Who Governs the Governors asks MP Neil Carmichael

At the end of May, Neil Carmichael MP and Edward Wild published a report called 'Who Governs the Governors' which I will cover in 6 parts over the next 6 days.

The twentieth century saw many changes within English education, leading to the abolition of the majority of grammar schools during the 1970s, and the introduction of comprehensive schools. Subsequent legislation led to the creation of Grant Maintained schools and, more recently, the establishment of academies under the
last Labour Government.

Improving both the performance of individual schools and driving up standards to ensure greater freedom of choice must be the hallmark of any well formulated education policy.

How will academies and other schools, without the day to day involvement of LEAs, ensure that the leadership of their school or groups of schools (in the case of federations) meets the expectations of pupils, teachers and parents whilst addressing the educational challenges of the future?

The report has identified six key areas to consider and will consider them in the context of the White Paper, key research undertaken into governance, corporate and other models and the interviews and seminars we have held from November 2010 – April 2011. The key areas are as follows:

1. The benefits and disadvantages of representative or Skills Based Boards and how to assess them;

2. The essential and desirable experience needed on all boards and the specific requirements for each school;

3. Remuneration for chairs and board members;

4. Attraction and retention of governors from the widest possible range of backgrounds and area to ensure that boards meet the needs of the school they serve;

5. Formal assessment of chairs and board members; fixed terms and extension of tenure;

6. What opportunities should be provided for a majority of parents, if they see serious failures of leadership and oversight by their governing body, to replace the chair and board?

A full copy of the report can be found here


http://www.moderngovernor.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Who-Governs-the-Governors.pdf