Hampshire Governor - Winter 2003. No. 26
This edition of Hampshire Governor
All the articles from the Winter 2003 edition of Hampshire Governor have been reproduced on this page. You can also view Hampshire Governor in its original format using the following link:
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PRIMARY GOVERNORS SCORE WELL IN OFSTED'S LATEST RESULTS
More than three-quarters of Hampshire primary schools have been judged by Ofsted to have good or very good governing bodies. This is a better rating than achieved by our `statistical neighbours', the term for comparable LEAs (which scored just under two-thirds) and governing bodies across the country as a whole (six out of 10).
Sixty-four per cent of primary governing bodies in Hampshire were judged good or better in fulfilling statutory responsibilities; 69 per cent in shaping the direction of the school; 80 per cent in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the school.
These findings form part of the performance and assessment data (or Panda) for Hampshire recently published by Ofsted and are based on inspections between January 2000 and July 2002.
The strength of the contribution made by Hampshire governors is a matter for some celebration. But Governor Services is planning further work to help:
the one in three governing bodies which need to improve in fulfilling statutory responsibilities and their role in shaping the strategic direction of the school;
the one in five which do not yet understand the strengths and weaknesses of their school.
Secondary school governance in Hampshire was judged by Ofsted to be not as strong as primary governance overall and showed a pattern much closer to statistical neighbours and the national picture, with around six in 10 governing bodies being judged good or better overall.
Sixty-five per cent of secondary governing bodies in Hampshire were judged good or better in shaping the direction of the school; 84 per cent good or better in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the school; but 69 per cent were considered to need improvement in fulfilling statutory responsibilities.
A new training course is being developed to help Hampshire governing bodies meet the demands of the revised standards.
HARDER TO BE GOOD!
Ofsted is redefining the terms it uses to pass judgments on governance. The descriptors `excellent', `very good', `good', `satisfactory', `unsatisfactory', `poor' and `very poor' will be based on slightly different criteria. The effect will be to make standards harder to achieve: a governing body judged satisfactory under the previous criteria would not now be so described unless its practice had improved. So it¹s even more vital that governing bodies demonstrate the quality of the work they do and how it helps to raise standards. You have been warned!
YOUR DUTY TO YOUR HEADTEACHER
The most important job a governing body undertakes is clearly the appointment of a new headteacher.
What is less obvious is the governors' ongoing duty to ensure that their headteacher is supported in his/her professional development.
Often headteachers are reluctant to use scarce resources for their own development but as their school's `lead learner' it is essential they do so and are supported by their governing body.
Now a new consortium has been formed in our region to deliver high-quality induction and follow-on training to headteachers.
Report overleaf.
THE SECRET OF STAYING POWER
Many governors leave before completing their first term of office. How can they be encouraged to stay on?
This question was at the heart of a research project by Kevin Tucker, a parent governor at Clanfield Junior School, as part of his Masters degree at the University of Portsmouth. Governor Services provided administrative support.
Kevin sent a questionnaire to one governor in each of the 181 schools in the Havant local area, as well as to 100 former governors who had retired or resigned during the previous 12 months. Just over half responded.
The results show that:
Volunteers regard the most positive aspects of governance as `being valued by the school', `feeling part of the team' and `being able to interact effectively with the senior management team'.
They see the most negative aspects as `too much jargon', `too much Paperwork' and `having to dedicate too much time'.
`The fact that few respondents received what they perceived as a high-quality in-school induction process suggests more could be done to integrate them into the school team,' said Kevin. `Education jargon needs to be simplified, or better explained, because it is a barrier to effective communication. In addition, it is evident that people becoming governors for the first time underestimate the amount of time and work required.'
Kevin expresses thanks to all respondents for their open and frank replies.
HOW HEADS CAN KEEP AHEAD
In Hampshire the LEA has the expertise to ensure headteachers have a professional induction into their new post. But this has not been the case in all parts of the country, so the National College of School Leadership has decided to introduce a national induction programme for headteachers.
Only 20 contractors are licensed to deliver the programme. One of them, the HISP consortium, includes Hampshire LEA, the Isle of Wight LEA, Southampton LEA and Portsmouth LEA.
After a needs assessment, each head has a combination of training modules and coaching. The modules cover:
raising achievement;
leading schools facing challenging circumstances;
inclusion;
working with the governing body;
securing a positive ethos and high standards of behaviour;
reform of the school workforce.
The coaching, by experienced and successful headteachers, can be used to address the more individual issues a new headteacher might face.
