Stockport Governor Association

VALUE FOR MONEY

Back 
in March 2010, the school at which I am a governor, Gatley Primary, received an 'outstanding' inspection from Ofsted. As well as the euphoria this engendered, there was also
a sense of relief that
Ofsted would not trouble us again for some years. Times change, however, and the line in the report stating that "imaginative use of funding and outside expertise means that
the school provides excellent value for money", triggered another visit by Ofsted. This was a slightly less forbidding 'good practice survey' looking into
value for money for schools.

Nevertheless, Ofsted is Ofsted and there were certainly a few nerves that day, not least from the Chair of Governors! The day began with a briefing meeting at which the HMI raised the question: what is 'value for money'? Fortunately, this was not a right or wrong type of question, as even Ofsted is not exactly clear what this means. What is clear, however, is that some schools over‐achieve against the norm, when compared with their peers, so 
what are they doing that is different? In the current climate, this is particularly important to
 understand, hence the subject survey. Gatley was one of ten primaries and five secondaries selected in England for this survey, so 
it was a good value for money and fair on them? I will endeavour to
get the full list onto the GOVAS website in the near future. Whilst some of the above require a more analytical approach, the HMI conceded that some decisions are intuitive. Especially in a primary setting, choosing a rather than b, because it 'felt' right, can be a better solution to
achieving value for money, than comparing the costs of both options with the predicted outcomes. 

So, how did we fare? The fact that the HMI could find "no
significant areas for development"
best sums this up. It must be stressed that achieving value for money must be set against the outcomes we expect for our children so, therefore, the first feature that he commented upon was that there was a "strong sense of core educational values driving all decisions taken by the school, with the pupils' needs and the desired outcomes at the centre". Another feature of the school is the use of curriculum teams. These were introduced a year ago, to
 replace the old system of individual teachers being subject leaders. We now have six curriculum teams, comprising teachers and teaching assistants.

The teams do
not have a leader and this instils a more collaborative approach. This effective use of 'resources' was noted by HMI. An issue that has been in the news recently is that of working with other schools to
cut costs/raise standards, whether through federation, or a more flexible arrangement. This is something that the LA is trying to promote and Gatley is an enthusiastic supporter – but only where a clear benefit for its pupils can be identified. HMI commented upon how this offers "highly effective"
staff development and identifies opportunities to 
improve provision. One of the key aspects in achieving value for money, however, is the efficient use of any school's most valuable resource, its pupils!

HMI mentioned in the feedback that schools that achieve good value for money place a great emphasis on pupil voice, and this is certainly the case at Gatley. He noted an extensive use of pupils' views, to
 help shape the details of developments in provision at the planning stage, and to 
determine the value and impact of the developments once they are in place. There is often talk 
of the 'pupil voice', but in practice this is sometimes all it is, talk. Having witnessed first hand how effective the full involvement of the pupils can be (along with their parents/carers), I am convinced that this is an important element of achieving value for money. Finally, it was satisfying to 
read "
the governing body questions all proposals and reports of progress vigorously and expects any expenditure to be linked closely to 
improvements in pupils' outcomes". No 
need to
panic after all! 

This visit report will contribute to 
a national evaluation and report, to
 be published in 2011. We will signpost this on the GOVAS website when it is available. The upcoming Governors Conference will provide a more detailed look 
at achieving value for money, through the presentations and workshops, but if anyone would like more information/explanation on what we are doing, please contact me through the response section of the GOVAS website.

Stuart Foster
Chair of Governors, Gatley Primary School