London & The south

Seminar Options & BOOKING

Welcome to the seminar timetable and selections page. Here you will see an overview of all the sessions running at the event AND CHOOSE which you would like to attend

instructions to book seminars

Please select one seminar per session from the available options. Some seminars run more than once, giving you flexibility to attend them at a different time.
All seminars have limited capacity and will close once fully booked. Sessions will be removed from the booking system as they fill up, so we recommend making your selections early to avoid disappointment.
Delegates will receive a printed copy of their seminar selections and personalised itinerary on the day at registration.

STEP 1

Choosing Your Sessions

Full details of all seminars, including session overviews and speaker information, can be found in the Seminar Timetable below.**

Step 2

Booking Your seminars

Once you’ve chosen your sessions, please complete the booking survey HERE

** The event includes an extended working lunch period with food, networking, and exhibition time. During this period, a small number of optional shorter sessions are also available.These sessions are completely optional – if you prefer a little more downtime to enjoy the exhibition and networking with colleagues, just select no thanks for the optional lunchtime sessions. If you’d like to attend more organised sessions within your day, choose one or two of the lunchtime sessions on offer

Seminar TIMETABLE

option one

Winning bids: developing stronger funding applications for schools and trusts

Grant funding can offer schools valuable support for projects, improvements and wider development, but successful applications need more than a good idea. They need clear evidence, strong planning and often just a small amount of specialist input and insight to turn a good bid into a much stronger, more compelling application.

This practical session will help school business professionals understand how to find suitable funding opportunities, assess eligibility and build stronger applications. Delegates will explore the common features of successful bids, from evidencing need and demonstrating impact to avoiding the mistakes that often weaken applications.

Justin will also look at how schools can add value to their applications, tell a clearer project story and approach funders with greater confidence. The session will include practical bid writing guidance alongside wider fundraising ideas that schools can begin using straight away. Specialist school funding sources continue to highlight the scale of grant opportunities available, alongside the importance of preparation, evidence and planning.

In this session we explore

• How to identify suitable grant funders for school projects

• What strong funding applications have in common

• How to evidence need, impact and value

• Common bid writing mistakes and how to avoid them

Take home points

• Stronger bid writing confidence

• Better funding search skills

• Clearer project narratives

• Practical application improvements

This session is for

SBMs, SBLs, CFOs, COOs, finance leads, project leads and anyone involved in preparing, reviewing or supporting funding applications.

Wellbeing: The Evolving Reality for School Business Leaders

School business leadership has never been a small role, and in recent years the pressures attached to it have become harder to ignore. As responsibilities have widened and expectations have increased, many SBLs have found themselves facing growing pressure, broader responsibilities and increasing demands on their time and wellbeing.

Drawing on four years of research into the mental health and wellbeing of school business leaders across England and Wales, Education Mutual brings those findings together to reveal the bigger picture. This session explores the pressures that have remained stubbornly constant, the emerging demands reshaping the role, and what the data tells us about where signs of progress are beginning to appear, and where challenges remain unresolved.

In this session we explore

• What four years of research reveal about the changing reality of the SBL role

• Which pressures have remained consistent, and which demands have intensified over time

• How workload, responsibility and rising expectations are affecting wellbeing

• The impact of expectations from senior leaders, governors, trustees and colleagues

• Where support, networks and practical interventions are making a positive difference

• What schools, trusts and sector leaders need to do next to better support SBLs

Take home points

• A clearer picture of the wellbeing pressures facing SBLs post-pandemic

• Insight into the newer demands shaping the role in 2026

• Greater understanding of the factors driving stress, pressure and overload

• Examples of where support and intervention have made a measurable difference

• Clarity on where action is still most urgently needed

This session is for

School business leaders, headteachers, senior leaders, trust CEOs, CFOs and central team leaders, as well as anyone responsible for supporting, managing or working alongside school and trust operations staff.

The Business of Belonging

Belonging is when pupils and staff feel part of the school, valued, and able to contribute. When it is missing, the impact shows up fast: staff absence, churn, inconsistency, conflict, and time lost to avoidable people issues. You also see it in pupil readiness to learn, behaviour, and attendance. With “belonging” starting to surface in the Ofsted narrative, many schools are guessing what it means and over-engineering the response. Phil clarifies the intent, the common misreads, and the behaviours inspectors are likely to recognise, without creating extra paperwork.

This session turns belonging into an operational and financial lever, not a slogan. Drawing on Phil’s CEO experience, MBA perspective and PhD research, you will leave with a clear line of sight between belonging and what you are accountable for: staff stability, school improvement capacity, risk, and cost control.

