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.

In every excellent school I visit, I see the same pattern.
They stop pouring energy into the levers they don’t control — and double down on the ones they do:

Behaviour: calm schools spend less (in every way)
Culture: expectations, consistency, kindness
Conflict: tackled early, clearly, kindly
CPD priorities: not more training — the right training
The message they model: “How can we?” not “We can’t.”

These things cost far less than they give back.
Together, they make a school feel stable, calm, purposeful — even when funding feels impossible.

So here’s a thought for this week:
👉 Which of the above levers, one that is firmly in your control, would make the biggest difference if you strengthened it?

Because the funding formula doesn’t decide the culture.
You do.

As we bring this half term to a close, the Stoic philosopher Epictetus has something beautiful to offer us.
They talked about knowing what is in your control — and what isn’t.

“Everything has two handles, the one by which it may be carried, the other by which it cannot”.

One negative, for example where we complain or let emotions rule us.
One positive, where we find a way forward.

This half term, I’ve shared ways to take hold of the second handle — ways to improve your budget by focusing on what really is within your control.

Here’s a quick recap of what we explored:

The four human numbers that show where your payroll is giving great value — and where it isn’t
Why excellent schools feel like they’ve got extra budget (hint: superstars more than pay for themselves)
How small conflicts add up to huge cost — often the equivalent of a full-time teacher
Why sickness hits the budget hard — and how the strongest cultures keep it low
How to uncover a hidden £10k in places most schools never think to look

I’d love to know which idea landed most for you — or better still, which one you tried and got a result from.

When funding feels impossible, focus here

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