Hampshire Governor

Spring 2002. No. 23

This Edition of Hampshire Governor

All the articles from the Spring 2002 edition of Hampshire Governor have been reproduced on this page. You can also view Hampshire Governor in its original format using the following link:

Hampshire Governor - full document in PDF format for browsing and printing: an Adobe Acrobat Reader plug- in may be required.

BE PREPARED FOR MORE CHANGES AS EDUCATION BILL BECOMES LAW

Just three years after the reconstitution of governing bodies, a new raft of changes is on the way. And one Hampshire governor is helping to steer the new measures through.

He's Simon Whitbourn, a governor of Knightwood Primary School in Chandler's Ford. Simon, formerly principal solicitor with Hampshire County Council and now a legal consultant, is helping the DfES to frame regulations based on the Education Bill which is going through the House of Lords.

'There's no need for governors to panic about the scale of the changes,' said Simon. It may seem unfortunate that, three years after governing bodies were reorganised, there are going to be more changes to the numbers and categories of governors. But the aim is to make things as simple as possible.

The constitutional changes will include replacing co-opted governors with community governors, though this is largely a change in terminology, not substance. There will be more flexibility on the numbers of different types of governors.

'Though there will be a number of new sets of regulations, governors will not drown in new paperwork,' said Simon. 'But they will need to get to grips with an updated version of the Guide to the Law.'

Some of the provisions of the Education Bill are controversial, such as allowing schools to form limited liability companies to supply services, including LEA functions, and arrange the provision of financial or legal advice.

It's only a short time since grouped governing bodies were abolished, but the Bill proposes to bring them back with the possibility of forming 'joint committees' of governors and 'federations' of schools under a single governing body.

There will be a 'power to innovate', under which schools will be able to seek DfES permission for pilot schemes involving the relaxation of normal rules. But whether and how governing bodies will take advantage of this power is as yet unknown.

The best schools will be able to 'earn' autonomy, enabling them to opt out of aspects of the National Curriculum and the national pay and conditions for staff. But here again, there is doubt over how much demand there is for this, and what autonomy will achieve.

The Government says it will become easier for schools that are popular and oversubscribed to expand. Schools will also be allowed to share teachers with other schools and further education colleges.

Simon highlighted the freedom to create the 'extended school' which he said was likely to be welcomed by governors. 'This is a clarification of the law to enable schools to provide breakfast clubs, after-school clubs and other community facilities, without the need to set up separate organisations to achieve this,' he said.

The Education Bill is expected to receive Royal Assent in the summer and the regulations will start to come into effect from September this year. But governing bodies are likely to be able to phase in constitutional changes over three years.

As a governor and a former local authority solicitor, Simon is relying on his broad educational as well as legal experience to advise the DfES. In his former role with the County Council, he gave advice to headteachers and the Education Department on issues including admissions and special educational needs.

He is a Governor Services associate tutor on the legal responsibilities of governors and author of 'What is the LEA for?' and a forthcoming book on disability and discrimination in education.

YOUR DUTY TO ENSURE RACIAL EQUALITY

How proactive is your school in ensuring racial equality? Schools and education authorities are now obliged, under the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000, to:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination;

• promote equality of opportunity;

• promote relations between people of different racial groups.

Governing bodies must make sure their schools seek to avoid unlawful discrimination before it occurs.

Specific duties for each school include:

• prepare a written policy on race equality by 31 May 2002;

• assess the impact of its policies on ethnic minority pupils, staff and parents;

• monitor the attainment of ethnic minority pupils;

• make information available about its policies to promote race equality;

• take account of the general duty to promote race equality in employment matters;

• supply the LEA with appropriate employment data.

The Commission for Racial Equality has published guidelines for schools on preparing a race equality policy.

The document can be accessed easily from the Stop Press section of the Governor Services website, www.hants.gov.uk/education/governors

Schools will want to ensure their documentation reflects CRE guidance and should not worry if this means some delay in formally complying with legislation.

Ian Massey, County inspector for intercultural education

PERMANENT EXCLUSIONS SHOW RISE AS NEW GUIDANCE IS PREPARED

The number of pupils permanently excluded from Hampshire schools has shown a rise for the first time after five years of steady decline. This comes at a time when the DfES is consulting on changes to the exclusions guidance (first published in 1999) which have, broadly, strengthened the authority of headteachers to permanently exclude.

