EdExec Magazine January 2011

JANUARY 2011 / ISSUE 65

SECONDARY

EDUCATION EXECUTIVE supporting business and financial excellence in secondary schools

AND SEE INSIDE FOR YOUR EXCLUSIVE GUIDE TO THE SHOW

BUILDING A FUTURE Fundraising will be key to capital expenditure

YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU How the white paper will change your job

FACE THE MUSIC

Kitting out a music department on a budget

editor’s letter

SECONDARY

EDUCATION EXECUTIVE

JANUARY 2011

www.edexec.co.uk

EDITOR julia dennison julia.dennison@intelligentmedia.co.uk DEPUTY EDITOR matthew jane matthew.jane@intelligentmedia.co.uk PUBLISHER vicki baloch vicki.baloch@intelligentmedia.co.uk SALES EXECUTIVE francis maitland francis.maitland@intelligentmedia.co.uk ONLINE AND SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER dan price dan.price@intelligentmedia.co.uk DESIGNER elma aquino elma.aquino@intelligentmedia.co.uk PRODUCTION ASSISTANT sinead coffey sinead.coffey@intelligentmedia.co.uk CIRCULATIONS MANAGER natalia johnston natalia.johnston@intelligentmedia.co.uk

Beginning of an era

F

inally, the words ‘school business manager’ have been uttered within the context of this changing education system. In his white paper, released last month, Education Secretary Michael Gove made it clear that not only are school business managers and bursars essential in a time when schools will gain more control over their budgets, but they will also save schools money. In these austere times of budgets under the microscope – that is absolutely a requisite.

Many of our Education Executive Secondary readers will be school business managers or bursars working in secondary schools, where the profession is commonplace, but many of your local primaries may well be without someone in the role. All this could change with Gove recommending that all schools have someone in the role, if not fulltime, then certainly part-time, particularly if it could save up to a third of a headteacher’s time. Therefore your local primary schools will need your advice now more than ever, and may even be looking for tips on finding someone for the job or resources to help someone working as a part-time business manager. It will be your chance to lead the way and show them how it’s done.

Here at EdExec, we’re here to help those in the role of school business manager do their own job better. Helpful titbits in this issue include a run-down of the white paper (page 10) and what it will mean for you, a focus on the end of FMSiS (much to many folks’ relief) on page 14 and interviews with groundbreaking schools (quite literally), such as St John’s School in Marlborough, whose business director found funds to build a new, state-of-the-art building entirely without the help of the LA or government – inspirational to schools that will now have to cope with less LA support. Got your own success stories?

Get in touch on editor@edexec.co.uk.

Happy New Year!

CONTACT US

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

JULIA DENNISON

Contents sector

lowdown on the business management world

06 SECTOR NEWS Top developments in school business management

08 SCHOOL NEWS

We look at what’s happening at a school near you

10 ANALYSIS Seeing white What the education white paper will mean for you

14 ANALYSIS Numbers crunched What the end of the road for FMSiS means for you

14

16 INTERVIEW

Coast on through Winning SBM: Connie Kerr, Clacton Coastal Academy

strategy

school development in action

20 INTERVIEW Building schools in the future St John’s School, Marlborough is a fundraising champ

24 MARKET REPORT Cooking the books How to save on your catering budget

spend & save

20

how to make your budget go further

28 CURRICULUM FOCUS Face the music We help you prepare for music as a priority

30 MARKET REPORT

Staying grounded A quick guide to school flooring

management

tune up your management skills

32 FINANCE

Budget busting Advice on finance under academies

34 LEGAL

32

The right to be equal How the Equality Act will affect pupil recruitment

38 WORK/LIFE Break time Put your feet up and take a break

06

sector

sector NEWS

FUNDING WATCH A SPORTING CHANCE Education Secretary Michael Gove has had to go back on his plan to abolish dedicated funding to school sport after cabinet colleagues told David Cameron the move was not a good idea, the Guardian reports.

The Department for Education announced in its spending review that it would be no longer providing ring-fenced funding for School Sport Partnerships (SSPs). However, in a political u-turn, Gove has decided key elements of the partnerships can stay.

The original announcement sparked outrage among the education and sport communities. Critics of the cuts said schools could not afford to lose sport, as it was essential to pupils’ health and wellbeing.

In a new deal, many of the 450 SSPs will be given a temporary reprieve, likely to be after the 2012 Olympics in London.

However, the government will not be reinstating the £162m-a-year DfE grant.

Instead funds to help schools run sports programmes will be pooled between budgets from the DfE, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, and Health Secretary Andrew Lansley.

STATISTICS & FACTS The UK has slipped down a global educational league table, according to a major survey from the OECD. The table records results for reading, maths and science and is based on the results of two-hour exams taken in 65 school systems around the world.

In 2000, when 32 countries took part in the survey, the UK came 7th in reading skills – but the figures for 2009 show that out of 65 countries and regions, the UK has fallen to 25th place.

STORY OF THE MONTH PUPIL PREMIUM A ‘SMOKESCREEN’ The long-awaited pupil premium for schools in England has been set at £430 for every pupil they take next year whose parents earn less than £16,000. The government is encouraging schools to spend it on reducing class sizes.

However, the funds are not, in real terms, an addition to what schools had before, but in fact some of the cash will come from within the existing schools budget agreed in the settlement, just redistributed. As many as two thirds of schools could in fact see reduced budgets.

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, said the coalition government had misled schools. “The coalition government used the pupil premium debate as a smokescreen to deflect from the scale of cuts being proposed.

“The smoke has now cleared and it is evident that the losers will be some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children and the schools in some of England’s most deprived areas.”

Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said the spending allocation was “not good news for schools”, particularly as it comes on top of existing cuts to LA and central services provided to schools. “These services by and large offer support for pupils with the most difficulties and those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds.

“We now see that the pupil premium is nothing but a conjurer’s trick. The government is simply moving money around the system. Not only is it not new money, but its pathetically low level means that the impact will be negligible.”

The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimated in October that 60% of primary students and 87% of secondary students would see their school’s funding cut in real terms.

“Now the government has failed on its promise even to protect overall funding,” Blower added.

They said...

Cuts will have disastrous implications for schools with sixth forms at a time when post-16 education is under pressure

january 2011 www.edexec.co.uk

What we learned this month

Teaching gardening to young people with special education needs has a positive impact on their development. The process-orientated nature of gardening helps the visual and learning-throughdoing needs of these pupils.

PICTURE STORY City of Sunderland College had a treat in store for its cookery students when chef to the stars, David Gill (left, right), offered them the chance of a work placement in a top Switzerland ski chalet, cooking for celebrities including the Duke of York, the Beckhams and JK Rowling.

Students Chelsea Jamieson and Craig New (left and middle) were chosen as winners.

JEWISH SCHOOLS

Education Secretary Michael Gove has confirmed up to £2m to fund tighter security measures in Jewish faith schools. Community Security Trust (CST), a charity working to ensure the safety and security of the Jewish community in the UK, will receive revenue funding for the extra measure of security guards at 39 Jewish voluntary-aided faith schools across England. Parents of children at these schools currently pay around £1.6m a year, along with the CST providing £400,000, to ensure their children have a school environment safe from any potential antiSemitic or racist threats. The first payment of £650,000 will be paid in arrears for the autumn 2010 term.

