Agenda - Schools Resource Management Summit

Agenda – plenary and work sessions

Wednesday 5th February2025

09:30 – 11:00 Plenary session

Chair’s welcome – Name TBC, ESFA

In conversation with the Minister – A question-and-answer session with the Minister for the School system and Student Finance.

Is GAG Pooling the way forward? – IMP are the market leaders in Financial Planning software, now supporting over 40% of all MATs and 60+ of large MATs to deliver smarter MAT Finance, through the only MAT first budgeting, forecasting, reporting and ICFP solution. Earlier this year to support their customers have greater clarity around the direction of travel of MAT Financial management, IMP and CJK Associates launched their third sector insight report, with this year’s focus being GAG/Reserves Pooling and centralisation. These areas have been picking up momentum in recent years so this session will look at where the sector is right now and look forward at how trusts expect their approach to evolve (or not!) over the coming years.
Warren Porter, ex MAT CFO & Product Specialist, IMP Software

Emerging challenges and how the department can support you – An introductory panel and Q&A session with senior DfE officials exploring the current and future challenges faced by the sector.

Susan Dawson, Director for Commercial Sector and Commercial Operations, Department for Education
Tom Goldman, Director of Education Funding, Department for Education
Steve Rollet, Deputy Chief Executive of the Confederation of School Trusts (CST)
David Withey, Chief Executive, Education and Skills Funding Agency

The plenary session will end with Q&A, giving attendees the chance to ask questions and promote discussion on the issues which are of most importance to them.

Refreshment and networking break 11:00 – 11:30 (30 mins)

The day continues with work sessions:

Sessions 11:30 – 12:05 (35 mins)

1A – MAT Budgeting 101: How to achieve a cohesive approach across your schools – Budgeting season is always a challenging time for MAT CFOs. With so many assumptions to apply and scenarios to run across multiple schools that can vary, between multiple LAs, there are a lot of plates to keep spinning. Compound this with the use of multiple systems and spreadsheets and data can quickly become inaccurate and inconsistent, untrustworthy and your workload significant.
Now we’re approaching the end of this year’s budgeting round, this session will look at our tops tips, gained from working with over 400 MATs around how to ensure an effective communication, preparation and review process, that will lead to better, more consistent budgets.

1B – Achieving Net Zero goals through a cohesive estates strategy – An Update – This session will dissect what schools are expected to provide when creating a cohesive estates strategy, and what they should actually do to achieve it.
With experience on both sides of the project, primarily as a director of building and project consultancy and more recently also as a school governor and Trust director, Gary Benn will show you how to get what you need for your school and what to do when you get it.
Updated for 2024, Gary will also look into sustainable options for schools of all shapes and sizes and the funding available to achieve those Net Zero goals that align with the Government.
This should be an engaging session that highlights the challenges of creating an estates management strategy to satisfy all aspects of a modern school, in a time where money and time are more valuable than ever before.

1C – What is the School Resource Management (SRM) offer and how can it help local authorities, schools, and academy trusts? – This workshop session will be led by the SRM engagement and outreach team and will provide an introduction to the DfE’s School Resource Management (SRM) offer. A collection of free tools, guidance, and support, which has been developed in partnership with the sector, to build financial and business capability, achieve the best value from school resources and maximise the impact on learners’ outcomes. The SRM offer is free and available to all state-funded education settings in England. You will also hear from the Schools Commercial Team on the free end-to-end procurement support they offer and have the opportunity to ask questions.

Sessions 12:15 – 12:50 (35 mins)

2A – The Compliance Cake: Slice and Conquer! – Join us for an interactive workshop where we unveil the secret recipe to making statutory compliance in your school a ‘piece of cake.’ Discover the effective “Slice of Cake” approach that simplifies the overwhelming task of compliance management. Just like devouring a cake bit by bit, we’ll guide you through breaking down compliance into manageable portions, focusing on priority areas such as fire safety, asbestos, and legionella. Gain insights into the necessary tasks, including monthly and annual activities, and explore how to share the workload with trusted contractors.

Leave with a comprehensive toolkit to ensure compliance becomes a breeze. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to savour the sweet taste of success in your schools statutory compliance!

2B – Recognising and valuing the SBP role in schools – In this session you will hear from The Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL) about the importance of recognising and valuing the profession and how ISBLs professional standards and self-assessment tool can support this and drive best practice. You will also hear about the training, support, and qualifications available to school business professionals, along with a panel discussion with practitioners about their career development.

2C – iPad adventures in creativity, resilience and human potential – A future-facing school has a complex fusion of physical and digital resources, integrating emerging technologies and innovative pedagogical approaches, yet it has the same ambitions as every other school: helping out young people secure their future.

