GatewaysBrought to you by Essex Education Services

Issue 51October 2014

Ofsted has reduced and simplified its guidance documents for school inspection in England from September 2014: The framework for school inspection; the School inspection handbook; and Inspecting safeguarding in maintained schools and academies. Inspectors will use this new guidance for the inspection of maintained schools and academies from September 2014.

Here are the headlines for governors:

• In planning for inspection, inspectors will look at the school’s website to help develop an initial picture of the school’s performance. It is important to ensure your school website is maintained and kept up to date meeting statutory requirements - Ofsted have recently conducted a no notice inspection due to a non-compliant school website;

• A separate graded judgement for early years (and sixth form) has been introduced. For early years, there is a focus on accurate assessment of children’s learning and development and how well it prepares all children for the next stage of their education – how well do children attain at the end of Reception compared to national figures? What proportion achieve a good level of development?

Changes to Ofsted Inspections from September 2014

In this issue • Changes to Ofsted Inspections - from September 2014 1

• Clerks’ Corner 2

• Celebrating Success 3

• Overseeing financial performance 4

• Teachers Pay and Conditions 5

• Is ‘Good’ Good Enough? 5

• Raising Achievement in Essex 6

• The Essex Primary Leadership Project 7

• How can governors compare groups of schools/academies effectively? 8

the information contained in gateways is available in alternative formats: large print, Braille, audio tape or disk. we can also translate into other languages.

An exclamation mark by an article means ‘Do this now!’

Meadgate Primary School ‘Unlocking Learning Together’(Ofsted Judgement ‘Good’ 2014)

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3 Have you advised us of changes to your governing body? (eg new members, resignations, new chairs, vice chairs and training link governors) governor.membership@essex.gov.uk

3 Update current information on Register of Business Interests and create a new Register for 2014/15.

3 Review membership, committee structure and terms of reference.

3 Review and agree Governors’ Code of Conduct - all governors sign a copy of the code.

3 Consider reconstitution of the governing body (maintained schools) under the 2012 Regulations, if not already done. NB MUST reconstitute by 1 September 2015.

3 Review Standing Orders for the governing body if appropriate and approve them for continued use.

3 Monitor School Development Plan and the school’s self-evaluation summary (may be part of headteacher’s report).

3 Receive and discuss SATS results for KS1, KS2 (infant/primary) and GCSE/A level results (secondary) 2014 as appropriate. Consider targets for the 2015 end of school year.

3 Agree attendance targets for school year commencing in 2014 (no longer statutory, but good practice).

3 In accordance with 2013 School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document, review and adopt Pay Policy and Performance Management Policy if not already done. Ensure the governing body has agreed the HT Performance Review panel of 2 or 3 Appointed Governors and the External Adviser.

3 Review and adopt procedures for managing allegations against other children and managing and supporting pupils with medical conditions.

3 For subscribing schools, discuss the Governing Body Development session, if not already booked (this should be booked by 31 October 2014, but can be taken up to end March 2015).

GatewaysClerks’ Check List – Autumn Term 2014

Clerks’ Corner

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Essex Clerks’ Association (ECA)The ECA’s latest briefing papers and information for clerks are available on their website www.essexclerks.org.uk

Recently published briefing papers, written by clerks for clerks:

Issue No 28 Schools Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document 2014

If you are a clerk in geographical Essex, and would like to join the ECA, please contact Peter Bates pbates@tinyworld.co.uk

Dates for your Diary: Clerks’ Briefings: Spring term 2015These 2 hour meetings, jointly hosted by Essex Education Services and The Essex Clerks’ Association, are important opportunities to keep up to date and share good practice with other Essex clerks.

Monday 12 January 1.00 pm – 3.00 pm Wickford CLCTuesday 13 January 10.00 am – 12 noon Weston Homes Community Stadium, ColchesterWednesday 14 January 10.00 am – 12 noon Chelmsford City Football ClubThursday 15 January 7pm – 9pm Wat Tyler Country Park, BasildonFriday 16 January 10.00 am – 12 noon Latton Bush Centre, Harlow

Book your place 033301 39834 or http://governorshome.essexcc.gov.uk/

Celebrating SuccessCongratulations to the following governors for their commitment to the role of governor. Completing these awards has given them a really good understanding of the roles and responsibilities of governors which will help them add value to the work of their governing body.