STUDENT VISAS

A consultation is due to be launched, which will look at limiting the amount of people entering the UK on a student visa. Students currently account for two thirds of migrants entering the UK each year and this consultation, which will run for eight weeks, will seek views on a range of measures to reduce the number of students, including tougher entry criteria and improving the accreditation process for education providers. A Home Office spokesperson told Education Executive it was unlikely to affect the Tier Four Child visas for four to 15 year-olds coming to the UK to be educated at an independent fee-paying school.

FURTHER EDUCATION

ASCL general secretary Brian Lightman speaking out against cuts in sixth form funding

UK falls down education league table

INBRIEF

Leading experts from the further education (FE) sector believe colleges will become serious contenders in the formal education of over-16s and are bullish that the sector is well positioned for growth, despite looming funding cuts that will reduce the budget by up to a quarter by 2015. At a roundtable to discuss the implications of the comprehensive spending and Browne reviews, leading figures from the FE sector agreed there were “significant opportunities” for FE colleges to attract more students. They also believe the reviews will force colleges to re-think their financial models. The sector, which currently trains more 16-to-19 year olds than schools and sixth-form colleges combined, is also set to benefit from more lenient regulatory and governance policies, as outlined by FE minister John Hayes.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

LANCASTER LEADS WITH BETCO Lancaster University now leads the education sector in the floor care time and results trials, since applying the Betco Express floor seal and shine system.

The university, which comprises a mixture of old and new buildings, has some vast areas of wooden and vinyl floor surfaces exposed to the heavy footfall of 10,500 students in all weathers.

Keeping wood floors up to a high standard was a continuous, labour intensive, expensive and time-consuming project prior to it using Betco Express.

The university estate is over 365 acres and operates an in-house cleaning team of 170. One of the six supervisors,

Jo Staerke has a major task – to ensure the parquet flooring on the 700 sqm great hall is constantly sparkling clean for the important student and visitor functions including the annual graduation ceremony.

Historically it was time-consuming to maintain just a small percentage of the university’s wooden floors.

Today, using Betco Express, the cleaning achieves a much higher level of shine and it needs much less frequent attention.

Staerke was recommended to Betco products by local janitorial supplies company Lancashire Hygiene whose slogan, ‘delivering hygiene solutions’, was well proven with its recommendation of Betco Express. Following two hours’ training from Lancashire Hygiene, the university’s team was ready to clean and polish the floors.

Contact Lancashire Hygiene at www. lancashirehygiene.co.uk, phone Betco UK on 01543 418080 or email: sales@ betcouk.com.

www.edexec.co.uk january 2011

07

08

sector LOCAL NEWS

EdExec

SCHOOL NEWS

ESSEX LONDON

All Richmond schools to become academies RICHMOND london

An artist’s impression of the new school facilities

Essex schools to merge Two schools combine to form one coeducational institution TWO SCHOOLS in Essex are to merge into a new co educational school this month.

Cranbrook and Glenarm Colleges, which share the same founder, will be rebranding as ‘Cranbrook’ and moving into new facilities on a single site, adjacent to the existing Cranbrook College campus in Ilford.

The merger, made possible following a £4.1m investment from Cranbrook College parent company, Cognita Schools, will bring together pupils from both schools, into a new institution catering for girls and boys aged three to 16 years.

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

january 2011 www.edexec.co.uk

CRANBROOK AND GLENARM COLLEGES essex

Headteacher Ivan Mulinder said: “This is a fantastic opportunity that puts Cranbrook Nursery, Prep and Grammar at the very top in providing affordable, high-quality education, with new state-of-the-art-facilities in a prime location.

We couldn’t be more excited.”

The school development group, made up of staff and parents, has been heavily involved in making sure the new school is a success, including deciding on the name, designing the website and uniform, organising open days and developing wrap around services for Cranbrook.

In addition to its high standard of teaching, Cranbrook will have a number of new extracurricular clubs, to appeal to girls and boys alike. Current plans include dance, netball, fair trade, charity groups, choir, arts and crafts club, environmental club and a debating society.

IN WHAT IS BELIEVED to be the first move of its kind in the UK, Richmond Council is encouraging every school in its borough to become an academy.

Both primary and secondary schools are being supported by the local authority to become independent under the recent government academy scheme, giving school leaders the power to decide on things like staff pay and curriculum.

The plan to make all schools academies was outlined in Richmond Council’s ‘Choice and Diversity’ report, which set out the long-term strategy for primary and secondary education in the borough.

Councillor Paul Hodgins said that while there were some “outstanding schools” in the region, the authority could not afford to become complacent and must push for further improvements.

“Central to this is putting more power in the hands of the front-line decision makers, and the community – something the academy model would enable; it gives greater freedom to governing bodies and parents to develop their schools in a way that will benefit their pupils,” he said. The idea is to phase in the changes over a three year period.

Smallest school to close FLASH CE PRIMARY staffordshire

THE SMALLEST SCHOOL in Britain performed its last ever Christmas play last month, as budget cuts could see it closing its doors this year, reports the Sunday Express.

Last year the number of pupils at Flash CE Primary, near Leek, Staffordshire, the highest village in England, fell to seven pupils, the lowest in living memory.

Staffordshire County Council has warned the school’s viability is a ”serious concern” and has begun a consultation process on options for the way forward with closure the likeliest.

According to the latest figures, 14 schools across Staffordshire have fewer than 50 pupils. .

10

sector ANALYSIS

White stuff

The white paper is groundbreaking to the school business manager profession. Education Executive finds out what it will mean for you

F

inally, after years of fighting for recognition, school business managers are having their day. With the release of his Department for Education white paper ‘The Importance of Teaching’, Education Secretary Michael Gove has recognised that school business managers should be a priority in all schools and can no longer be seen as the luxury they once

may have been.

In the paper, Gove sets out his vision for school funding, including his plans for the pupil premium, sixth form funding, and for a more localised funding policy, where money will be given directly to schools rather than through the local authority.

Gove commends the work of school business managers, saying they make “a significant contribution to the effective financial management of a school, saving on average 20-33% of a head teacher’s time and covering their own salary in savings” and that every school should have one.

The white paper says that obtaining the services, be this shared or full time, “of a high quality business manager should be a priority for all governors and headteachers”, unless there is someone in the management team with the relevant skills to undertake the role. For anyone who has worked in a school, they will know full well that few with existing jobs on the school leadership team have the time to do so.

PROCUREMENT SAVINGS Gove points to the importance of making procurement savings and back office spend in order to invest more resources in teaching and learning. “The Spending Review announcement said that schools should be able to save at least £1bn in these areas by 2014-15,” read the white paper. “This is practicable, but schools will need access to the best deals and will need to improve the way they buy goods and services.

The contribution central government is ready to provide is “easy-to-access financial and procurement information and tools for schools to use if they wish”.

Gove has said they will make sure the best deals currently on offer are made available to schools, and look for improved deals where necessary, drawing these deals to schools’ attention.

“We will also work with schools and other partners to improve procurement practice in schools, and we will expect schools to seek ways to achieve financial and associated carbon savings by using energy as efficiently as possible,” continued Gove.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT Good financial management was also highlighted in the paper, which said schools need to adopt rigorous financial standards. “But headteachers, school business

january 2011 www.edexec.co.uk

12

sector ANALYSIS

A high quality business manager should be a priority for all governors and headteachers MICHAEL GOVE

33%

AMOUNT OF A HEADTEACHER’S TIME HAVING A SCHOOL BUSINESS MANAGER COULD SAVE

managers and teachers have been telling government for a long time now that the current ‘Financial Management Standard in Schools’ (FMSiS), which all schools are required to have, is far too complex, burdensome and bureaucratic to be effective.”

