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My experience of the risk protection arrangement (RPA) claims process when our school flooded.

Catherine Morley is the Headteacher at Theale Church of England Primary School in Reading, West Berkshire. In this blog post, Catherine shares her experience of the RPA support her school received when an incident with the sprinkler suppression system resulted in severe water damage to her school.

Update for schools and trusts on Procurement Act 2023 - are you ready?

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Advice and support
Photo of Hannah Mears

Hannah Mears is a Commercial Lead for Get help buying for schools, the DfE’s free supported buying service for schools and trusts. In this blog post, Hannah updates on the latest advice around the Procurement Act 2023, and how schools can get ready for the new regulations that come in February 2025.

Getting your school or trust ready for new recycling regulations

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Photo of Amanda Quinn

In this blog post, Amanda Quinn, Education Procurement Category Manager at YPO, highlights new, simpler recycling regulations coming into force in 2025 and the action that schools and trusts will need to take to be compliant.

My experience of using Get help buying for schools to buy multi-functional devices and more

Photo of Jacqui Whiting

Jacqui Whiting is a Procurement and Contracts Manager at Our Lady of the Magnificat Multi-Academy Company (MAC), a family of 17 schools across Warwickshire and Worcestershire.  Jacqui has used Get help buying for schools to buy multi-functional devices, grounds maintenance and catering.

Safety in school kitchens and laundries: the vital role of risk assessments and equipment checks

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Picture of Julie Noble

Julie Noble is health, safety, and fire resilience technician for the risk protection arrangement (RPA), the DfE’s alternative to commercial insurance. In this blog post, Julie talks about how schools' kitchen and laundry risk assessments and equipment checks are essential tools for keeping everyone safe.

Schools and trusts can now list all roles on Teaching Vacancies and Find a Job

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Will Bourke from the Teaching Vacancy Service explains in this blog about the improvements made to the service, which means schools and trust can now list all of their vacancies, including school business professional roles, for free.

What is social value and how can schools and trusts benefit from it?

Stacey Speakman wearing an orange top, smiling at the camera

Find out why the Get help buying for schools service wants to work with schools and trusts to ensure they are getting not just value for money, but wider social value from their procurements, and why schools shouldn’t be afraid to ask suppliers what additional value they can bring to the table.

Get help buying for schools turns 2 and celebrates supporting over 2,000 schools and trusts

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Services
A head and shoulders picture of Jane Davies, who is smiling. Jane is wearing a black and cream striped jumper.

As Get help buying for schools celebrates its second birthday, Jane Davies, Head of Schools Commercial Operations at the Department for Education, reflects on what has been achieved so far, and the future aims of the service.

How joining a school business professional network could help you with buying for your school

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A headshot of Frances Rowland, Chair of the ABLE Network, with a quote alongside which reads: "Your fellow SBPs can understand the ups and downs of the job in a way that other colleagues in your school cannot". The ABLE logo is situated underneath the quote.

In the latest Buying for Schools blog post, network Chair Frances Rowland explains how the ABLE network supports school business professionals, and why you should consider joining a network if you’re not a member already.