Hampshire Governor
Winter 2005. No. 30
This Edition of Hampshire Governor
All the articles from the Winter 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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Why 'Change For Children' Is Good News For Schools
Joined-up services for children, resulting from the 2004 Children Act, will have a positive impact on education and schools, say the Hampshire councillors and officers involved in implementing them.
The Act places a duty on local authorities and partner organisations to ensure five key outcomes, so that every child can:
be healthy;
stay safe;
enjoy and achieve through learning;
make a positive contribution to society;
achieve economic well-being.
Schools, although not officially 'partners' under the Act, will be expected to share the same objectives. To help achieve them, Hampshire County Council has set up a new Children¹s Services Department, embracing education and parts of social services. Its agenda is to support children both inside and outside school, between the ages of 0 and 19, under what is being called the Change for Children programme.
One of the biggest changes over time will be to improve access for schools to locally based specialist services: not only educational services such as psychology and behaviour support but NHS services too.
In order to access services effectively, schools will be expected to organise into geographical clusters. They will also be encouraged to share more expertise and services among each other.
Councillor David Kirk, the County Council's executive member with special responsibility for education, explained: 'There are tremendous opportunities for schools and governing bodies to think outside the box and contribute to the wider children'' services agenda through partnership working.
'At the moment the blue-sky thinking is that there might be 20-25 clusters of schools throughout the county. Each cluster will have a dedicated behaviour support team, education welfare team and NHS professionals.'
David said he expected there would be more outreach between special and mainstream schools, along the lines of the work done by Norman Gate School in providing help to mainstream primary children with autism and ADHD. There could also be a stronger focus on helping gifted children through cluster working and online technology.
Councillor Felicity Hindson, executive member for children's services, said: 'The opportunity now exists not only to work in partnership to secure the five outcomes of Every Child Matters, but also to extend partnership working to other agencies like the NHS, the police, district councils and the voluntary sector in improving outcomes for children and young people.
'Schools spend a lot of time trying to find the right professionals to help a particular child. In future they will have better access to frontline practitioners in health and welfare, because they will be working together in a common location and will share a common framework for assessment. I am hoping we will be able to identify children¹s problems earlier, particularly behavioural problems, and that because we are able to deliver services to these children the problems will not escalate as they do now.'
John Coughlan, whose background is in social care, has come to Hampshire from the Midlands to be the County Council¹s director of children's services. John Clarke, Hampshire¹s deputy county education officer, has been appointed deputy director of the new department.
'There are tremendous opportunities for governing bodies to think outside the box and contribute to the wider children's services agenda' - Councillor Kirk
John Coughlan said: 'We have a very strong track record as a former education authority based upon supporting schools and working with schools and driving up performance. We want to protect all that work, so this is not a diminution in the importance of education or core standards of attainment and excellence in schools. It is about marrying that with the work we have to do with vulnerable children and children in need.
'It will make a difference particularly in terms of early intervention teams and extended schools. Schools will find it easier to engage with these teams.
'There will be a lot of structural change, particularly for specialist educational services such as education welfare, psychology, SEN and education other than at school. But the structural changes are less significant than some of the cultural changes partnerships, integration, the sharing of information.
'Some schools have developed their capacity to become extended schools, with wrapround services, close relationships with partners and other schools.
They are leading the way and we need to learn from them. For other schools there may be more challenges and we want to work on a collegiate basis and engage schools in that.
'One of the issues we have to wrestle with is making sure we unlock some of the resources at the moment devoted to a low number of high-cost children with exceptional needs, to try to get some of that resource to children who are vulnerable but are getting a lower level of support. We will have to look at how we manage inclusion and what more we can do, because when children leave the mainstream services costs go up rapidly. So we will have to look at ways in which we can make all children¹s services as inclusive as possible.¹
John Clarke has been given particular responsibility for improving educational outcomes, which he sees in terms of supporting children from 0-19, not only between the school ages of 5-16.
He said that governors should be prepared to see changes of emphasis in Ofsted inspections and school self-evaluation, to reflect the responsibility of schools to cater for the well-being of children as defined by the five key outcomes of the Children Act.
Best ever results at 7, 11 and 14
Hampshire's pupils have hit their highest ever level of achievement in the national Key Stage 1, 2 and 3 tests.
Provisional Key Stage 1 results for seven-year-olds show 88 per cent achieving Level 2 or above in reading, which is up 2 per cent on last year, and 3 per cent higher than the national average. Writing results were up slightly from last year from 85 per cent to 86 per cent (82 per cent nationally) and maths results were the same as last year at 93 per cent, compared with 91 per cent nationally this year.