In this session we’ll discover how the iPad lets us forge a new relationship with technology, ensuring that it becomes our ally in connecting authentically to learning experiences and each other. From its peerless accessibility tools to the creative powerhouse in its apps, we’ll explore how every part of its ecosystem emboldens out critical decisions around the strategic integration of technology. You’ll hear about genuine transformation in schools for teachers, students and the wider community and find out how you can take your schools on that journey too.

Lunch and networking 12:50 – 13:45 (55 mins)

Sessions 13:45 – 14:20 (35 mins)

3A – Building a Cost-Effective IT Strategy with Google for Education – This session will explore how to enable more sustainable workflows and educate sustainable practices across your school community with easy-to-use tools that help address conservation now.

Explore how Google for Education can help build a cost-effective, sustainable IT strategy that enhances resource management. This session focuses on extending device lifecycles, reducing e-waste, and promoting digital accessibility. Learn to implement efficient workflows, mobilise your school community for change, and educate staff and students on sustainable practices. We’ll share actionable best practices to help your school optimise resources while enhancing educational outcomes. With best practise tips on:

Refresh and extend the life of devices
Strategies for reducing e-waste
Mobilising a team for change
Ensure accessibility for all

3B – Cyber Security Check for Schools and Colleges – Learn more about Cyber Security Check up for Schools, a free interactive tool allowing schools to review and improve their cyber and information security policy and practice and self-assess their current provision.

The presentation will give an overview of:
• Current cyber threats currently facing the school sector
• Demonstration of CyberSecure Check and its benefits
• How CyberSecure Check can help baseline, monitor progress, allowing schools to understand their own cyber resilience levels.
• Q&A opportunity at the end of the session.

3C – How the SRM offer can support SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) settings – In this insightful sector-led session, Mark Vickers and Jo Gillman from Olive Academies will share their experience of excellent resource management within SEND and AP settings. Mark will reflect on the current sector context,, including the SEND and AP Improvement Plan, before exploring how Olive Academies approaches resource management in practice, including using the SRM tools and services.

Sessions 14:30 – 15:05 (35 mins)

4A – Estate management and sustainability – In this panel session Nathan Odom, Estates Director at Discovery Trust will be discussing his approach to estates management. Along with panellists Lindsay Harris (DfE) and James Murphy (Arcadis), Nathan will be reflecting on the current issues facing the sector including sustainability initiatives, funding for school estates, training and professional development for estates staff in schools.

4B – Budget Assumptions – Managing the known unknowns – Making Better Guesses: what can we do as schools and trusts to steer our way through the budget setting fog? Every year it seems more difficult to agree our budget assumptions and, as schools and trusts, we are left with so many known unknowns. There is no simple answer and this session won’t provide a definitive guide. There isn’t one. But we will explore some of the strategies we can use to ensure our budgets are fit for purpose and can be used to support strategic decision making.

4C – Boosting Educational Return on Investment with Adaptive Immersive Learning Solutions – Discover how to develop a sustainable approach to immersive learning that adapts with technological advancements and enhances educational outcomes. This session will cover the benefits of using open software formats in educational institutions to create dynamic, evolving immersive content that remains relevant over time.

Explore strategies to overcome common challenges such as technical issues, vendor lock-in, and the fast-paced changes in the XR market. Learn how partner colleges have successfully implemented open standards to ensure their investments in immersive learning become valuable, lasting assets. Key takeaways include:

• Developing flexible, future-proof content
• Avoiding vendor lock-in and technical hurdles
• Maximising return on investment with evolving technologies
• Enhancing student engagement and learning outcomes

Refreshments and networking 15:05 – 15:35 (30 mins)

Sessions 15:35 – 16:10 (35 mins)

5A – DfE Connect: Bringing DfE services and information into one place – Discover ‘DfE Connect’ a new tool that will bring together services and information from the department into one place. Improving your access to the support and information you need to get the best outcome for your school(s).

• Overview of our service including demonstration
• What else is on the horizon
• Work with us to build a service that works for you

5B – The Power of ICFP: developing a financially affordable curriculum – This is a workshop session exploring how you can effectively apply integrated curriculum and financial planning (ICFP) in your school or trust. ICFP is a management process that can help support schools and trusts in achieving educational success and financial sustainability by delivering the best affordable curriculum that meets the needs of their learners. Hear from a School Resource Management Adviser (SRMA) on their top tips for how you can introduce and maintain excellent ICFP in your school or trust. This will be an interactive session with the opportunity for Q&A.

5C – Are you thinking of changing your MIS? What you need to know……. An independent and agnostic view – More schools and MATs than ever are switching their MIS provider.
It needn’t be the daunting task it used to be, but procurement of a new Management Information System is still a significant undertaking.

In this session we will outline the key points to consider when thinking of changing your MIS, along with the procurement routes available and the various steps you need to take for procurement compliance and, more importantly, to ensure your school or Trust gets the right MIS for your specific circumstances.

16:15 – 16:25 Chair’s closing remarks

Please note agenda, session times and speakers are subject to change