Ofsted have released their 5-year strategy. We've read the report, so you don't have to. The report recognises that Covid has significantly disrupted both children's lives and their education. Covid has also impacted both pupil and staff physical and mental health while increasing safeguarding concerns. Their strategy promises to raise standards in...

The UK government recently published draft regulations around changes to paternity leave policy, due to go live this week on Friday 8th March. The main change to the policy is that it allows fathers or partners to split their statutory paternity leave into single week blocks rather than having to take it all at once, as per previous regulations. Th...

Cost of Living Crisis The rate of inflation in April was 9%, up from 7% in March. This represents the highest rate of inflation on record. The rising price of oil and consumer goods have contributed to this and there doesn't look to be an end in sight. Schools are always an important hub in the community, but there are needed even more so. We have ...

Diversifying our income is key to being able to deliver what you want for children. A wise person once told me that, "you can cost control yourself out of a crisis, but it doesn't give you the long-term future". Never has this been truer than in the world of schools. The financial pressures we have experienced over recent years have seemingly becom...

 What is an HR audit? An HR audit is an objective look at how your school or trust's HR department operates, including the policies and procedures in place. An audit can either be internal (with the trust's own HR team conducting it) or you can instruct an outside company to conduct it for you. Unless the audit has been triggered for a specifi...

 As part of the Schools White Paper published nearly 12 months ago, the Government set out it's plan to have to have all schools "in a strong multi-academy trust or with plans to join or form one" within the next eight years. Whilst recent news has talked about this target likely to be missed, the move to greater academisation appears one way....

Fire risk assessments have been a legal requirement since 2005 when the Fire Safety (Regulatory Reform) Order was passed. Every non-domestic premises must have a "responsible person" carry out a fire risk assessment and should record any significant findings. The "responsible person" should have either total control or a degree of control over the ...

On the 19th July, the government announced a pay rise for teachers starting in September. As part of the push towards a £30,000 salary for new teachers, Early Career Teachers (ECTs, formerly NQTs) outside of the capital will receive an 8.9% increase. More established teachers will receive increases ranging from 5% to 8% depending on experience, whi...

 How would you rate your mental health? The last 19 months have been fraught for many. It is hardly surprising that the nation's health has suffered during the Covid-19 pandemic as people had to shield, work from home and not socialise. Our worlds were turned upside down with lockdown, with many of the day-to-day activities we all took for gra...

An ever-evolving financial climate in the education sector poses certain challenges to schools and multi-academy trusts (MATs). The demanding nature of the education finance sector continually tests the abilities and resilience of management, teaching and non-teaching staff in MATs. Introducing actionable measures to mitigate financial difficulties...

As your school grows, you'll realise that scaling education and operations is necessary to stay competitive. However, scaling and upgrading school operations within the education sector can be a challenge as education costs continue to rise. Becoming more cost-efficient is a common challenge that almost every school or MAT faces when upgrading oper...

Internal scrutiny can often be seen as something that's worrying, or a boring compliance piece that gets in the way of day- to-day trust operations. However, effective internal scrutiny can bring multiple benefits to a trust. Here are 5 ways that internal scrutiny can benefit your trust beyond compliance with ESFA regulations: 1. External expertise...

Managing people is one of the most sensitive and challenging responsibilities in school leadership. Whether you're addressing staff misconduct, safeguarding concerns, or persistent underperformance, complex HR cases in education can quickly escalate and increase legal, reputational, and operational risks to your school or trust. Disciplinary action...

 We welcome the new education secretary July started with a flurry of activity after previous education secretary Nadhim Zahawi was promoted to Chancellor. Michelle Donelan was the first to be appointed into the vacancy, but resigned after just 36 hours in the job in protest of Boris Johnson's refusal to resign as PM. This makes her the shorte...

Trust improvement through internal scrutiny

 Internal scrutiny is a powerful tool for trust improvement, but only if you read the reports and act on the recommendations made. Once you've had your report from your internal scrutiny partner, it's time to take a look at what they found. It might sound obvious, but you'd be surprised how often this step gets skipped! According to the Academ...

The last 12 months have shone a spotlight onto how schools are run. An increase in staff absences, brought on by Covid, has brought HR to the forefront as schools struggle to manage staff-pupil ratios, maintain face to face teaching and support staff who are anxious about returning to the classroom after remote learning. If your trust HR team or sc...

Schools consider how budgets will stretch budgets this year In August, schools considered three or four-day weeks as a way to stay within budget in the face of massive pressures in the wake of unfunded staff pay increases and rising energy costs. Schools also considered shortening the school day and reducing the number of clubs and enrichment oppor...

 Managing school and academy finance isn't a small feat; it's a constant juggle between limiting budgets and meeting deadlines and stringent compliance needs. It's hard to stay on track when dealing with the day-to-day pressures of running an organisation that puts children and their futures first. That's why a growing number of schools, acade...

An infographic showing a man holding a magnifying glass up to a report

Introduction: Selecting the appropriate internal scrutiny partner is the crucial first step in ensuring that your school or trust maximizes the benefits of internal scrutiny. In accordance with the guidelines set out in the Academy Trust Handbook, your internal scrutiny process should encompass a wide range of financial and non-financial controls, ...

A reliable HR department is instrumental to the success of any organisation, no matter the size. From hiring staff to absence management and grievances, the human resource department is key to maintaining employee relations within any organisation. Likewise, the department of human resources for schools and Multi Academy Trusts plays an integral ro...