In this session we explore

• What belonging is (and is not), and how it links to psychological safety

• The cost of low belonging: churn, absence, capability loss, underperformance, reactive spend

• Practical routines that build belonging across roles, teams and sites

• Feedback loops that create real input, not token engagement

• A simple scorecard to track alongside finance and standards

Take home points

• A clear definition you can use with staff, pupils, governors and trustees

• Practical behaviours that make belonging visible

• A short scorecard of leading indicators and warning signs

• Actions that reduce churn and reactive spend

• How to evidence belonging without box-ticking

This session is for

SBMs, school leaders, finance, HR and operations leads, governors and trustees, in maintained schools, academies and trusts

option three

option one

Succession Planning Workforce Edition!

Workforce planning is about more than just filling roles-it’s about building a strategy for the future. Learn how to identify skills gaps, develop succession plans, and align workforce strategies with your school’s long-term goals. This session will give you the tools to futureproof your school’s staffing needs.

IN THIS SEMINAR WE EXPLORE

• Strategies for workforce planning that anticipates future needs.

• Methods to identify and develop key talent within the school.

• Tips for succession planning and staff retention.

• Approaches to align workforce planning with school goals.

• Guidelines for adapting workforce strategies to changing demands.

TAKE HOME POINTS

Succession planning templates, workforce development strategies, HR alignment tools.

THIS SESSION IS FOR SCHOOL BUSINESS LEADERS WHO

Want to plan the future of their school’s workforce and ensure the right people are in the right roles.

People Strategy That Drives Retention, Growth And Impact

In a period of national workforce challenge, creating a strong people strategy is no longer a nice-to-have.  It is central to stability, improvement and growth.  In this session, Sharon Carlyon shares how her trust has intentionally designed its people strategy to create belonging, grow talent and enable high performance across the workforce.

Grounded in development, wellbeing, workload and staff voice, this session looks at how a coaching-led and inclusive approach can move beyond traditional CPD and help people choose to stay, grow and succeed.  Sharon will explore the practical steps her trust has taken to invest in its people, and the measurable difference this has made to retention, recruitment, staff satisfaction and wider organisational success.

In this session we explore

• How a people strategy can be intentionally designed to create belonging across a trust

• Why development, wellbeing, workload and staff voice all matter in building a culture where people want to stay and grow

• What it looks like to move beyond traditional CPD and create a more inclusive, coaching-led approach to people development

• The strategic actions taken to invest in talent, leadership and staff experience across the workforce

• How this work has influenced retention, recruitment, staff satisfaction and school improvement

• Why people strategy has become a key driver of organisational stability and trust growth

Take home points

• A clearer understanding of how belonging can be built into people strategy by design

• Practical ideas for creating a more inclusive and coaching-led culture

• Insight into how people strategy can support retention, growth and staff satisfaction

• Examples of how staff development, wellbeing and workload can be tackled as part of one joined-up approach

• Greater clarity on the link between people strategy, organisational stability and sustained improvement

This session is for

Trust leaders, CFOs, COOs, HR and people leads, school business leaders, headteachers and senior leaders, as well as anyone responsible for workforce development, retention and organisational culture across a school or trust.

What’s Next for Trusts?

The MAT sector is entering a more mature phase, shaped by financial pressure, structural change and rising expectations around scale, resilience and impact. This session steps back from day-to-day firefighting to explore what the next 5-10 years could hold for trusts, and the central role business leaders will play in navigating it.

Led by Stuart Gardner, CEO of The Thinking Schools Academy Trust, it draws on experience of trust growth across 26 schools in multiple regions, alongside his MBA study and the idea of building a practical ‘blueprint’ for what may be coming next. With finance, merger and structural change firmly on the agenda, it looks at how trusts of different sizes can prepare for what’s coming, while keeping purpose and impact at the centre.

In this session we explore

• What may be in store for the MAT sector over the next 5-10 years

• How to use a practical ‘blueprint’ approach to step back, hypothesise and plan for what comes next

• Why CFOs, COOs and business leaders will shape future trust models

• Growth, merger and structural change, and what they mean in practice

• How service delivery has evolved, from standalone schools to centralised MATs and beyond

Take home points

• A clearer sense of where the sector is heading, and why

• Practical considerations for financial and structural planning

• Options for service models that support sustainable growth

• Practical food for thought on leading through change

This session is for

CFOs, COOs, senior business leaders and operational leads in small, medium and large MATs who want to step back, look ahead and shape the future of their trust with confidence.

option three

option one

Income Generation That Matters

Budgets are tight, cost pressures are sticky, and “just fundraise more” is not a strategy. This session looks at realistic, scalable income opportunities for trusts, and the governance and finance controls needed to do them properly. We focus on what works in practice, what usually wastes time, and how to build income activity that is ethical, compliant and worth the effort.

