Buying for Schools

Energy management: Smart meters – helping you make better informed decisions about energy use

Kathryn Swanson, DfE Project Manager, 25 April 2023 - Advice and support

In this blog post, Kathryn Swanson, DfE Project Manager, explains more about how smart meters could help you better understand and manage energy use in you school or trust.

Helping schools to make more sustainable printing choices

Ross Buthee, Commercial Lead, Crown Commercial Service, 11 April 2023 - Services

Ross Buthee, Commercial Lead at Crown Commercial Service, blogs about the Print marketplace framework, an online purchasing portal which puts the power of making more sustainable choices in the hands of schools and trusts.

Helping schools and trusts to buy goods and services

Kevin Draisey, Head of Procurement Operations, 20 March 2023 - Services

Kevin Draisey, Head of Procurement Operations, updates us on Get help buying for schools, and how state-funded schools and trusts can get the most out of this free service.

Buying quality school meals using DfE-approved frameworks

Charlotte Springthorpe, Customer Relationship Manager at ESPO, 6 March 2023 - Services

As we celebrate International School Meals Day 2023 on 9 March, Charlotte Springthorpe, Customer Relationship Manager at Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation (ESPO), highlights two new DfE approved catering frameworks.

My experience of buying transport using Get help buying for schools

Emma Foulkes, Chief Finance Officer, Holy Family of Nazareth Catholic Academy Trust, 23 February 2023 - Services

In this blog post, Emma Foulkes, Chief Finance Officer, shares her experience of using the Get help buying for schools service to buy transport for her school.

RPA members – if an incident were to happen, is your school cyber secure and are you covered?

Katy O’Connor, RPA Future Projects Strategy and Delivery Lead, 6 February 2023 - Advice and support

In April 2022 the department included cyber cover as part of its Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA). We are almost a year on and Katy O’Connor, RPA Future Projects Strategy and Delivery Lead thought it was a good time to check in and see if all members are taking full advantage of this vital cover.

Join a new training pilot to help you manage your contracts and maximise your budget

Charlene Pink, Innovation Lead, DfE, 24 January 2023 - Advice and support, Services, Uncategorized

Charlene Pink is an Innovation Lead at the Department for Education and is currently working on a project which aims to give those who buy for their school the knowledge, skills and confidence to do so as effectively as they can. In this blog post, Charlene highlights a new training pilot which launches in February 2023.

Buying energy and energy efficiency goods and services

Dan Baker, Schools Commercial Team Category Lead, 9 January 2023 - Services

In this blog post, Dan Baker, Schools Commercial Team Category Lead, gives an overview of the DfE support available to help you buy energy and energy efficiency goods and services for your school.

Teaching Vacancies: Putting money back into the classroom

Will Bourke, Outreach and Engagement Manager, Teaching Vacancies, 1 December 2022 - Services

Teaching Vacancies is the free national service for state schools in England to list teaching, leadership, and education support roles. Will Bourke provides an update on the work the team has been doing to reduce the admin and cost burden for trusts when advertising vacancies.

Keeping everyone safe and secure in school

Russ Bland, Head of crime, fire and health and safety resilience for the Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA), 14 November 2022 - Services

In this blog, Russ Bland, Head of crime, fire and health and safety resilience for the Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA), tells us about the targeted work that his team are doing to keep schools with particular risks as safe and secure as possible.

Blog Buying for Schools

DfE launches School Estate Management Standards to support all schools to manage their estates effectively