Finance Committee
March 2007
The Finance Committee not only budgets for salaries and resources but also explores ways of financing new buildings and ensures that the older buildings are kept in good repair.
It was a bold move to set up a five-year maintenance contract with a firm which works across both sites, carrying out such jobs as replacing doors, renewing decayed windows and repainting everything.
The results are a definite improvement on the 'patch and repair' approach of previous years.
We are planning strategically for the future. At long last, most of the
old mobiles have gone. Faculties are moving into purpose-built classrooms.
I recently spent some time in the new Arts Centre, which
was carefully designed to maximise natural light and space. It is a huge
improvement on its previous home in the old Drill Hall!
We expect high standards from our students and so we need to provide the best possible accommodation.
Consequently, the Drill Hall has been completely refurbished and transformed into the new Student Support Unit. This area has a quiet, purposeful atmosphere where students are benefiting from more individualised learning. The décor has been carefully chosen to enhance its purpose.
The new English block is well on the way to completion. The Sixth Form Centre is being extensively developed following consultation with students. The examples are too numerous to list.
Like all secondary schools, we must meet the requirements of the new national Financial Management Standard set by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES).
The Finance Committee has overseen the transition to the new standard at Ashby School and is pleased to report that, in an audit carried out in January, the school was found to meet the new standard in all areas inspected.
These areas included leadership and governance, people management, and policy and strategy. Staff and governors were praised by the auditors for their efforts and for the 'exceptional' quality of the paperwork.
The Finance Committee is never complacent nor allows opportunities to pass it by. Under the careful guidance of Bursar Andrew Burton, we aim to use the principles of best value in all our decisions and spend the money wisely to ensure continuous improvements for students and staff alike.
Ashby School's Financial Statement for 2005/06 can be viewed on the school website.
Daphne Hodkinson
Chair of Finance Committee
March 2006
Since 2000, the school has invested more than £3 million in structural improvements.
This has included the creation of a new science building, an extension to the library, a dining room extension, toilet refurbishment in Blocks A and C, brand new toilet facilities in B block, a total refurbishment of all the science labs not part of the new building, new classroom and reception in B block, conversion of the old science block into a Languages Suite, new Network Services room, new Textiles room, new sports hard play area and, most recently, a new £550,000 Arts Block. Planning permission has also been granted for a new £750,000 six-classroom block on the Leicester Road site to replace the existing mobiles.
Major changes in school catering have also had an impact on the work of the Finance Committee. Since the school ended its contract with external caterers two years ago, all food has been prepared and cooked on site, in a bid to raise nutritional standards and promote healthy eating. As a result, a wider variety of school meal options have been introduced, giving the school greater financial flexibility, and allowing it to trial and subsidise healthier alternatives.
The school has invested £40,000 in new equipment and two new tuck shop-style catering outlets in the school grounds. The Finance Committee has also been able to meet a request from the School Council to install freeview television facilities in each of the two restaurants.
Ashby School has adopted a similar hands-on approach to school maintenance by taking over the responsibility for maintaining school buildings from the Local Authority. The school now has the flexibility to choose local contractors and has already benefited from an external facelift by being completely repainted.
This year, the school launched 'Parent Pay', a secure online facility to enable parents to make credit or debit card payments for school shop items, such as uniform and books, as well as payment for school trips. Details of how to use this facility, including password information, will be included in a letter to parents and on the school website.
For the financial year 2006/07, the school expects to receive a budget of around £6.5 million. In addition, the Local Authority has provisionally agreed to contribute £350,000 to the new six-classroom block.
The budget will be boosted by continued funding from the DfES following our successful three-way Specialist Technology College bid, and our recent accreditation as a Language Specialist School. However, budgetary pressures from rising energy and examination costs, and the cost of implementing the Government's new teaching staff structure, will mean yet another very challenging year for the Governors.
Daphne Hodkinson – Chair of Finance Committee
Andrew Burton – Bursar