Certificate of School Governance StudiesLouisa Aris Buttsbury Infant School, BillericaySteve Bancroft Alec Hunter Academy, BraintreeRomy Barnes Woodcroft Nursery School, Great BaddowPaul Billings Winter Gardens Primary School, Canvey IslandYvette Billings Winter Gardens Primary School, Canvey IslandIan Browning Prettygate Junior School, ColchesterJulia Bruce Harlowbury Primary School, HarlowAdriana Bruni-Ebdon Barnes Farm Infant School, ChelmsfordVictoria Byrne Perryfields Infant School, ChelmsfordLorraine Crockford Tollesbury School, MaldonPaul Edwards Tyrrells Primary School, Chelmsford (Academy)Richard Edwards Baynards Primary School, TiptreeKeith Gooday Feering C of E (Voluntary Controlled) Primary SchoolDee Horton Buttsbury Infant School, BillericayEmma Houghton Beauchamps High School, WickfordRichard Jordan St Nicholas C of E (Voluntary Controlled) Primary School, RawrethElaine Jobin Ingatestone and Fryerning C of E (Voluntary Aided) Junior SchoolAmber MacBean Alec Hunter Academy, BraintreeDoreen Marston Lubbins Park Community Primary School, Canvey IslandRichard McNeill Chipping Hill Primary School, WithamAnja Newman Bradfield Primary School, ManningtreeSean O’Leary St Benedict’s Catholic College, ColchesterLisa Popkin Holland Haven Primary School, Clacton on SeaRak Rehal Danbury Park Community Primary SchoolLewis Rodger Kendall C of E (Voluntary Controlled) Primary School, ColchesterKaren Taylor St Martin’s Academy, BrentwoodChris Townsend St Andrews C of E Primary School, Weeley (Academy)Joanne Tredgett Leverton Infant and Nursery School, Waltham AbbeyBruce Tuxford King’s Ford Junior School, ColchesterAmelia Wright Notley High & Braintree Sixth Form (Academy)

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The Certificate of School Governance Studies is awarded to governors who have completed Induction and six overview courses, which are suitable for new governors or as refreshers for experienced governors:

· Overview of the Curriculum· Overview of Promoting the Wellbeing of Pupils· Overview of Finance and Personnel

· Overview of Monitoring and Evaluation· Overview of Safeguarding· Overview of School data

To view dates and book online: www.eescpdportal.org

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Overseeing financial performanceCore governing body role.

In all types of schools, a core strategic function of governing bodies is overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent. Financial requirements on academy trusts are set out in the Education Funding Agency’s Academies Financial handbook and in their funding agreement. At least one governor should have specific skills and experience of financial matters.

The headteacher authorised invoices submitted by a company owned by a family member despite:

- knowing that this was a conflict of interest;

- the amounts exceeding the limit of their authority as the headteacher.

If there is a potential conflict of interest, how do governors ensure that appropriate segregation of duties are in place?Are payments compliant with HMRC Tax and NI Regulations?What procedures are in place to ensure payments adhere to the Financial Regulations?

Further Support

• ICE is designed for schools and academies to review compliance with internal financial regulations, statutory regulations and current good practice. Further information: support.efs@essex.gov.uk

• Finance, Budgets and Financial Monitoring training for governors is an essential course

for members of finance committees please visit www.eescpdportal.org

• You can book Safer Recruitment training at www.eescpdportal.org this fully accreditated course costs £180.

• Model HR policies are available through EES Education HR: educationhr@essex.gov.uk

The headteacher employed a member of staff despite:

- knowing they had no previous experience;- without advertising the role;- without requiring them to complete an

application form;- without an independent interview process;- despite knowing they would not have a

clear DBS check.

Is your school applying Safer Recruitment?

Do you have a recruitment policy?

Do you have key governors linked to recruitment?

Does the school have a Whistleblowing policy?

Issue Questions for Governors

Essex Case StudyA recent case has highlighted significant gaps in financial probity:

The headteacher engaged a contractor on the school site despite:

- advice from Essex County Council which indicated that they were not a suitable person to be employed at the school;

- knowing that they were involved in choosing a contractor for work which they knew had been tendered for by a company owned by a family member;

- knowing that this was a conflict of interest.

Are you complying with your Schools/Academies Financial Regulations and Scheme of Delegation? This will define authorisation limits - usually competitive quotes between £5,000 and £50,000 and a tendering procedure for work over £50,000.Do you have a Best Value Statement?Do you maintain a robust Register of Business Interests which is regularly reviewed, as well as the opportunity to declare interests at the start of every meeting?

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An analysis of the first 100 inspections in Essex schools under the last Ofsted framework by Sue Hackman, until recently Chief Adviser on School Standards, revealed that pupil behaviour is generally good, relationships with parents are positive, pupils feel safe and teaching is ‘sound’.

