NATIONAL GOVERNORS` ASSOCIATION NEWS FOR NOVEMBER
As a Governors` Association, GOVAS is affiliated to the National Governors` Association. NGA produces sends a monthly Bullletin Board of information, reports and news. Here is a digest of November`s Bulletin.
NGA Annual General Meeting Saturday, 7 November 2009, Council House, Birmingham – Guest speaker will be Christine Gilbert, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools. (Two Stockport governors are going – watch out for a report in next term`s GOVAS newsletter)
NGA Winter Conference Wednesday 27 January 2010, Russell Hotel, London. A departure from usual NGA practice, this event is not a members’ conference, but is aimed at School Improvement Partners, Governor Services’ staff, extended
schools co-ordinators, relevant professionals in Government agencies, Children’s Services managers, governor trainers – and governors. The cost of the conference is £150 to non-members and £50 to NGA members. Local associations can book up to three places at the membership price. For more information see under Events on the NGA website. (Let us knowif you are interested in going to this)
NGA Office Move The NGA is moving office this month. From 18th November the new address will be: Ground Floor, 36 Great Charles Street, Birmingham, B3 3JY. Email addresses will remain the same, but telephone numbers will change.
NGA Guides NGA’s popular and much praised Welcome to Governance has been revised and is now joined by three other brand new publications. The Chair’s Handbook is designed to be a comprehensive aid to newly elected chairs; Welcome to Clerking aims to aid clerks in the performance of their duties; and Support and Challenge will help governors to meet their legal obligations, at a time when the new Ofsted framework will look keenly at, and judge, governing bodies’ performance. Complete details can be found on the NGA website at under Publications.
Legal Support for Governing Bodies NGA has come to an agreement with a legal firm to provide some legal support for governing bodies. For details visit: http://www.nga.org.uk/Resources.aspx
Policies: a request to members We are trying to collect copies of policies on pupil behaviour and discipline and on school uniform, and examples of Home-School Agreements. We should be very grateful if members would share these with NGA. Please email to
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or send hard copies to the NGA Office.
Government Reviewon School Governance The continuing saga. The Report has been rewritten and the Ministerial Group members were sent the new version on 18 September for their comments. In the light of comments, a final (?) version will be produced and a meeting is to be called to sign off the report. There is no date set as yet.
Meetings attended by NGA
Independent Safeguarding Authority inauguration meeting The meeting was jointly chaired by the Home Office, CRB, Department of Health and DCSF. The ISA became active on 12th October but there are many stages to the proposed implementation, most of which will take place between April and July 2010. Some issues to note:
• A review is being undertaken by Sir Roger Singleton. He is due to report by December and the review will determine how much of the new scheme is going to be implemented, paricularly during the next 12 months.
• A new application form for CRB requests will be sampled in January and the new form will be stocked from April and implemented from July 2010. It will be vital for applications to be on the correct new form at this point in time.
In other respects, those present left the meeting with more questions than answers, which perhaps does not surprise anyone.
Other October events or meetings attended by NGA representatives (or for which NGA provided chairs or speakers) included: Employers’ Task Force Guides Group, Partnerships for Schools Leading Learning Group, NCSL Models of Leadership Conference, Teaching Awards National Ceremony, Rotary Club Conference, Engaging Parents in Learning Consultation Group, meeting with Nick GIbb, Shadow Minister for Schools and Learners.
The NGA First Certificate in Governance Changes have been made to this distance-learning programme. Details are available on the NGA website at www.nga.org.uk. Click on Resources and then Training.
Consultations: news and action
The consultations referred to can all be found at www.dcsf.gov.uk/consultations/
Independent Review of Primary Curriculum – recommendation 14(1) – points of entry into reception
The DCSF is seeking responses to implementing one aspect of the recommendation made by the Rose Primary Curriculum Review that children should start school from the September after they reach the age of four. The change being consulted on is two amendments to the School Admissions Code 2009, to require admission authorities to provide for this in their admission arrangements from September 2011.
Carbon Management Strategy for Schools
The school sector is responsible for 15% of public sector carbon emissions arising from energy use in school buildings, school travel and transport, the procurement of goods and services and the production of waste in schools. There is a need to reduce these emissions to prevent greater adverse impact on climate change. This consultation is to gather stakeholder views on the feasibility and priority of options for action in the sector, to reduce carbon and greenhouse gases arising from the operation of the school system, while still delivering core business.
Consultation on Proposed Amendments to the School Premises Regulations on School Kitchen and Dining Facilities
In May 2009, the Secretary of State wrote to all schools and local authorities seeking their ongoing support with transforming the school meals service and increasing the take up of school lunches. He urged everyone to tackle inadequate kitchen and dining facilities in support of these aims. DCSF and the School Food Trust have produced a range of resources for this work, including Kitchen and Dining Spaces, a design note, checklists to use when refurbishing or building kitchens and dining facilities, and A Fresh Look Guide on effective kitchen and dining spaces. This consultation sets out our proposals on amendments to the School Premises regulations.
Useful publications to be aware of
NEW Audit Commission Valuable lessons: a value for money guide for school governors
In June the Audit Commission published a report about value for money in schools. One of the conclusions of the Commission was that insufficient attention was paid to economy and efficiency in schools and that as a result the Commission could not be sure that the taxpayer was receiving value for money. Following the report the Audit Commission issued separate guidance for local authorities, headteachers and school governors.
The guidance for governors, Valuable lessons improving economy and efficiency in schools, was published in July 2009 and is available to download from the Audit Commission’s website at http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/AuditCommissionReports/NationalStudies/valuablelessonsgovernorsguide30jun2009.pdf
Extended Schools Toolkit for Governors (Revised Edition April 2009) This new and improved edition of the TDA’s publication can be downloaded from http://www.nga.org.uk/TDA.aspx or ordered online from the Training and Development Agency for Schools at:
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or by telephone on 0845 6060 323. (Reference TDA0664/03.09/COL).
Recruiting Headteachers and Senior Leaders This publication provides a governing body with the practical guidance needed to find success in recruiting a headteacher. It can be downloaded free from the NCSL website: www.ncsl.org.uk/publications
School Improvement Planning Framework (New Edition October 2008): To find this useful tool visit the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) website. It can be downloaded or ordered in hard copy:http://www.tda.gov.uk/leaders/schoolimprovement_framework.aspx
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