VIEWS & OPINION


VIEWS & OPINIO N


Why academies could put schools back in


control of their budgets Comment by PAUL HAINES, Head ofMarketing ,


Parago Softw ft tware


Government cuts have affected schools for many years, despite the fact that education is usually ‘ring-fenced’ from any reductions. The issue, of course, is that while there has been no funding


decrease, there has equally been no increase to cover the rising normal ‘costs of living,’ such as pay rise, and other overheads. In effect, this has resulted in a deficit that represents around eight per cent per year, putting schools immediately on the back foot an d


forcing them to look for further cost reductions.


Combine this with the recent debate concerning schools having to convert to academies, and you can start to see the strain that UK schools are under and why many have not reacted positively to the latest government announcements.Whatever happens, more and more schools are starting to go down this route than not and most schools accept that converting to academy status is inevitable. Right now, most schools admit that there is wastage, duplication and cost savings to be made, especially around re example, consider the lack of asset management having a firm grasp on the school’s inventory and knowing where a particular item is, or simply not


in schools. Not sources. For


realising that the therefore not


school already owns that item, can lead to purchasing excess stoc k and creatin g unnecessary expenditure.


Therefore, while schools remain nervous about converting to academy status, this could actually be a blessing in disguise. By becoming an academy and pooling resources between institutions in a multi-academy trust (MAT), schools can share resources, costs and become more efficient.


Alongside the above, shared budgets could be used to purchase solutions, which enable schools to better plan and get the most out of their budgets. For example, using asset management tracking software, it is possible to list and manage an entire inventory, negating a whole area of wastage. This might encompass everything from ICT equipment to furniture, and would give schools tota l visibility of what they own and where it is.


These resources can also be shared amongMATs and clusters, which means fewer items need to be purchased. This would certainly help if an insurance claim ever needed to be submitted. Additionally, knowing what you own can lead to greater forecasting and more effective, collective procurement decisions. The net effect - further cost savings down the line and easier reporting for the auditors. At the same time, facilities and contract management systems can be utilised to set alerts for auto-renewed contracts, to remind of important service dates, to store trusted contractors’ details and to schedule maintenance.


At the end of the day, this sort of collaboration, pooling of resources a nd visibility of the inventory can provi de opportunities fo r schools as they convert to academies. Though the media may purport the change to academies as all ‘doom and gloom,’ there are clear benefits to be realised. This really could present the chance for schools to use their money more efficiently and regain control of their budget.


1 6 www .education-today.co.uk.co.uk www Supporting and ty Academy in Blackpool Supporting an d


motivating ‘hard to each’ students


motivating ‘hard to reach’ students


Comment by STEPHEN COOKE, vice principal of the Unity


One of the greatest challenges we face at our school is to


improve the intrinsic motivation of the children and young people we teach. Our


catchment area includes several of the most deprived wards in the UK, the proportion of


disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is much er than average, at 75 per


cent high


and


SEN pupils are also above and numbers of disabled


average. Key among our efforts to


improve outcomes and generate ambition among our students is ensuring that every pupil has a genuine drive to succeed. As part of this we need to


demonstrate what success looks like – it’s not easy to motivate a child froma family where there is little evidence of what professional success looks like.We find that their resilience is very low. It’s almost as if they feel they have no right to succeed. A recent survey found that the mental toughness of our students was among the lowest the researchers had ever seen.


We are obviously determined to help our Y11 students to achieve the 5 A-C grade GCSEs which will open so many doors for them. As part of our efforts to give the GCSE students a taste of the success we want for them, we worked with experts in high impact motivational programmes, PET-Xi, focussing on a group of borderline ‘5 GCSE achievers’.


First we ran a European Computer Driving Licence course for 67 students in the 85-strong year group and everybody passed first time – which was fantastic.We hoped that getting this benchmark exam under their belts would motivate the students and demonstrate that they could succeed in exams. These students are not easy to engage, yet attendance levels that week were better than we had ever seen before, up from an average 94%to 99 per cent – and it would hav e been 100 per cent except for a case of genuine illness. I think the students responded well to the idea that they were ‘worth’ the school arranging for external support.


The small group of students who weren’t ready for the IT


qualification instead took the PET-Xi ‘Maths Blast’ course – an intensive one-day intervention for E, F and G-grade students – and this gave them a boost like we couldn’t believe.


Usually ‘hard to reach’ students responded brilliantly, describing the course as ‘exciting’ and ‘fun’ and teachers were also buzzing from watching the way the course was delivered.


But the real benefit has been a lasting improvement in the motivation of this group of students, something our teachers have been able to build upon and which has rolled forward into ot her subjects too.Within maths, staff have noticed a better attitude and approach from students and a greater willingness to try out different techniques.


Finally, we’ve been delighted at the improvement in our Progress 8 performance as a result of all this hard work from students and staff – our raw results for Progress 8 show a 0. 2


2016 5 grade improvement.


Jun e 2016


Comment by STEPHEN COOKE, vice principal of the Unity Academy in Blackpool


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