At Key Stage 2, provisional results for 11-year-olds show the best ever achievement in English and maths, with 82 per cent and 78 per cent of pupils achieving the Level 4 or above target for this age, compared with 80 per cent and 76 per cent in 2004. This year's figures are above the national averages of 79 per cent and 75 per cent respectively. Achievement in science at Level 4 is slightly up on last year with 90 per cent of pupils reaching the target level compared with 89 per cent last year. This compares with this year's national figure of 86 per cent.
At Key Stage 3, provisional results show the best ever achievement by Hampshire pupils in English, maths and science at Level 5 with 77 per cent, 78 per cent and 76 per cent of pupils respectively attaining the national standard. The results show rises on last year's figures with the largest gains in science.
See the provisional tables at http://www.hants.gov.uk/press/2005/kstables05.html
Safer Recruitment After Soham
After the Soham murders, the Bichard inquiry highlighted the need for safety in the selection and recruitment of school staff. Governors have a significant responsibility in this. New DfES guidance has taken the Bichard recommendations and applied them to operational practice. As a responsible authority, the County Council must ensure that this guidance is followed.
Governors of St Anthony's RC Primary School, Titchfield Common, practise interview technique.
It's recommended that at least one member of every recruitment panel should be trained in safer recruitment. The National College for School Leadership has been commissioned by the DfES to design and develop an online training programme that covers: the context of sexual, physical and emotional abuse; inviting applications; the interview; appointment and induction; and a safer school culture. Each headteacher will nominate one member of that school¹s governing body to have online access to the programme. There¹s also a shortened publicly available version of this material under S in the A-Z index of the governors' website.
Governor Services and Education Personnel Services are revising their 'selecting and interviewing staff' course to take into account the Bichard recommendations. Governors involved in recruitment should make sure they attend this course.
ANNA ROWEN, Recruitment manager
Chance to win a website award...
There¹s still time to enter the 2005 Hantsweb Awards for the best school website. But hurry the closing date is 16 December.
A good website is an important channel of communication between school, parents and the community and can be of special value to governing bodies. Ryan Bundy, chairman of governors at Stockbridge County Primary, vouches for that.
Stockbridge won the best school website accolade in 2004. Building on its success, the governors are planning to use it to post bulletins about their discussions and decisions covering areas such as health and safety and updates to school policies.
'We want to be a little more open and give people easier access to us. Without the website, we have to rely on minutes of our meetings which are posted on a school noticeboard, and 99 per cent of parents probably don¹t realise they are there,' said Ryan. 'The website is also a good starting point for parents who are thinking of bringing their children to the school.'
To find out more, go to www.hants.gov.uk/hantswebawards
...and access more information
There are some changes to the governors' website, www.hants.gov.uk/education/governors, including the blue navigation bar on the left side.
New documents have been added to the Governors¹ Working Practice section of the site and to the A-Z index.
Governors who have problems with their ID or the booking facility should email claire.e.bailey@hants.gov.uk
Users' feedback helps Governor Services to monitor the site for any problems.
SPECIAL FOCUS ON THE NEW OFSTED REGIME
Self-Evaluation Is Essential For A Successful Inspection
Three chairmen of governing bodies share their experiences of the new slimmed-down inspection format.
LISS JUNIOR
Caroline Pritchard says: The school was contacted on a Friday by phone, when the headteacher was away for the entire day. I was in London all day so didn¹t know until I got home. The inspection was on the Wednesday and Thursday of the next week.
The headteacher had been working on the school¹s self-evaluation but it was not finished. There was no opportunity between Saturday and Tuesday to share that with the governors. We had seen bits as it was progressing over the previous term but didn¹t see the finished document before it went to the inspectors.
At the end of Wednesday they said: please could we speak to two governors tomorrow? It happened I was available and so was a parent governor, but you could not count on a specific person such as the chair of finance being available. They said it would not have been a problem had we been unable to meet them.
It was a very informal meeting. My previous experience of Ofsted inspections had focused on finance and ensuring best value. This time the main thing they were getting at was: how did governors know every child had done their best, which was a tricky one to answer because we go through the Panda and look at value-added but not at the individual child level so that was something we were left to think about.
The whole process was very dependent on email. All the initial paperwork came through by email and the county email system went down over the weekend!
At the end, the school felt the inspection had gone very well and was much better than the teachers having an anxious wait of six weeks before it took place.