The government promises to replace this with a much simpler standard during the 2011/12 academic year, drawn up in association with schools themselves. “Schools which have not yet achieved FMSiS will not be required to do so, but will be expected to be among the first schools to achieve the new standard.” For more information on this, see our FMSiS analysis on the following page.

SCHOOL BUILDINGS Since the Building Schools for the Future programme was scrapped, there have been a lot of questions surrounding the future of school premises. The white paper acknowledges that schools need high quality buildings that are fit for purpose. “Huge sums have been spent on school buildings over the last decade but the benefits have been undermined by the vast sums wasted on bureaucracy in the Building Schools for the Future programme - which is why we ended that programme,” explains the paper.

Despite a 60% reduction in education capital spending over the next four years, the government promises to spend £15.8bn between 2011-12 and 2014-15, which is more per year than the average annual capital budget in the 1997-98 to 2004-05 period.

“Our priorities are to use that money to ensure that we address the poor condition of the existing school estate and ensure there are enough places for the predicted increase in the number of school age children, particularly at primary level. The independent review of education capital currently underway and due to report by the end of the year, will set out how the Department for Education’s capital budget should be allocated in future in the most cost effective way and targeted where there is most need,” said Gove.

TRANSPARENT FUNDING Elsewhere in the white paper, Gove called for school funding to be “more transparent, fairer and progressive”. He said it is currently almost impossible to see how much is allocated to each pupil in each school.

“We also wish to see schools funded in such a way that every parent knows how much is being spent on their child, and every parent can see what proportion of education spending is not going direct to schools. Funding reform will be introduced in such a way as to minimise disruption and ensure schools’ resources are not subject to sudden and dramatic change,” he said.

PUPIL PREMIUM The Pupil Premium aims to give additional funds for each deprived child in the country. In total this will provide £2.5bn to schools by 2014-15. “This will mean that head teachers have more money to spend on offering an excellent education to these children: it will also make it more likely that schools will want to admit less affluent children; and it will make it more attractive to open new Free Schools in the most deprived parts of the country,” said the report.

Gove reinforced his vision for the Academies and Free Schools plans. They will continue to receive funding for the services that maintained schools receive, such as behaviour support. “Local authorities are ultimately responsible for making sure the needs of some of our most vulnerable pupils, who attract significant additional funding, are met - such as those with highly complex Special Educational Needs and those being educated outside mainstream education. We will ensure that considerations of possible reforms to the school funding system take into account the needs of this group of vulnerable pupils,” he said.

There will also be a fairer system of post-16 funding, with school sixth forms to be brought into line with colleges. “The transition towards fairer post-16 funding will begin in 2011-12 and will be completed by 2015. We will provide the necessary transitional protection for schools facing significant changes,” states the paper.

january 2011 www.edexec.co.uk

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ADVERTORIAL

sector ANALYSIS

Presto! And now for the encore…

Resetting the standard

To some it was just another time-consuming task; to others it was a useful benchmarking tool. Either way, the Financial Management Standard in Schools (FMSiS) has been scrapped. MATTHEW JANE considers the impact this will have on schools

T

he Financial Management Standard in Schools (FMSiS) was first introduced into schools in the early part of the 2000s, with fears from school business managers that it would become yet another audit and more paperwork for them to complete. All secondary schools had to meet the standard by March 2007, with primary, nursery and special schools given a staggered deadline that would see all meeting the standard by March 2010.

However, after just a few months in office, Education Secretary Michael Gove scrapped the controversial programme, labelling it “complex” and “burdensome”. The requirement was for schools to meet the standard every three years, which involves going through a self-evaluation tool.

When announcing the scrapping of the standard, Gove explained that many schools, particularly primary schools, found the system involved too much documentation and was overly bureaucratic.

Gove said one of his main priorities was to make schools less bureaucratic. “We are committed to reducing the administrative burden on teachers and school governing bodies and have already cut the burdensome self-evaluation forms for school inspections,” he said. “We are ending the overly bureaucratic Financial Management Standard in Schools, and we will continue to work with schools and local authorities to reduce the bureaucratic burden further.”

It needed to be amended, but schools have been asking why it has been abolished and why was there no consultation with schools january 2011 www.edexec.co.uk

Fellowes introduces instant assembly lids that make R-Kive Premium with Presto storage boxes the fastest boxes to assemble in the world

R

-Kive Premium with Presto is the fastest box to assemble in the world, saving the most precious commodity – time.

Sound intriguing? You can try it for yourself. Simply visit www. fellowes.com/presto before the end of March to register for your free sample pack of R-Kive Premium storage boxes with Presto 100% Instant Assembly, quoting EDU1.

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This innovative product can save up to 630 minutes a year if you have to assemble on average 10 boxes a day – making it ideal for schools looking for a superior archive solution. To see for

yourself just how quick Presto construction is, visit www.fellowes. com/presto.

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R-Kive Premium with Presto is DURABLE The R-Kive Premium storage solution is also known for offering maximum strength and durability. It includes magazine and transfer files as well as the Premium Presto storage boxes, which come in two sizes, each with a double layer thickness base, glued double sides and edges offering maximum stacking strength forthe ultimate

space-saving storage solution.

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Fellowes has developed this new system to help simplify storage box assembly, something school leaders will definitely appreciate – no complicated instructions, no wasted time.

The R-Kive Premium range is ideal for any school because it offers superior strength and durability combined with Presto’s time-saving construction.

To support the introduction of Presto, Fellowes is offering 20% extra FREE on R-Kive Premium Presto storage boxes during January, February and March.

For more information visit www.fellowes.com/presto.

Claire Axten, headteacher of Brookside Community Primary School in Somerset, described FMSiS as a “very lengthy and burdensome process”.

“The aim of FMSiS was to achieve value for money but the process was so time consuming this defeated the aim at the beginning. I am very pleased the government has decided to end the current system and replace it with a much simpler, national standard,” said Axten.

However, Bill Simmonds, chief executive of the National Association of School Business Management (NASBM), expressed concern that the standard has been scrapped without a suitable replacement.

“The scrapping of FMSiS without a replacement scheme of assessment is a mistake,” said Simmonds, who warned that many schools are already asking questions over the way it was done.

“Certainly it needed to be amended, but schools have been contacting NASBM since the announcement, asking why it has been abolished and why was there no consultation with schools.”

The ASCL praised the move, provided it brings about a reduction in bureaucracy. General secretary Brian Lightman said FMSiS was a good concept in principle, but that it had become burdensome. “The FMSiS standards did represent good practice and until a simpler standard is developed as a replacement schools may wish to keep the current standards in mind,” he said.

“Indeed there is nothing to prevent schools from using these as a valuable checklist.”

While scrapping FMSiS may free up school business managers’ time, its basis of driving standards and ensuring schools are delivering to the best of their abilities is an important consideration and schools should bear in mind any lessons learnt from participation in the standard, at least until the uncertainty over its successor is cleared up.

www.edexec.co.uk december 2010

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sector

sector

INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

Clac your hands Having guided the Clacton Coastal Academy through a period of transformation, and named as School Business Manager of the Year for 2010, CONNIE KERR has had a busy few years. MATTHEW JANE caught up with her to find out more

E

ntering the office of Connie Kerr at the Clacton Coastal Academy in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, the glass trophy with her name and the title of School Business Manager of the Year etched on it stands proudly on the desk. At the glamorous NASBM School Support Staff Awards ceremony that took place in October, Kerr came out on top in the school business manager category, a feat for which she was justifiably delighted. “It was a fantastic event,” she comments. “I just couldn’t believe I had won, it was great.”

