Anyone who has ever been involved in the management of a school will immediately recognise the extent of the governance, risk management and compliance challenges that schools face.

Most independent schools do not have the human or financial resources of large corporations. Rarely do they have internal lawyers or experienced risk or compliance managers. As a result, time-poor Principals, senior staff, Bursars, Business Managers and Registrars are often forced to add risk management and compliance to their never-ending list of daily responsibilities.

Once responsible individuals scratch the surface of risk management and compliance, they quickly realise it is simply one piece of the jigsaw.

The real challenge for independent schools is to develop an integrated governance, risk and compliance framework which includes effective documentation of internal policies and procedures, staff training and the implementation of a system to monitor the school’s overall performance and to provide meaningful reporting outcomes to the school executive and the governing body.

Properly implemented, such a framework will add real value to the school’s operations and avoid a situation where compliance is viewed as an ongoing administrative burden.

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