CoSST Governor and SLT conference

14 July 2014

Facilitator: Chris Beswick

COMBINED FORCES OF CoSST

810 children

38 teachers

50 teaching assistants

54 other support staff Income of

£4,188,802

Read all about it......Levels go in new national curriculum

Ofsted to stop grading lessons

SEN Reforms mean big changes for schools

All schools must teach British values

Ofsted Chief : governors should stop discussing trivialities such as school meals (March 2013)

Ofsted inspectors to probe quality of school meals with governors (September 2013)

‘Low morale means heads are getting something right’ says Chief Inspector (January 2012)

Trojan Horse – Chief Inspector slams low morale in Birmingham schools (April 2014)

Tory donor contender for top Ofsted job

Governors slurp sherry and eat cake says Gove

More professional governors with the right skills needed

Ofsted report: Schools serve poor White British badly

Low aspirations limit social mobility

Fine 'bad parents', says Ofsted boss

No-notice Ofsted inspections: Who said what and when?

‘Any organisation is just two years away from disaster’ says NHS Chief

More changes proposed to school teachers’ pay and Conditions

'Increasing pressures' cause Cumbria school governor shortage

The UK in second place among European countries and sixth overall in a global education league table

Pupils bottom in international league tables

Working together – three sources of ideas (1)

Learning from the best

• Ofsted national report 2011• Still quoted by senior HMIs• 14 schools with outstanding governance• Few absolutely common features but

some key characteristics highlighted as effective practice

Some of the key characteristics of effective governing bodies highlighted in the 2011 Ofsted national report

• Positive relationships between governors and school leaders are based on trust, openness and transparency. Effective governing bodies systematically monitor their school’s progress towards meeting agreed development targets.

• Governors are well informed and knowledgeable because they are given high- quality, accurate information that is concise and focused on pupil achievement.

• Outstanding governance supports honest, insightful self-evaluation by the school, recognising problems and supporting the steps needed to address them.

• The role of the clerk to the governors is pivotal to ensuring that statutory duties are met, meetings are well organised and governors receive the information they need in good time.

• The governing bodies constantly reflect on their own effectiveness and readily make changes to improve. They consider their own training needs, as well as how they organise their work.

Source 2 – Research with governorsNFER 2011 REPORT

• The views of 1600 governors on the ten most important factors underpinning effective governance in no particular order– Ensuring all governors are well supported– Including governors from the community in which the school is based– Having a productive relationship between the governing body and senior

leadership team– Having a clerk who effectively supports the governing body– Governors having a clear understanding of their role and its limits– Governors having access to and a clear understanding of relevant data– Having an effective chair of governors– Having expert governors with specialist skills– Ensuring all governors are well trained– That the size of the governing body is appropriate to the school

Rank order exercise undertaken by 1600 governors

Source 3

“Above all else, governors need the ability to stay focused and never lose track of why they are doing it”

Getting the blend of skills right

• Latest Ofsted guidance – expect that governors evaluate their own effectiveness and plan for improvement of their performance

• Skills audits are one part of this evaluation process• 80% of GBs now regularly undertake skills audits• Some issues to take care over – not least

moderation of individual governors’ self-assessments

From - NCTL Report – Governance in Multi-Academy Trusts

Thank you.....• For coming• For making your contributions the ‘core’ of the

day and the basis for action in the coming year• For your caring stewardship of all the children’s

futures in the Trust• For your integrity, passion and hard work• For making a difference to children’s lives and

widening their horizons They'd cut me out for baking bread

But I had other dreams insteadThis baker's boy from the West CountryWould join the Royal Society