The awards celebrate the achievements of the unsung heroes in schools across the country, and offers them the chance to enjoy the limelight and accept some well-earned praise for their efforts. These efforts are no better emphasised than in Kerr’s dedication and commitment to her school. During the ceremony, she was praised by her nominating headteachers, the previous executive headteacher of the predecessor schools and the executive principal of the academy, as being an “outstanding business manager” and “instrumental in ensuring the successful opening of an academy”.

ACADEMY TRANSITION The Clacton Coastal Academy opened to pupils in September 2009 as a new addition to the Academies Enterprise Trust group, and Kerr admits it has been an intense process

january 2011 www.edexec.co.uk

to go through the transition and ensure everything went to plan. “We are made up of two predecessor schools, one of which was Colbaynes High School, which operated on this site,” explains Kerr.

“The second predecessor school was Bishops Park College, which opened in a brand new building just two miles from here in 2002.”

Kerr joined what was Colbaynes High School in 1996 and has been involved in the many developments that have taken place in that time. “When I first came here we had 1,900 students on this site, so it was a huge school.”

Both predecessor schools were National Challenge schools, and Kerr says the transition to an academy was seen as a way to boost achievements. “Becoming an academy has proved to be an excellent way forward for the two predecessor schools,” she admits. “We have just had our first set of results and they were absolutely fantastic and our recent Ofsted was also very positive.”

There were a number of challenges posed in the academy transition, one of which was the fact that Colbaynes, Bishops Park and another neighbouring school were all part of a PFI contract.

“The implementation was a very busy time for us,” continues Kerr. “There was a lot going on in the background, with a host of professionals managing the feasibility study, due diligence and so on. With the added complications of the PFI contract, we had to make sure everything was tightly sewn up, so there was a lot going on over a long period of time. It’s certainly been exciting.”

FACT BOX SCHOOL Clacton Coastal Academy TYPE Mixed 11-19, academy LA Essex PUPILS 1,850 TEACHING STAFF 133 SUPPORT STAFF 170 NAME Connie Kerr POSITION Business manager TIME IN ROLE 14 years BACKGROUND AND TRAINING Has completed both the Certificate and Diploma in School Business Management from the National College

SMOOTH TRANSITIONS The Clacton Coastal Academy has a strong ethos on community liaison, which helped with parental acceptance of the academy transition. Kerr admits there was some negativity initially, but this has now turned to enthusiasm. “We had a huge turn-out for the consultation,” she says. “It has been really good. The pupils in particular are really proud of their academy. For them, the aesthetic change has been quite significant. The school changed colour almost overnight. We have a new colour scheme since we became an academy, so everything had to be repainted gold and blue.”

One of the advantages of transforming to an academy when they did was that Clacton Coastal Academy was given some grants to improve their facilities. “The funding transformed how this school looked in a short space of time,” says Kerr. “It was incredible to watch, we had a number of improvements going on, including putting in additional seating outside. When the pupils came back in September, they all just said: ‘Wow, what happened?’. The money we received certainly made a huge difference. We were very fortunate – the smooth opening of the academy couldn’t have happened without the funding we received.”

One of the biggest surprises about the process was the way the pupils accepted their new uniforms. Kerr admits she was worried how the new blazers and ties would be received. “The previous uniform was a sweatshirt, which is still a uniform, but a little more casual. The reality is that they love their new uniform, it’s quite incredible. They feel smart and are proud to be associated with it. For me, that was another massive plus about becoming an academy.”

Another potential stumbling block in the transformation was the joining of two previously separate schools. “You could be forgiven for expecting some issues here,” says Kerr. “The truth is there haven’t been any. All the pupils get along. We are part of a large catchment area and we have some significant deprivation. We are a key recipient of any deprivation funding.”

TUPE OR NOT TUPE One of the issues with merging the two schools together was the contractual obligations to staff. Kerr says it took a considerable amount of work to organise the logistics of merging two teams into one. “All our staff were transferred over through TUPE. We were staffed for two schools with two curriculums. This was expensive and

We have just had our first set of results and they were absolutely fantastic and our recent Ofsted was also very positive www.edexec.co.uk january 2011

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sector INTERVIEW

unsustainable, and obviously meant we had to do some restructuring.

It was ok though, we had lots of organising to think about and how structures would look in the future. After all, we have to plan for the next five years, not just the present.”

Kerr explains that the potentially difficult situation was handled very carefully. “We had excellent support to ensure everyone felt good about what was happening here and so that they could see it was for the good of the academy and in the best interests of the pupils.”

WORKING WITH OTHERS The academy has strong ties with a host of partners, which enables them to provide additional services to pupils and the wider community.

One such partner is the Colchester Institute, a local FE provider. “They deliver a number of vocational courses here, so we can offer motor vehicle maintenance and hair and beauty. We have great facilities, including a fully kitted out workshop with MOT bays,” she says.

“We also have a community centre on our premises, which has a 60-place nursery on site,” continues Kerr. “This is very useful for our staff as well; indeed my own child went there. The community finds this centre a really valuable resource and it is very well attended.

Activities range from craft classes to services to help local people resolve problems. My son even did an introduction to karate when I had to work for a week over the summer holiday.”

The community centre is a joint facility with Essex Country council, so while the building is on the school premises, it is partfunded by the LA. “It is also significantly supported by one of our partners, Coast-ed, which provides funding for the centre.”

The relationship the academy has with its partners and sponsors also provides Kerr and the rest of the staff with opportunities for CPD. “I frequently attend meetings and training sessions with regards to finance, for example. These are organised by the finance director of the Academies Enterprise Trust and are attended by colleagues from each of the academies. It is a very useful network that we have in place - having this network of support is really good.”

Clacton Coastal Academy has seen some dramatic improvement and the well-deserved accolades given to Kerr for her efforts as school business manager are the icing on the cake. “The success we are seeing now is down to a lot of hard work and the big changes we have undergone,” says Kerr. “You couldn’t ask for a better situation.”

december 2010 www.edexec.co.uk

We can offer motor vehicle maintenance and hair and beauty.

We have great facilities, including a fully kitted out workshop with MOT bays and everything

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INTERVIEW

Against all odds

Is it possible to build a new school from nothing? State-run St John’s School in Marlborough erected a new building from scratch without the help of government funds. JULIA DENNISON speaks to business director BARRY WORTH

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he future of school building improvements has hung in the balance ever since the scrapping of Labour’s Building Schools for the Future programme, leaving many school business managers wondering just how they will fund what, for many, is much needed work on the building they work in.

Estimates vary, but with more than 14,000 schools in the UK thought to contain asbestos, improving school premises could be a matter of life and death.

A twinkle of light shone at the end of the tunnel when Education Secretary Michael Gove announced in last month’s education white paper that despite a 60% reduction in education capital spending over the next four years, the government promises to spend £15.8bn between 2011 and 2015, which is more per year than the average annual capital budget in the 1997 to 2005 period. Gove went on to underline that one of the priorities for the government lies in addressing “the poor condition of the existing school estate”.

