As you all know the responsibility for managing the study leave process has recently changed from Trusts to Schools. This process has required a steep learning curve and these past few months have consequently enabled us to refine the process. One area of particular concern is the submission of expenses claims forms. Due to the external finance company who deals with the payments requiring clearly legible information many of the forms we have submitted have been rejected due the deemed illegibility of the handwriting. To reduce this occurrence the Severn Deanery is now instigating a policy change of insisting all the expenses claim forms have to be typed in order for them to be processed. Any forms which are not typed from this date will be returned. Although this may seem an extra hassle we hope that by doing this the process will run much more smoothly and have less delays in payment. May I also take this chance to thank you for your patience with regards to this new system and assure you that we are all trying our best to make the whole process more effective and efficient.