Expecting the Unexpected.

Services across the County Council have had to change massively this year, often with very little notice. Schools have had to respond flexibly to a very fast moving situation, changing the way lessons were delivered, and introducing new procedures for teaching staff and students sometimes over-night. Despite the challenges and pressures, schools in Norfolk pulled out all the stops to provide exceptional education to young people across Norfolk.

Many different incidents can impact our services, and now is the time to reflect on the events of the last year and to consider what elements of your School Business Continuity plan can be improved and amended. All schools are required to have a Business Continuity plan and support is available both reviewing the plan and guidance on the content. Our team has considerable experience of working with schools and understand many of the issues that teaching staff are faced with. Having plans in place in advance helps manage a wide range of incidents.

Business Continuity Awareness Week is the 17th May - 21st May 2021, this is an international event where organisations of all sizes are encouraged to build on their Business Continuity arrangements, discuss documents they have in place, consider running exercises with teaching staff and governors.

During this week please put some time aside to consider your School Business Continuity plan. If you would like support or advice please contact businesscontinuity@norfolk.gov.uk. Your plan must be updated at least every 6 months to check contacts and annually a full review must be completed. In the coming months we will be reviewing the template BC plan we provide for schools and we are looking to establish a working group to provide feedback on changes, if you are willing to help with this please provide your name, position, school name and contact details to our e-mail address above. Those schools involved in this working group will be offered consultancy time to help with their own plan and specialist advice on running a Business Continuity exercise.