how to budget effectively your school money
TRANSCRIPT
How tobudget
effectivelyBy Alex Masters
How you and your team can work together to make thatmoney stretch
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Many schoolshave been
raiding theirsavings and
imposingsignificant
cuts
To balance their budget:
Many schoolshave been
making cuts instaffing,
includingteaching and
teachingassistant posts
To balance their budget:
Painful facts:
The majority of your budget is set by thegovernment.The only changes would be unforeseen,perhaps owing to a change in calculations by local
authority or the DfE.
Non-negotiablebudgets:
Recent figures show that state schools in England arefacing budget deficits of around half a million pounds
each.
Limitedresources:
1. Knowledge is power
By setting anannual budget,
you have an ideain your head rightat the beginning
of the year.
2. Predict the future
Determine yourknown
expenditure. Yourstarting budget is
usually 85% ofyour income and
there will beongoing contractsthat you’ve set up
previously.
3. One direction?
All things have ashelf life: try and
predict thechanges in budget
direction. Forexample, changesto pupil premium
funding.
4. Team spirit
Shareresponsibility and
give othersownership of the
budget. It willmake people thinkmore before they
spend money!
5. Know your limits
Accept that thereare non-
negotiables: thiscould be related topupils, health andsafety or premises
management.
6. Be flexible
Determine incomeas an annual
amount at the verybeginning, but it
doesn’t have to beset in stone. You
can monitorhowever and
whenever you like.
7. Stick to the rules
At the same time,do make sure you
are alwaysmeeting the terms
given to you byyour governors,the DfE and thelocal authority.
8. Think ahead
Start looking atthe longer-term
value of whatyou’re spending
money on andwhether it’shaving the
necessary impact.
9. Think SIP
Remember thatevery penny has to
be linked to theSchool
Improvement Plan.Your school’s core
purpose will alwaysbe teaching and
learning.
10. Benchmarking
Even if you onlybenchmark againstwhat you’ve done
historically, there’sstill a value to that.
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