We have launched a new Governor Services support for schools led by our experienced Strategic Schools Governance Lead.
Effective school governance is fundamental in providing strategic direction, oversight and assurance for the school community, its performance and impacts on the outcomes for our children and young people. Good governance has become more complex and has greater accountability resulting in a greater need for governance support.
This new service provides a range of support packages to help boards carrying out this school governance role effectively. This support ranges from advice and guidance, network opportunities, updates, training and development, bespoke training to a professional clerking service.
Being a Chair of Governors is a highly responsible role and over this last year you will have experienced many challenges with school governance. Whilst you may receive a lot of support and training or have access to on-line materials there are times when you just want to check something, need a bit of confidential advice, or might want to talk something over with an experienced governance professional.
Our Strategic Schools Governance Lead will support your school and answer your governance concerns.
We recognise the value of networking with other governors and have a termly schedule to facilitate these opportunities.
These network meetings are free to our school community and booked via our GovernorHub ‘TRAINING’ page:
The importance of receiving updates on the changing landscape of education and school finance is also essential in supporting you with school governance. This is delivered through our networks and via our GovernorHub communications.
Starting out as a new governor can be overwhelming and whilst the board will provide guidance on how the role is applied, Governor Services can support the induction process, set the context for the role of a governor, and outline the frameworks that underpin good governance and the core functions of the board.
New Governor Induction sessions are held termly and can be booked online via our GovernorHub ‘TRAINING’ page. These sessions are free to our school community.
All governors will need to engage in training or development activities to address any skills and knowledge gaps identified by the board to support effective governance. This should include link governors accessing training to inform their specialist lead role. Some topics will be common to all and planned in advance, others can be responsive to board needs.
A training programme has been designed to support both individual governors and boards and can be purchased as:
The training programme and online booking facility is set out on our GovernorHub ‘TRAINING’ page.
An external review of governance looks at how well your school’s governing body is working. This may be in relation to an Ofsted inspection or as part of the boards own self-evaluation process. An experienced governance professional will work with the governing body, headteacher and clerk to conduct an external review of governance. This process involves meetings, conducting a self-review session with the board, and reporting on the strengths and areas for development, with an action plan produced for the board to take forward.
Costs for this external review of governance are based on three days conducting the review activities and a follow up visit to review the progress and impact.
To discuss your board needs and arrange an external review of governance contact the Strategic Schools Governance Lead.
The DfE has recognised the important role of a trained governance professional in supporting a board and impacting positively on its effectiveness. This role includes general advice and guidance, annual reporting and clerking the full board and committee meetings.
The Governor Services can support a board on those occasions where a specialist governance professional is required to clerk a complaint hearing, contractual review, or exclusion panel.
A professional clerking service has been designed to support the governance needs of the board ranging from one of meetings to an SLA to support the full board and its committees as required. It is led by our Strategic Schools Governance Lead who will also support the board with oversight and quality assurance processes.
Our Professional Clerking Service can be purchased as:
New Governor Induction – FREE
Individual Training Session – £90
Bespoke Training – P.O.A – P.O.A.
SLA Training package open to all governors on the board*.
*One governor to attend a single session, each additional attendee is charged at a discounted fee of £65 £485
External Review of Governance – P.O.A
Adhoc Meetings – £395
Cover Meetings – £395
Traded Service SLA (details to follow Summer 2021)
Find out more information about the New Governor Service
Register for our Governor Support course or service through our online form, and start seeing results.
To discuss this service and find out more, get in touch with our experts.