School business qualifications – where to next?

ISBL considers the training and development opportunities available to SBPs

As you read, you will be contemplating your intake for the coming academic year, the upcoming exams and assessments and how this attainment may impact the review and requirements for additional development of staff. However, this review will also stretch outside teaching and learning as you also need to consider the training and development opportunities for yourself and your school business professionals (SBPs).
A few years ago this was much more straightforward, as the National College for Teaching and Learning (NCTL) provided the only dedicated suite of training programmes for SBPs and, for a significant period, there were readily available bursaries.
So, where to now?
When it comes to both the qualifications available and career next steps, we have a multitude of colleagues and employers asking us the same question. There are now a range of new qualifications available and a variety of career points reached.
The old programmes introduced by the NCTL – such as the certificate in school business management (CSBM) and diploma in school business management (DSBM) – are still valid qualifications which provide an excellent point for practitioners to build further learning and development on.
The questions are: which programme, with which provider and via what learning method? With the myriad of new qualifications available, and with no bursaries, school leaders want to ensure they are investing in the most appropriate training opportunity and find out whether any funded apprenticeship routes exist which offer the same learning outcomes.
Identifying the right training programme
In order to correctly identify the best training and development route it is key that you first understand your own training needs which must be met. These can then be used to assess the training programmes on offer.
As a school leader you can use the ISBL Professional Standards to identify and review your knowledge, skills and behaviours. The standards set out a clear blueprint for effective school and academy business leadership. They impose no glass ceilings on the profession but continue to recognise that practitioners are at different stages in their professional journey.
From this analysis you are then able to understand the development needs of your team in conjunction with your strategic aims and then consider which of the training routes and programmes available best meet these needs.