Demonstration projects

Working on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), NCSL is co-ordinating 30 demonstration projects across England to explore the practical implications and impact of Advanced School Business Managers (ASBMs) and School Business Directors. (SBDs). The focus of the demonstration projects is on the following settings and all are taking place in a range of geographical contexts (for example, rural, urban and inner city). The submission round for demonstration project proposals is now closed, and we are no longer accepting bids.

Groups	School type
Primary groups	Large or a mix of large and small schools. Groups of small schools.
Cross-phase groups	Linked primary, secondary and special schools. All age and 3-16 campus schools, including extended services.
Secondary schools	Groups of secondary schools. 14-19 clusters/partnerships. Extended services.

Primary groups

Large or a mix of large and small schools.
Groups of small schools.

Cross-phase groups

Linked primary, secondary and special schools.
All age and 3-16 campus schools, including extended services.

Secondary schools

Groups of secondary schools.
14-19 clusters/partnerships.
Extended services.

Up to £50,000 per project is available and NCSL is currently welcoming bids and expressions of interest from interested parties.

Guidance for the demonstration projects (671kb, 11 pages) has been produced and provides information on the aims and objectives of the demonstration projects along with help to those schools that may be interested in taking part in a project.

The projects will assist NCSL to understand:

existing roles and responsibilities and which roles are most effective in which contexts
the qualities, skills and attributes that make for successful ASBMs/SBDs
training requirements both for internal and external candidates and the skills/attitudes that heads and school leaders need to enable the roles of ASBM and SBD to succeed
the impact of school context on the roles
the contractual and governance arrangements that best enable impact
successful approaches to business change

Timing of the demonstration projects

Demonstration projects will be delivered in a series of waves throughout 2008-09, with each wave expected to include three to six separate projects. The approximate timings for projects and application deadlines are highlighted below.

Wave	Start date	Closing date	Progress/further information
1	May 2008	31 April 2008	Announced 9/5/08 by Geoff Southworth at Achieving World Class Schools Conference. Wave 1 Projects: Overview and schools involved (68kb, 2 pages).
2	August 2008	15 July 2008	Wave 2 Projects: Overview and schools involved (77kb, 3 pages).
3	October 2008	31 August 2008	Wave 3 Projects: Overview and schools involved (77kb, 3 pages).
4	December 2008	30 November 2008
5	September-December 2008	30 September	Additional six rural projects announced 19/6/08 by Ed Balls at Seizing Success Conference.

The submission round for demonstration project proposals is now closed, and we are no longer accepting bids.

Latest news

NCSL is pleased to be working in partnership with Business in the Community on research that will support demonstration project outputs to explore private sector skills and how they can be transferred and maximised in schools.

Demonstration projects in the media