Education CommitteeFurther written evidence submitted by Frank Newhofer

1. How much time is it reasonable to expect that a school governor be prepared to give to their role in order to properly fulfill the responsibilities required of them? How does this differ for the Chair of Governors?

2. Why are there 30,000 (11%) unfilled governor posts in England’s schools? Does this vary across phase and according to the socio-economic context of the school?

3. Given that it is agreed that a governing body should have a monitoring and support/challenge role in their capacity as “leaders” of the school, should this role include the monitoring of such important aspects of a pupil’s learning experience as:

well-being (heath and physical fitness);

safety;

enjoyment (expressed through the pupil voice);

personal and social development;

the quality of the school’s environment, sustainability & children’s environmental awareness;

positive relationships in the school;

parental involvement;

enterprise;

readiness for employment;

access to outdoor learning;

challenge for the most able; and

creativity & access to the arts/creative experiences/musical performance.

All unlikely to appear on any “dashboard”—but all with a definite impact on academic achievement. Some may argue that these are “operational” matters but they are no more operational than knowing whether literacy is being taught well or not. Others may argue that they are not as important an element in schooling as the “basics”—I disagree and firmly believe that governance needs to be about attending to the needs and development of the whole child/person.

4. With the freedom to devise a school’s curriculum (and vision and ethos) becoming more and more diversified, through the various new school structures, is it not important that there is some co-ownership over what is distinctive about learning in each school? Is this not a fundamental role for governors as “stakeholders”—as the Taylor Committee commented 35 years ago. If we know anything from educational research it is that where parents are involved in their children’s learning those children do better. Are not parent governors the ideal champions for this practice in any school?

February 2013