Good Clerks aren’t hard to find
External reviews of governance: guide for schools and academy trusts
DfE has updated it’s guidance on how to arrange an effective external review of governance for a school or academy trust…so as to improve the performance of the governing body.
To access this material click here.
If you would like to discuss external reviews of governance more broadly (or indeed, just have a basic and more general chat about what I do) please contact me at jack@jackminto.com or on 017514 499238 for a preliminary discussion.
Ofsted to inspect all schools by 2025 after £24m funding boost
Ofsted will inspect all schools and further education providers by summer 2025 after receiving a £24 million boost to speed up visits.
Click here to read an in-depth article published by Schools Week on this.
If you would like to discuss how to your academy school or trust might optimally plan for an Ofsted Inspection (or indeed, have a basic and more general chat about what I do) please contact me at jack@jackminto.com or on 017514 499238 for a preliminary discussion.
Schools’ views on the perceived benefits and obstacles to joining a Multi-academy Trust
DfE have published an extremely interesting research report on the above which addresses the following questions:
# what are the experiences of schools or academies that have joined a MAT in the last couple of years?
# why have maintained schools decided not to convert to join a MAT?
# why have standalone academies not joined or formed a MAT?
and presents the difference between the experience of being within a MAT and perceptions of what being in a MAT would be like.
If you would like to discuss how to your school might optimally evaluate joining a Multi-academy Trust (or indeed, just have a basic and more general chat about what I do) please contact me at jack@jackminto.com or on 017514 499238 for a preliminary discussion.
Safeguarding – A guide for Governing Boards
Regular readers will have seen my previous posts on Safeguarding, on KCSiE and on the governance of Safeguarding.....and will be aware that DfE have published updated statutory guidance – see here for Keeping Children Safe in Education and have also updated their advice (see here) on Sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges. Both of these came into effect on 1 September 2021.
In light of the above, NGA have recently published their guide for governors entitled “The Governance of Safeguarding”.
To access the NGA Guide just click here.
If you would like to review any aspect of how governors might best address KCSiE and/or Safeguarding (generally or as it might impact your school or trust) do please contact me at jack@jackminto.com or on 017514 499238 for a preliminary discussion.
DfE Guidance for trust partnerships
DfE has published non-statutory guidance and a model service level agreement (SLA) for trust partnerships. These are time-limited arrangements between a school and an academy trust that allows each to explore how a permanent arrangement might work.
The SLA can be adapted to individual circumstances……for example, for schools (or a MAT and a prospective member school) to collaborate and share their expertise or for a school to receive school improvement support from a trust.
DfE funding in respect of such a partnership is a new support element for standalone schools eligible for the 2021 to 2022 DfE’s Trust and School Improvement Offer.
In essence individual schools or trust boards may wish to consider this option to support other schools in a ‘try before you buy’ arrangement.
To access the guidance in full click here.
If you would like to review any aspect of Trust Partnerships do please contact me at jack@jackminto.com or on 017514 499238 for a preliminary discussion.
Keeping Children Safe in Education
We are of course all aware of the updated Statutory Guidance on KCSiE published by DfE that is now current. Click here to read my post on this in July of this year.
TES have published an extremely useful Guide on the new KCSiE requirements.
This is a “more easily digestible” read than the Statutory Guidance itself and would be an appropriate way for Governors and Trustees to familiarise themselves with the subject (and with the 2021 changes in particular).
Click here to get a copy of the TES Guide.
If you would like to review any aspect of KCSiE (generally or as it might impact your school or trust) do please contact me at jack@jackminto.com or on 017514 499238 for a preliminary discussion.
Understanding Your Data – a Guide for School Governor and Academy Trustees
ESFA have today published the above – being a resource that brings together a range of data to help Governors and Trustees analyse, discuss, and challenge the educational and financial performance of their school or academy trust.
The material is categorized across the following seven themes
# Pupil numbers/attendance and exclusions
# Attainment and progress
# Curriculum planning
# Financial management and governance
# Quality assurance
# Safeguarding and well-being
# The (whole) school community.
Click here to access the full document.
If you would like to review any aspect of understanding or analysing school data, do please contact me at jack@jackminto.com or on 017514 499238 for a preliminary discussion (or indeed, for a basic and more general chat about what I do).
External Reviews of Governance
The foundation to any consultancy input on school governance matters – and the most valuable item in my “governance consultancy tool kit” is the ERG – that is, an “External Review of Governance”.
The ERG lets us identify and evaluate the “as is” status of governance in the school (both strategically and also via the operations of the governing body itself and its committees). From that we can develop a “target” version of how the school would aspire to develop, improve and ultimately restructure its governance.
Then, it’s just a matter of (a) separate the strategic and the operational elements of the (revised/new) governance model for the school and (b) implement the requisite action plan to prioritise and achieve the intended objectives. Simple really…….
Governors play a critical role in school improvement – and the ethos of an ERG is to provide governors with (a) a rigorous external perspective of how that process is progressing and (b) concrete recommendations of specific actions that are needed to achieve the desired improvements.
If appropriate, I can continue my involvement by having an active role in supporting the governing body through their implementation of the enhanced governance model. More often however, I find myself having the (relatively informal) supporting role of merely guiding governors as they “self-manage” the process of implementing an “action plan”.
To get the DfE perspective on what is expected from an ERG, click here to read their guidance notes.
I will generally recommend (regardless of whether an ERG had been called for by Ofsted or was undertaken at the initiative of the governors themselves) that a subsequent review is undertaken to measure progress towards achieving, and the impact of, an enhanced governance model.
For more details on an ERG (or indeed, for a basic and more general chat about what I do) please contact me by email on jack@jackminto.com – or by telephone on 07514 499238.
Centralisation for Multi-Academy Trust growth?
According to new research, centralisation (i.e. of financial and non-financial functions) is becoming entrenched as a “strategic and cultural” philosophy for Multi-Academy Trust growth.
To access the full report that comprises the findings that emerged from this work click here.
For additional background on the research that has been undertaken on this click here.
To read an interesting article on the subject published in FE News click here.
If you are considering “Centralisation” (of any aspect of a MAT – or as an element of a MAT growth strategy) do please contact me at jack@jackminto.com or on 017514 499238 for a general discussion on the topic.