Governor Services

Hampshire Governor

Spring 2005. No. 29

This Edition of Hampshire Governor

All the articles from the Spring 2005 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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THIS NEW LAW WILL MAKE SUCH A DIFFERENCE TO ALL OF US

The Children Act was passed at the end of last year and is one of the most important laws in education and social care of the past 60 years.

It seeks to bring more prevention and more integration to all the services that work with children and young people. It may seem, at first sight, to have little to do with schools but it has. Its effect will be far-reaching and, over time, will touch every classroom, teacher and non-teacher, and every governor.

Schools are not under the same `duty to co-operate' with the Children's Authority the County Council as are the Police, Probation Board, District, Borough and City Councils, the various parts of the Health Service, Connexions, the Youth Offending Team and the Learning and Skills Council. However, they are under a statutory duty to ensure the well-being of all their students, and new arrangements for self-evaluation and Ofsted inspection are driving that message home.

Being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution, achieving economic well-being: these are the five outcomes for children and young people set out in the Act. Each has a precise definition and schools will need to show how well their pupils are doing in all five areas. Ofsted will make judgments and report them in every inspection from September 2005.

Schools are already doing good work to make sure these outcomes are achieved but there are new challenges. They will need to group the evidence for their self-evaluation around the five outcomes, satisfy themselves that every child benefits, and make sure that those who are at risk of poor outcomes in any of these areas for whatever reason are given particular support using resources within the school and services external to it where necessary.

There is much to do. The County Council is working hard to put together a new Children's Services Department, made up of Education and parts of Social Services. It is consulting widely with all its partners to make sure that services to children, families and schools are joined up and responsive to real needs. Schools need to be a big part of this process.

JOHN CLARKE, Deputy county education officer

Full information about the Act can be found on the A-Z of our website. Governors can also raise any issues with Hampshire's project director for the Children Act, by emailing colin.hardy@hants.gov.uk

PREPARE NOW FOR THE FUTURE

Governing the School of the Future, a new publication from the DfES, looks at the role of governors and how they can raise their profile. It also covers support, training and recruitment. Presenting a five-year strategy, it offers the flexibility to innovate, collaborate and create extended schools.

The document says accountability of governing bodies will be improved by shorter inspections and more emphasis on self-evaluation. It says governors should overcome their reluctance to spend money on their own needs for professional clerking and training. To download it, go to our A-Z index, click the Teachernet Publications link and put the title of the document "Governing the School of the Future" in the search facility.

SUE BAXTER, Governor Services Co-ordinator, Havant

HOW TO ENSURE THAT EVERYONE MATTERS

The draft guidance for Ofsted inspectors published in February 2005 repeatedly mentions failure to cater for particular groups as an indicator of inadequate schools.

Governors who want to know what is expected of them in responding to the needs of particular groups will find some relevant information in the Community Cohesion Education Standards for Schools published by the Home Office.

This recommends that governors have a strategy for consulting parents and community organisations on closing the attainment gap, increasing inclusion and reducing exclusions.

It encourages governing bodies to have an action plan for recruiting governors from under-represented groups. Governors can show their commitment to all children by monitoring patterns of achievement and rate of progress by gender, ethnicity, SEN and free school meals.

Closing gaps will mean agreeing targets and expenditure to support the work. There are implications for governors' staffing responsibilities too. The standards suggest recruitment, selection, promotion and retention need to be monitored in line with equality legislation. It is recommended that all those involved in recruitment and selection should have received equalities training.

This document is essential reading for governors reviewing their equal opportunities policy and indeed all who want to demonstrate that in their school everyone matters.

HAZEL ROUND, County governor services co-ordinator

THE SECRETS OF A SUCCESSFUL CLERK

One of the key contributions a good clerk provides to a governing body is good minutes. The quality of minute taking has increased significantly over the past three years, a new survey by Hampshire Governor Services has found. The survey included: organisation of the agenda; length of minutes; use of action points; follow-up of actions; reference systems; clarity of attendance list; overall clarity and detail of the minutes; working within correct procedures.

It is particularly pleasing that the proportion of LEA clerks whose minutes were graded `A' in the new survey rose to 96 per cent, compared with 66 per cent in the Best Value Review of 2001. Non-LEA clerks' minutes graded _A' also rose from 19 per cent to 62 per cent.