However, research shows that compared with the national picture:

• teaching in Essex is inconsistent and too much is dull or routine;

• marking is often poor and doesn’t give useful feedback;

• the more able do less well;• children often don’t make the

progress they should in writing, and sometimes in maths.

As governors who are serious about doing the best for your school, it is important to keep knowledge and skills up to date:

Q How well do you know your school?Q How do you know this?Q What impact does the governing

body have on raising standards?Q How well does it monitor progress?

Hold that date!Sue Hackman will update this research as lead speaker at our 2015 Essex Governors’ County Conference on Saturday 28 February 2015 (Weston Homes Community Stadium, Colchester).

Informative workshops focussing on maths and writing (what governors need to know/best practice) and challenging more able pupils will be included in the programme.

Watch out for further information and booking details.

The Department for Education continues to extend the flexibilities available to governors in managing teachers’ pay – this year with changes to Leadership Pay and the application of the Pay Award.

There are changes to the way in which the salaries of new headteachers, deputy headteachers and assistant headteachers are calculated and more flexibility for governors in determining their pay structure and the method and degree of any performance related pay increases.

At the same time however, there are also more restrictions in the options available to governors for reviewing and amending the pay of existing Leadership Group members:

• Pay Ranges may only be reviewed for existing Leadership employees where there are significant changes in the responsibilities or duties of their post or where a new appointment necessitates a review of existing pay ranges to ensure fairness and consistency.

• There is no longer scope to make retention payments to Leadership employees, with discretionary payments limited to headteachers taking on clearly temporary additional duties or responsibilities.

Governors must also decide, from this year, how to apply the 1% pay award to teachers between the minimum and maximum of each pay range and allowance. While, for 2014, many schools will simply have applied the award across the board, governors will have to decide how to manage such flexibilities going forward and whether or not they wish to link the application of future pay awards to performance.

Next steps for governing bodies

Education HR has provided a Model Pay Policy to its customer schools to consider for 2014, and governors are urged, in consultation with staff, to reflect carefully on how their policies have worked over the last year and to actively consider their options in determining their Policy update for this year.

nicki.harris@essex.gov.uk

Teachers’ Pay and Conditions 2014

Is ‘Good’ Good enough?

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• There is greater attention on whether a school’s curriculum is broad and balanced – does it promote tolerance of and respect for people of other faiths, cultures and lifestyles to help prepare young people positively for life in modern Britain? How might governors monitor this?

• There is clear guidance on the duties and responsibilities of school governors (p 47-48 of School Inspection Handbook), which includes providing support for an effective headteacher, being transparent and accountable and ensuring rigour in the assessment process. Governors are required to ‘support and help, through their own words, actions and influence within the school and more widely in the community, to prepare children and young people positively for life in modern Britain’ and should review the impact of their own work. Does the governing body challenge and hold the headteacher to account or ‘hinder school improvement by failing to tackle key concerns or developing their own skills’? Where governance is judged to be ineffective, inspectors will recommend an external review of governance.

• Teaching is defined as promoting learning and the acquisition of knowledge by pupils and raising achievement. There is no longer a grade on the quality of teaching for individual lesson observations; a judgement on the quality of teaching will be in the context of pupils’ learning and progress over time. How well do governors monitor the quality of teaching? How does this impact on decisions about salary progression?

• Following the phased removal of National Curriculum levels from September 2014, systems of assessment must be rigorous and inspectors will spend more time looking at pupils’ work and talking to pupils. Inspectors will pay particular attention to the progress and attainment of more able pupils and of disadvantaged pupils, and compare this with the national picture. How is your school tracking pupil progress? How do governors ensure that gaps are closing around the attainment of disadvantaged pupils?

Further support• A useful website checklist can be found at

www.essex.gov.uk/governors (latest updates)• For more information about booking a Review

of Governance EES@essex.gov.uk

Changes to Ofsted InspectionsRaising Achievement in Essex: Overview 2013/14Raising achievement is at the heart of a governor’s strategic role and, like you, we are passionate about raising standards in Essex schools. We are delighted that 14,000 more Essex pupils attend a primary school that is good or better than in 2012, but the East of England continues to lag behind England as a whole. For example, 16% of Essex schools are judged to be ‘outstanding’ , compared to 20% nationally.

Below is a summary of the achievements of Essex schools in the last school year:

Early Years· At the end of reception assessment stage

in 2014, 61% of pupils were ‘school ready’, compared to 60% nationally;

· 80% of early years’ settings are rated good or better by Ofsted - above the national average of 78%.

