Education CommitteeFurther written evidence submitted by Professor Chris James, University of Bath

I thought you might find it helpful to have a summary of the changes that our research shows would improve school governing. I do not think this is the time to make radical changes to school governing but nonetheless the work of governing bodies can be and should be improved. The changes are as follows.

1.The profile of school governing should be raised—by the government and by governors themselves, for example, by the provision of information on the school’s website.

2.Chairs should be made responsible for the functioning of governing bodies.

3.The inspection of governing bodies should be improved.

4.The expectations of governing bodies, for example terms of participation in training, clerking arrangements and headteacher performance management should be made clear and Ofsted should inspect governing bodies in relation to those expectations.

5.The governing bodies of outstanding schools, which are not inspected as frequently as other schools, should be required to submit an annual risk analysis setting out the risks to the school’s outstanding status.

6.Governing bodies should be required to make an annual report to the school’s stakeholders that would be published on the school’s website.

7.The current stakeholder model should be maintained. Every local school should have a “local governing body” which comprises people who have a strong and legitimate interest in the school and who ideally live locally the school. The stakeholder model is not at odds with the skills-based model.

February 2013