Over £1 million saved - how Shaw Education Trust turned supply staffing into a strategic asset

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This is the final post in a three-part series. In our first post, we outlined the supply staffing challenges Shaw Education Trust (SET) faced. In our second post, we explained how they built their compliant master vendor model. Here, we …

How Shaw Education Trust built a compliant, trust-wide supply model - and how yours could too

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Workforce, Workforce, Recruitment and Development

This is the second post in a three-part series. In our first post, we described the supply staffing challenges Shaw Education Trust (SET) faced and why acting early was essential. Here, we explain how they built their solution.  Once SET …

How Shaw Education Trust took control of supply staffing - and what your trust could learn from it

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Workforce, Workforce, Recruitment and Development

For Shaw Education Trust (SET), a multi-academy trust of 31 schools across England, supply staffing had become one of the largest and least controlled areas of expenditure, with annual costs rising to over £5 million*. SET took a step back …

Free procurement training for schools — apply now

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Business Support and Professional Services, CIPS, Training, Workforce, Recruitment and Development
Image with Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply logo. Text reads: Free training opportunities for school business professionals.

If you work in school or trust procurement, free training is now available to help you build confidence and improve how your organisation buys. Two programmes from the Department for Education (DfE) and the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply …

Energy sorted: why over 1,000 schools have handed their energy buying to us

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Energy meter

Over 1,000 schools have already signed up to the Department for Education (DfE) Energy for Schools Service. If your energy contract is up for renewal, joining is simple. Our DfE Energy Team are here to help. Here's what you need …

Is your school's money working as hard as it should?

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Calculator and papers

Chris McGunnigle, DfE Banking Team Lead, returns with an update to his November 2025 blog. New tools are live, real results are coming in, and the question every school should be asking their bank has never been more important. Please …

How one trust saved over £78,000 a year on energy costs

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Hand putting money into a jar

For All Saints’ Trust, a multi-academy trust with seven schools across London, it meant new computers for one of their schools when Windows 11 arrived. Without switching to DfE Energy for Schools, they simply couldn't have afforded them. Your trust …

A better deal on agency supply staff: what the new Supply Teachers and Education Recruitment framework means for schools and trusts

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Image of Beth Lord. Text includes a quote from Beth which reads: “The new framework introduces a cap on the supplier fees - not on what supply workers are paid. Agency staff pay and conditions are entirely unaffected.”

Department for Education commercial strategy and innovation commercial lead Beth Lord explains the new Government Commercial Agency supply staff framework and how it aims to rebalance the market, saving schools money. Schools across England spend approximately £1.4 billion a year …

Unlocking hidden value: how one school turns its spaces into £110,000 a year

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Advice and support, Estates and facilities, Income
Cressex Community School logo

Cressex Community School in High Wycombe has significant experience in hiring out its facilities, something it has been doing for more than 13 years, and it has gone from strength to strength. The school brings in around £110,000* each year …

School land transaction: what you need to know before you sell, lease or buy

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Advice and support, Estates and facilities

Ed Lockett, Case Manager in the DfE’s Land Transactions, Estates, Land and Planning Division talks about school land transactions – telling us what they are and the circumstances where you need consent. My team is made up of caseworkers and …