Teach-Secondary-Issue-14.5
PARENTS | BUDGETING | FINANCE School improvement advice for headteachers and SLT THIS WAY! Sharing THE LOAD Can schools have a role to play in easing the financial burden on parents? Sue Birchall shares her thoughts... I n these times of budget constraints and uncertainty around future funding, we could be excused for taking the view that charity starts at home, and that the money coming into our schools and academies is all allocated and needed for day-to-day expenses. Certainly, inmy setting, our priority is to ensure that the needs of the whole school community come first. There is, however, an increasing expectation that schools should be doing more to support financially disadvantaged students and their families. The current financial situation most schools are inmakes such expectations often hard to meet, though – so are there any ways in which we can support our families that are sustainable and affordable for all concerned? Different contexts Our roles all exist in order to educate our young people, but our contexts aren’t all the same. This makes any decisions over how and what we should be financially supporting dependant on your cohort and particular circumstances. It would certainly be easier if there was a convenient ‘one size fits all’ policy governing what expectations should be when it comes to schools providing financial support, but as things stand, we have only non-statutory guidance, such as the DfE’s ‘Charging for school activities’ policy (see tinyurl.com/ ts145-HT1). This means that any school or academy policies outlining what you expect in terms of financial contributions from parents must be clear and succinct. The statutory elements of funding that all schools must observe are straightforward, and should always form part of your wider budget planning process. You’ll need to ensure that sufficient funds are set aside to cover educational visits and any other areas identified elsewhere in your school or academy policies. Done well, this bit is relatively easy. The less easy bit is how you should go about managing the risks of non- payment and defaults on the part of parents, requests from parents for support with school costs, and your ability to fund important school trips while receiving less in the way of parental contributions. 45 teachwire.net/secondary L E A D E R S H I P
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