The success of the clerks' accreditation programme was confirmed by the fact that 100 per cent of accredited clerks scored `A' for their minute taking.

One lesson from the survey is that it is crucial to make sure the attendance list is right. Minutes should clearly show which governors were present and if any non-governors were in attendance. Some clerks failed to record their own attendance!

In future work with clerks we will be evaluating how well the record shows the governing body exercising its responsibility for school improvement.

PHIL HAND, Governor Services Co-ordinator, Western Area

SYLVIA'S A STAR

Hampshire has another winner in the National Association of School Governors awards for outstanding clerks. She is Sylvia Vine, clerk to the governing bodies of five schools, who has been judged top clerk in the South East Region.

Sylvia was nominated by Margaret Crowe, chairman of governors of Eggar's School, Alton, and Lynne Chester, head of Froxfield CE Infant. She also clerks for Liphook Infant, Liss Junior and Wootey Infant. She is pictured above, with (left) Margaret Crowe and (right) Estelle Morris, former education secretary and now minister for the arts, who presented the awards.

Sylvia has already been featured once in Hampshire Governor in 2002, when she was one of the first three LEA clerks to complete, with merit, the then new clerking accreditation programme.

Estelle Morris said clerks were the unsung heroes in schools, and hoped that the award scheme would continue to recognise their good work. Alison Webb, clerk for the governing body of Wallisdean Junior School, Fareham, won the South East regional award in 2003.

SEX EDUCATION SAFEGUARDS

Children's right to sex education is not limited by the Sexual Offences Act, which became law in May 2004. The Act aims to clarify what constitutes a crime of a sexual nature against children, young people and adults. It ensures that professional people can provide information and support, with the purpose of protecting a young person from pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections, protecting physical safety or promoting well-being.

This applies to anyone acting in the best interests of the young person including teachers and parents. Young people can continue to seek sexual health and contraceptive information, advice or treatment in confidence. All professionals are encouraged to continue providing information and support, in line with their organisations' agreed policies.

SUE FALCONER, Acting County Inspector/Adviser, PSHE

After 14 years helping governors in the Havant area and 27 years overall with Hampshire County Council, Yvonne Betteridge has retired. We wish her much happiness.

FUNDING PPA IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

One of the key elements of school workforce reform is the requirement for teachers to have 10 per cent planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time in primary schools from September 2005.

Since 1993/94, budget shares for Hampshire primary schools have included funding for 5 per cent teacher non-contact time. This amounts to about £59 per pupil. It is part of the teacher staffing line.

The new money to assist workforce reform in 2005/06 budget shares for primary schools amounts to slightly more than £21 per pupil. This is equivalent to the part-year cost of 3.1 per cent PPA time from September 2005.

However, as the money is part of school workforce reform it will be shown in the budget share line for support and administrative staff.

THOMAS WHIFFEN, Financial Strategist

134 SCHOOLS STILL TO RECONSTITUTE

More than three-quarters of Hampshire schools have now chosen their new governing bodies under the legislation of September 2003. The remaining 134 must decide by 31 August 2006. Several governing bodies have decided on their new instrument, only to change it later because of a name change or a realisation that staff governorships were insufficient for all to have a voice.

One school had to go through the process again because it wished to change the organisation from which it would seek sponsor governors. The impact on governors' and governor services time of all these changes has yet to be assessed but we will all be glad when it's over!

HAZEL ROUND, County Governor Services Co-ordinator

SPECIAL FOCUS ON EXTENDED SCHOOLS

IS YOUR SCHOOL REACHING OUT TO PARENTS AND THE WIDER COMMUNITY?

David Wright, newly appointed as Hampshire's education officer for extended schools, provides some pointers on how your school may be able to reach out further to the community. David comes to the post from Brookfield Community School, Sarisbury, where as community education manager he established many initiatives that now form part of the extended schools approach.

Hampshire County Council has been allocated a Standards Fund grant of £1.3 million in 2005/06 to support schools in developing extended services and activities. Funding is expected to run for three years and most of the grant has to be spent at school level.

Extended schools extend the school day by providing additional activities for children out of normal school hours, which have positive impacts on their achievement in school. They also extend into the community by offering services such as childcare for working parents, adult learning, family learning and parenting support, community access to ICT and community use of school facilities for arts and sport.

