Stockport Governor Association

The Stockport Safeguarding Children Board has updated and improved its website.  You can find it at www.safeguardingchildreninstockport.org.uk   Do have a look – there is some information which governors should be aware of, as well as much interesting material about what the Board does.  You will find the Policies and procedures and Internet links sections particularly useful.  Governors are represented on the E-safety and communications subgroups of the Board.

Publication of this guidance is imminent.  Richard Bates, Service Director for Education at SMBC, has sent us the following information:

The main changes for schools are:

1. The Education Act 2011 places schools under a duty to secure access to independent and impartial careers guidance for their pupils from September 2012. While complying with the requirement to secure careers guidance from an external source, schools will be free to make arrangements for careers guidance that fit the needs and circumstances of their students, and will be expected to work, as appropriate, in partnership with external and expert providers.
2. Once the duty on schools has been commenced, there will be no expectation that local authorities will provide a universal careers service.
3. The statutory responsibility under section 68 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 requiring local authorities to encourage, enable and assist the participation of young people in education or training, remains unchanged.
4. The statutory duty to provide careers education will be repealed

Richard is also giving consideration to a  half-day event for Secondary Heads/Senior Managers in early March, to be facilitated by School Improvement – to link with the publication of the Statutory Guidance and at which we can define the Stockport “IAG offer” (i.e. what schools can expect from the LA).  He says “Based on what is known to date, we are working on a “transition framework” – to support  LA/Schools planning between now and Sept.”

The E-Safety Group is a sub-group of the Safeguarding Board. There are a Primary and a Secondary Governor representative on the Group.

Some of the areas that we are involved with are:

At the GOVAS/SMBC Governor Finance Information Meeting on January 30^th, Simon Finch and Peter Hughes, from SMBC`s school finance team, gave presentations about the financial situation for schools in Stockport for 2012/13.  You can link to their presentation here

Governors` views are wanted on some aspects of distribution of Individual School Budgets and financial reserves.  These views will feed into proposals to be made to the Schools Forum in March.  You can find more information, and a feedback form to complete here 

If you want more information about the proposals and costs, you will find details of the Retained School Budget (the money retained by the Local Authority to provide central services) here  Or you can find out about proposals for Individual School Budgets on the Schools Forum page of Stockport`s website.  Go to http://democracy.stockport.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeId=159  , choose 31 Jan 2012 then Documents to Follow and go to Agenda Item 7.

This is a chance to influence some of the funding which will come to your school.  Please look at the information and complete the form by February 7^th

Gillian Stunell

Chair, GOVAS