In a special two-parter series, Val Andrew explores strategies for school business managers to identify their professional development needs and navigate available CPD options
In my last article, I was full of anticipation that the new academic year might bring us lots of new information about developing our profession and how the DfE, under a new Secretary of State, might be looking to refresh some of the CPD options for SBM’s across the sector.
To give credit where it’s due, there have been some immediate and welcome changes to education policy but little (so far) in terms of specific focus on the school business manager. I was clearly optimistic, impatient and my expectations were far too high!
The challenges for practitioners today are around finding the right CPD and negotiating approval in a climate where budgets for training are under serious pressure in most schools. So, the focus of this two-parter will be to unpick some of the confusion around choices and options, and how to pursue a route that is relevant for you, impactful and affordable.
There are some easy steps to achieve this – namely: –
- Working out what your individual priorities are
- Researching options available that will address these priorities
- Formulating a plan to pursue this
Priorities
A good starting point is to identify your own priorities, and this builds on aspects of my last article when I looked at appraisals and performance management discussions as a forum to identify development needs. The contentious element is that not all SBMs are afforded those opportunities, so some will need to take the initiative themselves and set about identifying their own priorities, which is hard and can feel uncomfortable.
I’d recommend using a simple gap analysis – where am I now in terms of skills and expertise, where do I want to be in three to five years in my career, and how do I get there – i.e. what skills do I need to develop to achieve that goal/career aspiration?
Working out where you are now could be done using the ISBL professional standards and self-assessing your starting point using those benchmarks. It’s not an exact science, but applying a “best fit” approach works well. Remember, you will have knowledge and skills that you use in your current role, but you’ll also have competencies that you don’t necessarily use daily.
The sector is continually changing, so working out where you want to be in your career in future years – again is hard. At basic level, do you want to be SBM in a smaller school using a wide range of skills as a generalist, OR do you have specialist skills that you favour, and would like to pursue in a more specialist setting? What do you prefer? What is realistic in terms of local geography and what do you think is achievable? Applying the concept of SMART targets is useful. Once you have both sides of the “Gap” then you need to consider how you get from A to B by focusing on developing the right skills to help bridge that gap.
As you know I am involved in delivery of the DSBM Level 4 programme and there are tasks within the operational leadership unit that require exactly this sort of analysis. We recommend various diagnostic exercises that are underpinned by the ISBL Professional Standards, and which all culminate in providing the information required to put together a development plan. The idea is that the plan is personal, reflects both professional and some personal development aspects, and is a working document that can be used to map progress towards a range of targets/goals by ticking things off and adding more over time. However, before you put pen to paper to “plan” you need to know what the options are which leads me nicely on to…
Available Options
There is useful information on the ISBL website about career pathways and for members, there are also options to undertake self-assessment (costs associated for non-members). Please check out the options and do the research based on your own gap analysis and priorities.
Simply put, there are various accredited qualifications linked to each of the four practitioner levels set out in the professional standards. These qualifications tend to be ranked using “levels” from four to seven which relate to: –
Level 4 – equates to the 1st year of a degree course/programme
Level 5 – equates to the 2nd year of a degree course/programme
Level 6 – equates to the 3rd and final year of a normal degree course/programme
Level 7 – equates to Master’s degree level
If you are looking for an incremental route, from personal experience, the Level 4 DSBM provides a great foundation on which to build further qualifications. There are options at different levels that include apprenticeship routes – and which can be more cost effective for some.
The information on the ISBL webpage also sets out a range of specialist options and new more local options which are not accredited but are equally viable in terms of providing opportunity to develop knowledge, skills and competencies.
Understanding Your Options
In your considerations, please don’t dismiss other CPD options, which can be much lower in terms of cost, such as podcasts, networking with other SBMs at local and national events (some are free, some are not), shadowing colleagues at other schools, online reading and research.
In my next piece, I’ll be explaining how you can put your own plan together and persuade your school to invest in you. Whether you’re aiming for additional training, resources, or even a role shift, this plan will help you advocate for the support you need to thrive in your career.
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