From a statistical high in 1996/97, when 364 Hampshire pupils were excluded, the number fell to a low of 152 in 2000/01. But in the first half of the current year the number has increased to 108 - compared with 72 in the first half of 2000/01.

Moreover, the proportion of pupils reinstated by pupil discipline committees and independent appeals panels is showing a reduction this year.

The DfES guidance is in the process of being updated after a consultation process which ended on 19 April. The new draft guidance states that permanent exclusion may be appropriate for a first or one-off offence involving serious actual or threatened violence, sexual misconduct, supplying an illegal drug or carrying an offensive weapon.

It also sets out circumstances where an independent appeal panel should not normally direct the reinstatement of permanently excluded pupils. These include, as well as the above, persistent and defiant behaviour including bullying, and where an exclusion is in accordance with the school's published discipline policy (e.g. zero tolerance of drug supplying).

Jack Cawthra, education officer (EOTAS), said: 'It is right that the guidance on exclusions should be regularly reviewed and we welcome this open and clear consultation. 'The proposed revisions tend to give further support to the authority of heads to exclude and have clarified the circumstances in which the Secretary of State would not expect appeals panels to reinstate pupils. We welcome the emphasis on children in public care who are especially at risk. Schools and LEAs should be particularly sensitive to their need for support.

'There is also helpful clarification about cases where police are involved and there are parallel criminal proceedings.'

Six learning support units for disaffected pupils have been set up at secondary schools in Hampshire since Government funding was made available in April 2000. They aim to help reduce both permanent and fixed-term exclusions and unauthorised absence, and to raise levels of achievement. They are at John Hunt of Everest School, Basingstoke; Oak Farm Community School, Farnborough; Staunton Park Community School, Havant; Neville Lovett Community School, Fareham; Priestlands Community School, Lymington; and The Winton School, Andover.

The Education Other Than At School service is currently being restructured to provide better support to schools, children and families. One of the most significant changes will be the eventual replacement of 16 pupil referral units and grouped tuition centres with seven EOTAS Education Centres.

WISE UP ON DRUGS ISSUES

A new pack for governors contains a wealth of information about drugs and how to deal with drug-related issues in schools.

It is the result of collaboration between the Education Department and its partners on the Hampshire Drug Action Team (DAT), which is charged with implementing the national drug prevention strategy. This includes supporting the Healthy Schools programme.

The pack contains a booklet entitled Briefings for Governors which highlights the responsibilities governors have in this area and examines the key components of an effective drugs policy.

Packs were distributed at briefing sessions for governors held before Christmas and since then copies have been sent to any governing bodies that were not represented.

Through the letter which accompanied the pack, governors were asked to make it known if they felt the need for further training. If responses suggest there is a demand, courses will be set up through Governor Services.

Pauline Forrest, County inspector/adviser PSHE

HELP IN HANDLING COMPLAINTS

Sue Pappadakis, newly appointed customer relations and complaints adviser with Hampshire Education Department, explains her role.

Governors may remember, back in 1999, consultation on new national regulations on how schools should respond to complaints. In the event, regulations were never made and the DfES instead encouraged governing bodies to draw up and publish their own complaints policies.

Many Hampshire schools have put effective complaints policies in place. Nevertheless, resolution of complaints can on occasion be complex because of the various layers of responsibility in education.

It is recognised that the Education Department needs to provide guidance to parents, schools, governors and its own officers about the appropriate handling of complaints at different levels. As a result, I was appointed as customer relations and complaints adviser in January. My first priority is to produce model guidance in handling complaints and to publish a leaflet for parents. Time will be allowed for consultation. In the longer term I will be monitoring complaints about LEA services and reporting outcomes.

Following a hectic induction, my daily routine so far has involved liaising with heads, governors and parents on queries about complaints and complaints procedures.

SPECIAL FOCUS ON RAISING STANDARDS

EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT PLAN SETS PRIORITIES FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS

Hampshire's latest Education Development Plan has been approved by the Secretary of State for Education. Commended as 'a good plan', it describes the way in which the County Council will devote its funds and efforts to ensure improvement and development in the quality of education in Hampshire over the next five years.

