Risk management should be an essential part of governance and leadership in any school. Identifying risks and applying appropriate control measures can help reduce the risk. Suffolk County Council has developed risk register and supporting guidance with partner agencies to provide a document which supports schools.

The Risk Register is a document allowing leaders and the governing body to identify, plan, track and monitor key risks to the school and identify controls to lower the risk. Risk Registers record the main perceived risks to an organisation’s financial or strategic aims and complement your Risk Assessments for specific activities and Critical Incident and Continuity Plans to prepare you for emergencies. The Risk Register covers financial, operational, staffing, buildings, safeguarding alongside Ofsted and pupil attainment.

Preparing a detailed Risk Register supports you and prevents surprises as risks have been identified and plans can be actioned.

Benefits of School Risk Register are:

• Enabling compliance in terms of managing risk.
• Increases likelihood of school improvement plan success.
• Improves the school environment and learning potential within the school.
• Improves governance.
• Supports decision making.
• Greater assurance.
• Provides evidence that risks are being managed.
• Provides a reporting line to report risks.

The risk register not only allows for the identification of risk, evaluating of current controls, recording of further action and providing a timeframe by which changes should be implemented. The matrix allows scoring for the level of risk and the guidance will support schools in completing the register.

This Risk Register document provides the Risk Register, guidance, risk matrix, progress update and an example risk register.

Risk Registers should be a ‘live document’ but reviewed at least annually by leaders and the governing body.