ISBA BURSARCAST // Phones, Allergies, Scams & Budgets: This Week in ISBA (6th February 2026)

This week’s ISBA Bursarcast brings you a rapid newsbeat on the latest operational and regulatory developments affecting independent schools—focused on what bursars and senior leaders need to know now.We cover tightened expectations on mobile phone policies, forthcoming statutory allergy guidance, continued cyber-fraud risks, budget planning pressures for catering, and key ISBA deadlines and events, including the Annual Conference.This episode is designed for time-poor professionals who want clarity, context and practical next steps—without wading through long documents.What You’ll LearnWhat the updated Department for Education guidance on mobile phones means in practice from April 2026How Ofsted will factor phone policies into behaviour judgementsWhat’s coming in new statutory allergy guidance—and how schools should prepare nowThe scale of fee-payment scams highlighted by IRIS Education researchWhy catering budgets for 2026–27 need to plan for sustained inflation, based on Independent Schools Catering Consultancy benchmarksWhy participation in ISBA’s Data Navigator benchmarking with Barnett Waddingham mattersKey February and spring-term dates bursars shouldn’t missResources mentionedDfE: Mobile phones in schools — updated guidanceISBA allergy policy template and webinar (4 March)IRIS Education: Protect your school – a practical approach to cybersecurityISCC catering budget benchmarks for 2026–27ISBA Data Navigator (data entry deadline: 12 February 2026)ISBA Annual Conference 2026 — bookings open with early-bird ratesRegional Group meetings and Newly Appointed Bursars programme(Full links available via the ISBA Weekly Bulletin and member resources.)Subscribe & Follow ISBA Bursarcast New episodes every Friday at 4pm. Follow on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Acast to stay informed on the latest in independent school operations.Email: [email protected] – we’d love to hear from you. The Bursarcast is produced by RAFIKI STUDIOwww.rafikistudio.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.