FACT BOX SCHOOL St John’s School, Marlborough TYPE 11–18 mixed comprehensive foundation school LA Wiltshire PUPILS 1,680 SPECIALISM Language and technology TEACHING STAFF 110 SUPPORT STAFF 90 NAME Barry Worth POSITION Business director TIME IN ROLE Three months BACKGROUND AND TRAINING Started out as bursar at the school in 1991, then was promoted to business director with the opening of the new building. He develops income streams for the school and works with other schools to help them raise funding too.

january 2011 www.edexec.co.uk

Which schools will end up the benefactors of this capital spending, and how much of this will be spent on buildings, remains to be seen. Despite the government’s cancellation of over 700 BSF projects, there may still be alternative solutions for schools looking to develop their premises - something St John’s School in Marlborough, Wiltshire, found out when they were told they may have to wait decades before securing the funding they would need from the government to replace their pasttheir-best 1960s school buildings.

THE SITUATION AT HAND Ever since it first became a comprehensive school in 1975, St John’s upper and lower schools were divided between two sites a mile away from each other, something that cost money and time as teachers had to drive between the sites and pupils had to take shuttle buses to attend some classes. As the school grew, it housed as many as 40 mobile classrooms on its land. “It was pretty much falling down,” remembers business director Barry Worth, who started as a bursar at the school in 1991 and worked his way up to the current role of business director by showing dedication to raising funds to improve the state of the school.

As early as 1993, the then headteacher tried to achieve a new school by way of a capital grant when the school became grant maintained. When he left in 1996, headmaster Patrick Hazelwood was appointed and admitted in a recent Times article to promising that he would not leave until he rebuilt the school on a single site when he was interviewed for the job. “The priorities were getting onto one site, getting rid of all the mobile classrooms and giving the kids and teachers an environment they rightly deserved,” said Worth of the motivation behind the bid for a new building.

RAISING MONEY FOR A GOOD CAUSE Hazelwood and Worth were men on a mission and didn’t wait long to get the project started.

They approached the powers that be for funds, at that time through the Private Finance Initiative (PFI), but were told they would have to wait as long as 20 years to see even a penny. Because they were a foundation school, whose assets were owned by the governors, Worth and Hazelwood realised they could rebuild the school on their own – if only they could raise the money.

St John’s asked architecture firm ReFormat to join the project team and produce a series of master planning options that investigated alternative ways to raise the capital required. The breakthrough came when a small, underused area of the school grounds was sold for development of four new houses giving the school £700k to progress with detailed proposals.

Although faced with concerted opposition from local politicians, the team gained planning permission for the new school and

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INTERVIEW

two further residential development sites. The sale of these sites released the bulk of the funds for the new school.

The school also implemented a comprehensive fundraising programme to raise the remaining finances required. The lower school was sold for housing, as well as part of the upper school site, bringing in £22m, but the school still needed £4m to complete the project, so they hired a development officer who raised more money and continues to raise even further funds.

“We literally set off on a course where in the early days we didn’t actually know what we were doing,” remembers Worth. “But every problem that was thrown at us, we found a way of cracking.”

A MUCH-NEEDED IMPROVEMENT As a result, the work on the new building could begin in April 2008 and was completed a year and a half later in December 2009 with a breathtaking, expansive result that now houses 1,680 students and sits on top of the hill, more or less overlooking the nearby, well-known independent Marlborough College.

However, despite the substantial size of the school and its location on top of a hill, the careful design of the overall form and the integration of a curved eco-friendly sedum roof nestles the building gently into the landscape.

Within the form of the school a series of large pockets were cut into the mass creating a sequence of generous sunlit courtyard spaces.

Wide covered external walkways link together the courtyards and the school facilities including a central ‘embryo’ space, which rises up through the main roof to form an iconic social centre for the students including a learning resource centre, library and sixth form centre, which sits at the pinnacle of the new building.

“What we were determined to do is to try and get rid of the institutional feel of a school [in the final design],” explains architect Neil Armitage of the free-flowing modern design. “The nightmare for every architect is how to eliminate corridors – it’s corridors that kill a school. So we laid out the school with that ambition. We introduced break-out areas and a sustainability element. Personally I feel you’ve got to get the teaching spaces, the lighting, the eating and the acoustics right and I don’t bother so much about the relationship of where the spaces are within a school – it’s about getting the quality of the spaces right.”

Part of the motivation to put the sixth form’s area in the highest point of the building was to encourage the older pupils to stay at St John’s and not go elsewhere for their 16-18 education. In the design process Worth and his team worked to achieve a building that would include a community aspect, a good bridge between the sixth form and the outside world. “Throughout the design process we would include the community at every step,” Worth remembers. For example, features such as the dance studio and theatre that can be used by people in the local area are already generating “significant revenue” for the school. The other good news about the school’s community outreach is the local folk that once criticised St John’s for selling its land, are now eating their words. “There’s been a huge about-turn and one or two have actually

january 2011 www.edexec.co.uk

INTERVIEW

We literally set off on a course where in the early days we didn’t actually know what we were doing. But every problem that was thrown at us, we found a way of cracking

Schools interested in speaking to Barry Worth for advice on raising funds for a building project can contact him on 01672 517 831.

apologised to Patrick in particular, saying that they were wrong, which is good to know that’s happened now,” Worth explains.

St John’s believes it is the first state school in England to be wholly rebuilt without recourse to public funds. Worth’s advice to other schools that are looking to do the same is to keep an open mind about funding. Barry is already working with other schools who intend to follow the St John’s exemplar and says he is open to taking phone calls (see box out for details).

By going it alone, Worth, Hazelwood and their governors are convinced that they have a radically innovative design and have saved millions of pounds on bypassing the bureaucracy of government procurement – now they just have to deal with the surge in demand from parents moving to the catchment area in hopes to send their pupils to the schools. This means Worth and his team are going straight back to the drawing board, fundraising to expand the new building even further to accommodate the increase in nearly 200 pupils they experienced as a result of the makeover. But Worth is not too worried; he’s already found £300,000 to allocate towards the project. “We’ve oversubscribed and we do need to extend the school,” he adds, “which is a lovely problem to have.”

www.edexec.co.uk january 2011

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CATERING

Cooking the books In the third part of our series on cost efficiencies, MATTHEW JANE looks at how schools can make savings on their catering provision

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t is an area of school resources that can quite literally eat money, but school catering does not need to be a financial burden. The benefits of providing pupils with a healthy, balanced school meal are well documented, with improved concentration, better lifestyle and the knock-on advantages to future generations. Despite the proven benefits, schools are in no position to throw money at the kitchens, but instead must concentrate on offering a well-considered approach that can ensure the long-term financial viability of this important resource.

One method of reducing costs in the kitchen is to look at procurement.

By sourcing suppliers locall to the school, the costs and quality of produce should improve, as a result of the smaller transit distance the food must travel.

Simon James, MD of Eden Foodservice says one method schools could use to improve procurement is to outsource the catering provision to contract caterers, who may be able to procure supplies more economically. “This is not only achieved by economies of scale, but also by employing a team of purchasing experts that can source products and ingredients in the most cost effective manner.”

When seeking the best deal in catering, it is important to remember that while price will have an obvious bearing, the quality of produce must still comply with the nutritional standards. James suggests that, while fresh ingredients are the ideal, frozen foods can be a cost-effective solution. “In fact, many nutritionists will point out that frozen produce often has a higher nutrient content than fresh alternatives,” he says. “This is due to the deterioration of food once it is out of the ground and subject to handling, transportation and storage.”

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT In order to reduce costs, schools should be looking at reducing waste. Bede Feltham, marketing director at sQuidcard, suggests one way of doing this is through online pre-ordering of meals and food. “This enables parents to pre-pay for school meals and select a choice of meals,” he says. “This can be extended to specific sandwiches, drinks or meals in a secondary school. This of course minimises wastage as unwanted meals are not created.”

