Financial Management

Budget management in schools is an extremely complex process that requires a great deal of expertise and forward-planning.

School leaders face a lot of demands on their budgets as they work to improve outcomes for pupils whilst modernising facilities, providing educational and extra-curricular opportunities and maintaining the smooth running of the school.

As a result, everyday spending decisions are often delayed, and money is reserved for future financial commitments, making it impossible for teachers to buy resources and equipment.

Long-term financial planning is essential for the delivery of effective school budgets and a School Improvement Plan (SIP) should be the starting point for all school-budgeting decisions and for each annual school budget.

School Improvement Plans are strategic school documents that outline educational goals and projected activities over a three year period, with specific costing information for at least one year.

All schools are required to have one in place and since Local Authorities are required to provide schools with a budget allocation for the coming year, plus an indication of what their budget will be for up to the two following years, school leaders are able to make accurate predictions of their income and expenditure and plan how they will use their resources to achieve their long-term goals.

There are a number of factors to consider when creating a School Improvement Plan but it is essential that school leaders review the present situation before drawing up the document to identify specific objectives for improvement and priorities for the curriculum before preparing an action plan and reviewing current resources to identify spending priorities.

By doing this, school leaders will be able to focus on the agreed long-term priorities for the school, even when money is tight, and track their spending year to year.

This section looks at some practical solutions to schools’ financial difficulties. SCEMES Ltd. explains how school leaders can minimise expenditure by ensuring that they source Best Value products and services for their school and pfeg explains how they can help schools plan and teach financial capability.

In This Section

pfeg - Bringing Money Management to Life
Pfeg, the UK’s leading finance education organisation, explains how their ‘My Money’ programme can help schools plan and teach financial capability.
page 30

SCEMES Ltd. - Saving Schools Time and Money
The UK’s leading resource for educational purchasing SCEMES Ltd. discusses how they can help schools maximise their budgets during difficult times.