How Northern Education Trust transformed its banking to generate extra income of over £1 million

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Banking, Banking and Finance, ICFP, Reserves

Diva Nair, Associate Director of Finance at Northern Education Trust, shares how a simple change to the trust's banking arrangements transformed their annual interest income from tens of thousands to more than a million pounds and explains how other schools …

Smart banking: How one trust generated nearly three teachers' worth of additional funding

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Banking, Banking and Finance, Financial planning and budgeting, Reserves

Louise Davy, Chief Financial Officer at South East Essex Academy Trust (SEEAT), shares how strategic banking changes delivered around £200,000 in additional income.  We had a system that had worked well enough in the past – but recognised times were …

One question from a trustee changed everything about how we manage our finances  

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Banking, Banking and Finance, Reserves
Stock image depicting financial services accompanied by a quote from Shaukat Islam, CEO and Executive Headteacher, Inspire Education Community Trust, which reads: I I know change feels risky. I felt nervous too. But the DfE has approved this route. The setup is simple, the security is robust, and the returns are real."

Shaukat Islam, CEO and Executive Headteacher, Inspire Education Community Trust, Birmingham, shares how a DfE-approved savings platform transformed how the trust maximises returns on its reserves.  Like most school leaders, I'm cautious with public money. When I first heard about …

Get ready to meet the new School Food Standards

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Catering, Frameworks, Operations and School Services, Procurement and Commercial Services, school supplies
Picture of Finn Morgan, Department for Education Commercial Lead for School Food, on a dark green background alongside text which reads: "These standards cover food across the school day including breakfast, breaks and lunchtime. They will become mandatory for all schools in England from the start of the next school year in September 2027."

The Department for Education (DfE) has announced a major update to the School Food Standards . This is the first change to the standards since their introduction more than a decade ago. These standards cover food across the school day including …

From curious to confident: how one school transformed its procurement capability 

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: CIPS, Learning and Development, Training, Workforce, Recruitment and Development
Image of Sannah Mundy. Text includes a quote from Sannah which reads: “It just covered everything - from people and leadership to contract negotiation to the supply chains. It was great. It was a whole overview of procurement.”

Professional curiosity about procurement has been transformed into applicable knowledge and skills for Briarwood School finance and business development assistant Sannah Mundy - thanks to the Department for Education (DfE) and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS).  Sannah had already been asking about the school’s buying activity when an …

How Southwark Council used Get help buying for schools to transform catering procurement

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Catering, Commercial support, Frameworks, Operations and School Services, Procurement and Commercial Services
Image of catering staff serving food in a school kitchen alongside a quote from Gillian Boundy, Senior Public Health Programme Manager at Southwark Council, which reads: "The Get help buying for schools team have all been very professional and incredible flexible, paid great attention to detail and have educated me along the way."

An innovative collaboration with the Department for Education’s (DfE) Get help buying for schools (GHBS) service helped Southwark Council to set up its own bespoke school catering services framework — one that is already attracting wider interest across London. The …

'Slick and easy' cleaning services procurement with Get help buying for schools

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Cleaning services, Operations and School Services
Picture of cleaning equipment in a school corridor, alongside a comment from Amery Hill Secondary School business manager, Nicola Wells, which reads: “Get help buying for schools saved me so much time as a school business manager. They support you through the whole process, and at no point did I feel like I was on my own.”

Nicola Wells is the school business manager at Amery Hill Secondary School – a single academy trust in Hampshire with approximately 1,000 students. Here she shares her experience of using Get help buying for schools to procure cleaning services for …

Supply staff savings allow Lime Trust to invest in schools and pupils

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Advice and support, Agency supply
Picture of Lime Academy Trust head of finance, Ricky Barton, with a comment from him which reads: "The improvements to the quality of supply staff, the consolidation of processes and the cost savings we've made have made such an enormous impact."

Lime Trust made significant savings on supply staffing by using the Government Commercial Agency (GCA) framework agreement – with the money saved being reinvested in its schools and pupils. The multi-academy trust - which comprises four primary and five special …

Plan technology for your school: get help using the right digital and technology infrastructure

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Digital standards, Technology and Digital
Picture of Hattie Barham-Colwell with test which reads: "Increasingly more schools are benefitting from having a digital strategy which includes a vision for how they will use technology in the long-term to meet their needs."

Hattie Barham-Colwell, of the Department for Education's Safe and Reliable Technology team, explains how the plan technology for your school service can help you meet government digital and technology standards. In today’s fast-changing education landscape, technology plays a vital role …

Over £1 million saved - how Shaw Education Trust turned supply staffing into a strategic asset

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Workforce, Workforce, Recruitment and Development

This is the final post in a three-part series. In our first post, we outlined the supply staffing challenges Shaw Education Trust (SET) faced. In our second post, we explained how they built their compliant master vendor model. Here, we …