Great leadership in schools is about balancing investment to ensure continuous improvement in the quality of education with sound financial management to ensure that the trajectory of improvement is sustainable. I have always questioned why more investment is not made in building the financial and business skills of school leaders. We rightly invest significantly in the pedagogical knowledge of leaders in schools, yet many heads start their careers with little or no budget management or finance training. It is easy to forget that schools are unique environments, where unless you have a specific responsibility for school business management, you simply aren’t exposed to it. This is unlike most other organisations where budget management goes hand in glove with managers rising through the organisation. A head can reach headship without ever having had responsibility for a budget beyond their personal finances. A core responsibility of the Governing Board is overseeing the financial management of the school and ensuring that money is well spent. The day-to-day operational responsibility is passed down to the head, for a new head this could mean with no training or prior experience. “Ah, but many schools have School Business Managers”, I hear you say and they manage the finances of the school. That may be true, but Boards of organisations beyond education wouldn’t dream of appointing a Managing Director or CEO with no financial training and these organisations all have Finance Directors. The head of an organisation needs a holistic understanding of all elements of the organisation. A sound understanding of finances is key to steering the organisation and pulling the right levers at the right time to maximise performance. In education, this is about optimising and sustaining outcomes for every pupil in your care. All too often we underestimate the importance of finance in achieving this goal.
In my current and previous role, I have had to sit around many a table with school leaders supporting them to make unpalatable decisions about reducing staff numbers. When a school hits absolute deficit, this is often the only choice to balance the books. This is the absolute worst position to be in; exceeding the allocated resource envelope today, to have to reduce it tomorrow. Too often heads have confessed that they didn’t understand the finances, they hadn’t appreciated the need to set a safety cushion for unexpected costs and that they wished they had acquired the skills to make earlier interventions that would have meant such drastic choices could have been avoided. The impact of failing to manage finances within the allocated envelope in an environment where funding is tight can be long-lasting and damaging to future cohorts of pupils. Ensuring effective school business management is so important, supporting heads to acquire the skills to oversee the financial performance of the school is key. This is particularly true of smaller schools where a School Business Manager is likely to be a luxury that cannot be afforded.
The HFL Great Schools Framework recognises that to be great a school must be designed and resourced for long-term exceptional outcomes. At HfL we have both a Finance and School Business Management team to support schools to manage the business of education. Recognising the need to support newer heads with skills in Business Management we have launched a “Business Improvement Partner” service. The service is designed to partner Heads with a Business Management Professional who supports, guides and mentors them through an annual cycle to develop the strategic skills required to successfully run the business elements of a school. Moreover, through partnership working the head can be assured that key business areas are robust, compliant and that they have the relevant information for effective management. Schools tend to invest each and every year in school improvement services. It never ceases to amaze me that little to no investment is made in the business skills of a Head, often an area where they lack confidence.
Ultimately it is a Governing Board that is accountable for the financial performance of the school. With this accountability comes the responsibility to ensure that the person you have appointed to run the school has the requisite skills to deliver in all areas of their role. Responsible Governance is about probing potential headship candidates’ knowledge and understanding of school finance and budgeting at the interview stage. Responsible Governance includes a conversation with a newly appointed Head about their training needs to ensure confidence and competence in sound business management practice. Responsible Governance means investing in these skills where experience and skills are lacking. Responsible Governance also means having a really firm and validated grip on the finances when a head leaves so that the Board is really clear on the financial position that is to be inherited by a new head. If I had a pound for each new head who inherits a far worse financial position that the Governing Board realise, I could pay off most deficits! Responsible Governance means that that your school is designed and resourced for long-term exceptional outcomes. After all, ensuring every child reaches their potential and that a school achieves consistently great outcomes for all is why we all come into Governance in the first place.
Please get in touch to find out more about the service, email bms@hfleducation.org or call 01438 544484. Ideally we would start our partnerships with a school in September or April annually but we are more than happy to discuss beginning to work with a setting at any time to support depending on their circumstances.
Catherine Tallis
