Free presentation about data security

We all have responsibility for keeping data secure; be that when we email it, print it out, share information verbally with colleagues or when we save it to portable storage devices. Click on the link below for a short, helpful presentation I created to remind your team of the ways we can keep data secure.

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How do you tell right from wrong?

Ethical Challenges when allocating resources [Notes of a Keynote Address to the Schools North East School Business Management Conference at St James’ Park, Newcastle on 13.06.19] Good afternoon. I’m delighted to be here with you although I am suffering somewhat, having had tooth extraction last week. I am still on painkillers so, somewhat unusually for …

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How many printers per person do you have at your school?

Printer ratios – a straw poll by @midlandsSBM This list started off as a quick poll on Twitter. It’s grown too long to capture in a screen shot so I’ve moved the results to my blog. Hayley Dunn (ASCL’s Business Leadership Specialist) and I, as ISBL’s Chair, both feel this subject is something it would …

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National talent management strategy for school business professionals

The summer is over and darker nights are here, bringing with them the usual range of TV shows where celebrities and wannabes hone their aspiring talents in dancing, singing or even business skills for our entertainment. Enjoyable though these shows are, I am more interested in the year-round activity of encouraging and supporting talented people …

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“appoint people who are better than you and then get out of their way.”

The oft repeated leadership adage is that good leaders appoint people who are better than themselves and then get out of their way. It is something I have tried to do in every leadership position I have had; surround myself with people who are really, really good at doing their thing and letting them do …

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Frustrated by some social media comments about SRMAs

IN the last 24 hours, twitter has been alive with head-in-hands memes and GIFs of people rolling their eyes. Why? Because the DfE have confirmed their intention to spend a relatively small amount of money deploying a growing group of specialist advisors into schools facing financial difficulty. A number of leading commentators have suggested that …

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The SBL who attended ResearchED Brum 2018

I attended my first researchED event yesterday when ResearchED Brum 2018 took place at Dame Elizabeth Cadbury School. It was the first time the movement/community, for that is how it styles itself, had come to Birmingham and it provided the perfect opportunity to put a toe in the water. I wasn’t sure how welcoming the …

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Professional Prominence: opening address from the last NASBM conference

  This is the text of the opening address I gave in place of Stephen Morales at the final NASBM Annual Conference (NASBM becomes the Institute of School Business Leadership tomorrow). It has had minor edits to make it suitable for reading but is 98% ‘as delivered’. The slides appear in the text at the …

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School Efficiency Advisors: a financial friend for schools in need

NASBM is supporting the Department for Education by deploying forty Fellows as efficiency advisors for schools and academy trusts facing financial difficulty. In a move endorsed by Ministers, senior school business leaders will provide free of charge support to schools wrestling with budget deficits and problems with financial management. These experienced school business leaders have been …

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Oscars for school business management

A while back, I created an image of a medal that echoed the New Year Honours and tagged folks on Twitter I thought should be recognised for the support they have given the school business leadership profession.  We had a bit of fun and, via the medium of Twitter l, got to say thank you …

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