Are your School Business Manager’s qualifications up to date?

School Business Managers are the backbone of a school or academy trust. They oversee much of the non-teaching aspects of a school and ensuring that the operations are smooth and effective. With the school year coming to a close, now is the time to consider the needs of your staff and how to best support them with the right qualifications.

Why does a School Business Manager need a qualification?

While individuals can become School Business Managers (SBM) without formal qualifications through experience on the job, getting a formal qualification will allow them to take their role to the next level and support the school further. Some benefits of formal SBM qualifications are:

Range of responsibilities

An SBM’s role is varied and unique. They oversee various aspects of a school’s business including finance, HR, estate management, and procurement. An SBM needs to have a wide range of knowledge, skills, and behaviours and be well versed in a range of regulations, processes, and policies.

Understanding of school’s unique structure

While the role of an SBM overlaps with those of a Business Manager in different industries, the unique nature of a school as a business means that SBMs also need to be fully up to speed with the latest school legislations, policy changes, and school specific issues and concerns such as safeguarding.

Leadership and management training

SBM’s often manage others as part of their role. Many individuals within middle management get promoted without proper training which can cause managers and their direct reports struggle thus damaging staff retention. An SBM qualification covers key elements of management such as leadership and communication skills to help SBM become not just managers but future leaders.

School Business Manager Funded Training Programme

LMP Education offers free training for SBMs and School Office Managers through a School Business Professional qualification that is aimed at upskilling existing SBMs and helping them gain the right skills and qualifications they need for their role. This qualification covers all key elements of the role of a SBM alongside leadership training and more.

Funding

This qualification is funded through the apprenticeship levy allowing schools to upskill their team for free or for a very low cost depending on their levy paying status. Learn more about the Apprenticeship Levy.

LMP Education

LMP Education is an award-winning Apprenticeship Training Provider. We can support your school in upskilling existing team members through funded training programmes and offer additional free services such as levy forecasting and a recruitment service.

If you are interested in upskilling your School Business Manager through an apprenticeship programme book a call with a member of the LMP team today!