A shame there wasn’t slightly more information in the daily briefing today, I guess we will just have to wait for the details as the emerge this week. Schools Week are saying the scheme will cover those with social workers, care leavers (although today’s Downing Street briefing said that Councils have been asked to make …
Continue reading "What the laptops scheme might cost"
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 …
Continue reading "How do you tell right from wrong?"
I recently heard something which reminded me of Douglas Rushkoff’s 2011 warning “You are Facebook’s product, not customer” It shocked me into realising just how easily I have accepted the daily drip feed of news, fake news, even fatuous news that arrives via my PC, smartphone and tablet. Whilst I pride myself in being able to …
Continue reading "I am tired of being someone else’s product"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 …
Continue reading "Frustrated by some social media comments about SRMAs"
A survey I undertook into the interaction between school business leaders and their governing body has shed light on how few SBLs work with their governors to monitor standards and outcomes for pupils. Worryingly, a significant number of SBLs reported ‘irregular practices’ in their school or academy trust ranging from concealing bad news from governors …
Continue reading "Survey sheds light on SBL and Governor relationships"
I read two things yesterday that both moved me to respond to them – but they contained such different views that the only place I could start was Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities and it’s famous opening lines: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age …
Continue reading "A school business leader’s cry for help"
Much has been written about how the academisation of schools is ‘privatising education’ Every couple of weeks, the TES and Schools Week seem to feature a story where connected party transactions or CEO wage inflation are causing concern. However, there are also good examples of where the structural change of academisation has prompted a root and branch review …
Continue reading "Are we privatising knowledge, not schools?"
A brief leadership story drawn from the 1996 Everest Disaster Stephen Morales wanted to use lessons from a disastrous climbing expedition in 1996 to illustrate the perils of pressing on too high, too far, too soon as NASBM transitioned to institute status. He was unable to deliver the presentation to conference as planned on the 16th November 2017 and …
Continue reading "Everest: a lesson in leadership"
Earlier today, NASBM issued an update concerning the status of apprenticeships for school business professionals (SBP) The text of that update is produced below. I hope you will take the time to read it. At first glance it might seem a little dry but it contains some important points. On the plus side, there will …
Continue reading "Apprenticeships for SBLs – good or bad?"
What’s in a name? You can tell a lot about the culture and history of a nation from how it names its streets, towns and public institutions. Remarkable achievements can be commemorated in a name or erased by simply changing a sign. Edubase, the Department of Education’s online database of schools, colleges and education institutions contains …
Continue reading "500 most frequently occurring words in school names"