National College: Leading the Business Case Study

Graham Wilson, a company director, is chair of governors at Manor High School, Oadby,
Leicestershire which became an academy on 1 August 2011.


Graham said: “The process of converting to an academy is a significant leadership and managerial challenge for the governors and they need to be as informed as possible.There is a lot of financial data and legal information to wade through, for example,which, unless you sit on the finance committee, will be unfamiliar, especially the various means by which levels of
funding are calculated. Some of the governors were up to date on the politics involved and understood how the local authority works and what academy status would mean as an organisation, but there were some for whom it was difficult territory. A key task as chair was to ensure that those who have useful knowledge are sharing it with the others and that any
additional financial, HR or other training is in place so that collectively we understand
enough to make informed decisions.


Information-sharing is important in another way, too. It is very easy when changes are afoot for rumours to start swirling around and it can quickly lead to tension. It’s fair to say we had some difficult meetings. For us, the overriding problem seemed to be that people didn’t understand the academy proposal and why the governors felt it would be in the interests of the children.
“As chair it was up to me to lead the governing body through it and to help break down some of the barriers. We set up a committee of staff representatives, people whom the staff trusted, who could keep them up to date with the conversion process. We also had a couple of meetings
where the full governing body met the staff which was useful because we were becoming their employers so it seemed only right that they should know who we were. It was all part of building trust at a challenging time.


“On a project of this magnitude, the relationship between headteacher and chair has to be very strong. The headteacher and I worked very closely together and that’s essential. It is not a task that either the chair or the headteacher should be shouldering alone. The leadership has to
be shared.” 

National College: Chair of Governors: Leading the Business

Working closely with the clerk to the governors,it is the chair’s responsibility to ensure that the governing body fulfils its statutory obligations and responsibilities. Governors are accountable
for the responsible and effective use of the school’s resources. The governing body will also want to ensure that sound financial management practices are in place. To this end, the Schools
Financial Value Standard (SFVS), which replaces the Financial Management Standard in Schools (FMSiS), is available from September 2011 (DfE, 2011).


With the emergence of different models of school – federations, academies and chains, for
example – these responsibilities are changing and new ones are emerging. There will also be
specific pieces of work that the governing body may need to undertake, for example recruiting a
headteacher, providing direction for changing a school’s status, or related to major building work.  The timing of the schedule of governing body and committee meetings should reflect statutory requirements, such as approving the school’s budget. In addition, the committee structure of the governing body should be reviewed annually to make sure it matches the school’s needs.


All meetings should have a formal agenda.


Minutes of the previous meeting and additional papers must be sent out at least seven days
before a meeting so that governors have a chance to prepare.


Chairing a meeting is a key skill and people will operate in different ways with varying
degrees of formality. The essential elements are to ensure that all members have the opportunity
to contribute and are listened to, discussions are open and honest, and decisions are fair and
transparent.


Governing bodies should adopt a code of practice setting out the roles and expectations so that
governors understand their responsibilities and the way in which the governing body conducts its
business. The National Governors’ Association has a model version you can adapt (NGA, 2010). 


Checklist


−− I s your governing body’s business focused on the priorities in the school development plan?


−− I s your school’s self-evaluation process robust and is the governing body appropriately
engaged at a strategic level in the whole process?


−− Does your clerk have a job description and do you manage the clerk’s performance?


−− I s your clerk accredited? If not, consider this route (for further details, see www.nga.org.uk).


−− Do you receive all papers seven days in advance of meetings?


−− Do you spend too much meeting time reviewing policies and checking compliance
rather than monitoring the impact on the children?


−− Does the vice-chair share some of the chair’s business?


−− I s your governing body delegating as much as it can to the headteacher and the senior
leadership team?


−− I s your governing body having an impact?


Have you carried out an impact assessment?


See for example the Governor Mark framework (GLM Partnership, 2009) or the
Governor Self-Evaluation Tracker at www.nga.org.uk.

National College: Improving Your School Case Study

Siddique Hussain, a business owner and adult lecturer, has been a governor of five
schools in Sandwell in the West Midlands, including three years as chair of governors
at St Paul’s Church of England School in Tipton.


Siddique said: “I was asked to work with St Paul’s by the local authority. The school’s 2008 Ofsted inspection had raised some concerns about the governing body and its ability to hold the school leadership team to account, particularly over standards and achievement. The school was rated satisfactory overall.


“With a new headteacher on board, there were several key changes we needed to make. First, we needed to sort out governors’ roles and responsibilities. People’s understanding of them was either muddled or non-existent and there was very little committee structure. Everything
tended to be done in a group, if at all. 


Finance and staffing, for example, were handled by the same committee with the same members, presenting a potential conflict of interest.


“We set up separate committees and also created a new one for curriculum, enabling us to monitor how each subject area was performing, and any resource issues or particular successes as well as concerns.


“Delegating responsibility was important. One thing I was adamant about was that each committee should have its own chair – and it shouldn’t be me. It reinforced the notion of our collective responsibility, and meant the knowledge about the school was widely shared and would also help with succession planning.


“Another key move was getting to grips with data. The school improvement partner (SIP) at the local authority was critical here in helping the governors to analyse data so that we were in a position to ask incisive questions, rather than superficial ones, about the issues in the school. 


Literacy was one area we needed to improve and theSIP was very good at pinpointing where the data revealed a weakness in a particular group. He would put options to us; we’d examine them and then discuss them with the headteacher. It enabled us to have an informed conversation with the senior leadership team.


“In November 2010, the school was rated ‘good with outstanding features’ by Ofsted.


Inspectors said it had ‘improved strongly’.The effectiveness of the governing body in challenging and supporting the school was also rated ‘good’.”