News

Baroness Berridge announces that DfE will continue to support National Network of Special Schools for School Business Professionals

This year saw the inaugural National Network of Special Schools for School Business Professionals (NNoSS) conference which was held virtually. The conference was a great success with keynote speakers who focussed on motivation and energising the attendees as they go into their final push towards the end of term. 

The day started with opening remarks from Schools North East Deputy Director and NNoSS project lead Pauline Aitchison who began thanking those who were able to attend the live event, particularly at a time of high stress in schools due to Covid. There was also a reflection on the past year of NNoSS where the network has flourished reaching over 250 members across over 100 Local Authorities.with the network continuing to grow. Although the network had intended a series of  in-person roadshows, meetings and conferences, the adaptation to a virtual format during covid has allowed for the members of the network to feel closer together regardless of how far apart they are. Network members present were able to celebrate their success which include successfully lobbying for special schools to be included in the PPE portal and their work with the SEND reference group to provide evidence around additional covid expenditure. Finishing with a quote from a Special School Head Teacher thanking the SBPs for their hard work, the tone was set for the rest of the day.

Our first keynote speaker was Baroness Berridge the Parliamentary Under for Secretary of State for the School System at the Department for Education (DfE) who began her speech by acknowledging the hard work of all school staff and particularly those who work in special and AP settings and their part in “shaping and molding the futures of those children who are the most vulnerable.” Baroness Berridge continued to outline that the DfE is committed to supporting Special and AP schools and announced that they will continue their support of NNoSS for a further 12 months in order to reflect the sentiment of appreciation and value which the role of the School Business Professional holds within schools. She further added that “a network is as only as good as its members” and praised the NNoSS members who have effectively utilised the network for strength through collaboration, providing information and evidence to support lobbying for change and interaction through the brilliant network meetings. 

Following this excellent keynote was Ryan Hawk, the host of The Learning Leader Show hosted an inspirational session which focussed on how to ‘grow from an excellent leader to a top performer’ outlining 5 ways in which you can “level up” in to leadership roles:

1. How to be “values driven” and aligning values with critical behaviours and how you should live your values each day.

2. Asking who is your who? The way in which you use the people who are around you and the people you aspire to be around you and how to use them to improve your skills but also giving back to those people so they can also improve their skills.

3. Not to be energy neutral. The focus of this is that you must either bring or take away energy when you enter a room in order to lift people up to bring them down which Ryan believes makes a great leader.

.

4. Leave it better than you found it. Using the examples of Walt Disney and the New Zealand rugby team Ryan Explained that a leader needs the mindset to not feel above doing something and making the effort to make something better than before which is relevant to people, places and things.

.

5. A bias for action. Building on the quote “we learn in practice not in theory” Ryan explained the importance of not doubting oneself and taking opportunities without thinking that it would not be possible for you to do.

The third keynote session of the day was an insightful panel discussion chaired by Graham Quinn, chair of SSAT SEN Head Teachers with panelists: Sue Prickett, Matthew Smith MBE, and Jo Marchant. The discussion focussed on tribunals and funding. There were great points given around tribunals, particularly one panelist who explained that the landscape in which they work sees schools not having the investment for capacity.  While firefighting the tribunal system they see hundreds of thousands of pounds being spent sending children to places where they can be placed in a school. There needs to be significant investment for Local Authorities to increase capacity supporting parental choice as well as schools.

The issue of funding is critical to Special and AP schools and is a problem which has put unnecessary pressure on them.  As well as the obvious conversations around the inconsistencies in funding across the country, panelists gave the attendees the great tip that schools benefit from finding themselves someone who is an excellent fundraiser. Using the example of a school where the HLTA who works Monday-Thursday in the classroom then uses Friday to focus on fundraising for the school. This was a huge benefit having someone who understood the needs of the children in the classroom as well as having the ability to “schmooze”, being comfortable talking to higher level executives. Another panelist also brought up the excellent point that no progress can be made in the Special and AP system until the ridiculous deficit which Local Authorities are working under is cut as it is of no benefit to anyone.

To round off the day, attendees watched a terrific keynote session from Nickii Messer, international speaker and author with the session titled ‘survive, thrive and enjoy!’ She highlighted the importance of NNoSS saying “It is so important especially with all the pressures upon us, just to know that we’re not alone in the tough times”. She urged the SBPs to “work to live” and “be more racehorse” meaning they must look after their personal mental health knowing when to take a step away for a breather.

 It was a great way to end a fantastic day and left our SBPs feeling energised and motivated.
We would like to thank all of the amazing speakers who hosted fantastic sessions both keynote and in the breakout rooms as well as all of the delegates who joined us on the day but also accessed the recordings post-event. Finally, a special thank you to Vision for Education who was the main sponsor for the event. You can still sign up and access the recordings here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/19uRBDdcA7CiWT6xqCZEZ_B8ihPOkBbtu2W5qzym5L5w/edit