Budget growth, budget cuts and School Business Managers

10/03/2010 by Tony Attwood.

While the Lib Dems have announced a £2bn growth in the education budget if they come to power, and the Conservatives have promised to cut services more than Labour, Labour have just found another £300 million savings in DCSF and agency budgets announced -Linked to this finding, primary schools will have access to up to a thousand extra school business managers under a scheme launched to help schools make their money go further.

And the Schools Secretary, also confirmed details on how the Government will reduce spending by the DCSF and its partners.

According to the DCSF School Business Managers have been shown to save schools up £30,000 in a year.  The National College for Leadership of Schools and Children Services is to invest £5 million to fund 250 school business managers next year, each working with four or five schools, with a further 250 more in each of the following three years.

This means that schools in England now have access to:

·        school business managers working to save money in clusters of primary schools

·        Free consultancy support on how to save money

·        Advice and guidance from the DCSF and National College on partnership working, procurement and delivering value for money

The DCSF has said it will take the lead on saving money by:

- Reducing spending on Government agencies by £135M
- Cutting start-up costs for extended services by £100M
- Reducing bursaries for initial teacher training, saving £50M
- £21M savings on DCSF back office and communications spending, including moving Teachers TV online.

Together all these savings add up to over £300 million over 2 years, with work underway to identify a further £200 million worth of savings, as agreed with the Treasury at the Pre-Budget Report.

The new school business managers will work across for four or five primary schools, helping them save significant money off their budgets, so that the schools’ front line service is maintained and improved.

Currently only a third of all primary schools have business managers. Those that do report that on average, they are generating an additional £30,000 a year for the schools, through managing budgets effectively, maximising resources and securing additional income streams.

This announcement is in addition to the free consultancy advice that all schools can access on how best to save money. 96 per cent of schools who have received this consultancy have said they would recommend it to other schools.

In November DCSF published a discussion document to help schools hare best practice on making the best use of resources and NCSL have organised a series of conferences where schools have shared best practice.

Areas on which schools believe they can save money include on procurement and back office functions and through federations and collaboration.

The Government believes that savings can be made centrally, and through its partner Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs).

All NDPBs are expected to make efficiency savings, but in particular the Government plans to save around 40 per cent of Becta’s budget (£45M over the two years 2011-13) and 30 per cent (£55M over the two years 2011-13) of theTraining and Development Agency (TDA) non-teacher training budget.

Other savings will be found through cutting start-up funding for extended services (£100m), and reducing golden hellos for teachers (£50m) in subjects that already have large numbers of new applications.

In addition, the DCSF will reduce is communications budget by £5 million. This will include moving Teachers TV, which is now used by a quarter of the schools workforce, so that it will only be available online, saving £1 million a year.

Background…

1. Pilots run by the National College show that head teachers with access to school business managers report reduced workloads, with higher-level school business manager role having a potential to free up to 30 per cent of their time.

There was also evidence that the new roles are allowing schools to release funds by maximising existing resources and engaging clusters of schools to work together strategically.

2. In addition, the groups of schools will also receive:

- targeted support from existing SBMs and groups of schools which are already realising the benefits;
- continuous professional development from the National College for the appointed School Business Directors; and,
- a range of appropriate advice covering achieving better value for money, and changing models of school organisation and leadership.

3. Last November The Government launched a website - marketed at schools offering a huge range of financial advice and support for schools:

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/schoolfunding/schoolfinance/letstalkresources/

The support package for schools includes:

- Free national consultancy programme for every maintained school in England - giving tailored, timely advice to schools that request help and guidance on how they can make the best use of their resources:
- Wider school workforce - how schools plan and manage their staffing;
- Leadership - how much time and experience school leaders have to focus on delivering value for money;
- Strategic management - how schools approach financial and resource management, including linking the two with school improvement;
- Collaboration and partnership - how schools work together - and with other organisations - to improve outcomes together;
- Challenge and Governance - the role of the Governing Body in supporting delivery of value for money; and
- Procurement performance - how schools approach procurement.

5. NDPB savings

Building on the 21st Century Schools White Paper, which set out the strategy to devolve more responsibility and power to schools, the government says it is possible to cut back the level of support TDA and Becta provide to schools, while retaining their strategic expertise and ability to concentrate at a system level on the improvements that are needed.

6. Extended services start up funding

Over 95 per cent of schools are now offering access to extended services - and all should be doing so later this year. Start up funding was designed to be used to support schools to develop sustainable extended services and to overcome barriers that might have prevented them from developing extended services.

Over time extended services should become sustainable either through charging, for childcare for example, or through reconfiguring funding strands at local level through children’s trusts, or by pooling budgets to support extended services through schools. Funding to support schools in offering extended services, and to subsidise those on low incomes to participate, is protected through the PBR settlement for schools.

