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Benefits

Benefits for participants

CSBM provides the SBM with an accredited course which will provide a route to the knowledge and skills required to perform the role to the best of their ability. Ultimately, the aim is to improve school effectiveness, which includes getting best value from funding, reducing bureaucracy and making the best use of staff time.

We all learn in different ways. The CSBM therefore uses a blend of different learning techniques. You will be provided with a range of different methods for acquiring knowledge and skills, enabling you to raise the standards and profile of both yourself and your school.

You will work with facilitators, a network of colleagues and other CSBM participants in order to research professional issues. One medium in which this is undertaken is though our online communities, which are located within an environment called talk2learn. Find out more about our online communities and watch an introduction to the benefits of talk2learn .

The programme aims to:

• enhance your school business leadership/management capacity
• provide you with a framework to acquire the knowledge, skills and experience so that you may contribute to the effectiveness of your school
• provide you with a course that is tailored to suit your own individual style and needs
• provide a foundation for future professional development
• provide you with an opportunity for professional and reflective debate

When you complete the course you will be able to:

• manage resources within a school more efficiently, effectively and sensitively
• renew and develop your understanding of the purpose of business management in a school context
• evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of business management within a school
• demonstrate leadership and management decision-making skills
• undertake business management strategies that will support your school's curriculum and learning development
• understand the nature of schooling in the 21st century
• understand the political, economic, social, legal and technical environment that schools operate in

A recent study on the perceptions of SBMs who have completed the course shows that, on average, understanding has improved as follows:

For further details on the benefits to participants and schools. please download a copy of our Impact and evaluation report 2007 (1.6mb, 47 pages). Warning: large document.

Benefits for schools

Following the recent and ongoing independent evaluation study on the impact the course is making so far and its effectiveness, some interesting statistics are starting to surface giving cause for further debate.

• 84% of CSBM graduates say that their role has changed as a result of completing the CSBM
• 89% of CSBM graduates advise that their understanding of the strategic development of the school is better or very much better as a result of completing the course
• 72% of graduates indicated that they were having a high or significant impact on the strategic development of the school
• 92% of graduates reported that the CSBM had positively impacted on their ability to operate as a leader in their schools
• 92% of graduates reported that the CSBM had positively impacted on their understanding of schools
• 90% of candidates are satisfied with the course
• 35% of bursars are managing between 1 and 100 support staff

It is also evident that the role of the school business manager has developed significantly from a traditional role which was essentially 'administrative' to one that involves leadership to a much greater degree.

Data from the findings of the reports indicates the differences in the amount of time bursars have estimated they spend on Leadership, Management and Administration pre- and post-taking the CSBM qualification:

The data also suggests that in areas where bursars are making savings and bringing in new money, this is being done in increasingly significant amounts:

Furthermore, on completion of the course, bursars and school business managers are reporting that they are having an increased impact in schools in the nine key areas covered in the course:

For further information on how the course could benefit your school, please download our Impact and evaluation report 2007 (1.6mb, 47 pages). Warning: large document.

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