As well as pre-ordering meals to reduce wastage, an online system can help promote the nutritional value of school meals to parents. Feltham says this is normally only made available upon request. “What we are increasingly seeing is this information being made available to parents online where they can view the transactional data linked to their child’s catering account.”

january 2011 www.edexec.co.uk

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CATERING

To gain the full benefits of the cashless catering investment, the system should be used for wider requirements such as managing attendance, library books, school trips and uniform purchasing James also suggests working with suppliers to engage pupils in food and educating them about the importance of sustainability issues. “It is possible to get pupils involved in a range of activities, such as growing vegetables and preparing meals, as well as measuring how much food and packaging is thrown away to teach them about waste and encourage recycling,” he says.

Furthermore, if pupils are encouraged to grow vegetables, depending on the harvest, these could be used in the school kitchen to cut down on produce costs. While it may be a far cry from The Good Life-style self-sufficiency, every little helps.

LOSE THE CASH Cashless catering systems offer schools improved service in the canteen and could free up time for catering staff. “By removing cash from the school, research from sQuidcard has shown that half of a full-time equivalent day has been saved in cash handling and associated back office processes,” says Feltham.

Further to the savings in catering administration, there are a host of additional benefits. “To gain the full benefits and economies of the investment, the system should be used for wider requirements such as managing attendance, library books, school trips and uniform purchasing, so it is essential to use an experienced caterer to manage this service,” says James.

Feltham adds that most schools now expect more than just a standalone cashless catering solution with a view to improving efficiencies in general.

These technologies can extend to ID, access control, payment for printing and photocopying, and online payments for school trips and other special events.

“All of these have wider applications for cashless cost saving efficiencies across the school campus, with catering often being the initial catalyst.”

There are a wide range of ways to reduce costs in catering provision, without affecting the provision of nutritious school meals. With some careful consideration and well planned buying practices, schools can ensure that dinner time does not have to cost the earth.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT n Consider where food is sourced from – local may be cheaper. n Frozen meals may be cheaper without compromising on nutritional value. n Pre-ordered meals can reduce unnecessary wastage. n Cashless catering systems can be used throughout the school to maximise the investment.

january 2011 www.edexec.co.uk

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MUSIC

Let the music play With the DfE putting a new emphasis on the importance of learning an instrument, JULIA DENNISON looks at the options out there for music departments on a budget

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ll young people should have the chance to learn an instrument, read music and receive top quality music education, Education Secretary Michael Gove said last year when he announced that he was launching an independent review of music education in schools. Led by Darren Henley of Classic FM, Gove said broadening the access and opportunities young people have to experience and understand music is central to raising standards, but schools short on funds may find resourcing for a music department costs money they don’t necessarily have.

There is no doubt that music is important. Research shows that quality music education improves behaviour, attention and concentration, and has a positive effect on numeracy and language skills. Through prioritising music education in schools, the review, which had yet to be released at the time of going to press, is set to make sure music funding benefits more young people. Indeed, Gove said it was “a sad fact” that too many children in state schools are denied the opportunity to learn to play a musical instrument. “It is simply unfair that the joy of musical discovery should be the preserve of those whose parents can afford it,” he commented.

Guy Bates of XMA agrees that children who are exposed to music or learn to play a musical instrument are known to do better in school. “Learning how to play an instrument teaches discipline, reduces stress and gives a child a great sense of achievement,” he says. “What’s more, amidst the more serious subjects they’re studying, it’s fun!” On the health side, music has even been proven to reduce blood-pressure.

SINGING FOR YOUR SUPPER Clearly music is important – but what can schools with limited budgets do to improve their music department? Carole Lindsay-Douglas of the Schools Music Association (SMA) says the key is in the voice. “[Singing] can be the most cost-effective way of teaching music, through the voice, in choral work,” she emphasises. In light of this, the SMA is currently running an awards programme for school choirs, which intends to provide guidance to choir directors/conductors, through constructive comment on performances submitted on CD. “However,” she adds, “there are psychological barriers, in some cases, to finding the confidence to sing, so this is where instrumental work becomes an important alternative.”

The recorder may be the first thing that springs to mind when it comes to affordable instruments, but that can feel a cliché that may not be as exciting as other budget alternatives, such as the ukulele, which according to Lindsay-

january 2011 www.edexec.co.uk

Douglas has experienced a recent surge in popularity and can be sourced for under £20 (“It’s in essence a scaled-down guitar,” she says), or the flute-like ocarina which can be bought for less than a tenner and is “just about the only instrument you can wear around your neck”. Other instruments she cites are the new pBone, a polyurethane trombone, “a great starter instrument that could lead to any of the brass family”, a starter violin kit and even alternatives to drum kits (see box out).

“Drumming is another facet of music-making, closely linked to world music, and can be resourced relatively cheaply,” she confirms. “I know of one Wider Opportunities project that equipped their classes with plastic buckets and drum sticks and produced highly complex and musically satisfying work.”

A plastic bin and baton will be of little use, however, without the right teacher training. “Even today, not enough time is devoted to the business of training teachers to teach music,” laments Lindsay-Douglas. However, there are grant schemes that could help provide instruments and the training needed to teach them.

THE SOUND OF MONEY Funding schemes such as the Music Manifesto and Wider Opportunities can all help schools looking to augment their music budget (see ‘Grant Watatch’ box out). Another way of securing funding is to become a new-style academy. Indeed, music has proven popular among the first ‘Govian’ academies to open last year, as a majority have used their additional funding, ranging from £41,000 to £1.87m a year, on musical education including instruments, tuition, after-school services and work with gifted musicians, according to a survey by the Guardian.

For the more musically apt, the Department for Education also offers a Music and Dance Scheme, which enables around 2,200 exceptionally talented children to have access to specialist music training alongside their academic education. Some 900 of those children hold aided places in participating residential schools, while the rest attend Centres for Advanced Training (CATs) or, those that still attend mainstream schools benefit from the national grants scheme to gain access to high-quality, out-of-school-hours training.

But should music receive attention at the cost of other extracurricular activities? One of @EdExec’s Twitter followers thought not, tweeting: “If music was worth a review, why not sport?” Indeed, in an era where something has to go, it seems music is somewhat better off in that respect than sport, which has seen the removal of its ring-fenced funding. Perhaps music is a focus that will be easier on many school budgets, to which Lindsay-Douglas adds: “I would have thought the upkeep of a sports ground is possibly more costly than the repair and maintenance of musical equipment!”

AFFORDABLE INSTRUMENTS: The following musical instruments are easier on the budget

u Recorder u Ukulele u Ocarina u pBone u A starter violin kit u Plastic buckets (think Stomp) GRANT WATCH Wider Opportunities Wider Opportunities offers an instrument fund to support the purchase or borrowing of instruments from the LA for all pupils in Key Stage 2. It may also allow for special promotional offers from retailers for whole class sets of instruments.

For more information, visit www.ks2music.org.uk and click on ‘Wider Opportunities’.

Music Manifesto The Music Manifesto campaigns to ensure that all children and young people have access to high quality music education. The Music Partnership Projects are one-year programmes funded by government to deliver high quality music activity to young people, in line with the aims of the Music Manifesto.

For more information, visit www.musicmanifesto.co.uk.

Rock out at BETT Visitors to BETT on the afternoon of 12 January will be able to witness first-hand how ICT and music can work together to better education as Mercury Prize and Brit Award winner, Ben Ottewell, who recently split from the band Gomez to launch a solo career, will be performing exclusively for visitors and visiting academy pupils to demonstrate how Apple’s GarageBand software works. “Music has been a major part of my life and I really believe that learning to play an instrument helps build confidence and improves life skills such as working in a team, patience and discipline,” Ottewell said recently. “And, of course, the sense of achievement is worth all the hard work!” The performance will take place at stand c100 at 2pm.

