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MAJOR REVIEW INTO STRENGTHENING SCHOOL GOVERNANCE IS LAUNCHED BY JIM KNIGHT
08 May 2008- Ministers say strong governance is the key to raising standards - - First ministerial working group meets today -A major review to strengthen school governing bodies and make them more effective is launched today by Schools Minister Jim Knight. The review, announced by the Secretary of State Ed Balls in the Children’s Plan last December, will develop firm proposals to give every school a highly skilled, smaller and better trained governing body to deliver the best service they can for the children and parents in their communities.Mr Knight will chair a working group to advise ministers on equipping governing bodies to give schools clear, strategic direction and ethos; listen to parents and local communities; and be at the heart of turning around underperforming schools. It will report by the autumn.It will build on the very best work of England’s 22,700 maintained school governing bodies and advise ministers on how this can be mirrored in all areas.The group will also make recommendations on how governing bodies can support the wider vision for schools set out in the Children’s Plan - with extended facilities for young people and adults and linking up with neighbouring schools, other children’s services and outside organisations, including colleges, employers and health and social services.Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls said: “Governing bodies are the largest volunteer group in the country and have a proud tradition of serving their communities. No one can doubt their long-term commitment to improving the lives of children and I value having people prepared to invest their time and experience in our schools. “But we know that some schools have difficulty recruiting governors with the necessary skills and that, in some cases, governing bodies are not able to provide the right balance of challenge and drive. “We want to raise the profile of school governors, attract talented and skilled people into this vital role, and provide them with the best support. I want every school to be governed with a strong focus on driving up standards and securing the best outcomes for every child.
“We need all governing bodies to lead the work of school improvement. Strong governors are central to turning around underperforming schools and will be key to raising standards in our 638 National Challenge schools, where less than 30% get five A* to C GCSEs, including English and maths.”Schools Minister Jim Knight said:“A consistent theme from research is that the most effective governors take a strategic role in guiding and supporting the school’s work and challenging headteachers to take their schools on to the next level. “There is clear evidence that there is a relationship between good governance and pupils’ achievements, the quality of teaching, as well as the quality of leadership and management. “Our review and working group will draw on this to come up with clear proposals to equip school governing bodies for the future.”To support the working group, the Department is today also publishing a summary of what some of the research evidence tells us about school governance. Findings relevant to the review include: • Latest figures suggest that there are approximately between 235,000-350,000 school governors in England with 11% of posts vacant. Vacancies are particularly evident in inner city areas.
• Some research has found that particular groups are under-represented as governors, including black and minority groups, disabled people, young people, lone parents, those with low incomes, those who are unemployed and business people.
• Some governors have said that they find it difficult to challenge the head teacher and preferred to work collaboratively with them; • In 2006/07 the majority of schools carried out their governing duties at a satisfactory level (judged by Ofsted inspections to be satisfactory or better). However in 2001/2002, 53% of primary school governing bodies were judged to be ‘good’ or better, compared to 34% of secondary school governing bodies; • A recent survey of head teachers revealed much variation in the perceived effectiveness of governing bodies - approximately one in five were described as ‘very effective’ but a similar proportion as ‘ineffective’; • In schools which are judged by Ofsted to be ‘inadequate’, governing bodies failed to hold leaders to account for its overall effectiveness and did not adequately monitor the school to know its strengths and weaknesses; and • A recent study of governing bodies that had joined together in a federation demonstrated significantly higher proportion of pupils gaining five A* to Gs GCSEs and a higher contextual value added score. Editor's Notes
This press notice relates to 'England'
1. The Ministerial Working Group on School Governance formal terms of reference are: • consider the effectiveness of the current governance arrangements in relation to the Children’s Plan objectives and consider the future role and purpose of school governors; • establish principles for a streamlined stakeholder model of governance that can deliver public accountability through good and robust governance in the diverse range of schools in the maintained school system; • examine how to develop the stakeholder governance model to act as a help to delivering better outcomes for children, where schools are merging and federating; and • ensure school governance arrangements complement the development of stronger pupil voice, parents’ councils and new engagement of other stakeholders.
2. The following are members of Ministerial Working Group on School Governance: Jim Knight MP Minister of State for Schools and Learners (Chair)
Caroline Abrahams Local Government Association
Judith Bennett National Governors Association
Mike Billlington Trust School Governor
Joan Binder Foundation and Aided Schools National Association
David Butler National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations
Gill Edelman National Council of Voluntary Organisation Governance Hub
Christine Fischer Catholic Education Service
Alex Goldberg Board of Deputies of British Jews
Adrian Gray Ofsted
Chris Keates National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women
Teachers
Patrick Leeson Association of Directors of Children's Services
Brian Lightman Association of School and College Leaders
Ros McMullen Academies and Colleges Association
Dr Mohamed Mukadam Association of Muslim Schools
Helen Richardson National Co-ordinators of Governor Services
Kate Scrase Parent Promoters Foundation
Canon David Whittington Church of England
Bob Wigley Business in the Community3. The summary of research exemplifies some of the recent evidence on governors that the review will draw on. It is available on request from the Department for Children, Schools and Families press office.4. The Children’s Plan, published on 11 December 2007, said: • Governing bodies challenge and support schools to set a strong vision and to provide the best service they can for the children and parents in their communities. This is a demanding role and governors need support and development to play it – but needs will differ and so we will review our training programme for governors to ensure it supports new ways of working in a smaller, strategically focused governing body. As part of this we will be working with the NCSL and other partners to develop new training for new chairs of governors. • Smaller governing bodies tend to be more effective and highly skilled. We believe smaller governing bodies can be consistent with the stakeholder model and so we will make governing bodies more effective, beginning by consulting on reducing the size of governing bodies. 5. The last review of school governance, The Way Forward - A Modernised Framework for School Governance, was published on 5 September 2001. This was the Report of the Way Forward Working Group on School Governance which was formed in April 2001 to discuss the way forward on governing body responsibilities and constitution.
The Department has published a summary of some recent research on school governors which will help inform the minisrterial working group. It should be read alongside other research evidence. It is available at: http://www.governornet.co.uk/publishList.cfm?topicAreaId=7Contact Details
Public Enquiries 0870 000 2288, info@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk
Press Notice 2008/0085
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