7. Reductions in bursaries for initial teacher training

The Government will continue to protect the initial training and recruitment of teachers to secure the best in the future. However, given the very buoyant recruitment market in many areas, it is possible to make reductions to the level of bursaries for recruitment to Initial Teacher Training which will generate savings of the order of £50m in the 2011-13 period.

There are now enough quality candidates coming forward in subjects such as Music, RE, modern languages and biology so the to offer bursaries at their previous level (£6,000-£9,000) for some subjects is less.

This announcement was made in October 2009 and it will come into for postgraduate students starting in September 2010. A base level of £4,000 will still apply to all postgraduate course with some subjects eligible for bursaries of £6,000 and £9,000 as before.

8. Communications

The £5 million savings from communications and marketing expenditure is achievable through making more information available digitally, and reducing money spent on printing and publication of documents that the public would rather see online only.

Teachers TV has been running for four and a half years and now has 230,000 people using the service every month - a quarter of schools workforce. Viewers are increasingly accessing Teachers TV online with demand for the more traditional TV route falling - and on current projections by next year more people will be accessing online and on demand rather than through broadcast anyway.

From August this year the Government will turn off the broadcast channel, saving £1M a year.

9. Reductions in central administration costs of DCSF

DCSF staff numbers have been reduced by 1465. 1130 jobs have been moved out of London and the South East. Premises costs have been cut by £12 million a year and significant reductions of £36.3 million made on back office costs, with £8 million per year in efficiencies going forward from HR, procurement and finance costs.

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

Easter discounts on direct mail and email work

09/03/2010 by Tony Attwood.

As normal HHM is offering to undertake direct mail and email work at a substantial discount before and during the Easter holiday period.

 

In terms of the direct mail we don’t have to post out your material during the Easter period - we just need to have the items in the warehouse and be able to make up the packs over Easter.  We can then hold them and mail them later.

 

Here’s the timetable

 

Direct mail work to educational addresses that we can complete between 20 March and April 9 will have a discount on labels, envelopes, and labour of 30%.   The mail can then be held for up to a further month before being mailed out.

 

School holidays run for most schools from April 1 to April 18th, resuming on the 19th.  (Good Friday is April 2, and a small number of unreconstructed schools will take their holiday from March 29th.)

 

In terms of email:

 

Emails on the named lists (i.e. the subscription, personal and preference lists) despatched from March 26th until April 16th will be charged at half price.   We have found in the past holidays that you can get quite a good response in the holidays, since many teachers pick up their personal emails at home.  Those that don’t pick them up on return to school - but since we only send out one email per week to each teacher, they only have one or two to read.

 

Final note - the amount of direct mail work we can take at the 30% discount, and the number of emails we can transmit at the 50% discount are very strictly limited, so please do call sooner rather than later.

 

Please call 01536 399 000 to discuss with the sales team, or email Sales@hamilton-house.com

 

Details of our email services are on www.emails.gs  and details of our solo mailing services are on www.solo.ac  

 

If you are doing the mailing yourself you can of course buy on line, as usual, or buy through our sales team.   Details are at http://www.hamilton-house.com/gateways/lists.html

 

Tony Attwood

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

Last minute spending

04/03/2010 by Tony Attwood.

Schools have to spend between 92% and 95% of the 2009/10 budget by April 5th - which means that this is now the “last minute spending” season.

 

It is still possible to get out solo and shared promotions - especially if you have leaflets already to run.

 

The alternative is to use email - but the difference here is that although an email can be put together more quickly than a leaflet can be printed, we do limit the number of emails that go out to teachers on the premium lists (the ones that reach teachers direct rather than going via the school administrator).

 

Obviously everyone makes their own decisions on such matters - we limit the number of emails each teacher gets as our research shows that this puts the subsequent response rate.   In other words you sell more because we mail the lists less.

 

Other companies treat their lists in a different way.  But if you do want to get in an email before the end of the financial year it might be worth booking it in now, rather than later.  

 

There’s details of all our email services on www.emails.gs or you can call 01536 399 000.  Shared mailings are on www.shared.org.uk and solo mailings on www.solo.ac

 

Tony Attwood

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

Don’t mention the name of the secretary of state

03/03/2010 by Tony Attwood.

It may seem utterly bizarre, but if you email a school and mention the name of the Schools Secretary in the email, in 37% of cases the email will not arrive.

 

The reason for this is that schools use filter systems to screen out what are considered to be unacceptable messages that are entering the school system.

 

Obviously we all want to protect children from inappropriate material, but unfortunately some of the screening systems used are left over from the stone age of digital technology, and have the effect of rejecting emails which use everyday language but which contain a single word which, in a different context, might have a different meaning.

 

The fact that most school pupils will know (and quite possibly use) the word every day is irrelevant in this context - your email (which is aimed at teachers) will be blocked because of the blunderbus approach of the software.

