Governance is complex.
Boards need a very wide range of skills and knowledge to ensure they meet all their responsibilities.
Fortunately, there is no need to re-invent the wheel. Multiple websites exist to help you. We can’t list them all but we’ve identified the sites we’ve found the most useful below.
(Please note that the links on this page will open external websites in a new window. These are sites that may be useful to Governors, however, OGA has no control or responsibility for content.)
General advice, support and guidance
Department for Education – DFE
The DFE produce an extensive range of documentation – see here. This includes statutory guidance which schools are legally obliged to follow.
Perhaps the most useful is the Governance Handbook. This provides “guidance on the roles and duties of governing boards and advice on the skills, knowledge and behaviours they need to be effective”. It’s a really thorough, helpful document.
Oxfordshire County Council Governor Services
OCC’s Governor Services department offers a really useful range of support and information. It is principally designed to support LA Maintained Schools, but it is equally useful for MATs who have bought into the service.
Perhaps the most useful page is here. This summarises the work of governing boards, and offers templates, access to statutory guidance, essential policies and model answers to key governance questions.
You don’t have to have bought into Governor Services to benefit from the website.
Additional services are provided free of charge by OCC to all governing boards (whether maintained or MAT):
- Fortnightly Governor Services newsletters here
- Governor briefings (6 times per year)
- Clerks briefings (3 times per year)
- One-off training events on specific topics throughout the year
Advice is available by email at governorservices@oxfordshire.gov.uk. Response times to questions tend to be speedy and the advice is usually clear and practical.
OCC also offers a training service which you must also buy into. (See below)
OCC also produces the weekly Schools News which goes out to all schools. While it is not exclusively designed for governors it does highlight articles of interest to governors. We recommend that your Chair of Governors and your Clerk should sign up to receive this.
C of E and catholic schools
Church authorities of both denominations provide extensive support, advice and training to the schools for which they are responsible. All church schools have at least one dedicated “Foundation” governor who represents the Church’s voice on the board.
Church schools are particularly involved in the recruitment of headteachers. Diocesan website links for Church Schools are:
National Governance Association – NGA.
OGA strongly recommends that your Governing Board becomes a member of NGA. They are the National voice for Governance and produce some very useful information, some of which can only be accessed by members.
They lobby government, hold regular conferences for local and national audiences, and publish important guidance. They send out a weekly newsletter which highlights key issues.
They also provide training, and a legal advice service for an annual fee.
(Please note that while we value our local association membership of the NGA we recommend this site because it’s comprehensive and useful.)
Evidence based teaching and learning
OGA promotes initiatives for improving teaching and learning that are based on evidence of what works.
The Government has placed great emphasis on the Education Endowment Fund (EEF) . The role of the EEF is to publish and embed the results of evidence-based research into effective learning decisions. Schools are now strongly encouraged to follow the results of EEF research.
Governors should use EEF research outcomes wherever possible to provide benchmarking and external validation on teaching and learning decisions made by school management. This information is helpfully summarised in the Teaching and Learning Toolkit
Concerned about safeguarding issues?
If you are concerned about a safeguarding issue, your first port of call should always be the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) in the school. They will decide on the urgency of the issue, and will make referrals to external agencies such as the MASH (Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub) if the concern is immediate, or the LCSS (social services) if the need is longer term.
If you are concerned that the headteacher her/himself represents a safeguarding risk, or if you receive a parental complaint relating to safeguarding against the headteacher you must immediately contact the LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer) on lado.safeguardingchildren@oxfordshire.gov.uk
If you are made aware of an abuse allegation against a teacher you must also contact the LADO immediately.
Concerned about bullying?
If you are concerned about bullying, or if you receive a complaint that bullying is taking place you should immediately inform the headteacher. The following websites may also be helpful:
The anti-bullying alliance, Kidscape and The National Bullying helpline.
Childline should also be advertised in your school. Online or 0800 1111
Funding
Schools Forum is the formal, statutory consultative group for the Local Authority (LA) to engage with about funding issues.
It is strongly recommended that at least one Governor in each school has a watching brief on information in relation to the Schools Forum and other funding issues.
Governor Recruitment and training
Governor recruitment can be hard – particularly when you are looking to fill specific skills gaps on your board. The Inspiring Governance website can help you in your search and is free of charge for schools.
Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) Training for Governors and clerks.
Many schools and MATs buy into OCC’s training programme whether they are maintained schools or MATs. There are a wide range of courses and the quality is usually very good. These are delivered remotely, usually last for 2 hours, and take place in the evening so they fit round busy lives as much as possible.
If your school / MAT doesn’t buy into the OCC training programme, there are various other paid-for sources of governor training, which offer both courses and webinars. We have had good experiences with the National College but if you google governor training you will find many service providers.
The OGA has written a slide deck for in-house induction training for new governors. This is designed to be adapted to your own school, and to work in tandem with the required induction training given by external providers.
Headteacher recruitment
For help with Headteacher recruitment OCC has useful advice and Church Schools should also inform their Diocesan Education service. Maintained schools must inform OCC on receipt of a Headteacher resignation.
Clerks
Having a good clerk is essential to running a strong governance structure. They are appointed by, and accountable to, the Governing Board. For useful information please see the DfE’s Clerking competency framework and Clerk to Governors information on the NGA website.
OCC Governor Services also a clerking service which provides clerks for governing boards. You have to buy into this service. Many schools and MATs recruit clerks directly. There has been a serious shortage of clerks within Oxfordshire for several years and recruitment is difficult.
We also strongly recommend that all clerks attend OCC’s regular clerk’s briefings, there is also other useful information for clerks available through this link.
Wellbeing
The Education Support Partnership is a registered charity which provides free phone line, email or live chat support for Education Staff.
Premises
SALIX provided interest free loans to help schools invest in projects which increase energy efficiency, though many of the programmes are now closed there is still some useful information to be found .
The DfE has published information about maintaining school premises.