current affairs topics, such as the financial crisis.

The organisation made the headlines in january, when billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates (pictured) appeared at Deptford Green school in South London. His talk was borne out of a simple request from Keely Wilson, an English teacher at the school: “Please don’t send us a boring, stuffy professor who doesn’t know how to speak to teenagers.” Gates, whose charity The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has already given $26bn (£17bn) to fund health, development and education projects, talked at length about starting out and the charitable work that now dominates his life. He has a hit list of 12 diseases which he wants to target - and he told the Deptford pupils that what had really surprised him was that these preventable illnesses had not been stopped before and that there had not been more innovation in vaccines. Gates also addressed young students who joined via video-link from Libya, Russia, Uganda and Kenya as part of the BBC World Service programme.

Due to intense demand, applications can take a little time to be answered but the charity keeps all requests on their system until a speaker has been found. It’s important for anyone making a request to inform the head teacher of the school concerned that they are doing so, as it will have to be confirmed with the head, before a talk can be set up.

The application involves completing a simple online form, giving details about your school and what topic you would like a speaker to talk about. All state secondary schools and colleges in the UK are eligible to apply for a speaker.

As a result of the success of Speakers for Schools, the charity has started a second scheme with a different take on the same aim of engaging with the next generation. Inspiring the Future is a free service which allows people from all sectors and professions to work with state schools and colleges to help young people achieve their potential. Initially the focus is on giving short ‘career insight talks’ and ‘enterprise talks’ in state secondary schools and further education colleges.

In the second phase, the menu will be expanded to cover a range of activities such as mentoring, reading and number support and work experience.

Volunteers and schools are connected and communicate directly with each other through the scheme’s website. With the help of these two excellent initiatives, there’s a great chance for your school to enjoy a fascinating talk from someone that may inspire your pupils to achieve greater things.

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Train to win september 2012

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STAFF TRAINING

Training can help staff members to stay at their best and offer a much needed morale boost to those working in a highly stressed atmosphere. GEORGE CAREY finds out how to go about it

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he benefits of staff training are undeniable and multi-faceted. A member of staff with regular well-run training will experience huge increases in both confidence and competence. Regular staff training also provides a great way for colleagues to get together and bond, while discussing mutually beneficial, professional subjects. So what kind of training is available for those looking to up-skill?

Some schools, like sisters, are doing it for themselves and forming groups, to offer members reasonably priced training on a wide range of topics. One such example is Independent Schools Training for the Midlands, run by independent schools for independent schools to provide in-service training at low prices. Each of the Independent Schools’ Council member associations has at least one serving head as a representative on the committee.

Through subject secretaries – all of whom are practising heads of department – the group claims it can identify the best in-service training and organise training around it. By using school facilities, in preference to expensive hotels and conference centres, the costs are contained and that in turn means excellent value for members.

Once teachers are on the training trail, an excellent way to maintain enthusiasm and encourage achievement is to track their progress. A great way to do this is with software that enables staff members to record evidence of their training in an e-portfolio, and their mentors to access and monitor the evidence to provide feedback on their progress. With all CPD information stored in a single location and securely accessible online at any time by both mentors and staff, performance and development is easier to monitor and manage. Subsequently, the appraisal process is continuous and more effective, and the overall standards of teaching and learning are boosted.

The software enables schools to follow recently revised professional standards for performance management more closely, as staff can log evidence of their performance and ongoing training in support of meeting the standards. Being able to rate themselves against the standards means teachers are more aware of their professional development needs, they can then create an action plan based on these needs, making training more focused.

Mark Griffiths, a primary school teacher in Bristol has been using a software package to track his professional development and is feeling the benefits: “It helps me to understand my strengths and weaknesses and make more informed decisions about my training needs. It also gives mentors and the school a clearer picture of my progress.”

Reports can also be generated to see how the department, or school, is progressing, and head teachers can use this evidence to demonstrate achievements during inspections.

Through the use of continued and accurately monitored continuing professional development (CPD) it becomes much easier to promote staff from in-house, rather than having to look further afield to fill senior teaching positions. The benefits of this for a school can be terrific, in a number of ways. The biggest advantage is the knowledge that you already have about your colleagues.

