Stockport Governor Association

Stockport Governors` Conference 2011 was a lively and successful event.  It was good to see so many governors together.  Plenty of discussion went on in the coffee and lunch breaks, both among groups of governors who had attended from the same school, and between governors from different schools.  We have sent a short report to the NGA magazine, Matters Arising, which we hope will be published in the next issue.   Meanwhile we`re putting together a longer description of the different parts of the conference, which we`ll be publishing on this website soon – along with photos!

Although GOVAS led the organization of this year`s conference, we worked in strong partnership with the Local Authority and we`d like to thank Libby Evans and other officers for their part in enabling it to happen.  There are some things the LA can do that we can`t, and there are some things we can do that they can`t, so together we believe we make a strong team to support Stockport governors.  The Memorandum of Understanding between GOVAS and SMBC was officially launched at the GOVAS AGM.  We hope that it will enable constructive relations to continue into the future.  We remain an independent Association, dedicated to supporting you in any way we can.

School gardens

One of the stallholders at the Conference was Andy Cannell of the Royal Horticultural Society. Andy is the Campaign for School Gardening`s North West Regional  Advisor.   Apparently, school gardens are an increasingly popular way to develop outdoor educational opportunities for all age-groups.  RHS can give you information, advice and support.  You can contact Andy via the RHS website at www.rhs.org.uk Go to Support the Campaign for School Gardening and About Campaign for School Gardening, where you`ll find Andy`s details.

Training

You will have received an update from your Governing Body Clerk on remaining training opportunities for this year.  Do use them – as always their provision depends on governors taking them up.  If there are topics or skills that you would like to see in the training offer, please let us know.  We`ll be discussing next year`s offer with Libby and her colleagues at our regular termly meeting in the Summer.

GOVAS website

You will have seen that this website has been overhauled.  Jurgen Roling, our webmaster, has been working hard to make our site more easily interactive.  You can make comments on any piece which we post.  Please do so.  GOVAS can work better for you if we know what you think.

Newsletter

We are keen to include items in the newsletter and on the website about individual Stockport schools and Governing Bodies.  We can all get stuck in the busy life of our own school and not be aware of what`s happening elsewhere.  Good ideas deserve to be passed around and good information shared.  Contact us if you`d like to be included.  We`re looking for reports of events and initiatives that governors have been involved in, and information about how the Governing Body works in your school.  You can also send us suggestions about the kind of information that would be useful to you, and we can find people to provide it.

GOVAS Action Plan for 2011-12

At our committee meeting in May we`ll be developing the GOVAS Action Plan for the next year.  We have a few ideas already, but we`d really like to hear from you about what you think GOVAS could do to promote and support your work.

The changing education landscape

The theme of the Governors` Conference was School Improvement in Changing Times. We all face challenges in the years ahead.  Stockport schools` funding has to some extent been protected for the year 2011-12, but we know it will be a worse picture in the subsequent year.  We also know that many Governing Bodies are seriously worried about the huge cut in capital funding.  This will affect ongoing maintenance of your buildings as well as building projects.  GOVAS will continue to work on your behalf to make sure that the funding which is available is fairly and efficiently used.  We`ll also be trying to keep you informed as changes become clearer.

Not everything we can do to improve our schools entails spending large amounts of money.  Imagination, enthusiasm and commitment can produce surprising things.  One of the messages which came clearly through the Conference was that every Governing Body needs to have a strong vision of where it wants its school to be going.  The good advice is to have clear goals in sight, to take time to make sound and wise decisions, and to think carefully about what you may lose by making changes as well as what you may gain.

Gillian Stunell

Chair, GOVAS