The plan is the result of wide consultation with governing bodies, teachers, local dioceses and other partners in education. It covers the five years 2002-2007.

It continues the successful initiatives in the first Education Development Plan to boost literacy, numeracy and information and communication skills. The programme of training for headteachers, deputies and other school managers is being continued and extended.

Working within the code of practice for LEA/school relations, the attached inspector scheme will continue to enable the LEA to monitor, challenge and support the achievements of schools and to pay particular attention to those in most need of improvement.

A number of initiatives in the plan are based on recommendations following the Ofsted inspection of the LEA in February 2001. The plan has five nationally set priorities:

1 Raising attainment in the early years and in primary education, especially in numeracy and literacy.

2 Raising attainment in Key Stage 3.

3 Raising attainment in Key Stage 4.

4 Narrowing the attainment gap between groups of pupils and tackling underachievement.

5 Supporting schools causing concern.

There are also three local priorities:

1 Recruitment, retention and professional development of school staff and governors.

2 Inclusion, focusing particularly on behaviour, attendance, children in public care and excluded pupils.

3 Instituting networks to support school improvement and reduce the burden of school and LEA administration.

Chris Wilson, Senior inspector/adviser (strategic management)

NEW AIMS FOR GOVERNOR SERVICES

Another Charter Mark success... a Best Value review and action plan... new targets for inclusion in Hampshire's Education Development Plan. All these are part of Governor Services' recent work to raise standards. The different threads are being drawn together in a strategic plan for future improvement by Governor Services. This aims to:

• improve the quality of information and advice for governors, including making greater use of new technology;

• develop closer links with providers outside the LEA, to widen the range of services available;

• raise the professional status and standards of clerking (see right);

• reduce the number of vacancies on governing bodies;

• improve retention levels of governors;

• increase take-up by governors of induction training and briefings;

• raise to 100 per cent by the end of 2003 the proportion of governing bodies which are judged by Ofsted to provide satisfactory governance.

All this represents a great deal of work and, as ever, will be possible only with your continuing support. We therefore look forward to working with you to bring about these changes and help raise educational standards in the county.

Bob West, County governor services co-ordinator

WE'VE MADE OUR MARK AGAIN!

Above, Governor Services staff, winners of the Government Charter Mark. Holding the Charter Mark logo are County Cllr Don Allen, executive member for education, and Janet Sheriton, governor services manager.

Hampshire Governor Services has been awarded the coveted Charter Mark for excellence in public services for the third time.

Government assessors praised the staff as 'energetic, hardworking and committed to providing a good service'. They also highlighted the service's good relationships with governors and headteachers.

In addition, top marks were given to working partnerships with public, private and non-profit organisations in recruiting governors. The range of training courses offered to governors was commended.

Areas for further development were publicising more widely the outcomes of complaints and the service's standards and targets.

Governor Services has 21 full-time equivalent staff and 157 people on the casual payroll for training and clerks' support to governing bodies.

There are more than 8,000 school governors who may call on Governor Services for support and training, and 1,500 applicants a year for governorships.

The service's overall budget for the year 2001/02 was £1,032,300.

OVERVIEW OF OUR OPERATION

After some years the Service Level Agreement (SLA) for Governor Services has been brought up to date. The document brings together in one place an overview of all the services provided to governing bodies in the county and the terms and conditions under which they are offered. It has been the subject of consultation with County Governor Forum and the Service Review Group.

As the SLA makes no substantial changes to customary ways of operating, both groups took the view that further consultation would pointlessly burden governing bodies. The SLA will, therefore, be available shortly on the web at www.hants.gov.uk/education/governors and hard copies will be available on request from Claire Bailey at claire.e.bailey@hants.gov.uk

MORE HELP ON THE WAY FOR CLERKSIN THEIR VITAL ROLE

Governors may recall the Hampshire survey some time ago which demonstrated a wide variation in the terms and conditions of clerks to governing bodies. Since then Governor Services has been working with representatives of clerks, governors, headteachers and Education Personnel Services to address this and other issues in clerking.

We are currently consulting with clerks in the LEA managed service about new contracts and are planning to pilot a new accreditation programme for clerks to governors during the summer term.

