Education CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by Maggi Harris.

This is my response to the Education Committees request for written evidence to be presented at the inquiry into the role of school governing bodies.

The following points are made as an executive summary:

1.There should be a range of nominated governors particularly in secondary schools.

2.Consideration should be given to the range of skills and attributes of governors.

3.Some suggestions are given for recruiting governors.

4.A balance of skills and expertise is required.

5.All governors should be accountable to parents.

6.Governors should not be paid.

7.Good relationships must exist between all involved in the education of all children irrespective of status.

8.Stability now is needed.

I am currently Chair of Governors at a Secondary school in Lancashire. I have been a governor for about 20 years now at various establishments, mainly secondary, but also at two primaries. My role as a governor over the years has been as staff governor, as an additional governor placed by the Local Authority at a school in special measures and as a member of the Management Committee for an authority support service. I have experience as a governor in various local authorities in the North West. I am also the Vice Chair of the Lancashire Association of School Governing Bodies. I attend and contribute to the North West Area meetings of the NGA. The views expressed to the committee are my own and have been formed and agreed after discussion with other governors from Lancashire.

1. In terms of roles and responsibilities I consider the purpose of a school governor is to provide support and challenge to the Senior Leadership Team of the school or college. I think the governor’s role should be purely strategic. However, the Governing Body should be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the school if the strategic responsibility is to be effective.

My recommendations to the committee are to suggest that at a secondary school or college a nominated governor be responsible for each area of the school curriculum and to act as a means of liaison between the individual school departments and the governors. This should involve at least, an annual report of the strengths and weaknesses of the department; the projected targets at each of the key stages and if they are to be met, any concerns, staffing, accommodation, future projects. In a primary school, a nominated governor for each key stage could be the link including one governor to be linked to the school nursery if there is one.

2. The recent policy developments have placed more pressure on some governing bodies which need not necessarily be seen as counterproductive. However, it has to be remembered that all are volunteers, come from various backgrounds and have a range of skills and attributes. Some will be leaders and others will only follow. Ofsted has, to some extent, helped to focus the minds of many governors. In terms of evidence for Ofsted, schools should ensure that the Clerk to the Governors records evidence of support and challenge in the minutes. I have experienced the school bursar as clerk and the use of a local authority clerk. In my opinion the local authority clerks in Lancashire are well informed and very professional and do record much in the way of evidence for Ofsted.

Changing long established practice is always a challenge but it has to be remembered that some Governors will need coaching and to some extent the suggested re-constitution may help. It needs not to be too prescriptive if it is going to preclude some parents who, after all, should be well represented on a governing body. In terms of size, the minimum of seven is too small if you intend to spread the load in sub committees (where most of the work is done). This would be particularly problematic in a secondary school where there can be five sub committees and working governors have other priorities as regards full attendance at meetings. Neither would a very large committee work. There may also be a need to encourage support from parents in schools where there is a large proportion of ethnic minority children. In some instances there is considerable difficulty in getting parents on to the governing body. Perhaps ensuring more support from community leaders in persuading parents to become governors should be actively encouraged.

3. Recruitment of governors varies from area to area and to some extent is mirrored in the socio-economic diversity of schools. The government, therefore, needs to tread warily and not undermine recruitment by being too dogmatic. Current training in Lancashire has been very good but may be less efficient if local authority cuts are reflected in Governor Services. Training needs to be central, of good quality, reliable and local. The on–line training facilities which my Local Authority contributes to are very good and useful for busy working governors. However, face to face training, particularly for new governors is essential.

In my opinion, face to face training should be compulsory for new governors. Recruitment could be helped by involving local businesses and encouraging their involvement in schools as they will eventually benefit from the product of schools as employees. Government could help here with funding and marketing of governors as a social enterprise.

4. Membership of a governing body is very much ad hoc but in the committees in which I have been involved, the people who are on the committees are generally, in the main, those with some degree of responsibility for public service. (Very few are in it for the kudos!). The one criticism I have is the imposition of Local Authority governors and this is because, in my experience, the governing body is given no information about this person. Therefore the decision to make this post subject to approval by the Governors is welcomed.

Perhaps some guidance on the range of skills needed for a Governing body would be helpful and for it to be specific rather than general eg finance, HR, curriculum, community needs, marketing, management skills. A balance is also required between parents and non parents, male and female, and an age range. Perhaps a maximum age should also be considered as there is for magistrates and vicars. The new model of governance suggest only one staff member (although another could be co-opted) however in a large secondary school there may be as many non-teaching staff as teaching staff and I think both groups of employees should be represented equally.

5. Since schools are about ensuring education is first class for our children then the effectiveness and accountability of governing bodies is paramount in this respect. Other than Ofsted, governing bodies should be accountable to parents and should not be an anonymous group of people taking decisions involving the education of their children.

Ofsted must continue to take a more critical look at the work of governing bodies and this should be detailed in their report. Encouraging the chair of governors to share information about work done by governors once a term may be one way forward. Where a school is put in special measures then the chair should be removed immediately. (Not sure if this always happens)

6. All governors are entitled to claim travel expenses from schools. My experience is that this does not happen in the main. However, where children attend a Specialist School they frequently travel some distance and consequently so would parents which has a financial implication for these parents

The question of the remuneration of governors is a difficult question and would presumably apply only to the chair. My view is that this may deter some people from volunteering for this post. Payment, even an honorarium, could work against the public service aspect of being a governor and may attract people for the wrong reasons. It may be advisable to write into the constitution of specialist schools that payment of travel expenses is automatic.

7.All of the relationships between governing bodies and other partners, including local authorities, Academy sponsors and trusts, school leaders, and unions should be encouraged whatever their status or organisation. In my area the School Forum is the place for this and it works very well.

I think that schools are an integral part of our communities and all of those entrusted with ensuring that our children are educated to the highest standard must work together thus the School Forums must continue to be supported.

8. We have been given a new model for governing bodies and it is suggested that we might consider adopting this model. It is not compulsory but I think most governors will adopt it over the next two years.

In my opinion we need to put this new model into practice and see how it evolves. Stability is important in this respect

December 2012