For more information on things to do at BETT, see our ICT Matters that came with this issue of Education Executive.

www.edexec.co.uk january 2011

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FLOORING

INNOVATION

Floors without flaws

It is often an area that is quite literally overlooked in schools, but flooring deserves a bit more thought. MATTHEW JANE looks at the options

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looring in schools is too often a low priority, but the scope for providing quality flooring solutions that optimise the space and improve the classroom experience is huge. While they may not have a direct impact of exam success or Ofsted points, what schools put on their floors can affect the atmosphere in a school and ensure a safe, inviting environment.

Given the wide range of activities that take place in schools, it is important to be flexible with flooring options. Carpet tiles offer a good level of versatility in both use and design. “Activity areas can be colour-coded to encourage feelings of belonging, public traffic areas can be carpeted with a calming colour to help lower noise levels and reduce disruptive behaviour, and reception areas can be made bright and welcoming,” says Viveen Dennis of InterfaceFLOR. “Classroom areas are also ideal for getting creative with flooring, and carpet tiles lend themselves perfectly to this. As well as balancing durability with comfort underfoot, carpet tiles enable schools to create inspiring, individual schemes that enhance a learning space – particularly an interactive one like a music room or a drama studio – from the floor up.”

There is a popular misconception that carpet in corridors is a bad idea as people assume they will be hard to maintain and clean. However, Dennis suggests using carpet tiles in walkways can help delineate the space while looking inviting and standing up to the heavy footfall. “If an area becomes damaged and needs replacing, the affected tiles can be removed without the need to take up the whole floor.”

january 2011 www.edexec.co.uk

Having the right flooring is important in other areas of the school too and there are several considerations to bear in mind. For example, in areas that are routinely wet, such as changing rooms and pool surrounds, safety will be an issue.

“Free draining floors are a good option as they retain a clean surface and the holes in the floor create a comfortable grip for bare feet,” says Pippa Highnam of flooring specialists Tact Enviro.

“Some surfaces with aggressive grip can be very uncomfortable for bare feet and also very difficult to clean.”

Highnam also suggests considering how the floor will be maintained. She recommends flooring that is easily repaired, such as tiles.

“Modular flooring is often a good option in rooms such as science labs where you may want to change the equipment around,” she adds.

DESIGNED TO LAST It is important to consider both attractive flooring and a product that is designed to last. Dennis says flooring should be guaranteed for at least 10 years as this will give schools a good return on their investment and keep maintenance costs low.

“Environmental considerations are crucial too, and manufacturers need to offer products, services and experts to guide schools through the specification process and help them make the most sustainable choices.”

She also suggests manufacturers should offer as much design and specification help as the school requires. “Field designers and account managers should be on hand to really get under the skin of a school and write a specification based on how the spaces within it will be used, who by and how the

school wants its pupils and staff to feel when they are there,” says Dennis.

GREEN FLOORS One of the factors to bear in mind when choosing your flooring option could be the environmental impact and sustainability. There are many sustainability labels to look out for and schools should be sure to question producers as to the eco-credentials of their products.

A useful tool when choosing products is to look for an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD).

“An EPD is not a label or certification,” says Dennis. “[it] is simply a list of a product’s environmental impact at each stage of its lifecycle, including everything from energy and material consumption to waste generation and emissions.”

She suggests schools look at a flooring supplier’s whole operations, to ensure it has an all-encompassing, holistic sustainability approach.

“Check that the changes being made to products or to manufacturing techniques produce tangible results that make a genuine sustainability difference.

Companies use terms like ‘natural’, ‘local’, and ‘recycled’, but if achieving this actually expends more energy and subsequently increase a product’s environmental impact then their efforts are wasted.”

(For advice on investigating a company’s sustainability, see box out.)

There is a huge range of choice for flooring in schools and many factors to think about. If schools carefully consider their options and select the right solutions, while thoroughly expressing their requirements, the investment should pay dividends and ensure the only thing being walked all over will be the new floor.

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LEGAL

An eye on the money Academies should consider setting up an audit committee to ensure their financial management.

CHRISTINE DICKSON explains what this involves

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cademies are strongly encouraged to establish an audit committee. The committee should consist of non-executive board members and should be chaired by a non-executive board member, other than the chair, who has experience of financial matters.

The committee is an advisory body with no executive powers. Its main functions are to: n help promote the highest standards of propriety in the use of public funds and encourage proper accountability for the use of those funds n improve the quality of financial reporting by reviewing internal and external financial statements on behalf of the board n promote a climate of financial discipline and control which will help to reduce the opportunity for financial mismanagement n promote the development of internal controls systems.

THE ROLE OF THE RESPONSIBLE OFFICER The appointment of a responsible officer provides the governing body with an ongoing independent oversight of the academy’s financial affairs. The

january 2011 www.edexec.co.uk

responsible officer provides the governing body with independent assurance that: n the financial responsibilities of the governing body are being properly discharged n resources are managed in an efficient, economical and effective manner n sound systems of internal financial control are being maintained n financial considerations are fully taken into account in reaching decisions.

The responsible officer should be a governor (but not the chairman), or an appropriately qualified and experienced individual not on the academy’s staff, with the necessary financial interest and skills to be able to perform the role competently. The responsible officer must check some transactions to ensure that the academy’s approved financial procedures are being followed and they should maintain detailed records of the checks they carry out. Governors who are qualified accountants are advised to check the terms of their professional indemnity insurance before they take on this role.

THE APPOINTMENT OF EXTERNAL AUDITORS The appointment of external auditors should be

for one year, renewable at the discretion of the governing body. A formal reassessment of external auditors should take place every five years, usually by competitive tender.

At least three suitably qualified firms, with knowledge of education finance and charitable company accounting, should be invited to tender.

The letter of invitation should describe the specific audit requirements for academies and request written and oral presentations from the firms applying. Academies may find it helpful to ask prospective auditors to provide a breakdown of their proposed fee by hours taken to audit each area of the academy’s activities. They may also find it helpful to ask how many hours the audit senior manager and partner will spend on the assignment so that they understand the level of work to be undertaken.

This will help to provide an understanding of any differences in the level of fees quoted.

The academy should consider the performance criteria against which the audit service will be assessed and then assess the auditors against these each year to ensure that they are receiving work of a high standard at a reasonable price.

The governing body should also consider the quality of the audit and the training and

If the governor has a direct interest, they should resign from the governing body if the firm they have a direct interest in is appointed to audit the academy experience of senior and supervisory staff in relation to academies, before considering reappointment. Provided that the governors are satisfied with the performance of the existing auditors they may reappoint them, unless a competition has not been held within the last five years.

All potential and actual conflicts of interest must be avoided and seen to be avoided when an academy appoints its external auditors. If a governor has a direct or indirect interest in an office or firm of accountants that may wish to tender for the audit contract of that academy, they must declare the possible conflict of interest to the governing body at the earliest available opportunity. This declaration must be minuted.

A direct interest in a firm wishing to tender is considered to exist where the governor is a partner

or employee in the firm or office of that firm of accountants. An indirect interest in a firm wishing to tender is considered to exist where the governor has a close relative, including a spouse or partner, who would be considered to have a direct interest.

If the governor has a direct interest, they should resign from the governing body if the firm they have a direct interest in is appointed to audit the academy.

