eastsussex.gov.uk

Children’s ServicesStandards and Learning Effectiveness ServiceGovernor and Clerking Service

Add School LogoNew Governor Induction Pack

ContentsWelcome................................................................................................................................................ 2

The first 100 days of being a school governor...................................................................................2

Understanding the ethos of school governance.................................................................................3

Understanding the role of school governance....................................................................................3

What you need to do.............................................................................................................................. 4

Support.................................................................................................................................................. 4

What the governing board will do to support you:..............................................................................4

What your mentor will go through with you:.......................................................................................5

New Governor Pathway......................................................................................................................... 6

Useful contact information – Local and national support services.........................................................7

Useful contact information – School and governing board.....................................................................8

School Information................................................................................................................................. 9

School Context.............................................................................................................................. 9

School Development Plan..............................................................................................................9

Access to school policies...............................................................................................................9

The Governing Body information:......................................................................................................9

Instrument of Government / Memorandum and articles of association..........................................9

Code of Conduct............................................................................................................................ 9

Link Governor Roles...................................................................................................................... 9

Terms of Reference for any committees........................................................................................9

List of meeting dates...................................................................................................................... 9

Minutes from last Full Governing Body meeting............................................................................9

Information on Governor Visits – e.g. Policy / protocol, visit template............................................9

Essential Reading:............................................................................................................................. 9

Academies Financial Handbook (ACADEMIES ONLY).................................................................9

Keeping Children Safe in Education..............................................................................................9

School Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy........................................................................10

School Ofsted Report...................................................................................................................10

School Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) Inspection Report – Church schools only................................................................................................................................. 10

Acronyms..................................................................................................................................... 10

Registration / Information for the Governor to complete..................................................................10

School Privacy Notice..................................................................................................................10

Complete and return Declaration of Business Interests...............................................................10

Complete and return the NGA Skills Audit...................................................................................10

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WelcomeThe first 100 days of being a school governorThe education system and our schools could not exist without the dedication, time and effort of every single volunteer governor both locally and nationally.

At any one time East Sussex has approximately 1600 - 1800 governors across the county often working in isolation and often struggling to grapple with the increasing demand on time, knowledge and experience. Working collectively you could represent an impressive network, meeting either physically or virtually, to exchange ideas and experience whilst supporting each other through challenging times and developing partnership arrangements whether in a federation or a Multi Academy Trust.

The effectiveness of a governing board depends on the skills, commitment and knowledge of its members and how they work together and with school leaders.

We believe it is essential that all governing boards understand their strengths and identify any weaknesses in the collective skills, knowledge and experience of individual governors and recognise the need for governors and governing boards to know how to use individual and collective skills to be effective and anticipate the future through targeted succession planning. 

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves…………………………

…..on volunteering to become a governor you will probably have tried to understand what is expected of you, how much time it will demand and how you can contribute. Getting off to a positive start will mean that you can contribute effectively and more quickly; preparation is key to your success.

The important thing to remember is that all governors have a different motivation to be involved and come with a different background of skills knowledge and experience from work and home lives, an important key to early participation and enjoyment from becoming a governor is understanding and feeding your motivations and finding use for your transferable skills and knowledge.

Now it’s time to make it a reality but where should you begin?

The effectiveness of a governing board depends on the skills, commitment and knowledge of its members and how they work together and with school leaders.

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Understanding the ethos of school governance The Department for Education has a Competency Framework for Governance1, made up of 16 competencies underpinned by a foundation of important principles and personal attributes.

• Based on the Nolan Principles – Seven Principles of Public Life 2

o Selflessness, Integrity, Objectivity, Accountability, Openness, Honesty, Leadership

• Effective governance underpinned by the following “7 C’s”

o Committed, Confident, Curious, Challenging, Collaborative, Critical, Creative

Do: take a moment to read the framework and consider your own experiences and where they might fit in.

Don’t: be put off by believing you will personally need to do everything in the framework.

Understanding the role of school governance The DfE governance competencies are grouped under the headings of the six features of effective governance, which are set out in the Governance Handbook3:

Strategic leadership; Accountability; People; Structures; Compliance and Evaluation.

Do: Take a moment to familiarise yourself with the handbook. Don’t: Read the handbook cover to cover or assume you need to understand

everything in it!

1 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/governance-handbook2 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-7-principles-of-public-life

3 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/governance-handbook

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What you need to do Provide the clerk to the governing board with your contact details and information

required for Get Information About Schools Database Ensure that you have submitted all the required documents for your registration as a

member of the governing board, including your DBS check to the school office within 21 days of appointment.

Read and sign the following documents:o Governing Board’s Code of Conduct o complete your Declaration of Interests (ask the clerk about it if you have any

questions)o Keeping Children Safe in Education – Part 1, 2 and Annex A.

Complete and return the Governor Skills Audit Make sure you have all the governing board meeting dates in your diary and have set

aside time to read papers and prepare in advance of meetings. Ask for a copy and familiarise yourself with the school’s safeguarding policy,

procedures and arrangements. Take a look at the New Governor Pathway for ideas on what your first year should

consist of. Ask who your training Link Governor is and how to enrol on an induction to governance course. Explore training available from the Governor and Clerking Service – Learning Portal – and book the courses that are applicable.

Complete online safeguarding training and return certificate to the clerk or school office.

