Part of the charity Oasis UK, Oasis Community Learning has been set up to sponsor and manage a number of new Academies around the UK. The Trust has selected PS Financials as its financial management system for all the new Academies currently being established.
Currently, Academies are being developed in Enfield, London, Winteringham, Immingham, Bristol and Salford.
The Trust intends to control school finances partly from its central base and partly from the school locations themselves - it therefore needed a system flexible enough to manage this set-up. Mark Orrell, Deputy CEO (Business & Finance) at Oasis Community Learning observes:
"Individual schools tend to work with systems which hang off their own school management system. We selected the PS Financials product ahead of a number of specific school-based products as it can handle groups of schools well and will allow us to control transactions at the school as well as in the centre - many of the specific school products won't allow you to do this."
The Trust had consulted with UCST, already a user of PS Financials across its schools and Academies, before choosing PS Financials as its accounting software provider.
"We were looking for strong reporting within the system, and a simple, clear, purchasing system. School financial systems need strong and responsive budgetary control and a good planning environment - we confidently felt that PS Financials provide that."
Of the particular issues facing schools in managing their finances, Mark comments that:
"Schools have a defined amount of money to work with, you have to make sure financial systems are set up so there aren't any surprises and there is money available at the end of the day. Oasis Community Learning also has to effectively manage the capital build of the new school buildings and infrastructure. Because it is flexible and proven in education, we know PS Financials will manage this well."
Oasis Community Learning manages the following Academies:
- Winteringham
- Immingham
- Enfield
- Bristol
- Salford
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