Effective school governancein changing times
Who are we?
•A membership organisation representingschool governors in England
–governors from all state funded schools, bothLA maintained schools and academies
•We aim to improve the effectiveness ofgoverning bodies by providing expert andtailored information and advice
The role of the Governing Body
The governing body (GB) is the school’saccountable body.
Core responsibilities for GB’s are notchanging (2002 Education Act):
•The GB is responsible for the conduct of theschool
•The GB must work to promote high standards
For academies, the legal framework is different butthe aim & business of governing is very similar
Core GB Responsibilities
•Provides strategic direction for the school
•Appoints and appraises the headteacher
•Agrees the school improvement strategy, settingtargets, budgets & staffing structures
•Monitors and evaluates the work of the school
GBs should act in the interests of the children andyoung people, understand the views of parents andother key partners and report to the community
Headteachers are responsible for the day-to-dayoperation of the school
Lord Hill, minister for schools, atNGA’s Annual Conference 2010
‘the most important decision-making group in anyschool is the governing body’.
‘governing bodies should set the overall strategicdirection of a school, hold the headteacher toaccount and have a relentless focus on drivingup standards – but not get dragged into micro-managing the school or the minutiae of its day-to-day activities’.
What is changing?
Freedom and diversity
•More autonomy for schools
•Reducing bureaucracy – less guidance
•Future school funding reductions
•Changes to school funding formula
•More procurement for schools
•More academies, including UTCs & free schools
•More federation?
•More diversity in schools structures & groupings
•Much more data in the public domain
Higher aspirations
•Higher floor standards for attainment
–Primary: 60% pupils achieving level 4 in English andMaths (plus at least the national average making theexpected levels of progress between Key Stage 1 andKey Stage 2 in English and Maths)
–Secondary: raised to 40% pupils getting 5 A-C in2012, going up to 50% by 2015
•Parental expectations?
•Revised Ofsted framework & Parent View
•Better performance management
School to school support
•Reduced LA funding for support services
•Fewer quangos & support programmes
•NLEs, LLEs and now NLGs
•Collaboration vs competition
•Teaching schools
•More chains
•Converting academies supporting another school
•Partnerships for procurement
SEND review
Green Paper published in March 2011, included:
•replace ‘statementing’ regime with the Education Healthand Care Plan (EHCP)
•explore ‘personal budgets’ for parents/carers of childrenand young people with SEND
•replace School Action and School Action Plus with oneschool category for SEN
•give parents a greater say about where their child iseducated
•introduce new performance measures
•Pathfinders are now in place plus ‘Achievement for All’
Education Act 2011
Part 1: Early years provision
Part 2: Discipline
-Exclusions appeals panels changes
Part 3: School workforce
Part 4: Qualification & curriculum
-Including independent careers advice
Part 8: SEN pilot payments
Part 9: Tuition fees
Education Act 2011
Part 5: Ofsted changes
•Exemption of some schools from inspection
•Inspections can be requested
•The inspection report will cover:
–the achievement of pupils at the school;
–the quality of teaching in the school;
–the quality of leadership and management;
–behaviour and safety of pupils
Education Act 2011
Part 5: Other provisions e.g.
– No requirement for a school profile
–No duty on LAs to provide a SIP (GBs stillneed to appoint external adviser forperformance management of HT)
– Admissions code changes
– New schools to be academies
Part 6: Academies
Part 7: Abolition of YPLA
Size & composition of GBs
•The Education Act 2011 will allow LA maintained GBs tochange their size & composition from 1 Sept 2012(academies already this freedom)
•The legislation is permissive – you can change withinlimits if you want but you will not have to
•A minimum of two parent governors, one staff governor,one authority governor
•Expect minimum size to be lowered to seven
•Size does not relate to effectiveness
•Regulations currently out for consultation
•More emphasis on skills, except for Foundation governors
Undertaking a skills audit
•The GB is a team: between all theindividuals there must be all the necessaryskills and knowledge for governance
•See NGA’s list of skills
•Identify gaps for training & recruitment
•Use School Governors One Stop Shop:
www.sgoss.org.uk
Governing Body Responsibilities– where might we end up?
Governance under the spotlight
•More local decision-making e.g.
–where does GB get school improvement advice from?
–what self evaluation process shall the school use?
–what is the best school structure?
–Less ring-fenced funding
•We need to do better:
–autonomy brings more risks
–need to provide more effective challenge
–succession planning for GBs: limit on length of service?
•Review GB effectiveness & impact
Making an impact
•Set the ethos, including curriculum
•Stay strategic & focussed on improvement
•Don’t get overwhelmed by compliance &reviewing policies – delegate
•Recruit good school leaders and trust them torecruit good staff
•Ensure school leaders are equipped to do theirjobs, including HR aspects , procurement
•Need to ensure access to support & expertise
•Encourage collaboration – new forms ofpartnership; and federation
Effective governance
1.The right people round the table
2.Understanding role & responsibilities
3.Good chairing
4.Professional clerking
5.Good relationships based on trust
6.Knowing the school – the data, the staff, theparents, the children, the community
7.Committed to asking challenging questions
8.Confident to have courageous conversations inthe interests of the children and young people
Please use NGA resources
•Code of Practice for GBs
•Skills audit template
•‘Knowing your school’ briefing notes on data:
– first two on RAISEonline
•Q&As for academy conversion and more tocome, e.g. on academy governance; federation
•Model policies
•Welcome to Governance induction packs
•Chair’s Handbook
Join us
Standard NGA membership for a school GB is £63a year (£70 from April), and you receive:
•weekly e-newsletter for all governors,
•five copies of the bi-monthly 40 page NGAmembers’ magazine Governing Matters,
•access to the members’ area of the website,
•a free place at NGA member regional eventsand national conferences
GOLD package for £250 includes legal advice.
Discounts being given today.