Caroline Pritchard and parent governor Richard Pearce who were interviewed by their Ofsted inspector pictured with Liss Junior¹s headteacher, Andy Burford, left.
GREATHAM PRIMARY
Jim Lodder says: Because of the very short timescale, the governing body other than the chair of governors was virtually excluded. I had a 45-minute interview with the lead inspector which concentrated mainly on budgets. Our self-evaluation was still in draft form but was virtually finished. The self-evaluation process seems to work well because it takes away a lot of questions that the inspector doesn¹t have to ask.
Tips for others: Make sure your self-evaluation form is up to date. Don't underestimate your school. We graded ourselves satisfactory and they upgraded us to good. They said that if we had graded ourselves good, they would have increased that to outstanding, but they could only put us up by one grade.
BURITON PRIMARY
Hilary Myers says: We knew on Wednesday the inspection would be on Monday. We'd expected it between September and January and had completed our self-evaluation.
The inspector talked to me as a representative of the governing body about specific areas of practice within the management of the school, and how involved governors were in the curriculum and assessment of children¹s work.
Also how we felt about the leadership of the school. He wanted to understand how aware we were of the school development plan and how involved we had been in producing it, and how closely involved in the financial side of things.
My advice is to anticipate the inspection and plan for it, even if it's not going to happen for a while. If you are not prepared you could be caught out.
This Is The Best Comparative Information Ever Available
This article explains the place of the Fischer Family Trust (FFT) data analysis in school self-evaluation, in the context of the New Relationship with Schools. The New Relationship began in secondary schools in September 2005 and will follow in primary schools probably next year.
The achievement of pupils is one of the most important indicators of a school's effectiveness. Raw data such as reading ages or National Curriculum test results provide essential information for teachers.
Nevertheless, as the starting point for all pupils is different, it is the measurement of a pupil's progress that provides the most objective information. The term 'value added' is often used for this. The FFT is a small national team of former local authority analysts. Working with the DfES, they have developed a statistical model that measures the performance of pupils by bringing together prior attainment and factors that impact on attainment such as gender, month of birth, ethnicity, free school meals entitlement and other socio-economic data from census information.
Schools are then provided with a self-evaluation summary report that allows the progress of their pupils to be compared with similar pupils nationally. The same data set suggests expectations of future progress that schools should consider when setting statutory and other targets.
This is the most objective set of national data ever available for schools. Consequently Hampshire has ceased to produce the School Performance Measures booklet that provided local comparative information. (The exception is infant schools where there is, as yet, no national data set.)
This methodology has also been incorporated into Ofsted Panda reports. Governing bodies should therefore expect to see these data sets featuring strongly in their school¹s self-evaluation.
The new Ofsted inspections which started in September 2005 focus less on the concept of a Œsnapshot¹ of the school and more on a conversation about the school's self-evaluation. There will be elements of understanding why the school has come to the view of itself, how accurate that judgment is and what the school has done and is doing to bring about improvement.
'The new inspections focus less on a snapshot of the school and more on talking about the school's self-evaluation'.
The New Relationship places the 'school improvement partner' (SIP) at the heart of the process whereby a school and its governing body carry out performance checks between inspections. The work of the school improvement partner will be similar to that of the attached inspector.
However, there are additional roles of advising the governors on performance management objectives for the head and meeting the governing body annually as well as producing an annual report.
More information on school improvement partners, FFT and Panda data can be obtained by contacting: paula.guy @hants.gov.uk for data, alan.rawlings@hants.gov.uk for secondary school improvement partners and trevor.walker@hants.gov.uk for primary school improvement partners starting September 2006.
alan rawlings, Senior inspector/adviser, secondary
Reconstitution: almost there
Thanks to reconstitution, summer 2006 will be a busy time for the appointment of governors. Nearly 1,700 are due to complete their terms of office on 31 August and most of those are in governing bodies which have already reconstituted many are chairmen. For affected governing bodies, action needs to be taken during the summer term to avoid problems later.
More than 470 Hampshire governing bodies have now chosen their new constitutions. The County Council has a duty to ensure that the reconstitution process is completed by the statutory deadline so will contact governing bodies where no instrument has been received.
Staffing structure
By now most governing bodies will have approved their new staffing structure and implementation plan in order to meet the legal deadline of 31 December 2005. For those still working on it, Information is available on the governors¹ website (under S). If you are struggling to meet the deadline, seek urgent advice from Education Personnel Services.
Action on safety
'Safety first' is the message to parents at two schools sharing a site in the New Forest. A gate warden has been employed to make sure that mums and dads do not drive on to the grounds of Foxhills Infant and Junior Schools.