 

But, as you may have noticed, I said the number of schools that will block the name of the Schools Secretary is 37%.   Choose a different word with two meanings and the percentage will go up or down.

 

This is because different parts of the country use different blocking systems, some more sophisticated than others, some so utterly bizarre they border on the incomprehensible.  Some were installed so long along no one remembers they are there - or how to get rid of them!

 

None of the companies that provide such blocking software will provide a list of banned words, but over time we have been able to put together such a list, both from experience and from the fact that we have worked with a number of local authorities, school internet service providers and independent companies who create school systems.

 

Because of this, when Hamilton House sends out an email we check it to ensure that the wording is compliant with this rather eccentric and bizarre system - so we can advise you to remove a particular word or phrase, and thus increase the readership level.

 

If you have any questions about this approach - please do get in touch.  You can call me on 01536 399 013 - or email Tony@hamilton-house.com

 

Tony Attwood

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

The strangest schools story of the week

28/02/2010 by Tony Attwood.

This is a story that I saw on UK Education News (www.ukeducationnews.co.uk)   It just struck me as so amusing (and I am not sure why) I thought I’d take a day off from all the serious marketing stuff, and share it with you.

 

Countryside Ban for Children because mums cannot read maps and don’t like mud.

 

“The countryside is off-limits because it is out of the comfort zone of many affluent, suburban parents, according to researchers.

A lack of map reading skills was one barrier, while fear of their children being hurt, running-off or getting dirty was also cited. As a result most parents limited their excursions to country parks and farms that catered for families.”

The research quoted comes from Hertfordshire University research. The research was carried out, I must confess, at a prep school in the south of England, so maybe the results are not universally applicable, but there are still some interesting findings…

Debbie Pearlman Hougie, senior lecturer in rural geography at the university, said: “None of the mothers I spoke to could read a map.

“I put a 1:25,000 Ordinance Survey map on the table and they didn’t know where to start, they also didn’t know anything about rights of way.

“There were stories of families who had gone for a walk and ended up on someone’s land and got shouted at and never went back.

“They did not know how to make up circular walks or work out where it might be safe to go cycling with children.

“I think, with this group of people, their fear of danger is exaggerated,” she said. “They are very scared of children not only being run over, but being stolen even when they were with them.

“There also seems to be an obsession about cleanliness. Perhaps because children are in expensive clothes, mud seems to be abhorrent.”

Ms Pearlman Hougie said parents had doubts about children’s stamina levels and were worried that if they set out for a five mile walk, their children would give up half way round.

“Exposure to the countryside did not seem a priority,” she said

“At the same time children were not pestering their parents for kite flying or rambling, even though the older children were very aware that going walking was good for you and there was a definite desire to want to escape to exciting places where they could get lost.”

Poul Christensen, chairman of Natural England said: “Children are being denied the fundamental sense of independence and freedom in nature that their parents enjoyed.

“Our research shows that contact with nature has halved in a generation, and that the overwhelming majority of children now want more opportunities to play outdoors.

“Whether through pond dipping or tree climbing, nature-based activities can play an important role in the educational and social development of children.

“Society must question its priorities in providing safe open spaces for play – the money spent on parks and trees in this country is a fraction of that spent on the roads that cause parents safety concerns.”

The Telegraph also adds that the proportion of primary children walking to school has fallen to less than half, compared to 62 per cent in 1989.

Research in 1971 showed that 80 per cent of seven to eight-year-olds got to school on their own. By 1990, that had dropped to nine per cent.

.

There’s more news - generally of a more serious nature - each day on Education Marketing Newsletter - to subscribe free of charge send an email to Education-Marketing-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com and just click reply when you get a message back.

.

UK Education News  - www.ukeducationnews.co.uk

.

Original story - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/countryside/7279301/Countryside-ban-for-children-because-mums-cannot-read-maps-and-hate-mud.html

Tony Attwood

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

“How to increase your sales to schools by 10%”

22/02/2010 by Tony Attwood.

“How to increase your sales to schools by 10%” is one of those titles that says it all.   It’s an article that gives you six things to do and six things to avoid, all nice and simple and straightforward.  

I wrote it, and I genuinely believe in it.

If you would like to read it, just click on this link

http://bit.ly/XVGoL

If you want to read the whole list of our free reports, go to…

http://www.hamilton-house.com/howto.html

If you have any questions or comments on this report or any of our reports, or come to that anything else, from the quality of the snow, to Arsenal’s performance last weekend, please call me on 01536 399 013.

If you want to stay up to date with issues relating to marketing to schools in the UK you can subscribe to our daily free news service… just email education-marketing-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 

And if you want to see the daily news about education in the UK (as opposed to marketing into education) take a look at www.ukeducationnews.co.uk - it updates every three minutes.

Tony Attwood

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »