Governors Training

Clerks Induction Training

Support for governors provided by FFT Education

School governors are invited to view the FFT Governor Dashboards and discover how FFT Aspire supports them in their role by joining a free webinar provided by FFT (Fischer Family Trust).

The FFT Aspire Overview Webinar for School Governors lasts just twenty five minutes and will take place on the following:

• Tuesday 18 July – 11am

 • Tuesday 18 July – 4pm

The FFT Governor Dashboard, developed in partnership with the National Governors’ Association and the Wellcome Trust, is available through FFT Aspire, FFT’s reporting and data tool for schools, local authorities and academy trusts. Through a simple dashboard, governors can see how their school attainment and pupil progress compares to the national average, how it performs in different subjects, and whether any specific groups of pupils are under-performing, making it ideal for planning inspections.

To book a place on the webinar please visit www.fft.org.uk/training-events.aspx  and choose the online training option.

NGA & TES Survey 2017

The National Governance Association has once again joined forces with TES magazine to survey the nation’s governors and trustees. The findings from this survey are vital to ensuring governing boards' voices are heard at national level. Over 2,500 people have already taken part and we’re hoping to hear from even more of you!

The survey takes roughly 20 minutes to complete and will close on Monday 17 July.

The survey is open to all governors, trustees, and academy committee members in England, including head teachers, so please pass this information to your colleagues.

Are you Prepared for The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)?

On 25 May 2018, the EU General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), a new legal framework for data protection, will come into effect in the UK. The UK government has confirmed that the UK’s decision to leave the EU will not prevent the introduction of the GDPR, so it is important that governors and trustees begin to consider any potential impact

GDPR will replace the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and represents the biggest change to data protection law for 20 years. With some GDPR breaches carrying fines of up to 4% of global annual turnover or 20 million Euros, now is the time to start planning. Individuals have stronger rights to be informed about how organisations use their personal information.

For the first time in data protection law, the GDPR will introduce the requirement of “accountability”. In basic terms, accountability means that organisations will not only be required to comply with data protection requirements, but also that they must demonstrate that they comply.

Many of the GDPR’s main concepts and principles are much the same as those in the current Data Protection Act, so if you are complying with the current law most of your approach to compliance will remain valid under the GDPR and can be the starting point to build from. However, there are new elements and significant enhancements, so you will have to do some things for the first time and some things differently.

The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) is the UK's independent authority set up to uphold information rights and they are committed to helping organisations improve their practices and prepare for the GDPR.

As a starting point we suggest governors:

·         Visit the GDPR section on the ICO website

·         Look at the  ICO’s overview of the GDPR - a good place to start

·         Look at the 12 steps to take towards compliance which the ICO has published

·         Raise awareness of GDPR at all levels within their school

At this moment in time we are unsure how the GDPR will affect schools but we suggest Governors and Head teachers read the information to familiarise themselves with the requirements.

We will forward you more information when we receive it.

Governors' Forum and Long Service Awards Presentation

Nigel Minns presented Long Service Awards to Governors who have supported schools in Warwickshire for 20 years.  Following the presentation attendees moved to the Council Chamber for the Summer Forum meeting.

Nigel opened the Forum with his thoughts on “The Educational Landscape” and “Where are we now?” although he made us aware that our meeting was the day before the Queen’s Speech and we would all need to wait and see what the government’s legislative programme for the next two years would be. We listened to his presentation and thoughts on The Manifesto, School Improvement Funding, Strategic School Improvement Fund and the Local Authority Involvement in MATs. Governors were given the opportunity to question Nigel and discussions took place.

Nigel handed over to Hayley McDonagh (Manager for Safeguarding and Intervention) and Hayley began by congratulating schools and governors on their performance.  According to Ofsted official statistics Warwickshire now has 90% good or better schools - up from 89% last quarter and up from 82% in March 2015!

She explained the role of the Learning Improvement Officers and how they would be supporting schools in the future before giving a detailed presentation on the Framework for School Led School Improvement.  Hayley discussed each stage and section of the framework triangle to enable governors to understand the process and who was involved. Governors were given the opportunity to question Hayley and to comment on the process.

Hayley handed over to Vince Quayle (Manager of Governor Services) on Evolving Governance and Vince gave governors an update on the national governance picture and comments from recent Ofsted reports.  Vince reminded governors on the importance of strategic governance and asked governors to question whether their governing body was holding the school to account.  Vince updated governors on Warwickshire Governance Highlights which included training and recruitment activity and he ended the presentation by giving governors an opportunity to ask questions.

Feedback following the Forum has been very positive and we would like to thank everyone for giving up their time to attend the event.

WSCB Schools Safeguarding Audit 2017

Adrian Over (Education Safeguarding Manager) has sent a copy of the WSCB Schools Safeguarding Audit 2017 to Head Teachers / DSL.  It would be useful for Safeguarding Link Governors to be aware of the document and perhaps support the Head teacher / DSL in completing it and ensuring it is returned by the completion date of September 22 2017.

No Pens Day Wednesday - 4 October 2017

'No Pens Day Wednesday' encourages schools and settings to put down their pens and to run a day of speaking and listening activities.

More information and resources are available from The Communications Trust

Update on the Governor Half Day Conference

The Conference was very well attended and featured two workshops:

·         A Guide to Admissions and Exclusions and the Governors Role

·         School Website Requirements and the Complaints Toolkit

Copies of the presentations have been emailed to all delegates and the revised Complaints Toolkit is available to use on GovernorHub and WES Document Library.

Feedback from delegates following the Conference was very positive and a number of schools have already conducted their own website audit with interesting findings!