North Lincolnshire Association of Governing Bodies (NLAGB)

Season’s greetings from NGA

As we come to the end of 2022, we look back on another year in which governing boards have risen to the occasion in supporting their schools and trusts navigate challenging times. We want to share our thanks to every one of you for your commitment to your leaders, staff and pupils. We hope you are able to take a well-earned rest over the holidays and we look forward to continuing to support you in 2023, whatever the new year may bring.

Read our blog reflecting on another busy year in governance.

Ofsted’s annual report shows impact of pandemic on teaching and learning

Ofsted’s annual report  reveals an “improving picture” in schools but has warned the lasting impact of lost education on both achievement and mental or physical health will take time to reveal itself fully. HMCI, Amanda Speilman said “the attainment gaps in this summer’s exam results show us the scale of the task that lies ahead”.

In addition to insight into inspections that have taken place, the report provides an overview on key concerns affecting the sector including support for pupils with SEND, teacher development and retention and pupil attendance and behaviour, all of which have been exacerbated by the pandemic.

Ofsted also shared some of their upcoming work which includes the publication of a report around the reinspection of previously exempt schools, a review of careers information, advice and guidance, MAT summary evaluations and the introduction of a new SEND inspection framework.

MAT Governance Conference – open for bookings

NGA is delighted to announce the return of our popular in person MAT conference taking place on May 11 in London.

 David Withey, Chief Executive of the Education and Skills Funding Agency, will deliver the conference's keynote presentation, as we explore key issues faced by MATS in 2023 and beyond.
 
The conference will include a dynamic panel session exploring the balance between growth and place and a deep dive into what the future holds for trusts. There will be a series of exciting workshop with topics ranging from MAT to MAT collaboration, financial sustainability and engagement with stakeholders.

Reservations are now open for members to secure their place.  Non members will be able to secure a paid for place from 6 February.

Members, secure your place now.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies annual report on education spending

Despite recent increases in school funding, current levels of inflation and cost pressures have put severe strain on education providers’ budgets. This is according to the latest Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) annual report on education spending, which seeks to provide a comparison of the level and changes in spending per student across different stages of education.

It estimates that school spending per pupil will return to at least 2010 levels by 2024, and that this puts schools in a better position to meet rising costs. However, no net growth in school spending per pupil over this 14 year period would still represent a significant squeeze on school resources.

The report’s authors also state that it would be difficult to achieve high ambitions for the education sector if we were to enter an era of further constraints on public spending.

Financial oversight - Catch up on NGA’s latest webinar

Your final webinar of the year, Financial oversight in challenging times, is now available to view.

The webinar looked at financial challenges faced by schools and trusts in the current economic climate and how governing boards are responding to them.

Watch the webinar.

Disadvantage gap worsens

The disadvantage gap for key stage 4 children in England increased by the largest annual amount in 2021 for a decade. This is according to a report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) which highlighted the pandemic as a contributing factor. It also revealed no progress on closing the GCSE gap for persistently poor children with levels still the same as in 2011. SEND children with an EHCP continue to have the largest gap of all the characteristics studied.

There has been a marked increase in persistent poverty among disadvantaged pupils by the end of key stage 4 with those eligible for free school meals increasing by 9,000 in two years. EPI recommend higher levels of funding for disadvantage weighted more heavily towards persistently disadvantaged pupils as they receive no extra support beyond the pupil premium.

Join us for our latest governance leadership forums as we explore the board’s role in addressing disadvantage, widening of the lens of educational disadvantage and hear from others on their successes.

MP proposes Bill to extend free school meals to all primary school children

Zarah Sultana MP has put forward a Bill to Parliament that would see the extension of free school meals (FSM) to all children in primary schools in England. Part of the No Child Left Behind campaign ran by the National Education Union (NEU), the legislation would see the nearly 1 million children living in poverty who don’t qualify for free school meals gain access to hot nutritious meals at school.

Supported by a range of cross-party MP’s the Bill aims to do away with means testing and reduce the stigma associated with FSM. The second reading of the Bill will take place 20 January 2023.

For more information on tackling disadvantage in your schools and trusts see our newly published poverty toolkit.