Explore the following - Ask if your school subscribes to one of our annual support packages. If the answer is yes, you could have membership to The Key for School Governors, the online advice portal for governors and The National Governors Association Learning Link, the online training portal:

o Local support and services Full details of the support and services available from the East Sussex Governor and Clerking Service are available online: www.esgcs.org

o Governors online Local and National news feeds https://governors.eastsussexlearning.org.uk

o Local training To search for local training courses of both Local Authority Maintained and academy schools https//governors.eastsussexlearning.org.uk/courses/bookings/

o National support for subscribing schools - Out of office hours national on-line support:

o The Key for School Governors – www.schoolgovernors.thekeysupport.com/ o NGA Learning Link Login – www.nga.vc-enable.co.uk

SupportWhat the governing board will do to support you:

Organise a tour of the school.

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Arrange a meeting with the headteacher and chair of governors. Arrange access to East Sussex Governors Online to enable you to access training,

support and guidance from the local authority. Assign one of your governor colleagues as a mentor. Having an experienced

governor as a ‘buddy’ can be very helpful support to new governors. A buddy can help you understand your role and support you in applying the skills you have to a school governing context.

Meet with you after 6 months to review your progress and discuss support and responsibilities moving forward.

What your mentor will go through with you: How you will receive governor information. Do you need a log-in to a governor

portal? Where are past papers and information stored? Make sure you know how to get access.

Glossary Governing Board Code of Conduct Governor Visit protocol - review the Governor Visit Protocol. Consider buddying with

your mentor / other governors on one of their monitoring or strategic visits. School Development Plan Last Ofsted report School Data Summary of governance structure, including governor names, contact details and link

governor roles Last set of the full governing board meeting minutes Skills audit Arrangements for access to school for meetings and visits

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Active ParticipantsNew governors must be empowered and supported during the first year to enable them to be

Recommended activity

Within one month Within two terms Post induction within 12 months

Governor led support School Induction - Face to face meeting with Chair and HT Meetings with governor mentor from GB

GCS membership services

School introduction to purchased services. e.g. The Key for School Governors/ NGA

Learning Link/ East Sussex Learning Portal

Attend governor face to face induction training

Attend governor training:New to Primary EducationFinance - An Introduction

Governor school visitsUnderstanding Data

Essential reading School induction pack Governance Handbook Competency Framework for Governance

Online training

Learning Link Courses:Safeguarding

Your RoleInduction

Constitution of the GBFoundation Governors – Governance of

a Church SchoolStaff Governors – Getting it right as a

Staff GovernorThe Key for Governors - induction only

E-Safety for GovernorsKey Functions of the Governing Body

Governors Role in School Improvement

Monitoring & Evaluation – The Governors RoleGovernor Visits to School

Ofsted Inspection of SchoolsPupil Premium

Networking Contact Governor and Clerking Service to broker contact with other new governors in your areaAttend Local Area Forums / local networking sessions

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Activity to gain knowledge

and

skills

New Governor Pathway

Time and experience

?/

Useful contact information – Local and national support servicesLocal support and services

Full details of the support and services are available online: www.esgcs.org / www.services2schools.co.uk

Governor and Clerking Service (GCS) TeamFor urgent governance queries or concerns call the GCS team:

For non-urgent governance queries or concerns Email the GCS Team:

01323 466885governors@eastsussex.gov.uk

Local trainingTo search for local training courses visit East Sussex Learning Portal: https//governors.eastsussexlearning.org.uk/courses/bookings/

Problems booking training?Email the Education Events Team:

Or call the team:

education.events@eastsussex.gov.uk01323 466870

Governors onlineLocal and National news feeds: https://governors.eastsussexlearning.org.uk

National support for subscribing schoolsNational on-line support services for subscribing schools:

The Key for School Governors NGA Learning Link Login

www.schoolgovernors.thekeysupport.com/www.nga.vc-enable.co.uk

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Useful contact information – School and governing boardSchool

Address:

Telephone number:

Website address:

Headteacher email address:

Governing Board

Chair of Governors:

Mentor:

Governing Board:

Clerk to the Governing Board Insert / embed a copy of the governing board information if you have permission to share this with other governors

School Staff Insert / embed a copy of the Staff list – e.g. staff structure, names, responsibilities.

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School InformationSchool Information – to include:School Context – for example:Location of the school and Pupil information:

Number of pupils at the school Number of boys and girls Percentage of children eligible for the pupil premium Number of children with English as an additional language

(EAL) Breakdown of pupil ethnicity Number of children on the special educational needs (SEN)

register Number of children with statements of SEN or education, health

and care (EHC) plan Number of looked after children

School Development Plan

Access to school policies

The Governing Body information:Instrument of Government / Memorandum and articles of association

Code of Conduct

Link Governor Roles

Terms of Reference for any committees

List of meeting dates

Minutes from last Full Governing Body meeting

Information on Governor Visits – e.g. Policy / protocol, visit template

Essential Reading:Academies Financial Handbook (ACADEMIES ONLY)

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/633375/Academies_Financial_Handbook_2017.pdf

Keeping Children Safe in Education – Please read as a minimum Part 1, 2 and Annex A.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2

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School Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy

School Ofsted Report

School Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) Inspection Report – Church schools only

Acronyms

Registration / Information for the Governor to completeSchool Privacy Notice

Complete and return Declaration of Business Interests

Complete and return the NGA Skills Audit

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