In this session we explore

The income generation landscape for trusts, what is realistic, repeatable and aligned to charitable purpose

Decision filters that keep things disciplined: margin, cashflow timing, risk rating, governance workload, and opportunity cost

Practical routes to income, including trading activity, partnerships, lettings, grants, sponsorship, and community-facing services

Compliance essentials: charity duties, procurement conflicts, VAT considerations, trading subsidiaries, and reputational risk controls

How to avoid “random acts of fundraising”, and instead build a trust-wide pipeline and framework that school and central teams can use

What usually fails, why it fails, and the warning signs that something is becoming a distraction

Take home points

A clear framework for evaluating income ideas like an investment decision

A shortlist of trust-appropriate income streams, with the pros, cons and governance implications

The non-negotiables for compliance and reputational protection

A simple model for tracking performance, cost, and return on leadership time

A practical “stop doing” list, the common time sinks that deliver little value

This session is for

Trust leaders and central teams responsible for strategy, finance, operations, governance, compliance, estates, and stakeholder engagement, including those leading income generation activity across schools and services.

Making Tough Decisions Land Well

Plenty of schools and trusts are making hard decisions right now. The difference is whether those decisions build confidence or fuel distrust. Lorna shares a practical approach to financial viability that works across a primary trust and translates well to maintained schools too. The principles are the same: clear priorities, honest trade-offs, and decisions that stand up over time.

You will look at how to use radical transparency without creating politics, how to apply a five-year affordability lens so short-term fixes do not become long-term traps, and how to communicate “not this year” decisions so staff, heads, governors and boards stay aligned. This is not theory. It is the operational detail of how you protect outcomes by protecting the model that funds them.

In this session we explore

• Why financial viability is the enabling condition for pupil outcomes, and what leaders miss when finance stays “back office”

• Transparency that works in a school or trust setting, what to share, how to share it, and how to keep it constructive

• The five-year affordability test, avoiding decisions that look fine now but break later

• Building surplus and reserves, including how to talk about this in a maintained school, a single academy, or a MAT without looking greedy

• Communicating tough calls so teams stay aligned, not resentful

Take home points

• A simple five-year affordability checklist

• A transparency model that builds trust, not noise

• How to frame trade-offs so people understand and buy in

• What to stop doing that quietly drains budgets and reserves

This session is for

SBMs and SBLs in maintained schools and academies, trust finance and operations leads, heads, governors and trustees, and anyone involved in shaping budgets and making difficult choices land well"

Hidden Savings, Better Outcomes: Strategic School Catering

Rising food costs, escalating staffing pressures and increasingly complex compliance requirements mean school catering is under more strain than ever. For many schools and trusts, catering is the second largest expense after staffing, yet significant efficiencies often sit undiscovered in the kitchen. At a time when budgets are tightening and operational risk is increasing, leaders need models that protect quality while reducing cost and complexity.

This session lifts the lid on where hidden savings can be found and how a strategic shift in catering provision – including the role of high-quality prepared solutions – can reduce waste, ease staffing demands and still meet nutritional standards. Using real examples from schools and trusts, we explore how the right catering model can enhance financial resilience, support inclusion, and improve the overall dining experience for pupils.

In this session we explore

• Where the real costs sit in school catering and why many schools underestimate them

• How smarter menu planning can cut waste and simplify operations

• Approaches that help schools manage staffing challenges without compromising quality

• How trust-wide procurement, central production and supply efficiencies create long-term savings

• The link between consistent catering models, pupil outcomes and overall school performance

Take home points

• Clear insight into hidden cost drivers and quick wins

• Practical ideas to improve efficiency and reduce waste

• A strategic view of catering that supports budgets, staff and pupils

• Considerations for schools and trusts reviewing or reshaping their catering model

This session is for

School business leaders, CFOs, COOs, operations leads looking for sustainable, financially sound catering solutions that reduce pressure and deliver better outcomes for pupils.

option three

OPTIONAL SESSIONs

To make the day as flexible as possible for all delegates, we offer an extended working lunch period which offers hot lunch, networking time, exhibition time and some optional sessions that delegates can choose to sign up to or not – it’s totally down to personal preference .