The National College of School Leadership provides funding of £2,500 for the induction of each new headteacher and its strong recommendation, supported by Hampshire LEA, is that this be supplemented by £500 from the school budget, making a total of £3,000. This can be spent over a period of three years.
The programme forms part of the college¹s leadership development framework which covers career help for all those involved in school leadership, including subject leaders and heads of year as well as headteachers.
JOHN SAMUELS
Professional adviser for leadership and management
68,894 WEB HITS - AND RISING
The Governor Services website continues to grow both in terms of information available and usage. There were 68,894 hits on the site in the first nine months of 2003. This compares with 39,066 for the whole of the previous year. Most popular sites were Governors Working Practice homepage and Governors Recruitment homepage.
The latest service to be added is an electronic version of the instrument of government for schools to use when reconstituting. It can be emailed by church schools to the diocese and by community schools to their local office.
Work is under way to develop a search facility and an index, as well as grouping information under topic areas such as personnel and finance.
Parts of the website will remain open to all, such as information for prospective governors, but some will in future be available only to Hampshire governors, councillors, clerks and school staff. When users enter the site for the first time, the system will check their status and allocate a password to those who are entitled to one. Others will be able to see a list of the full range of information and use Governor Services' contact details to discuss purchasing materials if they wish to do so.
Further ahead, it is likely that parts of the site will be reserved for `full access' schools so that those who buy into the full Governor Services package are not subsidising information access for those who don't. A clerks' site and online learning to support course attendance are also being explored.
HAZEL ROUND
County governor services co-ordinator
HELPING CHILDREN TO COMMUNICATE
Special technology aids are now available for children with communication difficulties, both spoken and written.
They are funded by the Communication Aids Project, a £20 million scheme. CAP money is in addition to LEA provision and a child will only qualify if there is evidence that his or her difficulty has already been identified and the school or LEA is planning to meet his or her needs.
For more information, contact Gay Kennan or Chris Toner at Havant Local Education Office on 023 9249 8200 or Stuart Rees on 07803 180763.
SAP'S RISING
During 2004 the way schools administer finance, procurement and personnel systems will change. The Resource Management System, SAP, which schools already have for payroll, will be brought on line to deal with the above processes in January.
The roll-out is expected to take 12 months and the programme showing the date for each school was published in early December. School holidays and the main statutory return dates will be avoided.
Schools will have direct access to the SAP software running on computers in Winchester. This will require some changes to schools' computer systems. Details will be sent to schools as soon as possible. The County Council is appointing extra support staff in Education Personnel and Financial Services.
Area school admin officer and headteacher conferences have been consulted and local area governor meetings are being briefed this term.
ROGER MEAD
Assistant county education officer, resources and planning
WINDOWS OPEN
The computer system that maintains Governor Services' records of governors and training events across the county has been replaced.
The new Governor Manager system is Windows-based and will provide greater capacity to automate processes in line with recommendations from Governor Services' `Best Value' review. It's been up and running since the beginning of this term.
During the change-over period it has been possible to maintain the normal level of service and the only changes governors may notice are some differences in the formats of forms and letters.
SPECIAL FEATURE REMODELLING THE SCHOOL WORKFORCE
WHY GOVERING BODIES WILL WANT TO RISE TO THIS NEW CHALLENGE
John Wakeling, head of education personnel services, outlines the Hampshire approach to this fundamental reassessment of how schools organise their staffing and other resources.
By the time you read this, I hope the County Council will have agreed with Hampshire schools the approach to take towards school workforce remodelling and have put in place arrangements for implementation. A huge amount of work has been done to engage with schools including briefings and talks with governors.
What we are aiming to achieve
For details of the workforce remodelling agreement, see the website references at the end of this article. Hampshire¹s collective aims in implementing it are:
Teachers will not be routinely undertaking the 24 administrative tasks.
Schools will be positively addressing the work/life balance of their staff.
Leadership and management time will be provided, as of right, to staff with those responsibilities.
Teachers will not be undertaking cover activity for more than 38 hours annually by 1 September 2004.
All teachers will be receiving at least 10 per cent planning, preparation and assessment time by 1 September 2005.
These measures are now written into teachers' contracts through the 2003 Teachers' Pay and Conditions document.
The national agreement
The agreement recognises teacher workloads have been too heavy for too long. It challenges schools to review how they organise staffing, space, use of time, ICT, finances and the curriculum to enhance teaching and learning. This should embrace the governing body and the demands it places on school staff. Support staff will have a crucial role in making the agreement work. Though funding is an important aspect of being able to deliver the workforce remodelling agreement, its effective introduction is not just tied to this. There are cultural and attitudinal dimensions which need to be tackled as well.
