At Keystone, we talk about culture, both internally and externally. Workplace culture is a huge aspect of a positive, efficient school. It's just as important as having good salaries but is much harder to quantify and even harder to change. Having a good workplace culture can increase your staff retention, boost productivity, make recruitment a lot...

The DfE released the new Schools Bill which outlines the government's plans to "help spread opportunity, level up the country and boost our economy". This follows on from the school's white paper which laid out the ambition to have all schools in a MAT by 2030. The draft bill compromises of 15 different sections, ranging from academy trust int...

Although the role of governors has changed drastically over the last few decades, they still remain absolutely vital for schools to run effectively. More and more emphasis is being put on the accountability of the governors to run the school correctly. Although not strictly from an academic background, governors set the strategy for the school or M...

Ofsted have released their 5-year strategy. We've read the report, so you don't have to. The report recognises that Covid has significantly disrupted both children's lives and their education. Covid has also impacted both pupil and staff physical and mental health while increasing safeguarding concerns. Their strategy promises to raise standards in...

 DfE to stop reporting Covid absences The government has returned to Pre-Covid updates on the absence. The DfE removed their "questions on pupil absence due to COVID-19" which means that there will no longer be a record of absences caused by Covid. Schools will now include any Covid related absences under the 'illness' code on the register. Ho...

At the 2022 Bett show, the education secretary Nadhim Zahawi announced that all schools would have access to high-speed internet by 2025. He also promised an additional £150 million to help schools upgrade their Wi-Fi connections in 55 EIA (Education Investment Areas). Similarly, the schools white paper laid out the DfE's plan to create a "strong e...

 Schools White Paper The biggest school's headline in March was the release of the schools white paper. The paper was Nadhim Zahawi's first as education secretary. The paper laid out the key ambitions of the government: Every school should be part of a MAT by 2030 Up to 6 million "tutoring courses" by 2024 – with tutoring becoming a permanent ...

The government released their white paper on schools, "Opportunity for all: strong schools with great teachers for your child". The white paper is Nadhim Zahawi's first as education secretary. We've read the report and here are the key things that you need to know.   Multi Academy Trusts  Perhaps the most controversial aim laid out i...

 What is an HR audit? An HR audit is an objective look at how your school or trust's HR department operates, including the policies and procedures in place. An audit can either be internal (with the trust's own HR team conducting it) or you can instruct an outside company to conduct it for you. Unless the audit has been triggered for a specifi...

Teachers are at the front line of both teaching and pastoral care for students, but what can you do as a school business professional to support them?   Teachers mental wellbeing has been poor According to NASWT's Teacher Wellbeing Survey, 91% of teachers say their job has negatively affected their mental health and 64% say that it has im...

TikTok fight leads to surprise Ofsted visit Concerns over the safeguarding at Northampton International Academy have been raised after a TikTok video showed three students punching and hair pulling two other students. The academy has had many ups and downs with their safeguarding in recent months. The school was rated 'good' in their last full Ofst...

The Social Mobility Commission has just released their State of the Nation 2021 report which details how social mobility has been impacted by the pandemic. Social mobility is the link between your income and your parents' income. There is a strong relationship between high inequality and low social mobility. If there are high levels of inequality i...

Good meetings help get things done. They harness the skills and experience of those around the table to solve problems, ask intelligent questions and improve strategy to get things done. Bad meetings do not get things done. They waste people's time, exacerbate tension, entrench partisan behaviours and frequently cover the same ground repeatedly wit...

Converting from an LA school to an academy in a MAT or joining a MAT as a standalone academy can have many benefits. Buying in bulk leads to greater economies in scales  Joining or starting a MAT can lead to economies of scale and greater efficiency. MATs can contain as many as 70 schools which makes them a considerable 'buying block' when pur...

The last 12 months have shone a spotlight onto how schools are run. An increase in staff absences, brought on by Covid, has brought HR to the forefront as schools struggle to manage staff-pupil ratios, maintain face to face teaching and support staff who are anxious about returning to the classroom after remote learning. If your trust HR team or sc...

Man looking at a computer screen

Keystone has recently taken on a new marketing executive who has come from outside of education. The first thing she said was, "It's amazing how many acronyms there are. It's like you're talking another language made entirely out of letters!" Schools strive to be as approachable as possible. We aim to use clear and simple language in letters and le...

In November, the government released a report entitled 'Schools' Views on the Perceived Benefits and Obstacles to Joining a Multi-Academy Trust.' The research comes from 700 schools across the UK. 300 of these have either joined or set up a MAT within the last 3 years, 300 are maintained by the local authority and are not interested in joining...

The last couple of years have helped to show the general public how schools are more than 9am to 3pm providers of education to children. That they are centrepieces of communities, the facilitators of childcare that enable parents to go to work, one of the first lines in safeguarding, and essential contributors to the social development of our young...

Keeping up with the changes to school and trust legal and regulatory compliance can sometimes feel like a full-time job. Changes to the Academy Trust Handbook (formerly the Academy Financial Handbook) and other requirements can feel like they are never-ending and it's often a relief to be able to say: 'yes, we're compliant with the latest regulatio...

 How would you rate your mental health? The last 19 months have been fraught for many. It is hardly surprising that the nation's health has suffered during the Covid-19 pandemic as people had to shield, work from home and not socialise. Our worlds were turned upside down with lockdown, with many of the day-to-day activities we all took for gra...