ICFP Metrics: The magic number

When considered alone, there are some issues with the use of teacher contact ratio as a measurement of school structure that must be understood if it is being used to compare school structural efficiency.

Why would ICFP matter for us? Part 1

I recently wrote an article for online journal the headteacher, ‘Getting to Grips with ICFP’ focused on why ICFP is different in its application within the primary context. Do have a look. https://www.primaryleaders.com/school-procurement/data-administration/getting-to-grips-with-icfp

School Financial Management Made Simple

Join School Finance Specialist and founder of Effervesce Susan Fielden to demystify the sometimes fear-inspiring arena of school finances. This free webinar is discursive and designed to answer the most significant issues attendees have. The session began with a poll to gauge which topics were most important to attendees. Susan then focussed on what they […]

Mind the Gap – Bridge the Gap

Within the education world, to the educators, the driver is that education is for the good of the learner. Within the business world the key is efficiency- the best we can get for the least investment, the ratio of output to input within any system. The educator and the business leader narratives and purposes apparently opposed and there lies a difficulty.

Travelling Light?

When creating curriculum models for September 2020, Chris Jones discusses the system wide impact of over-staffing strategies and the impact for us all.

Curriculum Enhancement

Why does Curriculum Enhancement (CE) matter? Contact Ratios and Pupil Teacher Ratios are familiar to most school leaders as measures of classroom resourcing. At the most simplistic level, given that they have been around for a long time and the problems of funding that are now facing schools, one could ask whether the majority of […]

​Pack them in?

When we talk about class size it becomes a really contentious issue. Ministers are criticised for an agenda of raising them; Education Endowment Fund (EEF) curate research evidence that suggests that reducing class size is costly and has little impact on outcomes for learners (1); and teachers will say that in certain contexts ‘big’ classes are unmanageable […]

The eternal round

Once you have considered the Curriculum Enhancement value, we then need to consider how much curriculum is too much; how we can control it; and what influences the amount that we plan in? In the example used in the recent blog ‘Return on Investment’, we showed that the basic curriculum design is based on the principles described of optimised class sizes and efficient delivery. Curriculum Enhancement is the […]

The Magnificent Seven

In an attempt to define Integrated Curriculum Finance Planning (ICFP), the Department for Education (DFE) originally outlined 7 measures that would make a significant difference in managing an establishment budget. Today this has been extended to 10 planning checks (Link here). You may be familiar with other systems that use a combination of these metrics outlined […]

Dream the Impossible Dream

ICFP, Integrated Curriculum Finance Planning, coined by Kate Copley a Deputy Director within the Department for Education (DFE), is the term that the DFE is now using to describe a process that has had a number of names in recent years. Some will recognise ‘Curriculum Led Finance Planning’ (CLFP) used by Outward Grange Academy Trust (OGAT) and various NPQH/NPQEL providers to describe a […]

A balance of three

For the past 10 years I have been working on school efficiency, particularly in the area of curriculum design and provision. As a result of that work I would suggest that there are three characteristics of curriculum design that need to be held in balance at every phase. Efficient (can we afford it?), Effective (does […]

Autumn MAT briefing and workshop: from aspiration to implementation

‎Tue‎ ‎18‎ ‎Sep  |  AQA Free event for MAT CEOs, COOs and senior MAT leaders. Sessions led by the Regional Schools Commissioner, David Ross Education Trust, Smart Curriculum, AQA, Arbor Education, Judicium, CJK Associates Book a place Time & Location ‎18‎ ‎Sep‎ ‎10‎:‎00 – ‎15‎:‎00 AQA, Stag Hill House, Guildford GU2 7XJ, UK About The […]