The extended school approach is about a commitment to working in partnership with parents, agencies and services supporting children and families, voluntary organisations and wider community interests.

Extended schools are characterised by a willingness to seek out and respond to local expressions of need and to be shaped by their communities. The ethos is about engaging parents in their children¹s learning and raising aspirations about what children can achieve. As such they are about doing things differently, rather than doing new things, and any school can consider itself to be an extended school if it is working in this way and delivering one or more of the core extended services or activities.

At one end of the continuum might be a small primary school providing an after-school club for children of working families while at the other end is a full-service extended school offering all the core services together in a multi-agency approach with care professionals based on site. In Hampshire a large number of schools already operate as extended schools while a smaller number of schools can claim to be moving towards being full-service extended schools.

The County Council has been asked to develop a strategy for more extended schools and create a number of full-service extended models the latter likely to be based on clusters of schools rather than individual schools. The Standards Fund grant is likely to be used by schools to release staff time or engage new staff to undertake research, consult with main stakeholders about the services needed, build partnerships with key agencies, co-ordinate provision across an area, apply for external funding or even to refurbish redundant teaching space in order to provide suitable accommodation for the activities.

Extended schools have positive impacts on achievement within the classroom

As the funds are not to be spent on delivering the services themselves, extended schools will need to look to existing funding streams to support their extended delivery.

The County Council strategy includes developing training for headteachers and governors.

ICE HOCKEY: THE REALLY COOL WAY TO INVOLVE PARENTS

Literacy and numeracy on ice - that's what governor Julie Graham calls one of the many family learning initiatives at John Hunt of Everest School in Basingstoke.

Making posters for the ice hockey team is part of creative arts.

Students and their parents are invited to follow the fortunes of the local ice hockey team, the Bisons. In return, the Bisons players get involved in the life of the school, visiting and setting challenges to the pupils and their mums and dads. These may include timing a player on and off the ice, plotting graphs and working out medians and averages; or writing a match report; or finding out about the countries of origins of the players.

`Lots of families don't do much together. The children go in one direction and the parents in another. This is one way in which they can participate in a common educational goal,' explains Julie.

Julie has got personally involved in another of John Hunt's `extended school' activities GCSE across the generation gap. She studied GCSE psychology alongside her daughter, who is a student there, and passed at grade C. Now her husband and daughter are studying GCSE statistics together as part of the same programme.

Suki Binning, community project development manager at the school, says that two of John Hunt's feeder primaries are also involved. Shared parent-pupil activities are very varied and range across line dancing, aerobics and creative arts.

It's all part of a scenario in which community services become part of school life. You are almost as likely to bump into a police officer, a youth worker, a nursery assistant or a community warden as a schoolteacher, when you visit the John Hunt site.

As well as the community coming to the school, the school goes out to the wider world, as when it hosted a conference on respect and rights for children, linked to the United Nations convention on the rights of the child.

John Hunt Of Everest Pupils pose with a member of the Basingstoke ice hockey team.

creative play at The Ark, the after-school club of St Bede's Primary, Winchester.

AFTER-SCHOOL CLUB IS A SAILAWAY SUCCESS

Martin Thrupp, parent governor at St Bede¹s Primary, Winchester, reports on its after-school club.

Over the past year St Bede's has been running a very successful club to care for children after school. It's called The Ark a name that came about because the impetus to set it up followed floods in December 2000 which left the school badly damaged. On return to a beautifully rebuilt school in 2003, the governing body was determined to make the best use of the new premises. Setting up the Ark has been one way of doing that.

The first step was to apply for funding from the New Opportunities Fund (NOF). Our bid was successful and provided a financial cushion during the first year of running the club. To avoid placing extra demands on the school's leadership team and staff, we decided The Ark would be managed by a group of parents. This arrangement has worked well because parents benefit from the club and there have been enough volunteers with a commitment to making it work well.

There were numerous hoops to jump through, including developing policies and recruiting good staff. The latter was a particular struggle for us but after several false leads we had a strong team of three staff in place to run the club and it opened in April 2004.

