newcastle & Durham

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

ICFP: The power couple of curriculum and cost

ICFP is one of the most effective tools for managing rising costs and staffing pressures. With staff making up around 80 percent of school spend, even small shifts in deployment can make a significant difference. This session shows how integrated curriculum and financial planning can improve curriculum design, strengthen staffing decisions and support long term sustainability. It focuses on practical, proactive ways to use ICFP so you can deliver value for money without compromising the offer for pupils.

In this session we explore

• How ICFP aligns curriculum ambition with financial reality

Using staffing data, class size and timetable structure to maximise the impact of your team
How SMRA style analysis strengthens ICFP and highlights inefficiencies
Using ICFP for scenario planning and forward budgeting
Presenting ICFP findings to SLT, governors and trustees

Take home points

A clear understanding of how ICFP improves staffing deployment and value for money
Practical steps to build an ICFP model that supports long term planning
Insight into how SMRA aligned metrics reveal risks and opportunities
Tools to turn ICFP outputs into evidence for strategic decision making

This session is for

School business leaders, CFOs, COOs, heads and senior leaders who want to use ICFP to shape curriculum, staffing and financial strategy in a more proactive and sustainable way.

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

The OpEx Advantage

Across maintained schools and MATs, rising costs and growing demands mean that doing more with less is now essential. In this regard, Operational Excellence (OpEx) isn't a buzzword, it is a proven approach for streamlining non-teaching processes, reducing waste and protecting capacity so your school or trust can stay focused on its mission. Drawing on the latest ISBL research, this session shows how OpEx can deliver real efficiency gains and smarter resource deployment. We translate the theory into everyday contexts - from single school application, small and large trusts - and demonstrate how OpEx builds strong, sustainable operations that support educational priorities.

In this session we explore

Why OpEx matters now than ever as schools respond to tighter funding and rising operational costs
How to use the ISBL OpEx for Education framework as a roadmap for incremental improvement
Practical lean and continuous improvement techniques adapted for schools
How OpEx strengthens the strategic role and influence of school business leaders

Take home points

Clear insight into the most up to date OpEx research and what it means for meaningful application
A practical framework to improve processes and capacity at any scale
Tools for identifying waste, aligning resources and building continuous improvement
Ideas to strengthen professional influence and reinforce your strategic values

This session is for

School business leaders who want to move beyond crisis management, reduce operational friction and build resilient, efficient systems that support outstanding education.

option three

option one

GUARDIANS OF RISK: Managing the risks that keep leaders up at night

If you sit on SLT, or you hold finance, estates, compliance and operations, risk is rarely theoretical. It is the issues that keep leaders awake at night, safeguarding incidents, serious health and safety events, cyber breaches, sudden funding pressure, inherited contracts, weak controls, building failures and reputational flare-ups.

This session shows how to get those risks under control without creating a bureaucratic monster. Using a lifting the bonnet view of internal scrutiny, we look at what scrutineers and auditors actually examine, where schools and trusts commonly cut corners, and the blind spots that keep recurring. You will leave with a clearer way to set risk appetite, strengthen assurance, and maintain a live risk register that drives decisions, prioritisation and contingency planning.

In this session we explore

Setting a clear risk appetite and framework
Mapping operational and strategic risks across finance, estates, data and compliance
Communicating risk effectively with SLT, governors and trustees
The risks most likely to escalate fast, and early warning signs
Safeguarding assurance as a governance issue, not just a policy file
People and capacity risk, key person dependency and continuity
Building a live risk register, owners, review cadence, triggers and escalation
Turning scenarios into mitigations and contingencies linked to budgets and cash planning

Take home points

A clearer understanding of your role as a risk guardian
A usable structure for a live risk register
A clearer view of what scrutiny expects and why
Practical fixes for common weaknesses and blind spots
Tools to embed risk ownership across teams and leadership

This session is for

School business leaders, CFOs, COOs, operations and estates leads, and governance professionals responsible for risk, assurance and organisational resilience.

Trust Reserves That Work Harder

With interest rates higher than many trusts are used to, cash sitting idle in current accounts is a missed opportunity. Recent DfE guidance on academy reserves has also sharpened the focus on how much is held, why it is held, and what boards should be doing with surplus funds.

This Academy focused session cuts through the noise and sets out a clear, compliant approach to creating an investment policy and deposit strategy that works in the real world. We will explore how trusts can balance security, access and return, meet DfE expectations, and generate additional income without putting capital at risk.

You will leave with a practical framework, clarity on what the guidance really means, and a ready-to-use policy template to support confident board discussions and better financial decision-making.

In this session we explore

• What the latest DfE reserves guidance means in practice for academy trusts

• Setting a clear, compliant investment policy that trustees can stand behind

• Building a deposit strategy that balances access, security and return

• Using multiple banks and accounts safely and within DfE requirements

• Easy access, notice and fixed accounts.

• Common pitfalls and low-risk opportunities trusts often miss

Take home points

• Clear understanding of how to create a deposit strategy

• A practical approach to improving returns without capital risk

• A ready-made investment policy template to adapt for your trust

• Next steps to review and improve your current banking and deposit setup

This session is for

CFOs, COOs, finance directors and senior business leaders working in MATs who are responsible for reserves, treasury management and board reporting, and want a compliant, low-risk way to make trust funds work harder.

