It’s the end of term, time to down tools…or is it?!
We know premises management and compliance aren’t the most exciting or appreciated parts of running a school, but we also know that being responsible for a school estate doesn’t clock off at the end of July.
With all the challenges of the last few years, it’s no wonder many schools have let some basic routine compliance requirements slip a little. But now’s your chance to get back on track ahead of the new school year! And with Good Estates Management for Schools being a key focus this year and next, making sure your estate is in a good condition is more important than ever.
So where do you start? Well first, you need to ensure you have an effective Premises Management Strategy in place for your school. Read on to find out exactly how you can create one.
The 3 P’s of School Premises Compliance Excellence – Creating a School Estate Management Strategy
Every school has a legal duty of care to their staff, pupils, and visitors to their premises. The problem is that remaining within the law can be costly and time-consuming if not managed efficiently. To help you keep your school compliant and your maintenance costs down, you need an effective Premises Management Strategy.
When building a premises management strategy for your school that really hits the mark, remember the three P’s: People, Place and Process. You need to consider what you need to do for each, what is applicable in your school, and the activities and tasks that all participate in.
Remember, when it comes to compliance, the specifics will depend on your school but the basics, like fire safety, are always going to be required - so be sure to learn all you can about those.
So, what are the 3P’s all about?
People
Who is in your building and what are they using it for?
By putting the people first using a heightened duty of care, you must consider their aims and objectives whilst at the same time protecting their safety and well-being.
Keeping everyone safe and in good health is beneficial for your school as a whole. If an accident should occur, you can prove that you were compliant with the laws and regulations, and avoid unnecessary risk and liabilities.
Place
Think about what is particular about your school building. The Health & Safety at Work act is in place to protect employees, but there are further legal requirements that schools are expected to adhere to.
When it comes to place, you must understand what needs to be done to keep your school safe, clean, and efficient. For example, old or listed buildings present different challenges to new builds.
Schools are being impacted by Health & Safety Regulation increases, environmental responsibilities, education reforms, the increased need to serve Special Needs students and the physically disabled, changes in technology, and your grounds being used as a community asset. So, there’s a lot to consider in this area.
Process
What legal and best practice processes need to be followed to make sure your school is compliant?
Estates management encompasses far more than most people realise. Sure, there are obvious responsibilities like fire safety planning, repair works and waste management, but a good estates management team looks after so much more.
So, when thinking about Process, you need to embed and practise good compliance in all your processes, seek out and act on regular feedback, and be preventative not reactive.
Download our free Toolkit for a full list of the processes you need to have in place to ensure your school has premises excellence.
School Compliance - Putting Everything into Practice
Maintaining the safety and well-being of the occupants of a school is no easy task, especially when budgets are tight. The key is to always maximise the efficiency of the assets you have and achieve value for money.
Taking a strategic approach to premises management means that you’re more likely to meet the aims your school requires and of those who inhabit the space. It also means that things won’t be so likely to go wrong, creating a safe and healthy workplace for your everyone.
Take time to sit down and physically plan out what you need to do, who is going to do it, and by when. It all comes back to the three Ps – People, Place and Process.
Make the most of the summer holidays and get your school’s compliance up to scratch ahead of the new academic year by downloading your FREE Toolkit here.
6 Steps to get your school 100% compliant in 6 weeks!
With an iAM account, you can easily get your school up to 100% compliance during the summer holidays if you follow this easy roadmap:
Step 1: Survey and Contractor Tasks
Tell iAM what assets you have in your school, and it will then produce a list of all the tasks associated with them. Update all your contractor tasks and watch your compliance rating go up already! Simple first step, right?
Step 2: Scheduling and Internal Tasks
Book in all your contractors and schedule their visits on the system. You can relax a little now as you have just taken a major step forward!
Update all your internal tasks with the date you last completed them. Notice how your compliance is really starting to move now? You should be able to simply identify all the tasks that are due between now and the start of term.
Step 3: Annual Tasks
Conduct all the annual tasks in your iAM schedule that are due between now and September. Doing these tasks gets them out the way early with the advantage of rescheduling them for next year. You’ll also have plenty of time to sort out any issues that fall out from them. You’re halfway there now!
Step 4: 3 & 6 Monthly Tasks
Conduct all 3 & 6 monthly tasks in your iAM schedule that are due between now and the start of term. There isn’t a lot in this group so enjoy some spare time as a result! But don’t forget to keep an eye on those contractors.
Step 5: Monthly Tasks
Conduct all monthly tasks in your iAM schedule that are due between now and September. If completing this over the summer holidays, don’t start these tasks until the second week of August. Only one more step to go!
Step 6: Weekly Tasks
Conduct all weekly tasks in your iAM schedule that are due between now and the start of term. Try and do these tasks on the Thursday or Friday of the week before the start of term to allow you a bit of flexibility when the school reopens.
And there you are, 6 simple steps to get your school 100% compliant for the start of the new school year, feels good doesn’t it?
Save Time and Money on Your School’s Compliance Management & Staff Training
iAM Compliant is a web-based tool, specifically designed to help with your everyday health and safety compliance and reporting, it features all the eLearning training your school will ever need.
You can create regular tasks, assign jobs, produce reports, and even prevent potential issues from happening before they occur. As part of your account, you’ll have access to the complete premises compliance toolkit, incident and accident reporting, personalised audits and risk assessments, your statutory training courses, how-to video guides, and lots more. Try for free today.