Since then The Ark has become increasingly popular. On many days it is full to its maximum of 24 children and this means it is now financially self-supporting. One reason it is so popular is that it is open to casual attenders' as well as children who attend a regular day or more each week.

The Ark is based in a classroom at St Bede's (a different one each term) but the leadership team and staff tell us it has had pleasingly little impact on the everyday running of the school. The emphasis is on fun and enjoyable activities: the children often complain when it is time to go home!

16-PLUS: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

If you are a secondary governor, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) could be important to you. But how much do you know about it?

The funding of 14-19 education is complex. The County Council funds schools up to the age of 16 and the LSC funds post-16 education, including school sixth forms. The LSC also funds some aspects of vocational education and training. This means that the LSC has an important interface with schools where vocational programmes are an increasing feature of the curriculum at Key Stage 4.

The publication in February of the 14-19 Education and Skills White Paper places the LSC at the heart of vocational education. Many pupils in Hampshire schools already benefit from vocational programmes that attract LSC funding and take place at local colleges. While these arrangements help to ensure that provision matches need in each area of Hampshire, the LEA is keen to ensure that the opportunities across Hampshire provide for equal access at equivalent cost.

More information on the LSC can be found on the A-Z of our website.

ALAN RAWLINGS, Senior Inspector/Adviser (secondary)

NEW STANDARDS FOR HEADTEACHERS

The DfES has issued revised national standards for headteachers, which give governors a valuable framework for the recruitment, professional development and performance management of heads. Download them from our A-Z index: click the Teachernet Publications link and put the title `National Standards for Headteachers' in the search facility.

LEE MATHERS, Personnel Officer, Recruitment

GOVERNORS' FRIEND AND CHAMPION DON ALLEN DIES

Councillor Don Allen

Most of you will have heard that Councillor Don Allen, the County Council's executive member for education, died on 12 February of long-standing respiratory problems. Don had not been well for some years but continued to work hard for education in Hampshire.

Robin Gray, chairman of Hampshire Governors Representative Group, said: `The last time I saw Don he was far from well but insisted on seeing through a commitment he had made. He was dismissive when I suggested he should be at home. That was the nature of the man. He had great integrity and was determined to do his best for the schoolchildren of Hampshire.

`Don was a great friend and supporter of governors. He believed strongly in the need for the LEA to work closely with governors and at the regular meetings of the County Governor Forum he listened to our concerns courteously and with humour. Hampshire has lost a great champion for education.'

Janet Sheriton, county governor services manager, said: `Councillor Allen has raised the profile of governance through award schemes for governors' long and outstanding service and for employers who encourage their staff to become governors. He put enthusiasm and energy into seeing governors recognised for the great work they do. The success of the awards framework is testimony to his work and what he would like to be remembered for, as a friend and champion. In recognition of this the awards will in future be known as the Don Allen Awards.'

TRIBUTES TO THE ENLIGHTENED BOSSES

Employers who invest in education by encouraging their staff to become school governors received awards at a recent ceremony at the Castle, Winchester. Councillor Mel Kendall, on behalf of Hampshire County Council, presented representatives of Lockheed Martin, HMS Nelson, William Reed Publishing and the Diocese of Portsmouth with plaques and certificates.

Previous award winners have included the Help for Health Trust in Winchester, the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Aldermaston, Naval Under Fives in Gosport, Exxon Mobil in Hythe and British Gas in Southampton.

Winners of employers' awards attend a ceremony at the Castle.

Support ranges from larger companies allowing paid time off work for employees who are governors, to smaller companies being occasionally flexible about working hours or recognising the positive impact on the paid job of skills their employees develop through being governors.

The award winners see supporting governance as a duty to their employees and the public. `The company has always been conscious of its social responsibility and aspires to being well regarded by the local community,' as one of them put it.

Winners were nominated by a member of staff who is also a governor, using the nomination form on the Governor Services website or via the local office. Nominations for the next set of awards must be submitted before the end of the summer term.

DATES AGREED FOR 2006/07 TERMS

Consultation on term and holiday dates for 2006/07 began last summer. In November, the Local Government association (LGA) National Standing Committee on the School Year agreed a pattern of dates for a 190-day school year.

Because Hampshire schedules 195 days, five of which are for the professional development of teachers, a degree of flexibility was possible and a pattern of dates acceptable to Hampshire teacher representatives and in line with the guidance from the LGA was agreed.