Sign up now! Last few spaces available on NGA’s Leading Governance development courses

The development for chairs programme is designed for both trustees and governors who currently chair, and those aspiring to become a chair, supporting the development of leadership skills.

Trustees: Start date - 9 January 2023
LA Maintained and LGBs: Start date – 28 February 2023
Cost: £270 per participant.
*Discounted rate of £249 per participant for bookings made before 31 December 2022.

The Level 3 Certificate in the clerking of school and academy governing boards programme is an accredited programme designed for governance professionals and clerks with at least three months experience, currently working in any school or trust setting. The cost is £480 per participant.
*Discounted rate of £449 per participant for bookings made before 31 December 2022.

To find out more about either of these programmes, call us on 0121 237 3780 dial option 5, email us at leading.governance@nga.org.uk or visit our website.

Ofqual publish analysis on 2022 assessments

Ofqual has published two reports this week providing an overview of exams and assessments in 2022. The first publication, GCSE, AS and A level summer reported on the learning from steps taken to increase resilience, reduce risk of error and work closely with exam boards.

The second publication, reviews the steps Ofqual took to oversee the delivery and award of VTQs with 4.9 million certificates issued. As an accountability measure, Ofqual has announced a range of actions that they will take to improve the process for years ahead.

In preparation for the next exam series, the Department for Education (DfE) has set out guidance on subject content and arrangements for grading. These plans have also been set out in an open letter to students and headteachers and by Chief Regulator Jo Saxton explaining what the exam series in 2023 will look like.   

Governance professional career pathway launched

The highly anticipated career pathway was launched this week: a free new resource highlighting opportunities to work and progress as a governance professional in the schools’ sector.

The pathway supports both current and aspiring governance professionals in their career. It is also highly relevant to governing boards and employers in schools, trusts and service providers. 

The welcome blog introduces the pathway and you can explore information on:

·        the three levels of governance professional identified by our research and the individual requirements of each level. 

·        Estimates of what governance professionals working at each level might expect to earn, based on our research, and template role descriptions.

·        A directory of professional qualifications and CPD to support professional growth and progression from each level of the pathway.

·        Advice on where to look for governance professional roles, including the NGA governance professional jobs service.

·        Supporting content aimed at guiding and inspiring future and current governance professionals including video career stories of experienced governance professionals working in schools and trusts.

New blog on governance for leaders and NGA’s governance for leaders training

With the challenges that 2023 will bring, it is more important than ever for boards and senior leaders to work well together to establish strategic solutions for their organisation.  

In a brand-new blog, NGA chief executive, Emma Knights, explores the importance of governance knowledge among school and trust leaders. Emma outlines the importance of leaders being committed to developing governance understanding, the crucial role of governance expertise and looks at NGA’s new governance programmes for leaders.  

These new short four courses are aimed at CEOs, COOs, headteachers, business managers and other trust and school leaders. They are designed to help make sure that working relationships are effective and that all parties understand and contribute to good governance.

Led by expert facilitators with first-hand experience of trust and school leadership and governance, each 90-minute session is setting-specific and leader-centric, enabling participants to learn with leaders facing similar challenges.

If you and your senior leader(s) want to unlock the power of good governance in your organisation and want to get the new year off to a good start, you can book onto a course relevant to your setting. There are spaces available for January 2023.
 
MAT board leaders
MAT academy leaders
SAT leaders
LA maintained school or federation leaders

Cost of living crisis impacting pupils and their education

The impact of the cost of living crisis on learning is a growing concern among teachers, according to a new report published this week by the Sutton Trust. It found that 38% of teachers said a third or more of their classes were living in families facing considerable financial pressures which are impacting on children’s ability to succeed in school. A further 38% reported an increase in children coming into school hungry, with 17% saying there was an increase in families requesting referrals to foodbanks.

Other concerns raised through the Teacher Tapp poll, included an increase in pupils unable to concentrate or tired in class, more behaviour issues and more pupils coming into school without adequate winter clothing.

Recommendations include an expansion of free school eligibility to all those in receipt of Universal Credit.

NGA has published new guidance and a collection of toolkits to support boards and their school leaders in addressing various drivers of educational disadvantage including poverty.

