21 Top School Procurement Trends for 2021

Your Schools, Academies and MATs are procuring a wide range of different products and services this year, many of which are new to the education sector. We have seen a wealth of new suppliers enter the sector over the past year who are experts in their field and are supporting schools as you rise to the challenge of keeping your sites Covid-secure and improving outcomes for students. Take a look through our top 21 school procurement trends and discover the expert suppliers able to support schools in each category.

1. Cleaning

Schools are working flat out to keep their sites Covid-secure in order to ensure safety for their staff and students. As a result, cleaning companies and suppliers of sanitiser are essential for supporting schools. While many schools are seeking new commercial cleaning contracts who have the capability and capacity to take on the demands of a school site others are looking to buy in the products for their in-house cleaning teams to use. There has been a shift to procuring products that not only sanitise but have far greater efficacy and longer protection between cleans. We are also seeing an increase in the use of fogging machines to sanitise whole classrooms, school halls and corridors to maximise safety for school communities.

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2. Screens, Barriers and Signage

Take a walk through the corridors of any school at the moment and the endeavours of school staff is clear to see in the way they are managing social distancing and hand sanitising. Most schools are separated into zones to create class or year group bubbles all having to be signposted, delimited and with frequent reminders to sanitise, line-up 2m apart, ventilate and not to share equipment. Screens to protect office and catering staff are also sought after by school procurement professionals.

3. Compliance / Support

Government guidance is constantly changing as the pandemic is evolving and schools are doing everything they can to keep-up. Schools are evermore reliant on support organisations offering legal and compliance advice. There are a number of highly experienced suppliers who schools can turn to in order to be safe in the knowledge they remain compliant.

4. Free School Meal provision

As unemployment has risen and more families are now eligible to apply for free school meals, schools will need to ensure they have the catering facilities to supply the increased demand. Experienced catering companies are stepping in to manage this provision giving schools one less thing to have to manage in-house.

5. Hand sanitiser dispensers

Early on in the pandemic it was a rush for schools just to source enough hand sanitiser to keep schools safe for those vulnerable and key worker children and staff who were still attending. Once supply had steadied, schools then looked at the best, more permanent options for dispensers based on the understanding that first and foremost Covid-19 was not going away any time soon but also that habits were changing over time and that hand hygiene in schools would be here to stay. Pedal hand sanitiser dispensers and automatic dispensers have quickly become the trend across schools avoiding the need for handling containers.

6. Online learning platforms

There was a huge disparity between schools back in March 2020 in terms of their online learning provision to support home schooling. It was quickly recognised that schools had to make significant improvements to their provision and sought out the best online learning platforms to support their students. With additional funding schools were able to provide many of the most disadvantaged pupils with laptops and internet access. The quality of provision now made possible as a result of the innovation in remote learning is something that will continue to be embedded in the future curriculum of schools as the benefits of seamless classroom / home learning has been made possible.

7. Communication platforms and apps

The volume of communication between schools and parents has been on the increase for some years however none so much as over the past year. Many schools have already moved to well-established communication platforms for sharing information such as attendance data, progress reports, rewards and sanctions as well as messaging and payment collection but more recently we are seeing a huge surge in uptake by schools.

8. IT provision

Whether it’s networking provision, broadband or hardware, schools have had to invest in their IT facilities this year to cope with the surge in demand for online learning by students, remote working of staff and communication from their wider communities. Schools have also been at the helm in sourcing laptops and internet provision for those disadvantaged students whose home IT facilities leave them missing out on virtual learning opportunities.

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9. Health and safety training

Schools are striving to keep up to date with the latest health and safety guidance not only to keep their school sites Covid-safe but to help ensure compliance and best practice across other crucial areas such as safeguarding, fire awareness, mental health training, manual handling, trips and falls, food safety, stress management, asbestos awareness and legionella amongst many others.

