School Budget Management Skills Bundle

This supportive pack is designed to help you find your starting point in terms of your own training and skill development needs when it comes to school financial management. It contains the following three comprehensive resources:

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. It's is aimed at new headteachers, principals and heads of school but can equally be used by existing heads, school business managers or finance officers as a financial skills self-evaluation tool.

School Finance Role Handover Checklist - Whether you're brand new to managing a school's finances or already have a good understanding, starting in a new role with unfamiliar systems can be challenging for even the most experienced person. 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.

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 so that when faced with terms like DSG, GAG pooling, school condition allocation or TPECG, you'll be able to quickly and easily understand what they mean.

Headteachers, principals, academy heads and executive heads - particularly when new to role or experienced but seeking further support - will find this pack extremely useful. It can also support deputy heads and assistant headteachers who are seeking a headship post in the future but wish to develop their understanding of school budget management now.

It will also support others who are new to, or seeking support with, school finance, such as school business managers, finance officers, finance administrators or school office staff with responsibility for managing aspects of the budget.

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

• What financial responsibilities do headteachers have?
• How can new headteachers improve their school finance skills?
• What should school leaders know about budgeting and financial planning?
• How can schools manage their budgets effectively?
• What are the key skills needed for school budget management?
• What should a headteacher know when taking on school budget management?
• What financial documents should a new school business manager receive?
• What should be included in a school finance handover?
• How do schools receive capital and revenue funding?
• How does cash flow impact school financial management?

You may find our other school finance and budget resources helpful too!