A governor with a direct or indirect interest must not take part in the consideration or discussion and must not vote in the selection, appointment or reappointment of the auditor and must not play a part in the annual audit.

Christine Dickson is a chartered accountant, registered auditor and MD of CEFM

AT A GLANCE are encouraged to form uAcademies an audit committee committee should consist of uThe non-executive board members and should be chaired by a member, not the chair, with a financial background. committee will appoint an uThe independent resonsible officer who should be a governor or not employed by the academy

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LEGAL

Fitting in The Equality Act applies to schools in both the state and independent sectors. Lawyer YVONNE SPENCER of Veale Wasbrough Vizards addresses issues of provision

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he Equality Act 2010 came into force on 1 October and has consolidated much of the pre-existing equality and discrimination legislation in England and Wales. The act states that schools must not discriminate against a pupil or prospective pupil because of disability, race, sex, gender re-assignment, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity or sexual orientation. These are described as ‘protected characteristics’.

KEY EQUALITY ISSUES FOR SCHOOLS Admissions Admissions policies must not unfairly disadvantage a child from a particular social or racial group, or a child with a disability or special educational needs. These issues are considered in more detail below.

Bullying Schools must ensure that all bullying on the grounds of a protected characteristic is treated with the same level of seriousness as any other form of bullying.

School uniform Uniform policies must not discriminate against pupils with a protected characteristic.

Examples of potential discriminatory policies are: n refusing to make reasonable adjustments to uniform requirements for disabled pupils n requiring pupils to dress in a way which conflicts with their religion or belief.

Curriculum The requirements do not apply to anything done in connection with the curriculum content. Thus the school can expose pupils to thoughts and ideas of all kinds. The way in which the curriculum is taught is covered by the act, for example ensuring that appropriate provision is made for children with special educational needs.

Religion and belief exceptions There are exemptions for faith schools in relation to admissions policies. Faith schools are also exempt from the requirements not to discriminate on the grounds of religion or belief in respect of the provision of education and access to any benefit, facility or service. However, faith schools must not discriminate on any other of the prohibited grounds, nor on religious grounds in other respects. For example, failure to deal with homophobic bullying on the basis of religious belief is likely to be unlawful discrimination.

Any school can carry out collective worship of a broadly Christian nature, without this being unlawful. However, schools are not required to provide opportunities for separate worship for different religions and beliefs represented within the school.

Schools can also organise or participate in other faith ceremonies without being subject to claims of religious discrimination against children of other religions, or indeed of no religion.

Exclusions Pupils with a protected characteristic, e.g. a disability, must not be excluded because of that characteristic. Indirect discrimination may occur if disciplinary or exclusion policies result in a greater proportion of pupils with protected characteristics being disciplined or excluded.

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LEGAL

Faith schools are also exempt from the requirements not to discriminate on the grounds of religion or belief in respect of the provision of education and access to any benefit, facility or service In addition, there is a duty to disabled pupils to make reasonable adjustments to the exclusion and disciplinary procedures if needed. This may include: n responding differently to behaviour which is a direct consequence of the disability, e.g. swearing by a pupil with Tourette’s syndrome n reasonable adjustments to manage behaviour, e.g. implementing a traffic light system n considering more appropriate alternatives to a given punishment.

DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION Duties to disabled pupils are far reaching. The Equality Act has introduced a new concept; discrimination arising from a disability. This occurs if a school treats a disabled pupil unfavourably because of something connected with their disability and cannot justify this treatment.

An example might occur if a school refused to allow a pupil with diabetes to go on a school trip abroad because of concerns that he might become ill. Can this be justified? Only if the refusal is “a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim”. The school’s legitimate aims could include concerns for the pupil’s health and fears of disruption for other pupils. However, is this proportionate? The school should take medical advice and explore all options before making a decision which is potentially discriminatory.

Schools must take reasonable steps to adjust existing practices, criteria or provisions where disabled pupils may be put at a substantial disadvantage. Cost can be taken into consideration but many adjustments may involve quite small changes. For example, if teachersface forwards in class this will enable a pupil with hearing difficulties to lip-read.

“Auxiliary aids and services”, for example, a one-to-one learning assistant, are currently provided as part of the funding for special educational needs. When the act is fully implemented it will require schools to provide extra equipment or support for disabled pupils from their own budgets.

ADMISSIONS Schools must not: n use admissions criteria that exclude (directly or indirectly) categories of people with a protected characteristic n place discriminatory terms or conditions on a person’s admission n refuse a place for discriminatory reasons.

Maintained schools must comply with the Schools Admissions Code produced by the Department for Education (DfE). Admissions arrangements for academies will be agreed with the DfE and set out in their funding agreements.

Indirect discrimination may occur if admission criteria exclude a greater proportion of pupils from particular categories. In the past schools have been in danger of indirectly discriminating against prospective pupils by: n setting fixed proportions of girls and boys in a coeducational school n defining catchment areas which disproportionally exclude pupils from particular groups.

Partial selection of up to 10% is allowed in specialist schools and grammar schools are allowed to select all of their intake based on ability.

Single sex schools can lawfully admit pupils of only one sex. Schools should note that this exception only applies to admission – once a pupil has been admitted there must be no discrimination in terms of access to benefits, facilities or services, or in relation to exclusion.

GUIDANCE This has been a brief summary of a complex area of law. Failure to comply with the act can have serious consequences. For example, the issue of equality and diversity is a limiting judgement in Ofsted inspections so that if equality measures are not implemented effectively the overall inspection grade will be affected. Claims of discrimination can be costly in terms of reputation and resources. Schools are therefore advised to follow the comprehensive guidance, ‘What equality law means for you as an education provider: schools’, published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission and to take specialist legal advice if faced with a particular problem.

january 2011 www.edexec.co.uk

WORK/LIFE

Break Time ?

Secret life of a business manager

ME TO A TEE

I am a huge golf fan and have been playing for more years than I care to remember. I am no Tiger Woods, but I can get round the course without disgracing myself, which is my main aim.

To my great delight, my teenage son has recently taken up the sport too, and rather annoyingly he is already giving me a run for my money. It is fantastic though to be able to spend time with him on the golf course, because the sport is as much about the social side as anything else. There are also a few of

NUMBER CRUNCHING Everyone deserves five

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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.

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my colleagues with a keen golfing interest. In fact, a group of us did a golf tour through Ireland a few years ago and had a great time

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There is nothing more relaxing after a hard day at work than to go to the driving range and hit some balls. It is great for practicing my swing and also superb for getting rid of the stresses of the daily routine.

AROUND THE CLASSES With all those classes going on around you every day, we think

LAWRENCE CONNOR, SOMERSET

you should be well placed to answer these little teasers

GEOGRAPHY Which is the smallest of the 50 states in the US?

PE In which year did the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race begin?

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ENGLISH Who wrote the novel ‘A Clockwork Orange’? ........................................

Do you have an interesting hobby or activity? Are you involved with any clubs at your school? We would love to hear about it. Write to editor@edexec.co.uk with 200 words on your hobby, why you enjoy it and why you would recommend it. PLUS every entry featured wins a £20 M&S voucher.

january 2011 www.edexec.co.uk

SCIENCE Titan and Pandora are moons of which planet? ........................................

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HISTORY Who made the first telephone call to the moon? ........................................

FRENCH In French what is an ‘ordinateur’? ........................................

ANSWERS Geography – Rhode Island; English – Anthony Burgess; Science – Saturn; PE – 1829, History – Richard Nixon; French ­– A computer

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