CDC2 is over. Your survey obligation is not new
Between 2021 and July 2025, DfE-commissioned surveying teams visited government-funded schools across England, visually …
The SEMS Annual Return Opens This Month — Download Your Free Guide
If you follow this newsletter, you already know what the School Estate Management Standards annual return is — we've cov …
Allergy safety is law this term. Here's the two-list version.
As you know, this term brought the change the sector has been working towards since 2021. The measures widely known as B …
Before the Gates Open: 10 Checks Worth Making This Week
Most site teams will already have the routine jobs covered. The more useful question this week is: what can go wrong whe …
GEMS telecoms update: what schools and trusts need to know
On 3 July 2026, the Department for Education updated its Good estate management for schools guidance with revised inform …
£314m Is Leaving School Capital. That's Not The Real Story
Somewhere inside the Department for Education's £31.4 billion capital budget, £314 million is being quietly redirected. …
A Day in the Life of a School Site Manager
5:55 a.m. Alarm goes before it needs to. He's awake anyway. Kettle on, one strong tea, radio low so he doesn't wake Kare …
The week your fire strategy gets propped open
It’s 30 degrees outside, but step inside a south-facing classroom mid-afternoon and it feels closer to an oven. The air …
England's school sprinkler rethink
I was visiting a school last week and as we were walking up to the office we passed a new block being built on site. We …
The Autumn Return: What We Know, What We Don't.
Most people in the sector have heard of Manage Your Education Estate by now — the DfE's new digital platform, live since …