Primary· 3 in 4 primary schools are now rated good

or better by Ofsted;· This year, 79% of primary school pupils

attained the expected level in reading, writing and mathematics - our highest ever and equal to the national average.

Secondary· Almost 3 in 4 secondary age pupils attend a

school that is rated at least good by Ofsted;· 56% of year 11 pupils achieved 5 or more

A*-C grades, including English and maths – up from 53.5% in 2013.

Specialist Provision· Almost all of our special schools and CSS

centres are rated good or better - above the national average of 87%.

Working towards ‘outstanding’?You may be interested in the governing body development session From Good to Outstanding – what makes a good school great? or a Governing Body Self Review. Contact thomas.white@essex.gov.uk for more information and to book.

Is ‘Good’ Good enough?

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The Essex Primary Leadership ProjectEarlier this year the Council decided to invest £1m in primary school leadership

Why?

Despite many examples of highly effective leadership in our primary schools this has been identified by the schools’ inspectorate as a relative weakness across the Eastern Region. Our aspiration is for all of our schools to be judged to be at least good – and without the very best school leaders making this a reality is impossible.

So what are we doing with the £1m?

In line with Essex strategy to be a commissioning authority the majority was presented for competitive tender by district to support and develop grade 3 primary schools to work towards and secure that good judgement. The outcome of the tendering process was:

• West Grade 3 schools are given the opportunity to work with the National Education Trust under the direction of Roy Blatchford

• Basildon Grade 3 Schools will have additional support within the Basildon Excellence Panel structure

• Grade 3 schools in South (excluding Basildon), in Mid and in North East (excluding Tendring) have subsidised access to the Aspire Leadership Programme through the primary Teaching School Alliances.

• Grade 3 schools in Tendring will have additional bespoke support according to their individual circumstances.

We have also commissioned Essex Education Services to create a Virtual Leadership Academy. This will enable present and future school leaders to map their career progression, taking advantage of appropriate professional development opportunities advertised on the site. Job and secondment opportunities will be highlighted and the very latest local, national and international research will be featured.

What else is taking place for our present and future school leaders?

• We are recruiting 20 ‘heads in waiting’ who will have a funded support and development programme as they work towards their first headship.

• We have refreshed our Early Headship Programme (for new headteachers) and added new recruits to our new headteacher mentor contingent.

• Essex Education Services and the Essex Teaching School Alliances offer a wide range of programmes for school leaders.

So what does this mean for governors?

If your school is currently Grade 3 this has direct implications for your Governing Body. We would like to see school leadership as a permanent item on your agenda. This could be in relation to talent spotting, succession planning, investing in your current school leadership, engagement in programmes and other opportunities. In these ways you can demonstrate both your monitoring and challenge of your school leaders.

graham.lancaster@essex.gov.uk Lead for primary school leadership

How can governors compare groups of schools/academies effectively?The DfE Governors’ Handbook makes it clear that ‘governing bodies must have good and timely data to help them see clearly the questions they need to ask and to provide answers to their questions’. How can governing bodies achieve this successfully across groups, clusters or chains of schools and academies?

A tool has been developed to help governors do just that - Essex Education Services, the creators of Target Tracker, have taken all the celebrated elements from the pupil tracking software and created an intuitive tool, Target Tracker Multi, that specifically addresses this problem, and it does it incredibly well.

Target Tracker Multi was designed for Local Authorities, academy chains and other formal clusters of schools that need a system in place to allow the effective management of data. It seamlessly stitches together the data from all the groups (using the Target Tracker software) to effectively compare attainment and progress using a range of measures and filters.

Previously the only data that could be collated for governors was the end of year 2 from such resources as RAISEonline and Ofsted’s Data Dashboard. Target Tracker Multi can collect and compare data as frequently as once a half term for every year group. This means governors can get far more detailed information on the performance of each school cohort in comparison to others and have a better understanding with which to hold senior school/academy leaders to account.

Recent DfE and Ofsted publications have emphasised the importance of schools/academies working together to form cluster groups with the shared purpose of school improvement. Those who are able to share and compare data can look to identify areas where good practice and success can be shared and areas where groups can work together to invest in schemes or training to improve areas where development is needed. This approach is far more cost effective.

If you think your school group or academy chain could benefit from using Target Tracker Multi, please get in touch with the Target Tracker Team on 0845 200 8600, an annual subscription to the web-based software includes multi user access, helpdesk support and latest updates.

For more information on Target Tracker Multi please contact enquiries@targettracker.org

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Governor Services, Essex Education ServicesCounty Hall, Market Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1QH Tel: 033301 39833

www.EESportal.org and select Governor Services