Education Personnel Services are developing some guidance on the employment of clerks to be included in the Manual of Personnel Practice. This will be the subject of consultation with representative heads and governors in the summer term.

Underpinning accreditation is a new tool (The Clerks Competency Framework) developed by a couple of Hampshire governors and modified at a clerks', chairs' and headteachers' workshop. It identifies the knowledge, understanding and skills clerks need to serve their governing bodies effectively.

We have been working on the accreditation project with ISCG (Information for School and College Governors) who will moderate the accreditation process and confirm the awards.

Many of you will know of ISCG's work at national level and be familiar with its Manual for Governing Bodies and their clerks. It has also in the last few months been working with the DfES as central government prepare to commission the development of a national training programme for clerks.

Although the Competency Framework and accreditation are being piloted in the LEA managed service, they are intended to be available if all goes well to clerks throughout the county.

We believe these developments are steps towards the recognition of the skills and status of clerks to governors in Hampshire and provide a framework for continuing improvement.

Janet Sheriton, Governor services manager

SUPPORTING PUPILS IN SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES

WHEN OBSTACLES STAND IN THE WAY OF LEARNING

How can we better support children who are at a disadvantage through language or lifestyle? Anwen Case, governor of a Basingstoke junior school and a teacher of bilingual pupils, writes below. And we report on the work of the Traveller Education Service.

Ydych chi'n teimlo mewn pembleth? Ydych chi'n deall y geiriau hyn? Ydych chi'n gorfod dysgu iaith gwbl newydd?*

If you don't speak or understand this language, this is how you might feel as a new bilingual child in a Hampshire school, learning the English needed for day-to-day life in the classroom.

You might be scared and bewildered, you might take time to adjust to life in a new country, with a new language to learn, and a different education system and style of learning. You could feel quite isolated, without the support of a community that shares the same language and culture as yourself.

Your school is friendly and welcoming but may be unsure how best to help you.

Thankfully, help is at hand in the form of the Hampshire Bilingual Learners Support Service (BLSS). It will send a bilingual assistant to your school, who speaks your language, so that you begin to understand what is going on in the classroom, things begin to make sense, you begin to feel more confident and make more progress.

As a teacher who works for Hampshire BLSS, perhaps I am a bit biased in thinking that this is an excellent service! I am equally enthusiastic about being a governor of St. Mary's CE Junior School in Basingstoke. I'm lucky to work with a supportive, multi-talented team, and am getting to grips with being the training liaison governor. Having been a governor for just over a year, I find that like the pupils I have described above, I am still on a steep learning curve.

At St Mary's there have been around four bilingual pupils in the past few years who were new to English, for whom BLSS was able to provide bilingual support. BLSS currently works with pupils in Hampshire who speak a total of 56 languages.

BLSS is working on plans for 'awareness raising' sessions for governors, to focus on the needs of bilingual and ethnic minority pupils. Visit the BLSS web page at www.hants.gov.uk/blss or ring BLSS on 01256 330195.

*Yes, it's Welsh, which as a Welsh speaker was the obvious language for me to take as an example. The translation is: Do you feel confused? Do you understand these words? Do you have to learn a completely different language?

Fairground life is captured vividly in artwork produced by pupils, including children of Travellers, at Bishopswood Infant School.

Hampshire's Traveller Education Service is made up of specialist teacher advisers and education welfare officers. Funded by the Standards Fund, the service provides advice to schools at no additional cost. Its main aims are to help Traveller pupils to integrate and to support schools in providing them with an appropriate education.

Ofsted acknowledges that 'Gypsy Traveller pupils are the group most at risk within the education system'.

When families with school-age children move into an area, schools should contact the Traveller Education Service promptly. Support can be arranged for transport, uniform and attendance.

The service has written and produced support material for Key Stages 1 and 2 to be used in the literacy hour and is developing material to support citizenship at KS3.

For information, visit the web page www.hants.gov.uk/TC/edews/travellerhome.html or telephone Gill May on 023 9244 1409.

BETTER BUT...HMCI'S VERDICT

The Annual Report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools, published in February, gives a detailed assessment of standards and quality in education nationally during 2000/2001.

