The Optimus blog

The blog that inspires leaders in the UK education sector

The Optimus blog

The blog that inspires leaders in the UK education sector

Financial management

Alex Masters

How to budget effectively

Budgeting will be a primary focus for school business managers, especially as schools face budget deficits, higher costs and frozen incomes. In a survey of more than 1,000 state schools published by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), nearly two out of three schools said they could...
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Gareth D Morewood

Personal budgets are like hen's teeth

Understanding the legislation around personal budgets can be the first step to making them more common place. Gareth D Morewood examines what the law says and answers some of the most common questions. Earlier this year in SENCology I wrote a blog post about the personal budgets project I am...
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Liz Worthen

Achieving value for money: a team approach

Is your school budget spent wisely? Staff training is key to creating a value for money culture. As a school business manager, how many times have you tried to explain value for money to the budget holders on your staff? Are you one of the lucky ones with a financially-literate governing body, or...
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Alex Masters

The pupil premium toolkit: your 3 steps to success

It’s great news that pupil premium funding policy is set to continue, but school business managers still face a huge amount of pressure. Our experts are on hand to help. Summary Our Pupil Premium Toolkit provides a range of information and advice. Find out what crucial advice Pupil Premium Champion...
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Alex Masters

Early years pupil premium funding: expert advice from Dr Julian Grenier

How should you implement the early years pupil premium funding? Watch this two-minute video interview with Dr Julian Grenier , headteacher and national leader of education, for advice you can begin using today. The Department for Education’s introduction of the early years pupil premium in April...
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Alex Masters

The early years funding challenge

The DfE’s decision to introduce an early years pupil premium was welcomed with open arms. But with opportunity comes challenge, as content lead Alex Masters discovers Did you know that 90% of all brain development occurs by the age of five ? Did you also know that recent research shows a 19-month...
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Rob Jones

Evidencing impact of the pupil premium

How do you evidence your pupil premium funding? Deputy head, Rob Jones, reports back from our recent conference, ‘The Pupil Premium: Evidence Impact & Drive Progress’, and shares some insights from the day. The art of the batsman is to ‘mind the gap’ between wicket and bat. The art of the...
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Alex Masters

Evidencing impact: the million-dollar question

It’s the ‘million-dollar question’ that you hear across schools today: ‘What is the best way to evidence the impact of Pupil Premium Funding?’ I’ve been talking to a lot of educational professionals recently, and the same concerns arise: not only are people struggling to close the gap between...
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