OPTIONAL SESSIONS are shorter sessions available to delegates who like to cram their day with more learning and less exhibition and networking time.

Reminder, these sessions are completely optional – if you prefer a little more downtime to enjoy the exhibition and networking with colleagues, just select no thanks for the quick fix sessions, if you like to attend more organised sessions, choose one or two of the quick fix session on offer.

There is enough time planned into the day to allow you to comfortably attend at least one optional sessions if you wish – as well as lunch and exhibition time

OPTION one

Procuring Well in an Ever Demanding Landscape

In a more demanding procurement landscape, a strategic approach matters more than ever. For schools and trusts, procurement is no longer just about compliance or process. In the post-PA23 environment, leaders need to think more carefully about tendering, specification, contract set-up, supplier oversight and long-term value. This session explores what that looks like in practice, and how a broader commercial approach can help organisations strengthen contract performance, manage risk more effectively and secure better outcomes over time.

In this session we explore

• What the post-PA23 procurement environment means in practice for tendering, flexibility and oversight

• Strategic approaches to procurement and contract management in schools and trusts

• How to strengthen specification, supplier oversight and contract performance

• Defining and monitoring performance beyond headline KPIs

• Strengthening commercial relationships while maintaining challenge and accountability

• Identifying and mitigating contractual and commercial risk before it becomes costly or disruptive

• Building stronger internal capability to support better procurement outcomes

Take home points

• A clearer understanding of what a more strategic procurement approach looks like in practice

• Practical ways to strengthen supplier oversight, reduce risk and improve contract performance

• Greater confidence in taking a broader commercial view, not just a compliance-led one

This session is for

CFOs, COOs, procurement leads, contract managers, school business leaders, operations leads and trust central teams involved in buying, tendering, supplier oversight and commercial decision-making.

Hidden Savings, Better Outcomes: Strategic School Catering

In this session we explore

• Where the real costs sit in school catering and why many schools underestimate them

• How smarter menu planning can cut waste and simplify operations

• Approaches that help schools manage staffing challenges without compromising quality

• How trust-wide procurement, central production and supply efficiencies create long-term savings

• The link between consistent catering models, pupil outcomes and overall school performance

Take home points

• Clear insight into hidden cost drivers and quick wins

• Practical ideas to improve efficiency and reduce waste

• A strategic view of catering that supports budgets, staff and pupils

• Considerations for schools and trusts reviewing or reshaping their catering model

This session is for

School business leaders, CFOs, COOs, operations leads looking for sustainable, financially sound catering solutions that reduce pressure and deliver better outcomes for pupils.

option One

Tackling the Time Thieves!

School and trust business roles are relentless. The day fills itself, priorities collide, and the most important work gets squeezed by the “urgent” crowding out the important. This session helps you regain control by identifying the real “time thieves” in your environment, and in your own habits, then building simple, practical techniques to respond.

We will bring in Edward de Bono’s tools as a simple structure for clearer, faster thinking under pressure, including his Six Thinking Hats approach (parallel thinking, one lens at a time) and lateral thinking prompts to break stuck patterns and find better options. This supports a mindset of protecting time for high-value work, reducing rework, and designing routines that stop firefighting becoming the default.

In this session we explore

• The most common time thieves in schools and trusts, and how they typically show up

• Interruptions, reactive culture and procrastination, and practical ways to reduce the drag

• De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats as a quick framework for decisions and problem solving (facts, risks, benefits, feelings, options, next steps)

• Lateral thinking prompts to reframe “stuck” problems and generate realistic alternatives

• Simple tactics for boundaries, triage, batching and decision shortcuts that work in busy environments

• A few OpEx style changes that improve flow: clearer ownership, fewer handoffs, less repeat chasing

Take home points

• Practical techniques to reduce daily time loss

• A simple thinking structure to make better decisions, faster

• Ways to challenge unhelpful habits, individually and across teams

• A short list of process tweaks that give time back without adding admin

This session is for

School business leaders, SBMs, CFOs, COOs and operations teams who want to protect time for high-value work, reduce daily friction, and feel more in control of the working week.

