Governors

Inspections should engage governors

scameron — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 15:06:24 +0100

A committee of MPs has called on Ofsted to shine the spotlight more brightly on governance arrangements.

As part of a hard-hitting report on the role and performance of Ofsted, the Education Select Committee looked at the role of school governors in the inspection process and concluded that ‘the inspectorate should have a clear policy of engaging governors as much as possible'.

Still a positive role for extended schools

scameron — Thu, 19 May 2011 14:31:38 +0100

For the past six years schools have benefited from receiving additional funding for providing extended services such as breakfast clubs, after-school clubs, parenting skills and family learning.

Why professional development is the key to school improvement

scameron — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:43:12 +0100

Governing bodies seeking to improve their schools should not overlook the importance of continuing professional development (CPD) for school staff.

A study by Ofsted has concluded that the best schools are ‘excellent at developing their staff and are highly effective in using continuing professional development as a way to help bring about improved standards at their school’.

The way forward for school governance?

scameron — Mon, 24 May 2010 16:20:07 +0100

Along with everyone else involved in education, school governors are wondering what changes the new government will bring to their roles, responsibilities and the way they work.

Governors had already been anticipating change for the best part of two years as they waited (and waited) for the Ministerial Working Group on School Governance to report. That report was finally published on the very last working day before the General Election was called and its conclusions are likely to at least provide a starting point for setting the future direction of school governance.

Why spending on teaching assistants could raise attainment

scameron — Tue, 11 May 2010 14:17:02 +0100

If the financial squeeze on schools tightens in the coming years, many governing bodies will find themselves scrutinising the staffing budgets that typically swallow up as much as 80% of their funds.

As they try to determine the most efficient way to spend on staff, governors and heads will be fascinated by the findings of a new report from the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) which concluded that spending extra money on staffing only leads to an improvement in pupils’ attainment if it is spent on teaching assistants.

The Financial Management Standard in Schools (FMSiS) – supporting your school through assessment

scameron — Mon, 10 May 2010 10:35:30 +0100

The Financial Management Standard in Schools (FMSiS) can at times be very demanding of business managers and we have all had different experiences of how it is handled by assessors. I have successfully gained the standard twice and I can confirm that it is frustrating but it is also an ideal opportunity for business managers and governors to evaluate financial procedures. I found that the process of the second audit was far easier than the first, because I knew by then what was required, from completing the first round of the standard. Basically, there are five components:

Encouraging pupils to cycle to school

scameron — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:43:18 +0100

Does your school encourage pupils to get on their bikes?

Cycling to school is one of those rare activities that 'ticks all the boxes'. It’s enjoyable, it gives children much needed-physical activity and it helps the environment by reducing the number of cars on the school run.

Secrets of outstanding schools

scameron — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:20:47 +0000

Learning the secrets of schools that succeed against the odds
Ofsted has something of a reputation for being critical of schools without offering them the practical support they need to be able to learn from their mistakes and improve.

Get ready for tighter budgets

scameron — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:05:19 +0000

How well will your school cope with a financial squeeze?
With times of austerity and cuts in public spending expected whichever party wins the General Election, schools are already being warned to plan for living within tighter budgets.

Even the current budget settlement, which runs for two years until 2012-13, only translates to an above-inflation increase if schools are able to make so-called efficiency savings of more than £1billion over that period.

Sustainability: a top priority for governors

scameron — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:39:17 +0000

Is your school making enough progress towards sustainability?
Ofsted has put the focus back on sustainable development in schools with the publication of a report based on a survey of the efforts of a group of 14 schools in England over a three-year period.

The report recommends that sustainability has to be a top priority in all schools’ improvement plans if the government’s target for all schools to be sustainable schools by 2020 is to be met.

Making the most of governors

scameron — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:31:11 +0000

Governors play an increasingly significant role within the current educational climate, however this is an aspect of schooling that we can often overlook or pay scant attention to. Each governing body operates in its own idiosyncratic way with the reasons for this usually lost in the mists of time. Rarely do new headteachers tackle this, preferring to go along with what has been regular practice for a long time. Is this good common sense or a missed opportunity?

How to detect fraudulent admissions applications

scameron — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:01:59 +0000

Do you know how to deal with fraudulent admission applications?
‘Every place obtained by a parent through deception, has the consequence of depriving another child of their “rightful” place.’

