School Budget Management Pack

This pack is designed to support the effective budget management in schools. It contains the following ten resources:

Four fully editable cost saving toolkits, including:

1. Low and Decreasing Pupil Numbers - This document will help you explore and respond to falling numbers on roll and its impact on your budget. This includes how to increase pupil numbers by showcasing your school's unique selling points, growing your reputation and improving your visibility to families to raise intake, as well as exploring how to reduce numbers of pupils leaving your school's roll.
2. Escalating and High Staffing Costs - This toolkit helps you explore options around reducing staffing costs while minimising impact on pupil outcomes and the running of your school. It'll support you to look at staffing structure, how to reduce costs associated with CPD and recruitment without affecting teaching quality, and potential ways to reduce supply costs.
3. Managing the SEND Budget while Supporting Needs - This toolkit helps you to explore SEND across your setting while considering the associated staffing costs and potential areas for making savings, including a whole-school understanding of how to use quality first teaching strategies effectively, exploring how individual and group-based interventions can help you make savings without reducing quality and considering if there are ways to support pupils with SEND without solely relying on utilising support staff.
4. Planning an Effective and Efficient Budget - While low pupil numbers and high staffing costs have a large impact on the budget, there are ways to make cost savings across smaller areas which, in turn, help you make large gains. This toolkit explores maximising income and minimising expenditure across key areas such as procurement, resourcing the curriculum, premises and facilities management, catering and more.

Three budget management skills documents, including:

1. School Budget Management Skills Audit and Self-Evaluation - This 16-page editable Word document contains a wealth of reflective questions that you can work through to determine your current depth of understanding in all areas of school budget management. From knowing key vocabulary and financial terminology to budget cycles, forecasts and how to plan your school budget, the resource explains why having an understanding of each area is important, allowing you to plan for your own budget training and development needs.
2. School Finance Role Handover Checklist - This checklist can be used as a handover document when taking on a role that includes school budget management and covers a range of tasks you may wish to complete, including getting set up on finance management systems, learning about the current budgetary picture and understanding any financial constraints the school is facing.
3. School Finance Glossary - For those new to school finance management, understanding the associated vocabulary, terminology and acronyms can be one of the biggest hurdles to overcome! Written in an easy-to-digest manner, you can keep this glossary to hand when building your skills in school budget management.

Three documents to support budget planning, including:

1. Budget Planning Questions for Governors - This 18-page editable document will help school finance governors to support and challenge their headteacher and relevant staff when it comes to setting the budget. With reflective questions and space for notes and capturing evidence, it allows governors to fulfil one of the governing body's core functions of ensuring the sound, proper and effective use of the school’s financial resources.
2. Budgeting Planning Checklist - This document can help you keep on track with the various tasks associated with planning and managing the school budget across the year. It's fully editable, allowing you to add your own key tasks and stay on top of financial management in your school.
3. School Finance Calendar - This handy A3 calendar suggests key dates for completing different budgeting planning and monitoring tasks. Pin it to your noticeboard to give you a visual reminder - a print-friendly version is included too!

Please note: The dates, suggestions and ideas contained in these resources are intended to provide general ideas and guidance for managing your budget within a school. The contents are based on common practices but may not be suitable or applicable in every situation. School leaders should carefully assess their unique circumstances, including their full budget picture, needs and priorities, before implementing any changes or strategies. Honeyguide cannot guarantee the success, effectiveness or accuracy of these contents in relation to your unique setting and will not be held responsible for any outcomes, financial or otherwise, resulting from their application. All decisions regarding budget management and resource allocation should be made with careful consideration, and we strongly recommend consulting with financial experts or other relevant professionals before making any significant changes.

Headteachers, principals, academy heads, executive heads, school business managers or anyone with responsibility and oversight of a school budget will find this pack extremely useful, particularly for those new to managing school finances or for those who find budget management a challenging aspect of the role.

This school budget management pack will help school leaders answer key questions such as:

• How can schools manage their budget effectively?
• What are the key financial responsibilities of a headteacher?
• How does school budget planning work?
• What strategies can schools use to maximise income?
• How can schools reduce unnecessary expenditure without impacting learning?
• What is the role of a school business manager in financial planning?
• How can schools ensure they are getting the best value from contracts and procurement?
• What financial data should a new headteacher or school business manager review first?
• How can schools plan their budget to accommodate fluctuating pupil numbers?
• What are the most common financial pitfalls in school leadership?
• How can schools make cost-effective decisions about SEND provision?
• What funding streams are available to support school budgets?
• How can schools improve financial sustainability?
• What should be included in a school finance handover checklist?
• How can schools ensure compliance with financial regulations and reporting?

You may find our other school budget management resources helpful too!