SAAF Education Blog

Are you considering establishing a multi-academy trust? One of the things you will need to think about will be the structure of the trust governance. 

Get to grips with all the issues facing the education sector at The Academies Show 2017

Eating breakfast boosts school pupils’ reaction times, memory, concentration levels, general behaviour and performance in GCSEs, according to research from Katie Adolphus’ study on “the free breakfast club”.

However, free breakfast schemes do not extend to every area of the country. So, what can schools do if they are not located in a “disadvantaged area”?

This year the IR35 guidelines came into force. IR35 is a set of guidelines that employers must now follow when engaging ‘intermediaries’ for goods and services. These guidelines have been introduced by the government to tighten the controls around employer responsibilities, ensuring the correct application of Pay as you Earn (PAYE) and National insurance(NI) contributions.

The guidelines relate to the decision which must be made as to whether the individual is an employee, and thus paid through the payroll subject to PAYE and NI, or a sub-contractor, paid by invoice.

Effective from 1^st April 2017 employers with over 250 staff are required to begin collecting data to report on the gender pay gap, which simply put is the difference in aggregate hourly pay between men and women under their employment.

However, if you employ less than 250 staff, you can still voluntarily report on the gender pay gap criteria, although, this is not currently a mandatory requirement.

Warmer weather may seem like a long way off. But now’s the time to spring into action, if you want to meet the School Financial Value Standard (SFVS) deadline.

We’re delighted and excited to announce the winner of the SAAF Budget Planner Licence. (Cue drum roll!)

We had a fantastic time exhibiting at The Academies Show on 23 November 2016 at the NEC. Incredibly well attended and abuzz with the insight and advice of education experts, the central theme of the day was raising educational standards through taking control.

Education is rather like an iceberg: parents and students see teaching staff, classrooms and lecture theatres while management, organisational and support services lie below the surface.

Yet without a sound, well-structured and financially managed foundation, the entire edifice would crumble.