Anyone who has recruited for roles before, will know that a CV isn’t everything and someone’s personality in an interview situation and a few months down the line can be two very different things. It may not be that person’s fault but they could be perfect for the job on paper and still experience a culture clash when they get down to the nuts and bolts of performing the role.

It helps me to understand my strengths and weaknesses and make more informed decisions The benefits can be financial as well. With head teachers and school business managers already rushed off their feet, trying to make budgets stretch and run the myriad other elements of the school on a day to day basis, paying expensive recruitment consultancy fees may seem like the only way to ensure that you receive the right amount and calibre of candidates. If however, you already know that the right person for the job is just down the hall, vital time and money can be saved and used on something else to help improve the school.

In addition to more traditional training for teachers, there is an excellent range of training available for support staff that can offer excellent CPD opportunities for non-teachers and thoroughly benefit the school as new skill sets are bought in without having to recruit. A great example of this is NVQs, which support staff can complete at work and free of charge over a period of between six and 12 months. Courses available include: business administration; cleaning and support services skills; and customer services, all of which could be extremely useful in a busy and prosperous school environment.

The training opportunities for teachers and support staff alike are plentiful and often available at little or no cost. They represent the chance for enterprising schools to improve their staff’s professional development and the learning environment for pupils. Don’t delay, start training today.

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/ september 2012

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APRIL 2012 / ISSUE 79

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At Education Executive, we understand that the school business manager’s role is everchanging, ever-growing, ever-challenging and ever-rewarding. As the first and only business management publication for leaders in nurseries, primary and secondary schools, and further education colleges, our aim is to support and champion business and financial excellence.

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TOP TIPS

GS N I T E E M IPS FOR

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Ever the diplomat It can be tough to get your message across in meetings – the softly, softly approach can see you being ignored, whereas straight-to-the-point tactics can be perceived as aggressive. CARRIE SERVICE gets tips from expert LIZ BANKS on how to get your way in meetings using diplomacy

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF Confidence is key when it comes to pitching your idea to senior management – if you don’t look like you believe in yourself, it is unlikely that anybody listening is going to believe in you either. But there are simple steps you can take to appear more confident: “Most of us tend to speak too quickly,” explains Liz Banks, MD of Skillstudio, “especially when nervous. Speaking at a controlled pace will help you to convey a calm authority and help your listeners to follow with ease. So it’s important to slow down, to ensure that your listeners hear every word and understand your message.” Speaking at a steady pace rather than racing your way through will also ensure you don’t miss anything out and end up kicking yourself later for not mentioning something you wanted to. Another way of emulating confidence and authority is by sitting up straight and making eye contact with the person you are addressing – sitting with hunched shoulders while looking down at a piece of paper can only have the opposite effect.

LISTEN UP If you are building up to dropping a bit of a bombshell, it’s very easy to get caught up in what you are going to say and forget to listen to the other people who are speaking. If this happens, Banks suggests asking a question to clarify that you have fully understood before you respond to anything: “This will help to reduce any potential conflict and buy you time to think about what you want to say.”

PREPARE FOR THE WORST It’s a good idea to try and anticipate any potential conflict or objections that might occur in the meeting beforehand so that you can plan ahead how to respond. “Consider who will be attending the meeting, what their roles are and any misconceptions or preconceived ideas that they could raise. You can then prepare how to best address these issues” advises Banks. “In doing this beforehand you will be able to consider the most appropriate and diplomatic response and feel more in control rather than having to react on the spot.” Another useful exercise is to prepare some responses using more positive language than negative, so that people don’t immediately become defensive when they hear your comments.

Liz Banks’s top five tips for getting your message across in meetings: 1. Speak slowly, don’t rush 2. Structure your message clearly and succinctly 3. Prepare for any potential objections in advance 4. Listen carefully – listening is as important as speaking 5. Use positive language so that your comments don’t come across as purely critical.

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ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

One plus one is one As schools work closer together, it’s important to be up-to-speed with the law. CHLOE BRUNTON of Veale Wasbrough Vizards looks at the ins and outs of collaborative working

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s collaboration between primary and secondary schools increases across the sector and schools look toward academy status, there are a variety of legal issues to consider.

GOVERNANCE STRUCTURES Many secondary schools already work with their feeder schools to share best practice and ensure a smooth transition. Such collaboration may exist without any formalised legal relationship in terms of the governance arrangements.