Those were the words of Ian Craig, the Chief School Adjudicator, in a hard-hitting report on fraudulent or misleading applications for admission to schools delivered to the Children’s Secretary, Ed Balls, November 2009.

How governors can help schools to meet the behaviour challenge

scameron — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:23:53 +0000

How to improve pupil behaviour in your school
In its latest strategy document, Delivering the behaviour challenge, the DCSF says that: ‘The key to achieving our goal of all schools being rated good or better on behaviour is raising expectations all round – on the part of school heads and governors, local authorities and parents.’

Secondary curriculum: guide for governors

scameron — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:41:28 +0100

‘There are so many changes taking place all at once. In September 2008 all A levels are reducing to four modules. This means that all schemes of work will need to be changed, the new key stage 3 curriculum starts with major changes, competencies and so on. Staff are getting concerned about overload. The extra teacher development day has been useful for preparation for the new curriculum but information on some foundation subjects – art, music and technology will not be available until June!’

'Untrained volunteers' on governing bodies

scameron — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:37:09 +0100

Teachers who know me know I love them. Some also know that, as a parent member of the Taylor Committee 30 years ago, I fought hard for their right to strong representation on the new, broadly-based, community governing bodies along with elected parents and community representatives.

Governors: help or hindrance?

scameron — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:16:06 +0000

It’s ten o’clock on a cold winter’s evening and a governors’ meeting is in full swing. The agenda has been long and the debates have seemed even longer because some of the governors have been too busy to read the pre-meeting paperwork, which you, of course, weren’t too busy to prepare for them! You are tired and have a difficult parent to see in the morning. The final points are being made in agreement with your school improvement agenda item on developing better teaching and classroom management.

Value in linking school governors and school bursars

scameron — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:49:42 +0000

School business managers can save up to 30% of headteachers’ time, substantially enhancing school capacity and improving the quality of teaching and learning.

According to the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) the importance of sound business management skills is widely accepted. The challenge now for governors and headteachers is to create a culture where the role of SBM is valued as a senior member of staff, rewarded financially and given the senior leadership responsibility it needs to have an impact.

Working with governors on G&T provision

scameron — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:52:13 +0000

School governors come in all shapes and sizes, with a wide range of knowledge and expertise. Their backing for G&T provision can be a great asset, helping you to move G&T up the agenda, secure resources and improve the opportunities on offer for your most able pupils. Keeping governors informed about your work as G&T coordinator/ leading teacher can be influential in getting and keeping them ‘onside’, and the pointers below may help you in addressing this part of your role.

Building an effective team of governors

scameron — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:01:28 +0000

A new school year, a common purpose, a mixture of opinions and talents – what could be better ground for some really effective team building?

Unless it is a brand new school, the members of the governing body will be a mixture of new and old, so they will have to re-create the character of the team and develop its strength and effectiveness as a working unit. This is an ideal opportunity to become more effective as a team, not only to build on existing strengths but to reinforce and refresh the sense of common purpose and the principles of good governance.

A year in the life of school governor

scameron — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 13:35:21 +0000

This article was written in July 2008. Read on to hear Joan Sallis's reflection on that year as a governor at her primary school.

As we lie in the sun this summer we may find ourselves reminiscing about the ups and downs of another school year. It will exhaust me just to think about it this time as it is scarcely believable how much has changed in my primary school. It offers many lessons for the future – mainly, Be Prepared!

Governing bodies: helping schools be accountable

scameron — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:41:05 +0000

When we look at how governing bodies organise their work we normally focus on efficiency, but we need also to turn the telescope round and look at it from the perspective of how it helps us meet the needs of accountability. There may well be a bonus as well.

Think corporately
It is one of the basic principles of governing bodies that they are corporate. It’s another one that they are the accountable body for a school. It’s an easy step from there to see that the accountability is corporate.

Governors: getting involved in your school's sport

scameron — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:58 +0100

Not only does PESSCL (PE, school sport and club links strategy) provide the governing body as a whole with a framework and set of targets against which the capacity of a school to deliver high quality physical activity can be measured, but it also provides a professional infrastructure around which individual governors with interest and expertise in the area can make a personal contribution to an important aspect of child development.