There are many positive findings. The amount of good or better teaching has never been higher and the proportion of unsatisfactory or poor teaching is the lowest ever. Nearly half of the primary schools inspected had no unsatisfactory or poor lessons. Nineteen per cent of secondary schools achieved this, too. Leadership and management were good or better in three-quarters of all schools. Improvements in governor effectiveness were also noted.

Inspectors concluded that in primary schools, the majority of governing bodies are active in shaping the direction of the school and have a greater understanding of its strengths and weaknesses. Over 90 per cent fulfil their statutory duties effectively.

In secondary schools, the key characteristics of effective governing bodies are identified as:

• their involvement in determining the schools strategic direction;

• the process of development planning and budget setting;

• monitoring the school's performance e.g. by reviewing test and examination results and considering the views of parents.

Governors play an effective role in the majority of special schools. Nevertheless, in one school in 10 they are insufficiently informed to make their own judgments on the school's strengths and weaknesses.

The report also highlights concern about the number of schools with serious weaknesses which fail to tackle them effectively and speedily. And certain minority groups of pupils are not achieving as they could.

The report contains praise for Hampshire LEA. 'Hampshire... showed what LEA work at its best could achieve,' it says.

It's interesting to compare the national picture with the data we have on Hampshire governing bodies. In primary schools, 77 per cent of Hampshire governing bodies were judged to be good or better against 61 per cent nationally. The figure for secondary schools raises some questions: 40 per cent of Hampshire governing bodies were judged to be good or better against a national figure of 61 per cent. Since there were only 11 secondary schools inspected during the period, but 66 primary, the figures need to be viewed with some caution.

To read the HMCI report, visit the Governor Services website www.hants.gov.uk/education/governors, clicking on links, then Ofsted, then Publications (this year).

Hazel Round, County governor services co-ordinator

WEBSITE PROVES TO BE A BIG HIT

Use of the Governor Services website www.hants.gov.uk/education/governors has risen steadily since its launch. Nearly 1,800 'hits' (visits to the site) were registered in January this year, compared with just over 600 in January 2001.

In January a new section of the website called Governors' Working Practice was launched. This contains examples of governing bodies' documents - terms of reference, school policies etc - that we hope governors and heads will find useful as a starting point when producing their own documents or updating them. A focus group of heads and governors meets once a term to look at new documents and decide which ones would be beneficial to the site.

If you have any documents you think would be useful to others please send them as an attachment to claire.e.bailey@hants.gov.uk or post to Claire Bailey, Governor Services, County Education Office, The Castle, Winchester SO23 8UG.

• Look for the heading Guidelines and Regulations in the information section of the Governor Services website. Here you can find current guidance on managing parent, teacher and staff elections. The guidance will be updated after processes have been agreed following the introduction of criminal records checks for governors and the outcome of the Best Value review.

GOVERNORS BOOK LIBRARY SERVICE

Governors recently had to decide whether to buy into the School Library Service from April 2002 using delegated funds. The service is clearly a popular one - by early March 98 per cent of LEA schools had decided to subscribe.

The SLS provides a cost-effective option for developing school library resources to support the whole school curriculum and individual learning needs.

The 2001 SLS Best Value review showed that schools were mainly very satisfied with the quality of the service. In particular they valued, as well as the resource support, the advisory aspect including new heads' reviews, preparing for Ofsted and help with interviewing prospective library staff.

SLS staff regularly visit schools to advise on issues such as preparing library policy and development plans, library design and the promotion of books and reading. The SLS provides a wide range of courses, meetings and user support groups.

For more information, contact your nearest SLS centre or Anne Marley at the Children's and Schools Section of County Library HQ, telephone 01962 846085.

The text of Hampshire Governor can be made available in larger size on request to Governor Services, tel 01962 845706. Hampshire Governor is also available on the web at www.hants.gov.uk/education/governors

Hampshire Governor, Hampshire Governor Services, Hampshire County Council Education, The Castle, Winchester SO23 8UG. Tel 01962 845706.

Prepared and published by

Hampshire County Council

Education Department.

Edited and produced by Bob Poulton, WordWright, Fareham.

Mailed to governors in Hampshire LEA.

Views expressed do not necessarily coincide with those of the LEA. Publication of Hampshire Governor is helped by a government grant specifically directed at the training and information needs of school governors.