The Business of Belonging

In this session we explore

• What belonging is (and is not), and how it links to psychological safety

• The cost of low belonging: churn, absence, capability loss, underperformance, reactive spend

• Practical routines that build belonging across roles, teams and sites

• Feedback loops that create real input, not token engagement

• A simple scorecard to track alongside finance and standards

Take home points

• A clear definition you can use with staff, pupils, governors and trustees

• Practical behaviours that make belonging visible

• A short scorecard of leading indicators and warning signs

• Actions that reduce churn and reactive spend

• How to evidence belonging without box-ticking

This session is for

SBMs, school leaders, finance, HR and operations leads, governors and trustees, in maintained schools, academies and trusts

option three

Final Word: Panel Discussion with Q&A

Your chance to share ideas and insight, ask questions and hear what resonates most with your SBL colleagues

As we close the day, this final session brings the whole delegate network together for a focused, expert-led Q&A with a panel of experienced school business leaders from across the schools landscape. It’s a chance to explore the themes that have surfaced across the day, raise questions that didn’t fit elsewhere and hear how peers are tackling and overcoming the pressures in their schools and trusts.

The panel will respond to questions from the floor and from the wider SBL community via social media platforms and our magazine readership. We will discuss the issues that you tell us matter most, offering practical insight, challenge and ideas.

Whether you want to join the conversation or prefer to listen and absorb, this is a valuable opportunity to consolidate learning from the day and leave with clearer thinking, reassurance and ideas you can use immediately.

What to expect

• Honest, experience-led responses from expert SBL panellists

• Questions from delegates on the day’s topics, challenges and real-world scenarios

• Insight into the common themes, sticking points and priorities emerging across the sector

• Space to reflect on how learning from the day translates back into your setting

This session is for

All delegates who want to end the day with practical insight, clearer perspective and a stronger sense of how fellow SBLs are approaching the challenges ahead.

OPTIONAL SESSIONs

OPTIONAL SESSIONS are shorter sessions available to delegates who like to cram their day with more learning and less exhibition and networking time.

There is enough time planned into the day to allow you to comfortably attend optional sessions if you wish – as well as lunch and exhibition.

OPTION one

Wellbeing: The Evolving Reality for School Business Leaders

In this session we explore

• What four years of research reveal about the changing reality of the SBL role

• Which pressures have remained consistent, and which demands have intensified over time

• How workload, responsibility and rising expectations are affecting wellbeing

• The impact of expectations from senior leaders, governors, trustees and colleagues

• Where support, networks and practical interventions are making a positive difference

• What schools, trusts and sector leaders need to do next to better support SBLs

Take home points

• A clearer picture of the wellbeing pressures facing SBLs post-pandemic

• Insight into the newer demands shaping the role in 2026

• Greater understanding of the factors driving stress, pressure and overload

• Examples of where support and intervention have made a measurable difference

• Clarity on where action is still most urgently needed

This session is for

Energy Buying, Budget Control and Net Zero

With school budgets under increasing strain and key grant schemes scaled back or withdrawn, the need to understand and control your school's energy costs has never been greater. As one of your biggest overheads, energy represents both a risk and an opportunity. Get it wrong and losses can escalate fast. Get it right and the savings can be genuinely transformative. This session breaks down the realities schools are facing right now. Volatile markets, tight budgets, and changing policy and funding landscapes. You'll come away with a clear view of where savings can be made, what to prioritise, and how to build a smarter approach that protects both your budget and your long-term plans. We will look at everything from smarter procurement and contract alignment to the quick-win operational efficiencies that make an immediate difference, along with the longer-term steps needed for decarbonisation planning.

In this seminar we explore

Common risks to avoid when procuring energy
Industry changes and market drivers impacting costs
How to evaluate different procurement strategies
Practical quick wins for reducing energy use
Funding to support energy efficiency and decarbonisation

Take home points

Energy procurement strategies. Funding opportunities. Practical energy saving actions that can be applied straight away.

This session is for

School business leaders who are looking to make their energy budget go further by buying better and reducing waste. Trust Leaders: You will understand the latest procurement rules and learn how to unlock efficiencies by coordinating your strategy across your organisation and accessing funding. Primary school leaders: You will take away simple actions that create immediate savings. Secondary school leaders: You will learn how to manage higher energy loads and spot the biggest opportunities for efficiency.

instructions to book seminars

​

STEP 1

​

Choosing Your Sessions

​

Step 2

​

Booking Your seminars

​

Seminar TIMETABLE

option one

Winning bids: developing stronger funding applications for schools and trusts

In this session we explore

Take home points

This session is for

Wellbeing: The Evolving Reality for School Business Leaders

In this session we explore

Take home points

This session is for

The Business of Belonging

In this session we explore

Take home points

This session is for

option two

option three