A mature governor reflects on 40 years in the education system

scameron — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:57 +0100

In perspective, history often looks like a repeating pattern of action and reaction.

Secondary school partnerships: the role of governors

scameron — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:57 +0100

Schools and colleges that work in partnership provide a better offer to their students, make faster progress and improve their performance. That is the core message of my study for the Association of School and College Leaders on collaborative working in the secondary school sector.

Governor participation: getting to know your school

scameron — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:54 +0100

Even experienced governors often ask how they can play a useful part as individuals.

Growing leaders in your governing body

scameron — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:54 +0100

According to the National College for School Leadership (NCSL), 2009 looks like being the crunch year when an impending national crisis in the recruitment and retention of school leaders will strike.

Governors and performance management

scameron — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:54 +0100

Last year saw the re-launch of the performance management process in schools.

Whilst the original aims – to drive up standards and to motivate and develop staff – have not changed, a new model performance management policy, an updated model pay policy, and a significant investment in training for school leaders, governors and local authority personnel sought to ensure that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities. So do we? This article examines some of the issues that arise most frequently in governor training sessions.

Legal basics for teachers: Structure and responsibilities of governing bodies

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:49 +0100

(This article includes a quick reference list of categories of governor)

Democratic accountability is a common feature of most public services. School governance is a quite radical approach to such accountability, involving many participants, and based on the twin principles of volunteering and stakeholder representation.

Parent governor representatives

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:47 +0100

A research study into the work of Parent Governor Representatives has concluded that the role is ‘both necessary and worth doing’, but the researchers warn that, ‘at present it is hard to avoid concluding other than that PGRs are being sent into battle with one arm strapped behind their backs’.

The report was commissioned by the charity Research and Information on State Education (RISE) and carried out by the Centre for Successful Schools at Keele University, and Create Consultants.

Appointing a headteacher - advice for governors

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:47 +0100

The appointment of a new headteacher is an awesome responsibility and, I scarcely need to say, the most important decision most governing bodies ever have to make.

I know how it feels as I am in the middle of it as I write, but I won’t talk about that except to say that if you are replacing a wonderful head it is the most frightening experience of your life.

Bringing school governors into Circle Time

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:46 +0100

The Whole School Quality Circle Time Model has now been implemented in hundreds of schools, whose members know that the first focus must be on enhancing the mental health of the adults.

This means all the adults, no matter what their involvement with the school, whether they are teachers, parents, administrators, assistants, school governors or any of the school’s support staff.

Academies: independence and freedom — or state control?

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:45 +0100

There seems to be a degree of urban myth developing in relation to academies, evidenced by the stimulus for this article — a recent comment that I heard in the course of my practice that in one area 'there are four or five academies selecting from the same pool of children. Each is supposed to take 25 per cent from each ability band to get an even distribution of ability within the school, but when it comes down to it there is “trading” that goes on between them — within an ability band there is top end and bottom end.'

New exclusion rules (part 2): governors and appeal panels

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:44 +0100

This is the second part of our feature on the new exclusions guidance, in force from September 2007. Previously we looked at changes relating to the headteacher's decision to exclude (parts 1-3 of the guidance). This month we examine responsibilities of governors and independent appeal panels (parts 4-6).

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE GOVERNING BODY

Reviewing exclusions

What are school governors for?

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:41 +0100

Schools serving areas of disadvantage face significant challenges. Driving up achievement, managing behaviour and attendance, dealing with crises in the lives of pupils and their families are all more difficult here than in more favoured areas.

In this context, governing bodies can make three powerful contributions:

They can keep their eye on school performance and challenge heads and their staff to do even better.
They can act as sounding boards for headteachers, making available their local knowledge.

When conflicting governor priorities create anxiety

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:40 +0100

Recently I have become even more conscious of a particular anxiety among governors. It is about what they see as a conflict between being united on the school’s behalf but also elected or appointed to represent distinct interest groups with perhaps conflicting priorities. I think I know why this anxiety has grown. As we mature in our role we quite rightly develop a strong loyalty to the school, even identification with its well-being, and this sometimes sits uneasily with the priorities and opinions of the group who appointed or elected us.

Guidance on using biometric technology

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:39 +0100

Governors and headteachers are being urged to be clear and open with parents and pupils about the growing use of biometric technology in schools.

