Governing Bodies – creating the perfect structure

Support and ideas for the Clerk and the

Governing Body

Pam Langmead

Essex Clerks’ Conference 2011

Objectives

In this session, you will have the opportunity to consider and discuss:

• What makes an effective governing body?

• Size – does it really matter?• The perfect structure for effective

governance.

How do your governors shape up?

• Think of your Governing Body

• Sort your governors into their target area

Context

• Latest DfE figures (2007) suggest there are 235 -350,000 school governors in England with 11% posts vacant.

• Particular groups are under-represented as governors, including black and minority groups, disabled people, young people, lone parents, those with low incomes, those who are unemployed, and business people.

• Governing bodies can be composed of a core group of committed long-serving members and a less active periphery.

• A consistent theme from recent research suggests that, where they are effective, governors take a strategic role in guiding and supporting the school’s work and challenging further improvement - and the effectiveness of the clerk is a crucial factor in making this happen.

The effective governing body

• Discuss and decide which three of the following elements (on the cards) are the most important to ensure an effective governing body?

• Are there any more factors that you feel are essential to ensure effectiveness?

The most important elements of an effective governing body

Having a productive working relationship between the governing body and senior leadership team 73%

Having an effective chair of governors 52%Having a clerk who effectively supports the governing body 36%Governors having a clear understanding of their role and its limits 34%Having expert governors with specialist skills 28%Ensuring all governors are well trained 25%Governors having access to and a good understanding of relevant data 19%Ensuring all governors are well supported 12%Including governors from the community in which the school is based 10%That the size of the governing body is appropriate to the size of the school 6%No response 1%

Source: NFER Governance Models in Schools: Governor Survey 2010A total of 1572 respondents answered at least one item in this question.

The Importance of Teaching: Education White Paper 2010• “We will work with the National

Governors’ Association and others to clarify governing body accountabilities and responsibilities to focus more strongly on strategic direction, and encourage schools to appoint trained clerks who can offer expert advice and guidance to support them.”

The Importance of Teaching: Education White Paper 2010• “Many of the most successful schools have

smaller governing bodies with individuals drawn from a wide range of people rooted in the community, such as parents, businesses, local government and the voluntary sector. Smaller governing bodies with the right skills are able to be more decisive, supporting the headteacher and championing high standards.”

Does size really matter?

The size of the governing body

• Schools are currently able to specify the size of their governing bodies, ranging from 9 to 20 governors

How many governors do you need?• When calculating the minimum

number of governors on a perfectly structured governing body, you need to take into account a number of factors.

• Discuss what these might be and consider the number of governors you will need.

Take into account: • Restricted roles e.g. staff members

cannot undertake some roles.• Potential conflict of interest e.g. on

statutory committees.• Quorum.• Workload.• Statutory and executive functions.• Effective monitoring and governance.

Models of governance

• The stakeholder model is widely in use across maintained primary and secondary schools.

• The business model is commonly used in academies. Academy sponsors tend to recruit most of the governing body, even where the local authority is a co-sponsor.

Models of governance

• The research found that the model of governance in use was less important than the recruitment of governors with the appropriate personal attribute, for example, interest, commitment and skills.

The roles of the governing body can be defined as:• Managerial – executive functions

and decision making.• Localising – providing local

knowledge.• Democratising – enabling

discussions about the local delivery of education.

Constitution

The Perfect Structure will include:• Enough governors to fulfil statutory

functions and share the load.• Governors with skills, expertise,

enthusiasm and commitment.• A meeting structure that

encompasses the work of the Governing Body.

• An informed and effective Clerk.