This results in a far more balanced distribution of holidays across the year and fixes the spring holiday in the first two weeks of April. In 2006/07, Easter falls at the beginning of April, so children, teachers and parents will notice little difference from previous academic years.

MELANIE SAUNDERS, Secondary Education Officer

MOST PARENTS GET FIRST PREFERENCE

As the final stage of the co-ordinated process for admissions to secondary schools in September, 14,800 offer letters were sent to parents by 1 March telling them the outcome of their application. The vast majority of pupils will be able to attend their parents' first-preference school. The success of this operation is the result of close liaison between schools and the LEA and neighbouring authorities.

Primary admissions must be co-ordinated from 2006 and comments by schools during the consultation period have been taken into account in preparing the primary scheme. Full details are being sent to schools.

ALEX MUNRO, Education Officer, Admissions and Special Projects

CHARTER TOPPERS!

Hampshire Governor Services staff are presented with a Government Charter Mark award for excellence in public services, for a record fourth time.

BASINGSTOKE PIONEERS NEW START

A radical new way of working with children who have behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD) is being pioneered in Basingstoke. Chris Lloyd, senior inspector/adviser (special), has this briefing for governors.

In September 2004 Basingstoke School Plus was formed by the amalgamation of Hawthorns Secondary School for pupils with BESD and Ashwood Education Centre, the pupil referral unit serving the Basingstoke area. This was the start of a radical new attempt, supported by other Basingstoke secondary schools, to succeed with pupils who are the ultimate challenge to multiagency working, effective teaching and pastoral support.

CURRICULUM At Key Stage 3, School Plus has borrowed from the primary approach, with more time spent with the home tutor for basic skills work, more project and practical activity, and a stronger focus on communication skills and relationships. At Key Stage 4 we looked at modelling the curriculum for 14- to 16-year-olds much more around extended work experience, individual tutorials, college links for those who are capable of sustaining them, and not least, challenging outdoor pursuits. That is not to say that the more traditional curriculum is being rejected, but the balance has changed. With the right challenge and support we can turn low self-esteem into enthusiasm, and, quite literally, scowls and verbal abuse into co-operation and laughter. Pupils are beginning to talk about `my future', `my world', `my learning passport', rather than careers education, geography, English and mathematics. These are subjects in which these pupils have often failed, sometimes spectacularly, and renaming can signify a new start for them.

Challenging pursuits include tackling the climbing wall.

PUPIL SUPPORT In addition to experienced teachers and special school assistants, a new group of staff has begun to emerge: learning mentors people who can build relationships and who are good role models for behaviour and social skills. School Plus is aiming to provide family support workers in addition to the home school link and attached social worker posts which already exist.

OUTREACH TO MAINSTREAM SCHOOLS Hampshire secondary schools have a superb recent record in reducing exclusion and increasing attendance. However, when everything has been tried, there will still be a need for an external supportive response for a small group of pupils. The multi-agency team based around School Plus will be a test-bed for the co-ordinated service approach heralded by the Children Act.

THE FUTURE The young people we work with are beginning to realise that a history of failure need not be self perpetuating, and are regaining their self-belief. These teenagers only have one shot at education, and we are fully committed to ensuring that the one shot they have hits the target.

MIND YOUR HEAD!

Has your governing body discussed with your headteacher his or her work-life balance and put in place a strategy for improving it if necessary? All governing bodies have a statutory duty to pay regard to the working hours of their head and make sure these are not excessive.

Most governing bodies have by now through the head's performance review process, personnel committee or in some other arena had such discussion with the head and where appropriate agreed adjustments to working practices.

Sometimes governing bodies have been able to adjust their own working arrangements to get a more effective use of the head's time, for instance by reducing the number of meetings, adjusting times of meetings, reviewing the role of the clerk to reduce the work burden on the chair of governors and head, linking their cycle of business more tightly with that of the school.

The Choices and Good Practice document encourages governing bodies to review working practices and the recently circulated booklet for Hampshire headteachers, Headfirst, gives more examples of ways in which things have been improved for individual heads. Both documents are available on the Governor Services website, via the A-Z index.

JANET SHERITON, County Governor Services Manager

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.