Central Services

Bury College Education Trust (BCET) has a very successful vocational college as our sponsor. Our ambition is to develop school communities where every individual can flourish and maximise their potential. We aim to provide an exciting, inspirational curriculum; raise attainment and achievement and deliver excellence enabling all our learners to thrive.

As a Trust, our learners are at the heart of all we do. We aim to support our schools to provide the best possible outcomes and our improvement strategy seeks to achieve this.

Our executive leadership team works closely with school leaders to establish development priorities to shape and drive school improvement initiatives and help deliver outstanding outcomes throughout. Aspiring to achieve educational excellence is at the heart of what we do.

Our collegiate approach encourages innovation and drives our success. The central services that we provide to our academies allow school leaders to focus their attention on pupils and the delivery of high-quality teaching and learning.

Working with the Local Authority

We continue to work closely with our Local Authority and, where appropriate, procure support from them. In addition, our Central team holds several positions in key Local Authority partnership boards and committees, meaning we maintain close working relationships and knowledge of the overall educational landscape across our borough.

Additional support with specific programmes of work is also provided at a Trust level.

Central Support Services

Centralised support services enable our schools to focus on what they do best – raising education standards and supporting the delivery of outstanding education.

Members of the BCET Central Services team are on hand to provide valuable support and advice on areas of statutory compliance, dealing with the day-to-day challenges of running a school and unlocking economies of scale.

These include:

Strategic leadership and school improvement

Our Director of School Improvement and Safeguarding works to challenge and support school leaders and local governing bodies to improve the quality of provision within schools; to monitor, evaluate and report school effectiveness in line with the Trust’s vision and to ensure regular, open communication to enable the Board to meet its responsibilities.

Finance services

The central ﬁnance team provides strategic financial management, support and advice for our academies; ensuring that school leaders are able to maximise the effectiveness of their resources and focus on the delivery of educational excellence.

We work with our schools to help them manage their budgets, providing a comprehensive internal audit programme, supporting with year-end accounts, cash flow planning and assistance and other financial and audit responsibilities, alongside general finance support and assistance when needed.

Business Support Services

Our Business Support function aims to reduce the administrative burden on schools by providing a variety of support on a variety of functions including marketing, General Data Protection Regulation compliance, risk management and Trust CPD. This also includes support with admissions and appeals.

Estates Management and IT

Our Estates and IT services provide information, support and advice for a wide range of issues, including IT strategic and operation management, contract management and estates management. With a strong record in securing successful Condition Improvement Fund grants we can support in securing funds to improve building facilities.

HR and Payroll

Working with first class providers we can support access to a range of advice on HR related topics such as policy, advice and employment law. We can secure both remote guidance and hands on support on all employment issues, including recruitment and retention, employee engagement, staff CPD and all employment law compliance.