The link to school improvement
School improvement and strategic planning processes should have the remodelling agreement at their centre. Availability of funding will affect the timing of changes but should not get in the way of planning what needs to be done.
Helping to lighten the teachers' workload: admin officer Avis Wright, left, and classroom assistant Sue Harper at Sun Hill Junior, an `early adopter' school for workforce remodelling.
Implementation in Hampshire
The National Remodelling Team envisages some form of change management process for all schools. It has sought the nomination of `early adopter' schools to participate in this the Hampshire `early adopters' are Sun Hill Junior, New Alresford, and Park Community School, Havant. The LEA is also sending four staff on the national training programme.
We have suggested that local headteacher groups and networks should put school workforce remodelling on their spring term agendas so that LEA staff can have an opportunity to explain what has emerged from the national training and the initial experiences of the `early adopter' school. This will enable schools to decide whether they should:
participate, with support, in a change management process, or
continue to build, perhaps via use of national materials, on what they have already achieved.
The benefits of this approach are that it recognises the different starting positions of schools and, through the emphasis on local networks, enables them to make progress in conjunction with colleagues with whom they regularly work. Schools are more likely to commit positively to the process if it develops in this way. School workforce remodelling is too important to risk losing momentum and motivation by applying a blunt instrument when something far more subtle and distinctive is required.
Further details
More information on the school workforce remodelling agreement can be found
on the following websites:
National Remodelling Team:
National Association of Governors and Managers: http://www.nagm.org.uk/
DfES governor website http://www.governornet.org/
National Governors' Council http://www.ngc.org.uk/
HERE'S YOUR CHANCE TO CATCH UP ON THOSE NEW REGULATIONS
Many new regulations affecting governing body procedures came into force on 1 September. Here, in summary, are some of the main changes.
Governing bodies have gained a lot of freedom in the way they manage their affairs, as well as extra powers. This new flexibility includes:
wider powers of delegation;
chairmen to serve for between one and four years;
certain exemptions from having to hold an annual meeting for parents;
power to suspend governors;
appointment of associate members.
Governing bodies will decide these issues for themselves but the County Council is developing a range of suggested good practice for governors who would welcome guidance. Consultations are going on through Governor Forums and other arenas.
JOHN WAKELING, head of education personnel services, writes: Some of the biggest changes affect appointments and dismissals of school staff. It's essential governor, headteacher and staff representatives get together to establish the approach they are going to take on dismissals. Education Personnel Services are helping and expect to table revised procedures for discussion in the spring.
Meanwhile, our strong advice to schools is to continue to follow the procedures outlined in the Manual of Personnel Practice. Here are some strands from the new regulations:
Heads are expected to appoint or dismiss staff below the leadership spine.
The dismissal of the headteacher may be delegated to one or more governors.
Greater discretion is given to governing bodies on advertising head and deputy posts, though national advertising will still be the norm.
For head and deputy appointments in school reorganisations, a selection process does not need to be followed if there is only one suitable candidate for the vacancy in a reorganised school.
Dismissal procedures do not need to apply to staff who have not been continuously employed for 12 months, have come to the end of a fixed term period of employment (unless they have worked continuously for four years or more), or have failed to meet qualification requirements.
There is a change over issuing notice of dismissal. The 14-day period for the LEA to act on the decision of the governing body starts from the date of notification of the decision to dismiss and not the appeal. Hence notice is issued by the LEA but is then rescinded if the appeal is successful.
The LEA has the power to dismiss school staff directly in certain circumstances, e.g. where the delegated budget has been suspended.
There are new provisions allowing schools to collaborate on staffing and other functions, for example where they wish to draw on a wider pool of governors or share the services of a member of staff. Provisions for foundation, voluntary aided and foundation special schools are similar.
BOB WEST, county governor services co-ordinator, writes: Briefings have taken place to update governors on most of the new regulations. But here are some items not covered in the briefings:
Allowances: Associate members can claim allowances if the governing body agrees.
Complaints: Since 1 September there has been a legal requirement for schools to have a complaints procedure in place. Earlier in the year, the County Council provided advice on general complaints procedures. The DfES has just produced a model procedure for governing bodies.
Freedom of information: All maintained schools are required to adopt and maintain a publication scheme. Governing bodies can either adopt one of the two models (primary and secondary) approved by the Information Commissioner or they can set up their own scheme. If they go for the latter option the scheme must be submitted to the Commissioner for approval by 31 December 2003. If they go with the model scheme then this must be in place by 29 February 2004.
Finally, updated drafts of the Guide to Law for School Governors are available online and printed versions should go out to schools in the new year.
