Freeing headteachers to focus on teaching and learning
By employing a school business manager to take on or share other tasks and responsibilities, headteachers can dedicate more of their time to ensuring a high standard of teaching and learning. Recent NCSL research shows that effectively deployed school business managers, operating at the correct level, can save headteachers up to one third of their time.
Making the most of budgets and resources
A school business manager helps make best use of budgets and resources. They not only make significant savings, they also identify new sources of funding. They can help put schools on a firmer footing by developing long-term financial plans. School business managers play a key role in linking strong financial management to the school improvement planning process. This is an essential element in achieving the Financial Management Standard in Schools (FMSiS), which is a requirement for all maintained schools.
Bringing new and complementary skills
There are many complex challenges in running a 21st century school. Headteachers now need to build leadership teams with a wide range of professional skills – teaching and non-teaching. Suitably skilled school business managers bring an added dimension to senior leadership teams. This changing face of school leadership increasingly includes suitably skilled school business managers playing key roles.
Developing the whole school team
One of the most important ways school leaders contribute to learning is through their impact on the motivation and development of their staff. Most schools have seen a significant rise in the number and diversity of support staff in recent years. School business managers are well placed to take on the leadership, development and performance management of these staff.
Collaborating on and implementing new initiatives
School business managers can make a vital contribution to the successful delivery of school improvement initiatives, which lead to better outcomes for pupils – for example, improvements in ICT and the learning environment. They can also make an important contribution to developing integrated working through the extended services offered by schools.