In looking at academy status, the schools might decide to formalise this within one academy trust, often referred to as a ‘multiacademy trust’. Under this arrangement the two academies are operated by one board of directors with local governing bodies for each academy. Taking this one step further, it is also possible for the secondary and primary school to be merged to create one ‘all-through academy’ operated by one governing body.

FUNDING Where the schools operate independently of one another, as a maintained school or an academy, each governing body will receive funding in respect of the running of the school separately. In a multiacademy trust, the board of directors will receive funding centrally in respect of both academies, but this funding will be restricted so that it

In an all-through academy, funding is received by the governing body and there are no restrictions as to its application between the primary and secondary phases september 2012

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must be applied to a specific academy (unless the academies are in a position of rolling over surpluses). In an all-through academy, funding is received by the governing body and there are no restrictions as to its application between the primary and secondary phases.

STAFF Where the schools operate separately, staff are employed by the respective governing bodies (or the council in the case of a community or voluntary controlled school). If members of staff are to work across both schools, joint employment contracts would need to be put in place or a contract put in place for the provisions of services. A multi-academy trust is the employer for both academies and subject to the terms of the employment contract, this can increase flexibility for staff to be deployed across either phase.

ADMISSIONS Where schools operate under a multi-academy trust, the transfer from the primary to the secondary provision will involve a formal admissions process. While the primary school will be a feeder school and referred to as such in the admission arrangements, a formal application will still be required for the secondary school.

In the case of all-through academies, pupils transferring between phases will automatically be guaranteed a place in the secondary provision. The published admission number (PAN) is reduced accordingly so that while there may be 300 places available in Year 7, if 60 children are to transfer from the primary provision the PAN is reduced to 240 and no formal application is required for those 60 children.

NEXT STEPS There are a variety of different issues that arise in respect of the above models. We advise spending time early on in the process investigating the legal implications of such models.

If you would like more information, contact Chloe Brunton, senior associate, on 0117 314 5301 or at cbrunton@vwv.co.uk

WORK/LIFE

Break Time ?

Secret life of a business manager

FUNDRAISING SUCCESS FOR RETIRING SBM A teacher and school business manager from Purlwell Infant and Nursery School in Batley, West Yorkshire retired in style last month after raising 1,365 for charity.

Teacher Janet Astle and SBM Ruth King decided to mark their departure with a celebratory fundraiser at a nearby sports centre with music, food and a raffle with prizes donated from local businesses.

King, who had been at the school for 22 years, told the Batley and Birstall News: “We decided instead of getting lots of presents we’d ask for donations to Breast Cancer Research.”

Astle added: “Everyone has been so generous; we have been amazed.”

She plans to return to the school where she worked for 13 years on a part-time basis to run its gardening club.

“The children are lovely here and we have very supportive parents,” she commented.

“It does have a family atmosphere,” King confirmed.

NUMBER CRUNCHING Everyone deserves five minutes break, and business managers are no exception. So pour yourself a coffee, get a biscuit from the tin and have a go at this little puzzle. It is sure to keep your little grey cells ticking over and help while away your break time.

Do you have an interesting hobby or activity? Are you involved with any clubs at your school? We would love to hear from you. Write to editor@edexec.co.uk with the subject line “secret life” and 200 words on your hobby, why you enjoy it and why you would recommend it to other business managers. If you have a photo of yourself, that would be even better. Every entry written by an SBM and featured wins a 10 M&S voucher, so why not share your secret life with us?

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AROUND THE CLASSES With all those classes going on around you every day, we think you should be well placed to answer these little teasers

HISTORY In America, what became the 49th state to enter the union in 1959?

MUSIC Nebraska was an album by whom?

PE What connects the death of Archduke Ferdinand and the 1984 Winter Olympics?

SCIENCE Which scientist was born in Germany in 1879, became a Swiss citizen in 1901 and later became a US citizen in 1940?

GEOGRAPHY What is the name of the deepest part of any ocean in the world?

ENGLISH What number Baker Street was Sherlock Holmes address?

ANSWERS History – Alaska; PE – Both took place in Sarajevo; Geography – Mariana Trench; Music – Bruce Springsteen; Science – Albert Einstein; English – 221B

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