Why Premises Professionals Deserve Strategic Visibility Across Schools

Dec 10, 2025

Every day, premises professionals carry out the work that keeps schools safe, compliant and ready for learning. Their role underpins wellbeing, supports safeguarding and ensures environments are fit for pupils and staff. Yet much of this work happens quietly, often unnoticed and rarely featured in strategic conversations. Safety tasks may be completed, but the expertise behind them is not always fully recognised. It is time to bring that work into clearer focus. Premises management is not a support function. It is a safeguarding function.

The Work That Keeps Schools Safe

Premises professionals manage a complex set of responsibilities:
  • Compliance with evolving legislation
  • Contractor management
  • Reactive and planned maintenance
  • Risk assessments
  • Health and safety duties
  • Site condition and suitability
This work protects children, supports staff and forms the foundation of a safe learning environment. It enables evacuation procedures, ensures chemicals are stored properly, and keeps ageing buildings operational. It is not secondary to safeguarding. It is part of safeguarding.

Safety Works Best When Shared

Schools achieve better safety outcomes when premises, finance and leadership work together. Collaboration offers clear benefits: ✔ Risks are identified earlier ✔ Decisions become easier to justify ✔ Spending becomes better informed ✔ Staff feel more confident in their duties When safety is led collectively, it becomes proactive rather than reactive.

Visibility Supports Leadership

Senior Leadership Teams already manage significant workload and strategic responsibility. When safety is presented with clarity and structure, it becomes easier to integrate into decision making. Premises professionals often have valuable insight into risk and compliance. Finance teams bring oversight of available resources. Leadership teams provide vision and direction. Bringing these perspectives together strengthens governance and improves safety planning. Safety becomes stronger when it is shared.

How NASPM Helps Schools Structure Safety

At NASPM we work to give safety a clearer foundation across schools. Our aim is to make safety easier to understand, easier to lead and easier to plan. We provide:
  • Guidance and checklists
  • Clear language for risk and responsibility
  • Templates and structured systems
  • Training to support confident leadership
Our membership options are built for real school environments and flexible enough to suit different levels of need.

🟢 Free Membership

  • Guidance and monthly newsletter
  • Practical insights
  • 10 percent discount on all training

🔵 Premium Membership

  • Everything included in free membership
  • 25 percent discount on all CPD and training
  • Access to toolkits and structured resources
  • Support for planning and strategic leadership

A Visible Role in Safeguarding

Schools are safest when safety is considered alongside teaching, wellbeing and curriculum delivery. Premises professionals are an essential part of that picture. Raising visibility is not about adding tasks. It is about recognising expertise and organising safety with greater confidence.
  • Explore NASPM membership options
  • Join our network of professionals working across the UK
  •  Let us help you build structure, visibility and shared responsibility
Safety is stronger when it is led together.
National Alliance of School Premises Management
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.