NEWS
North East education trust rolls out procurement service to help all schools save millions
It’s estimated that schools in England spend a total of £10.7
billion every year on non-staffing costs, the North East’s share of that being half a billion pounds. Everything from catering, stationery, IT, electricity, water, printers, transport and facilities management comes out of that pot. The challenges schools face when trying to find ways to save
money are many, and complex. Generally, they have little time to research and execute fully the best deals, there are often skill and knowledge gaps internally and stakeholder engagement can be time consuming. Coupled with the complexities of the market, conflicting commercial models, and a lack of education specialists in the supply chain, it is understandable why many schools follow the pack and stick with existing suppliers. In 2017 the DfE launched the schools’ buying strategy, to formalise a series
of initiatives to support buyers in schools to help them get the best value, save time and ultimately invest those saving back into the school. The strategy aimed to support schools to save over £1 billion a year by 2019-20. The
initiative had secured estimated savings of over £425 million by April 2000 – half of what they set out to do, and Education Commercial Services (ECS) believe they can do better than that. The Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust (BWCET), one
of the largest Academy Trusts in the North East, initially set up ECS to secure better deals for its schools and is already helping them save at least 10% on non-staffing costs. Julie Collins, Commercial Director at ECS and BWCET, says
“By July 2022 we will have 48 schools in our trust, which equates to an income of £85 million with 75% of that being
spent on the salaries of 2,200 members of staff. This means we’ll have a purchasing capacity of £21 million for goods and services to support the educational experience of 16,000 pupils, so it’s crucial we get this right to ensure as much money as possible is saved. And that’s exactly what we’re doing, saving way more than 10% across the trust.”
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https://bwcet.com/
PhD student wins leading award about tackling climate emergency
University of Gloucestershire PhD student Philippa Simmonds has won a prestigious UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) competition focusing on ways of tackling the climate emergency through the food system. Philippa, a research student with the Countryside and Community
Research Institute (CCRI) based at the University, took first prize at the UKRI’s annual research storytelling event with a presentation showcasing her work on cows, sheep, and climate change. Entitled ‘Speak up for Food Security’, the competition is part of the
UKRI’s cross-council Global Food Security (GFS) programme and aims to increase researchers’ engagement with the public by drawing on the power of stories. Philippa was among five finalists – all early-career researchers – selected
from 12 semi-finalists to present their research stories at GFS’s public engagement event ‘Food v Climate: Five Stories for Change’, held at the UKRI’s virtual pre-COP26 programme. After some tough questions and deliberation, the audience and judges
declared Philippa’s the winning story and it will now be developed into a short video to be shared on social media as part of UKRI’s communications around COP26.
Philippa said: “My story
takes place on a sunny hillside in the UK uplands. We sit with a sheep farmer called Mary, and hear about the problem of greenhouse gases in the burps of cows and sheep. “Different characters
offer different solutions, representing some of the discourses around this complicated and messy topic. These discourses create heroes and villains, and offer us glimpses of alternative visions for the future. “Developing this story and working alongside my fellow food system
researchers has been an amazing experience, and I was surprised and delighted to be selected as the winner. Social science research is an essential part of the effort to transform our food system, so I’m excited that my story will be developed into a video.”
uhwww.glos.ac.uk
Children’s relationships with teachers remained strong despite emotional toll of pandemic, report finds
Primary schools have played a vital role in supporting children through the significant mental health challenges caused by COVID-19, according to a report from Cardiff University. Over a quarter of 10-11 year olds
reported elevated or clinically significant emotional difficulties during the pandemic, up from 17% in 2019, the data reveals. Despite the heavy emotional toll caused by lockdowns and home learning,
most children remained well connected to their primary schools, rating relationships with staff positively, the report concludes. Responding to an online survey, 90% of children said they feel cared for
and accepted by their teachers, while 80% trusted their teachers and agreed that there was at least one adult in school they can talk to about things that worry them. The team, from the Centre for Development, Evaluation, Complexity and Implementation in Public Health Improvement (DECIPHer), found that not
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www.education-today.co.uk
seeing friends or family and family members becoming unwell with Covid were among the most persistent worries experienced by 10-11 year olds during the pandemic. Children from poorer backgrounds were approximately twice as likely to
report elevated emotional and behavioural difficulties compared to those from the most affluent families, according to the survey data. Study lead Professor Graham Moore, Deputy Director of DECIPHer, said:
“Consistent with growing international evidence, we found a large increase in the proportion of children reporting elevated or clinically significant emotional difficulties since COVID-19 began. “But what also came through in our data was the relationships between
teachers and their pupils. These connections remained consistently strong among the children we surveyed, demonstrating the vital role education professionals have played for young people during the pandemic. “It’s plausible that if teachers and support staff hadn’t done such a good
job of connecting with their pupils in this way, we would be dealing with an even greater mental health crisis among our children.”
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https://www.shrn.org.uk/national-data/ November 2021
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