Supporting Schools with Business Operations

This week is National Storytelling Week in the UK, encouraging us to embrace the tradition of storytelling and celebrate the diverse ways in which stories are told. Margaret Atwood said;

"Storytelling is a very old human skill that gives us an evolutionary advantage. If you can tell young people...that Uncle George was eaten by a croc over there...then those young people don't have to find out by trial and error."

Telling stories is such a good way to connect with children. My youngest grandson is just learning to talk, his vocabulary currently consists of "no", "yes", "book" and "read" (delivered in a very commanding voice!), along with a wide range of words only recognisable to his immediate family!

But telling stories is also a good way to connect with other adults. It's a way to share experience, learning and facts. In the SBL world, stories are important. Not fiction, of course, SBLs deal with the facts of finance, people, compliancy (to name just a few), but how you make the information accessible to stakeholders is where the story comes in.

Sometimes I think we should tell more stories. School business often feels a bit secretive, like we don't want to share the successes and challenges of running a school. Why don't we create a user friendly summary of our external audit, or LA outturn, for governors, staff and parents to actually explain what it means? Why isn't our funding more transparent (on every level)? Why can't we just tell a member of staff why we don't think they have been giving their best? Why are our policies often so un-user-friendly?

I'm a firm believer in speaking, and writing, simply and honestly, without malice or confrontation. Tell me what I need to know in modern terms, and words I understand. I think we all deserve that.

Have a great week.

Emma

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