Copies of documents mentioned and the new regulations, with guidance, are available through Stop Press and Information on the Governor Services website at http://www.hants.gov.uk/education/governors or in paper form from the DfES.
GO ON, NOMINATE A TOP TEACHER
For five years the Teachers' Awards have been growing in popularity and the message about promoting and celebrating the teaching profession has become accepted in more and more schools. So what are the awards?
Under the chairmanship of Lord Putnam and with representatives from all the teacher associations, seven regional boards have been set up to receive nominations from schools. A school can nominate a staff member who it feels has gone `that extra mile'. There are award categories such as Primary Teacher of the Year, Learning Support Assistant of the Year and ICT Teacher of the Year. Look on the website http://www.teachingawards.com/ for all the categories.
Go on nominate a member of staff and celebrate the work they do.
Rhod Porch
Regional judge - South Panel
GIVE YOUTH A SAY
For the fourth year running, Hampshire County Youth Service is facilitating the election of six young people to represent Hampshire as members of the UKYouth Parliament.
This year the elections are being opened up to all Hampshire County Council schools, colleges and Youth Service-run projects. The elections will take place between 1 and 12 December.
The six young people elected, and their deputies, must be aged between 11-18 and be committed to representing their peers' views.
Registration information has been sent to your school. Please give your pupils the chance to become involved in a very exciting and rewarding project.
Lynne Meechan
Participation development worker, Hampshire County Youth Service
CLERK, CHAIRMAN AND HEAD: PARTNERS IN A STRONG TEAM
Clerks to governing bodies are becoming more expert - and their role more highly valued - through Hampshire County Council's training and accreditation programme. Hampshire Governor reports on the difference that a trained clerk can make to the work of governors.
Denise Chesney is clerk to three governing bodies in southern Hampshire, including Purbrook Infant, where her chairman, Kevin Read, says she makes his own job much more manageable.
`She is very good at keeping me on the right track,' he explains. `She'll stay in the background quietly until there¹s something I am unsure of such as a particular regulation then she is always able to clarify the point. She will also prompt us, `Don't forget to do such and such' or `The new regulations will involve so and so', with the result that we don't waste our time going down the wrong path.'
Denise says the training and support she has received under the Hampshire scheme is `brilliant'. `The accreditation scheme raises your profile so that governors become more aware of how you can help them. Clerking now has more status; the clerk is no longer just someone who takes the minutes but is a partner in a strong team with the headteacher and chairman.
`The clerk can organise all the paperwork, which is tremendous, and make sure there is a good programme of meetings through the year, planning it so that meetings are not overloaded. This is very important because you can lose governors through too much paperwork and overlong meetings, if the commitments turn out to be greater than they realised.
`Keeping within the legal regulations is vital. Sometimes it's necessary to point out that a meeting is not quorate and a decision should be deferred and then make sure it is brought up at the following meeting.'
In pupil disciplinary matters the clerk¹s knowhow is especially important. `All the legal requirements have to be met precisely and there are many stages to go through. The clerk also has to make sure that the people who serve on disciplinary committees are `untainted' in the sense that they have not been involved in the incident that led to disciplinary action, and have not previously discussed it.'
As Kevin and Denise agree, with the benefit of good training and experience, an efficient clerk makes for an efficient governing body.
SCHOOL MEALS FOR HEALTH AND WEALTH
Governors are being encouraged to increase the take-up of school meals, with the prospect of _earning¹ free educational visits, events and sports equipment for their schools.
The reward scheme, the first of its kind in the country, is being offered by HC3S, Hampshire County Council¹s school meals provider. One point is awarded to a school for each additional school meal eaten. Points can be exchanged for trips to country parks, museums and other educational visits and workshops, or they can be used to obtain educational resources such as
sports equipment and library books.
HC3S has introduced the scheme to promote healthy eating, shake off the traditional image of school meals and help children to learn about food, nutrition and mealtime disciplines.
Commenting, Councillor Ken Thornber said: `Some recent corporate schemes aimed at helping schools gain new equipment appear to encourage children to eat more chocolate and crisps. This Hampshire initiative is the first nationally to not only offer fun and educational rewards but also encourage healthy eating.'
ENSURING EVERY CHILD MATTERS
The Green Paper `Every Child Matters' was launched on 8 September, with responses sought by 1 December. It is available, with a summary and children's version, on the Governor Services website Stop Press
www.hants.gov.uk/education/governors
The Green Paper will have significant consequences for our work with children and young people, and the ways local authorities deploy and co-ordinate services.