AI for Smarter School Finance

Finance teams in schools and trusts are facing mounting pressure, from rising costs and complex compliance requirements to ever-increasing demands on reporting and transparency. At the same time, resources are stretched, and the need for efficiency has never been greater. AI and cloud-based systems are beginning to transform how trusts manage finance, taking away repetitive manual tasks, reducing the risk of errors, and opening up new possibilities for real-time visibility. This session will explore how smarter finance systems can do more than simply balance the books. They can support leaders to plan with confidence, report with clarity, and make decisions that strengthen both day-to-day operations and long-term strategy.

In this seminar, we’ll explore

• How automation and AI can reduce manual workload and free up time for strategic work

• Practical approaches to deliver faster, clearer reporting across your trust

• Lessons from schools and MATs already adopting cloud finance systems and AI tools

• How smarter finance processes can support long-term planning and more resilient decision-making

Take home points

• A clearer understanding of how AI and automation can work in school and trust finance

• Practical tools and approaches you can use to improve efficiency in your organisation

• Insight into the challenges and successes already being experienced by peers across the sector

• Ways to future-proof your finance systems and make finance a genuine strategic advantage

This session is for

Finance, business, and operations leaders working in schools and trusts who want to drive efficiency, improve reporting, and build finance functions that inform and strengthen organisational strategy.

option three

option one

Stronger Support Services, Better Delivery

As organisations grow and demands become more complex, support services can easily become fragmented, reactive or overly reliant on individual people rather than strong, consistent systems. This session explores how schools and trusts can review and reshape business operations to create more joined-up, efficient and sustainable support services across finance, operations, estates and administration. With a focus on service consistency, accountability and practical improvement, this session will look at how to move from disconnected or manual ways of working towards a clearer, more effective service model that better supports both day-to-day delivery and long-term organisational resilience. While rooted in trust-wide transformation, the principles shared will be relevant to maintained schools, single academies and growing trusts alike.

In this session we explore

How to identify where support services have become fragmented, inconsistent or too dependent on individuals
What more joined-up, efficient and sustainable business operations look like in practice
Ways to improve service consistency, accountability and visibility across key support functions
How to reduce manual, duplicated or paper-heavy processes without creating unnecessary disruption
How to reshape support services so they better support schools, teams and organisational priorities

Take home points

Signs that support services need redesign
Practical principles for service transformation
Ways to improve consistency and accountability
Ideas for reducing manual and fragmented processes
A clearer view of what an effective service model looks like

This session is for

School business leaders, SBMs, SBLs, COOs, CFOs, operations leaders, trust leaders, and anyone responsible for improving the effectiveness, consistency or sustainability of business support services.

Lockdown Planning and Martyn's Law

With the national threat level still rated substantial and school incidents back in the headlines, lockdown planning has shifted from 'sensible practice' to 'must have'. Martyn's Law now expects every school, academy and trust to have clear, tested procedures in place. In other words, every setting needs a security plan that actually works in real life and not just on paper. Led by security specialist Shane, formerly a police superintendent, this session cuts through the noise and shows you what proportionate, modern lockdown planning looks like in 2026. We cover the practical steps that help you stay compliant, calm and ready, whether you're the person writing the plan or the senior leader responsible for making sure it happens across multiple sites.

In this session we explore

What a clear, workable lockdown and invacuation plan looks like under Martyn's Law
How to run drills that build confidence without frightening staff or learners
Simple risk assessment tools to help you spot weak points around your school or trust estate
How to brief and train staff so everyone knows their role, from teachers to office teams to site staff
How to align procedures across a trust and report assurance back to SLT, governors and trustees
When and how to loop in local police and partners for guidance and good practice

Take home points

A step by step checklist to update or build your lockdown plan in line with 2026 expectations
A low impact drill model you can adapt for any size school or trust
Clear staff messaging you can reuse in INSET and briefings
Practical pointers for evidencing readiness to SLT, governors and trust boards

This session is for school and trust leaders who

Want to stay prepared, compliant and confident under Martyn's Law, without adding unnecessary fear. Ideal for SBPs, COOs and anyone responsible for writing, overseeing or signing off a school or trust wide lockdown plan.

Claim Your Seat at the SLT Table

You may already have a seat at the senior leadership table, but influence depends on more than attendance. As a school business leader you hold insight, experience and expertise that deserve strategic recognition. This session is about stepping into that space fully: building confidence, honing communication and making sure your voice is heard as a driver of decisions. We'll look at how to frame complex school business issues - from finance to operations - as clear, persuasive propositions. We'll explore how to navigate meetings, manage dynamics with heads or trustees and assert yourself as a strategic partner rather than a support function. The goal is to help you move from behind the scenes support to visible, respected leadership.

