Experience has shown that whilst many schools and their staff accept that they should be “doing risk management”, understanding how to approach it and the correct processes to put in place can be difficult. Consequently we find that many schools struggle to define and operate risk registers, action plans or to keep relevant staff motivated and involved. What is often initiated by senior management or governors becomes impossible to continue within the school as staff lose interest or simply don't take part, since they cannot see the benefits or find the workload daunting.
The way we do this is to first agree the risk management plan with the trustees and senior management. We will then undertake some basic briefings with the staff so everyone is aware of what is required and can give it some thought. We then interview the staff, only for about 20-30 minutes, per term (or monthly if required) to build up a complete picture of the school's risk. All this information is stored in our own software from which we produce the reports. Those staff or governors or senior management who wish to have access to the software themselves are welcome to but the reporting we do is complete in itself. We will advise and guide on taking actions for the risks and consequently mitigating any risk and reducing the exposure to the school financially, legally and reputationally.