A clear way to protect your biggest investment this year

Welcome back — I know Spring 2 can feel financially tight, emotionally tight, and time tight. So here’s something honest to start the term with. A head said something to me recently that stopped me in my tracks: “I spend £2 million on staff. I’m not going to worry about £60k on CPD.” And she’s right. We talk about CPD like it’s a “nice-to-have”. A luxury. Something to trim when the budget hurts. But when you strip it back, CPD is the thing that protects the biggest investment you make every single year: your people.

When funding feels impossible, focus here

There’s a lot you can’t control right now. The funding formula. Energy costs. National pay scales. All set elsewhere — and often without any sense of your reality on the ground. But here’s the hopeful bit: You can’t control the funding. You can control the impact.

Why excellent schools look like they have extra budget

Here’s something I see in outstanding schools almost everywhere I go: They look like they have money. But they don’t. They have more Superstars on their payroll. What do I mean by superstars? People who are brilliant at their job and great cultural fit for your school. Put simply, you’d clone them if you could! And that alone gives them the equivalent of £200k extra for every £1m of payroll.

Tag: School finance

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