Promoting governor and parent partnership

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:36 +0100

However much – or little – your school encourages parental involvement in aspects of its daily life, there can be no doubting that the school can benefit considerably through developing a close partnership between governors and parents.

Effective governance and excellent leadership

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:34 +0100

When I arrived at Firth Park in September 1995, there were three to four governors who ran the governors’ meetings and agenda. The other governors felt disenfranchised and marginalised. Often they did not turn up to meetings or if they did, they contributed little to the discussions.

Governor expectations

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:34 +0100

I often think how much success or failure in key relationships of our lives depends on having appropriate expectations of those we live or work with, and indeed of ourselves.

Often success also depends on making expectations explicit, even negotiating them. Too high and disappointment is followed by resentment. Too low and we debase and demoralise each other and performance suffers.

Extended services – the inside story

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:34 +0100

Hengrove Community Arts College is a mixed school for students aged 11-19. It is located in South Bristol and serves one of the most deprived areas in the country.

Just over three years ago (January 2004) it went into special measures. At that time the key issues facing the college included to:

Engaging governance: teaching and learning involvement

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:34 +0100

Perhaps one of the first things to consider when working with governors is not what they want from you, but what support they can offer to you and ultimately the learners. Governors bring a wealth of expertise from their life experiences and working environments, many of which are transferrable skills that you can utilise.
When working with governors on curriculum issues, it is important that you inform them of issues that affect your school at present, relative to the school improvement plan and in relation to national/government initiatives. These include:

Expectations of governors

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:30 +0100

I often think how much success or failure in key relationships of our lives depends on having appropriate expectations of those we live or work with, and indeed of ourselves.

Often success also depends on making expectations explicit, even negotiating them. Too high and disappointment is followed by resentment. Too low and we debase and demoralise each other and performance suffers.

Ensuring race equality in education

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:30 +0100

‘Education has a key role to play in eradicating racism and valuing diversity.’ This was one of the conclusions announced by Sir William Macpherson in the wake of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry published in 1999.

Adapting behaviour policies to new powers

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:26 +0100

The guidance observes that it has long been established that rewards are more effective than punishment in motivating pupils and that praising and rewarding positive behaviour encourages others to act similarly. It says, therefore, that the school behaviour policy should not only specify what sanctions are available to staff but also how positive behaviour will be reinforced through praise and rewards.

Welsh education reaches a new milestone

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:26 +0100

School funding
The principal concern governors in Wales have remains the level of school funding. Unlike in England, almost all the funding schools receive comes through the LEA, and the amount is still largely at the discretion of the LEA.

Differences between primary and secondary governance

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:26 +0100

Recently I met a brave parent governor who believed in seeing the job through to the end.

When her child moved on to secondary school she again stood as a parent representative in the hope that she would enjoy it as much, feel just as involved, be just as sure of doing a relevant and rewarding job. Sadly she was disappointed.

She had felt part of the primary school:

A fresh look at reporting and accounting

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:26 +0100

The headteacher will be the source of much – but not all – of this information; governing body committees and individual governors with delegated powers, and working parties, have a responsibility to report clearly to the full governing body. And governors have a major responsibility for requesting and using information to the greatest effect.

Governor briefing: changes in the focus of education

ewtemp — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:19 +0100

by Joan Sallis

One is the movement towards making designated schools into centres of whole community concern for children from babyhood, with all the agencies which serve the family collaborating to achieve the best possible environment for the health, happiness and learning of the individual. The other is the unmistakable spontaneous movement of schools themselves into a whole-child approach to learning – body, mind and spirit all needing to be nurtured.

Study calls for reform of governing bodies

ewtemp — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:19 +0100

The report, by PricewaterhouseCoopers, is the result of a study into school leadership commissioned by the DfES in April 2006 following a recommendation by the School Teachers’ Review Body.

Appointing heads remains a crucial role

ewtemp — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:19 +0100

By Nick Bannister

That’s a key recommendation in a study from the National College for School Leadership (NCSL), produced in partnership with governor organisations, which recommends that all involved in the recruitment process – governing bodies, headteachers, advisers and consultants – adopt a set of simple steps that will give schools a much better chance of retaining a head once appointed.