The main messages are about statutory and voluntary services working together to provide the best possible support for all children within their localities. There are proposals for a director of children's services, a lead council member for children, and the development of children¹s trusts.
There are some key points for schools in chapter 2 (`Firm foundations') about:
effective child protection to ensure children are safe;
early intervention and Sure Start children's centres;
improving school attendance and behaviour;
developing full service extended schools;
greater access to health services, including speech and language support;
improving child and adolescent mental health services;
investing in young people.
Our early years facilities and schools serve some 185,000 children and we will need strong local teams to ensure excellent services and well supported champions for children who need most help.
Our priority will be to continue to maintain and improve the high standards in services we have, and to support and develop our hard-working and highly professional staff.
John Wilkinson
Assistant county education officer, lifelong learning
A NEW PUSH AT KEY STAGE 2
Children in England are, on average, among the most able readers in the world at the age of 10. But let¹s not be complacent improvement in both reading and number at Key Stage 2 has levelled off in recent years.
Hampshire's latest Key Stage 2 results at Level 4+ (see table) compare favourably with the national average and Hampshire performs well when compared with other similar counties.
Hampshire County Council continues to work with schools in analysing results. There is an increasing focus on ensuring good progress for individual children and groups of children who may need particular support.
Level 4+ Hampshire National
English 78% 75%
Reading 84% 81%
Writing 62% 60%
Maths 74% 73%
Science 90% 87%
The Government, in an attempt to build on success, has brought the National Literacy Strategy and the National Numeracy Strategy under one umbrella for primary education the Primary National Strategy. The thinking behind this is set out in the document `Excellence and Enjoyment', which encourages schools to be innovative.
LEAs have been asked to work more intensively with school leadership teams. In this first year, funding has been provided to support 25 per cent of primary schools. Primary heads across the country are being invited to attend conferences to talk with Government ministers and DfES officials about pushing up standards. Heads in Hampshire are also discussing this in their local and county groupings.
EDNA PETRIE
School improvement manager
HOW TO AVOID FINANCIAL PITFALLS
The financial pitfalls that lie in wait for governors have been exposed by internal auditors. In 2002/03, Audit Services reviewed the controls at 115 Hampshire schools. Says audit manager Russ Clark: `We found an effective framework of control. But, reviewing our findings, we have identified improvement opportunities for schools which will reduce financial risks.'
Here are the ways that Russ and his team found some schools were courting danger:
MANAGEMENT AND ORGANISATION
The register of pecuniary interest was either not held or was incomplete. All governors, and staff who have a significant influence over spending decisions, must complete a pecuniary interest declaration. A register is required to ensure that conflicts of interest are disclosed and that information gained in the course of an individual¹s employment is not used for personal gain.
Schools did not always draft Best Value statements to demonstrate how they were ensuring services were delivered in the most economic and efficient way. A model statement is available from Audit Services.
The head's delegated spending limits were not always documented or set in FMS. An approved and set limit improves control and accountability as any breaches of the limit are shown on the FMS XX11 report which can be reviewed by governors.
UNOFFICIAL INCOME
No list of funds was maintained to identify accounts held outside of FMS. If the governing body has not published a list of funds, stakeholders may be unaware of funds and who controls them, and the nature of the school's relationship with the funds is not disclosed.
Audit arrangements were inadequate. If unofficial fund accounts are not audited to the required standard, inaccurate assurance statements may be produced.
Guidance on procedures can be found in your school's Manual of Financial Practice and Procedures. For further advice, ring the audit team on 01962 846682.
HELP BUILD A BETTER SOCIETY
School governors have the power to help deliver a better society over the next 15 years. That was the verdict of delegates to a national conference on School Governors and Community Cohesion in the summer. They included four from Hampshire: county councillor Jo Kelly (Basingstoke West), County Council head of performance Roger Lawes, and Hazel Round and Janet Sheriton from Governor Services.
The conference highlighted the role governors can play in building successful communities. Key issues to emerge were: the need to make sure our governing bodies are truly representative of local people and that they are involved in community strategy work at both local and county level.
Then in October, members of County Governors' Forum and others representing areas where governor recruitment is difficult attended a Hampshire conference on `Shaping Our Future'. This brought together Local Strategic Partnerships from across the county to add their thinking to that of the Hampshire Strategic Partnership. More work is planned.
HAZEL ROUND
County governor services co-ordinator
The text of Hampshire Governor can be made available in larger size on request to Governor Services, tel 01962 845846.
Hampshire Governor, Hampshire Governor Services, Hampshire County Council Education, The Castle, Winchester SO23 8UG. Tel 01962 845846.
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.