Governors of the two schools decided to create the joint post of gate warden because of concerns about safety. Stephen Maddocks, a parent governor at Foxhills Junior, said: 'The success of the appointment has been dramatic, with a huge decline in traffic problems.¹
Changes ahead in school finance
There are important changes ahead in school funding: a new Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) from the Government and the introduction of budgets covering two years. The DSG starts in April 2006. It is separate from County Council spending but the council will distribute it to schools. It is calculated on the basis of pupil numbers in the January before the start of the financial year so in January 2006 for the year beginning April 2006.
Multi-year budgets will at first cover the financial years 2006/07 and 2007/08. The local formula for calculating school budget shares continues and in March 2006 schools will be issued with budget shares for 2006/07 and 2007/08. The budget share for 2007/08 will be revised early in 2007 to take account of actual pupil numbers in January 2007.
The DSG also has to fund early years education, excluded and vulnerable pupils, places at independent and charitable special schools, behaviour support, any central provision for statemented pupils, and capital expenditure from revenue.
THOMAS WHIFFEN, Financial strategist
Use your toolkit
The Financial Management Standard & Toolkit (FMS) was released to all schools as a self-management tool in June 2004. It provides a clear benchmark that schools can use to encourage self-improvement.
The Government has decided to require all secondary schools to meet the FMS by March 2007. There will be consultation on extending it to primary and special schools by 2010. All schools have been sent a CD-Rom.
KEITH SHEPPARD, Head of education financial services
Is Yours A Sustainable School?
If students learn about sustainable development in the classroom, see it practised in the way schools manage their own buildings and grounds, and take this message out into the wider community, we stand a good chance of making a real difference for their generation, and their children's. Governors on buildings committees might look at energy and water consumption, purchase of paper and other consumables, and management of waste to reduce their impact, set an example, and save money. Here are some ideas for action:
If you are considering new building or refurbishment, talk to your architect about sustainable construction and site planning, and ensure the school's sustainable principles are reflected in the plans.
Hampshire schools can join a County Supplies recycling contract. As landfill tax increases, recycling will save money. Phone Julie Price on 01962 826910. The Recycle for Hampshire campaign is currently focusing on schools.
Could you use paper and other consumables more efficiently? Look for environmental logos in the County Supplies catalogue.
All schools are given an annual energy and water report. Are you a good, typical or poor consumer? Contact Alan Dowdell on 01962 847768. The Audit Commission suggests that energy saving measures could reduce schools¹ energy bills by 10 per cent a year or, with a well-thought-out plan, by 20 per cent year after year.
A School Travel Plan may also have a role to play. Visit www.hants.gov.uk/schooltravelplans to find out more.
For more information, contact Anne Green-Wilkinson on 01962 847732 or visit www.hants.gov.uk/sustainable/schools
Nominate An Unsung Hero
Hidden in the leaflet on Teaching Awards 2006 in tiny print is the announcement that there is a new category this time for governors. The DfES urges schools to make use of the awards to recognise the contribution made by representatives from across the school community: 'There is no better way to say thank you making a nomination is a unique chance to give unsung heroes at your school the recognition they deserve.¹
Anyone can make a nomination but it must be endorsed by a headteacher before it can go forward. There are regional events to honour local winners and choose the people to be considered for the national award. The national finals will be televised by the BBC. It would be a fitting tribute to the hard work of governors in Hampshire, as well as an excellent opportunity to encourage other people to become governors, if there were Hampshire governors in contention for the awards.
More details and an online form at www.teachingawards.com
Don Allen's Legacy
There was an evening of celebration in Winchester in June as an official reception, pictured above, was held to reward outstanding achievement by 30 Hampshire governors. The County Council¹s awards were renamed the Don Allen Awards after the late executive member for education who introduced them.
Those who attended included John Britton (Selborne CE Primary), Chris Emeny (Clatford CE Primary, Andover), Michael Leonard (Harrow Way Community, Andover), Bernard Griffiths (Sun Hill Infant, Alresford), John Wood (Perins School, New Alresford). Denise Thomas (Meadowlands Junior, Waterlooville), Susan Barton and Mark Cowell (Brookfield Community, Sarisbury Green), Maureen Sygrove (Henry Cort Community, Fareham), Rosemary Dash(Hythe Primary).
35,000 await offer letters
No sooner was the 2005 admission round over than the process for 2006 got under way, along with consultations for 2007. Schools will continue to play a vital part in the initial handling of the common application forms.
