TEACHING PRACTICE II portafolio.docx | Page 7

7 MANAGING RESOURCES Strategic resource and financial management requires considerable leadership and management skills to link educational objectives with the resources that support them. All resources should be utilized to ensure the best outcomes for pupils. Headteachers are responsible for ensuring that all those funds allocated to them are managed with probity, are spent with securing best value in mind, and are deployed efficiently in pursuit of the school's key strategic educational goals. The material in this theme will help you develop into a financially literate headteacher – not an accountant. Two key publications form the core of this theme: • the DfE's 'Review of efficiency in the school’s system', which identifies "seven key characteristics of the most efficient schools" and the responsibility of headteachers for securing value for money • the 'Schools Financial Value Standard' (maintained schools), or the ‘Academies Financial Handbook', which can be used by leaders as a checklist to evaluate if their organization is both financially well managed and is complying with all the necessary legal requirements. 7