In this session we explore

How to communicate with confidence, clarity and authority in meetings, strategy sessions and governor discussions
How to turn complex data, budgets or proposals into compelling, decision ready messages
Techniques for reading room dynamics, managing difficult personalities and influencing without conflict
How to build relationships of parity and trust with heads, governors or trustees so your perspective is valued and sought
Use of body language, tone and presence to reinforce credibility and leadership presence

Take home points

Practical tools for clear, confident, impactful communication in any setting
A simple framework for structuring proposals and reports that persuade rather than overwhelm
Strategies for handling tricky discussions and challenging dynamics while staying influential and professional
A stronger sense of your strategic value and how to make others see it too
Confidence to claim and hold your place at the leadership table

This session is for

School business leaders who want to be taken seriously, influence decisions and shape the direction of their school or trust.

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

AI for Smarter School Finance

In this seminar, we’ll explore

• How automation and AI can reduce manual workload and free up time for strategic work

• Practical approaches to deliver faster, clearer reporting across your trust

• Lessons from schools and MATs already adopting cloud finance systems and AI tools

• How smarter finance processes can support long-term planning and more resilient decision-making

Take home points

• A clearer understanding of how AI and automation can work in school and trust finance

• Practical tools and approaches you can use to improve efficiency in your organisation

• Insight into the challenges and successes already being experienced by peers across the sector

• Ways to future-proof your finance systems and make finance a genuine strategic advantage

This session is for

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 One

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.

ICFP: The power couple of curriculum and cost

In this session we explore

• How ICFP aligns curriculum ambition with financial reality

Using staffing data, class size and timetable structure to maximise the impact of your team
How SMRA style analysis strengthens ICFP and highlights inefficiencies
Using ICFP for scenario planning and forward budgeting
Presenting ICFP findings to SLT, governors and trustees

Take home points

A clear understanding of how ICFP improves staffing deployment and value for money
Practical steps to build an ICFP model that supports long term planning
Insight into how SMRA aligned metrics reveal risks and opportunities
Tools to turn ICFP outputs into evidence for strategic decision making

This session is for

School business leaders, CFOs, COOs, heads and senior leaders who want to use ICFP to shape curriculum, staffing and financial strategy in a more proactive and sustainable way.

Practical SAR Strategies for Schools and Trusts

Subject access requests (SARs) can be time-consuming and complex to manage, especially alongside the many other priorities school business professionals juggle. Increasingly, schools and trusts are also seeing SARs used in strategic or contentious ways linked to complaints or disputes, which increases both workload and risk for school and trust leaders. In this practical session, Shane Williams draws on extensive experience supporting hundreds of schools with SARs and data protection processes. He'll share insights into what's working on the ground, what's changed in recent legislation (including new ICO guidance and cooling-off periods), and how you can develop school-friendly procedures that protect your team, your pupils and your time.

In this session we explore

How to identify and manage complex, excessive or contentious SARs
Key steps to simplify searches, redaction and document review
What cooling off periods and updated ICO guidance mean for your processes
How to handle SARs fairly while protecting pupil safety and staff wellbeing

Take home points

A clear SAR triage and response process for schools and trusts
Practical tools for efficient redaction, search and review
Actions to strengthen your SAR log, record keeping and audit trail.

This session is for

School and trust leaders who Leads, or managers of leads responsible for SARs, complaints, safeguarding or data protection, and need a realistic, defensible approach that keeps pupils safe, supports staff and protects precious time.

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

Framework or Fees? Buying Better and Procuring Well

When catering or cleaning contracts are up for renewal, school business leaders face a familiar dilemma. Do you use a framework for speed and compliance, or go out to tender to drive value and control costs? There is no one-size-fits-all answer, and the wrong route can cost time, money and confidence at audit.

We explore why procuring complex services, via frameworks, which are often of significant costs to schools, may not be the optimal solution for school, academies or Trusts.

We examine some of the opportunities and risks associated with complex procurements, where the price is important, but buying the service you actually want, is potentially more important.

This session breaks down the real-world pros and cons of frameworks versus direct procurement, with a focus on catering and cleaning. It helps you make informed, defensible decisions based on your school or trust’s size, capacity, risk appetite and commercial priorities.

In this session we explore:

•The difference between frameworks and direct tendering, in plain English

•When frameworks work well and when they can quietly cost more

•The hidden risks and fees that SBLs often miss

•How to judge value, not just compliance

•What auditors, governors and trustees expect to see

•How to choose the right route for your setting, not someone else’s

Take home points:

•Clarity on which route to market suits your school or trust

•Confidence to justify your decision to auditors and boards

•A practical checklist to support your next catering or cleaning procurement

•Better control of cost, quality and contract risk

•The ‘cost of the time’ of an SBL should be an important consideration

This session is for:

School business leaders, finance leads and operations teams responsible for catering, cleaning or wider contract procurement in maintained schools, academies and MATs.

DSBMG Members meeting

This 30 minute session is for members of the group to meet for a Durham HR update followed by open discussion between members

instructions to book seminars

​

STEP 1

​

Choosing Your Sessions

​

Step 2

​

Booking Your seminars

​

Seminar TIMETABLE

option one

ICFP: The power couple of curriculum and cost

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

The OpEx Advantage

In this session we explore

Take home points

This session is for

option two

option three