10. Active learning

There have been wonderful examples of how many schools are embracing active learning opportunities as an effective way to narrow the gap created by the closure of schools while keeping students active and engaged. With the pressure on for teachers to cover all aspects of the curriculum, including missed work, active learning strategies have really come into their own.

11. Wellbeing

After months in lockdown and a further return to tier restrictions many children have not only fallen behind academically but schools have witnessed a decline in pupil wellbeing. Teachers are turning to a range of wellbeing support to supplement their own techniques including workshops, children’s yoga and meditation classes, behaviour and development experts and counselling services to name a few.

View Recommended Wellbeing Support

12. Outdoor play / play spaces

It’s well documented that being outdoors reduces the chance of transmission of Coronavirus therefore schools have been maximising their outdoor play opportunities with improved provision of playgrounds, all-weather canopies and more outdoor play equipment. There are a wealth of accredited providers who can help with anything from new playground markings, to full playground installations.

View Recommended Outdoor Play Providers

13. Videography

With a distinct lack of visitors on site schools are finding innovative ways to share the achievements of students, events in the calendar and promotional materials with the help of video production companies. Schools are successfully involving their communities in the life of the school digitally during these unprecedented times with professionally crafted videos of nativities, sports days, awards and presentation evenings as well as for open days to promote the school.

View Recommended Videography Companies

14. Graphical Calculators

One procurement trend that has been on the up are graphical calculators, a far cry from the older more basic scientific calculators and proven to increase student performance by stretching understanding, enabling experimentation and helping to comprehend relationships, patterns and rules. It seems the trend for many Maths and Science departments is to #GoGraphic.

15. Portable classroom / office space

In order to manage social distancing more effectively many schools are being creative with their classrooms and offices in order to provide the additional space required. Design and construction experts are providing schools with flexible modular buildings as an excellent solution to fit each school’s space and budget.

16. Books

We all know the importance schools place on literacy and as schools strive to ensure students catch up on missed learning books are playing an essential role whether that’s from a creative and literary perspective or the support of subject content from text books. Schools are not only maintaining stocked libraries and department text books for sharing with students but also promoting book purchasing opportunities by way of mobile book shops and online bookstores.

View Recommended Book Suppliers

17. Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme – Related Suppliers

The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme provides grants for public sector bodies to fund energy efficiency and heat decarbonisation measures. The £1 billion scheme is part of the Chancellor’s ‘Plan for Jobs 2020’ commitment to support the UK’s economic recovery from COVID-19, supporting up to 30,000 skilled jobs in the low carbon and energy efficiency sectors. The scheme also supports the government’s net zero and clean growth goals. As a result schools are bringing in suppliers who can advise on, secure funding for and deliver such measures to achieve these goals.

18. Pupil Premium Opportunities

With the financial hardships experienced by so many more families during the pandemic it is predicted that the numbers of pupils eligible for pupil premium funding will increase even further than that seen by schools already. With this in mind schools are investing their additional funding in procuring a wide range of support materials, workshops and online courses many of which are not only benefitting pupils in receipt of funding but also widely across the school to improve pupil outcomes.

19. Wall graphics

We’ve seen a rise in specialist companies helping to improve the learning environment, inspire young people and provide positive and motivating messaging in difficult times. Expert suppliers are helping schools to celebrate values and share their identity in vibrant classroom and corridor displays.

20. School Recruitment

It’s been an incredibly challenging time for schools in terms of covering classes as staff absence from illness or self-isolation has reduced staff numbers. Schools are relying more heavily than ever before on recruitment agencies to help them meeting their staffing requirements whether that’s full time, supply or PPA cover.

21. Assessment

2020 saw the GCSE and A-Level cohorts move from external examinations to teacher assessed grades after issues were experienced with the intial algorith. For 2021 it has been announced that external examinations will also be replaced by teacher assessments. It has therefore never been so important to ensure schools have a robust progress tracking system in place in order to justify grade allocations. It is essential that full confidence can be put in teacher assessments as schools will be judged by their communities for this for decades to come as the life chances of our young people are played out.

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