Facilities
The Changing Role of Premises Staff: Skills, Standards and School Successs
Premises teams are the unsung heroes of every school, keeping environments safe, functional, and ready for learning. Their responsibilities now extend far beyond routine maintenance, and the pressure on them has never been greater.
As the education landscape evolves, so do the expectations placed on school roles. For premises teams, this means an ever‑growing focus on safety, compliance, and efficient systems — all essential for schools and trusts to thrive.
That’s why this term we’re offering a one‑off bonus session designed to help schools understand the latest expectations and adopt forward‑thinking approaches to premises management.
In this sofa session we’ll explore:
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- What's really expected of school site teams today
- The training and development needed to stay ahead
- How the facilities role is evolving across education
Let us introduce you to this week's professional speakers
Joanne Fisher
Joanne is Head of Facilities Staffing and has worked in the education facilities sector for 25 years as an advisor and facilitator across the spectrum of educational establishments. Her practical support and hands on approach have helped guide senior educational leaders through premises, cleaning, facilities and budgetary challenges in an ever changing and now compliant based workplace.
She has implemented change within educational facilities by conducting solution-based advice and audits to produce tangible, financially viable and lasting improvements in areas of operational failure.
Joanne has consistently demonstrated a passion to navigate and support schools through the many challenges of educational sites and premises. Her dedication to improvement and commitment to her role has seen her build and sustain exceptional working relationships with many schools and MATs over the course of two and a half decades.
Neil Merry
Neil Merry has worked in Facilities for almost 30 years with 20 of those in Education. He started his facilities journey at Selfridges in Oxford Street before becoming a school caretaker at a primary school in East London. He then moved on to become a site manager at a large primary school managing cleaning staff, contractors and an assistant before joining Judicium as an Operations Manager. Neil manages in excess of 60 field staff who work in schools across London providing assistance and support in all aspects of premises related issues.
Neil has a passion for problem solving and will always provide schools with viable options to fix, improve and maintain and his lived experience of being a caretaker means that he can tackle problems at all levels. Unfortunately, his marvellous problem solving hasn’t quite extended to moving West Ham further up the premier league but he’s working on it!
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