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Clerks Update Welcome to Clerks Update! Programme for the morning • • • • • • • • • Review of the past 12 months Items to raise for discussion forum National changes Local changes Updates Training for governors Induction for new governors Discussion forum Lunch Review of the last twelve months What went well? What were the challenges? Are there any matters/questions you would like to raise for the discussion forum? Feedback National changes Legislation Education Act 2011 introduced changes Some smaller amendments introduced in March and April but most elements set to be implemented from September 2012 DfE website www.education.gov.uk New Guide to the Law but only covering current regulations, not changes from September http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/governance /guidetothelaw/b0065507/gttl Copies of regulations available on Governor Support webpages Greater freedom relating to the constitution of governing bodies No compulsory reconstitution but freedom to reconstitute if the governing body wants to New minimum number of 7 comprising Headteacher, 1 staff, 2 elected parents and 1 local authority governor Foundation governors in foundation, voluntary controlled and aided schools Co-opted governors (based on skills they bring) instead of community governors (NB terminology only changes where a GB has reconstituted!) GBs set their own criteria for Local Authority appointed governors if they reconstitute NB Parents may be allowed to vote in parent governor elections by electronic means Changes to what information governing bodies must provide Requirement to produce a school profile removed for academic year 2011 – 2012 onwards Removal of the requirement to produce a hard copy of a school prospectus Requirement to publish specified information on the school website (see information sheet in your pack) Other changes FMSiS replaced by SFVS! Compliance by March 2013 (March 2012 for those who never gained FMSiS) Changes to the exclusion regulations but role for governors procedurally unchanged Changes to teachers’ standards and appraisal. Look out for further information and model policies from Devon County Council’s Human Resource team School complaints – once the complaint has gone through the governing body’s complaints procedure the next stop is the Secretary of State for Education. Has your GB got an up to date policy in place? (see sheet in pack) Relaxation on requirement for CRB checks. GBs must put their own arrangements in place Ofsted New framework underway Focus on four key areas: greater focus on quality of teaching and pupil behaviour Governance part of leadership and management ‘Satisfactory’ no longer satisfactory More proportional inspection regime: higher performing schools inspected less often than schools where performance is low Accurate school self evaluation is important and complacency is dangerous! Headteacher appraisal Note new terminology Governing bodies must appoint an appropriately qualified external person to provide support for the process This could be the School Improvement Partner or other Where headteachers are proposing reciprocal arrangements with other headteachers, governors need to be satisfied that there is sufficient rigour to the process Don’t forget that governors need to appoint two or three appraisers. If they do this this term then they are ready to take advantage of training early next term Decision on headteacher pay needs to be clearly delegated to an appropriate panel/committee of governors Discussion Size of governing body – is big beautiful or is small strategic?! What do you think are the pros and cons of the reconstitution options, in particular the increased focus on governors with skills? Have any of you been through an Ofsted inspection since January? How was it? Are there any points of interest or learning to share with colleagues? Have any of you been through a parental complaint? What might other clerks usefully learn from your experience? REFRESHMENTS Changes to the education landscape in Devon Sheet in your pack shows the current mix of maintained schools, federations and academies Devon local authority keen to stress the continuing role of the local authority and offer an alternative to schools not wishing to convert to academy Some schools exploring alternative trust options (eg Co-operative trust) Budgetary pressures on small schools a growing reality What are your GBs doing? Changes to governors and clerks Resignations Total number of governor resignations 607 Total number of clerk resignations 59 Appointments Total number of newly appointed governors 616 Total number of clerk appointments made 59 Total number of newly appointed clerks 47 (ie brand new, not taking on a second governing body) Governor Support On 1 April, along with other school support and improvement services, we transferred into joint venture with Babcock International Service continues to operate as before, largely funded via service level agreements to schools Also fulfil statutory functions on behalf of the LA and offer additional charged for services Don’t forget the website is password protected, you need to log in to view ALL the content! Check out updated policies list All course bookings now part of Babcock CPD online booking system – see Devon Governor for details Procedures quiz This is what we give to new governors on our New Governors (and New Governors for Old Governors) day? How well would you do?! A few reminders… Subscription includes a copy of the Devon Governor for each of your governors – please distribute as soon as they arrive in school Checklist (separate one for academies on its way) comes out at the start of every term – flag up to all governors Gold Sheets – relied on by us to communicate, via you as clerks, with all governors Are you set up with first and second committees? – they may be busy next year… Supporting governor development Encourage governors to attend training and keep a record of all training attended. Do governors feed back to the team after attending training? How are your induction procedures for new governors? Check out ‘Finding and Keeping Effective Governors’ on Governor Support website Are your governors accessing GEL? They need to register http://www.elc-gel.org/register/ Would an in house visit or a governance healthcheck be helpful? Very useful documents on National Governors Association website to help governors understand data and ask appropriate questions. http://www.nga.org.uk/Resources/UsefulDocuments.aspx Discussion forum Has anyone successfully managed to achieve an increase in their hours? Has anyone started having an appraisal? Are any of your governing bodies successfully using ‘lead governors’? Your additions to the forum… Evaluation forms Lunch