44 CAREER


is it time to graduate?


Ever wondered the difference between working as a primary school SBM and a secondary one? CarriE SErviCE takes a look at the two roles and whether moving to a secondary school is a side step or step up


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n the same way that small businesses and multinational corporations each face challenges in their own right, working in primary or secondary education presents a variety of trials for school business managers. But is it possible to transfer your skills from one to the other and could an SBM who has honed their career in a small


primary school ever cope in a large secondary?


A CHANGE IN CULTURE Trevor Brittain, business manager at St angela’s Ursuline School in London, took his role in this Catholic secondary in February, after having worked in a primary school for almost three years, following a


september 2013 \ www.edexec.co.uk


long career in the financial sector. For him, career progression meant a move to a secondary was the next logical step, allowing him to put his well-developed business skills to good use. it also made financial sense. “Primary SBM roles have a low salary ceiling compared to the salary which can be earned elsewhere for all the skills used in the job,” he explains, while there are other obvious differences between the roles, such as scale – bigger budgets and more staff to manage, as well as less obvious idiosyncrasies, such as the different personalities among teaching staff within the two age groups. “Primary teachers are a fairly homogeneous group in school [whereas] secondary teachers have more specialisms and thus different priorities from each other,” he says. Brittain also believes there is a greater focus


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