The big challenge will be the management of both primary and secondary admissions and the successful sending out between late January and early March 2006 of approximately 35,000 offer letters.
The governors of voluntary aided and foundation schools will be working closely with the county admissions team but the new legislation still allows admission authority schools to set their own admission criteria in the light of Code of Practice guidance.
For 2007, an online application facility must be in place which, in practice, means that the system must be installed and tested by the end of this school year.
ALEX MUNRO, Education officer, admissions
Keep profiles reader-friendly
Governors have been waiting for guidance from the DfES about School Profiles.
Although the details had not been issued by the end of October, example profiles show the kind of information to be required. Governors can find them under P in the A-Z index of the Governor Services website, or local offices will supply the relevant paper copy on request.
The example for secondary schools suggests there should be about 1,350 words of narrative in total inserted in answer to the various questions probably more than schools were expecting. The challenge will be to keep the information reader-friendly.
GCSE Standards Continue To Rise
Hampshire pupils have recorded their best ever GCSE exam results and have once again exceeded national standards. DfES provisional results show Hampshire County Council schools continue to outperform the national trend with 61 per cent of 16-year-olds achieving five or more A*-C grades in this year's examinations, a 3 per cent increase on last year's provisional figures, and 4 per cent above the national average. The provisional figures also show 92 per cent achieved more than five A*-G grades, including maths and English, compared with the national average of 88 per cent. Meanwhile 98 per cent of Hampshire pupils achieved one or more A*-G grades, compared with 97 per cent nationally. Hampshire pupils also scored an average of 368 points per pupil, beating the national average of 352 points per pupil.
Respect Your Clerk¹s Rights
In 2000, Governor Services conducted a survey on the work of clerks to governors. Its findings led to improvements to the support available to clerks, including the Clerks¹ Accreditation Programme, guidance on terms of employment and a job description.
Five years on, the survey has been repeated to monitor the impact of these initiatives. The questionnaire was sent to all clerks in Hampshire and 55 per cent replied. Positives to come out of the survey include:
the proportion of clerks with a job description has risen to 59 per cent;
the number with a contract has gone up to 35 per cent;
26 per cent of clerks have an annual performance review;
most are now paid in line with the Education Personnel Manual;
clerks are more proactive;
clerks are making greater use of the support available to them.
However there is still progress to be made as all clerks should have a job description and written terms of employment detailing their pay and hours.
There are still 10 per cent of clerks paid under £250 per year, with half of this number unpaid. The annual performance review should be undertaken with all clerks, as with any other employee at the school but this is not happening for two-thirds of clerks.
Governing bodies should be ensuring their clerk has a job description, a contract, agreed hours of work, a salary that reflects the responsibilities of the role and an opportunity to review their performance on an annual basis.
bob west, County governor services co-ordinator
Governors Urged To Claim Expenses
Three out of every four governors taking part in a recent survey admitted they were out of pocket as a result of being a governor. The National Governors¹ Council, which carried out the survey, says many governors feel discouraged from claiming allowances for expenses incurred such as travel, childcare, postage and phone calls. There is a widespread feeling that they would be depriving their school of funds and 'robbing Peter to pay Paul'.
Nevertheless, the NGC strongly recommends the payment of allowances and the DfES agrees that governors should not be out of pocket for the valuable work they do.
In its survey report the NGC comments: 'Governors do face a genuine dilemma when using school budgets to pay allowances. However, there is a very real possibility that if governors continue to be out of pocket, a culture will spring up of doing the bare minimum and not going the extra mile to find out about new initiatives or attending training courses. Ineffective, ill-informed governors in the long run can be disastrous for a school.'
Find out about the Youth Service
The County Youth Service is a partner with schools in preparing young people for adult life. It engages them in informal learning opportunities and educational group work. Youth work has been developed with more than 40 secondary schools. Alternative curriculum programmes are developed with individual schools to meet the needs of young people, usually those in years 10 and 11 at risk of exclusion.
The Youth Service supports the Hampshire County Youth Council and local youth forums which involve some school councils. The service co-ordinates the elections for the United Kingdom Youth Parliament through schools.
It is the licence holder for the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, which many schools include in their extra-curricular activities. The youth service development and training team has specialist staff with expertise in drugs and alcohol education, sexual health, participation and outdoor education.
For information contact your local senior youth worker. Contact details are on the web at www.youth. hants.gov.uk or telephone the county youth office 01962 847989.
PETE MARSH, Deputy county youth officer
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.