New funding and guidance for energy efficiency

To improve energy efficiency in schools an additional £447 million has been allocated to the capital investment fund. Eligible schools will receive their specific allocation by December 2022. The fund give schools at least £10,000 (plus an additional amount based on weighted pupil numbers and VA factor) to spend on energy efficiency projects.

The funding announcement is accompanied by supporting guidance advising on everyday behavioural changes and more complex interventions that will need investment and planning to improve energy efficiency. It also encourages carrying out an energy audit and creating a plan to implement this. School and trust business leaders can find support through newly published buying frameworks on energy and energy efficiency.

For more support from NGA on energy efficiency see our environmental sustainability guidance, audit tool and our procurement guidance. 

Schools Bill is officially scrapped

Speaking at the Education Select Committee this week, the Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has announced the end of the Schools Bill passing through parliament. Keegan did however insist that the government “remains committed to the objectives” of the Bill and will prioritise elements of the Bill when formulating the legislative agenda going forwards. This will include removing barriers for faith school joining trusts and creating a register of children not in school. For the other propositions, Keegan assured the committee that these are already being implemented as they do not require formal legal changes. 

NFER publish teacher recruitment and retention data dashboard

As figures published last week revealed that the government missed their teacher recruitment target by 41%, England’s school system faces a growing challenge of ensuring there are sufficient numbers of teachers employed in schools.

A dashboard launched by the National Foundation for Educational Research this week provides information on the nature of teacher recruitment and retention challenges. The aim of the dashboard is to increase understanding of the nature of the teacher supply challenge, inform stakeholders by highlighting specific challenges, and support policymakers and decision-makers to take action to address teacher shortages in the areas where they are most prevalent.

A Schoolsweek report on the dashboard identified five key findings which identified factors that contribute to lower teacher retention, subjects that are more challenging to recruit into and the impact of geography on teacher recruitment and retention.

New setting-specific training for trust and school leaders – Book now

From 2023 NGA will be running a short termly governance training session for executive trust and school leaders tailored to the requirements of leadership and governance in four different settings.

·MAT board leaders

·MAT academy leaders

·SAT leaders

·LA maintained school or federation leaders

Designed for CEOs, headteachers and other executive school and trust leaders, each focussed session provides the opportunity for participants to gain a practical grounding into how they can work effectively with their own governing boards. This includes developing their relationship with the chair, making the most of support and challenge to achieve good governance, strong outcomes for pupils, a sustainable school organisation and a positive school culture.

Led by expert facilitators with recent or first hand experience of trust and school leadership and governance, each session is setting-specific and leader-centric, enabling participants to learn alongside peers from similar organisations. Please share this training opportunity with your school leaders and anyone else that may be interested.

New development for MAT and SAT trustees – Bookings now open for Jan 2023 start

NGA is launching two new programmes to provide practical, online training for current, new, and future trustees in MATs and SATs.

Participants can undertake the whole programme or select specific workshops according to their learning priorities and budget.

Led by experienced facilitators with expertise in MAT and SAT governance, the interactive, small group workshops explore what good trust governance looks like, focussing on ‘setting’ specific governance.

The MAT programme of eight workshops covers essential areas from ‘Good MAT governance’ to ‘How trust boards work’ and ‘Setting expectations for local governance’. They explore important themes, challenges and best practice approaches focussing on good governance and the trustee’s role in this.

The seven workshop SAT programme covers core topics such as school improvement, compliance, effective meetings and monitoring, as well as current key challenges and opportunities for SATs in areas like financial oversight, good employer practice and MAT options.

Pupils with poor mental health three times more likely to miss lessons

New NHS data shows pupils with poor mental health are three times more likely to miss lessons than their peers. School absence rates were higher in children with a probable mental disorder; 12.6% missed more than 15 days of school compared with 3.9% of those unlikely to have a mental disorder. Those with a probable mental health disorder were also less likely to have positive views of school.

The NHS survey seeks to understand and track the mental health of children and young people in England as well as the wider education, social and economic context in which they live. It also found 11.8% of children with a probable mental disorder lived in a household where they had not been able to buy enough food, or had to use a food bank, compared with 4.4% of those unlikely to have a mental disorder.  

Pupil wellbeing guidance and toolkit published

NGA have published new guidance with mental health charity Place2Be to help governing boards support pupil mental health and wellbeing through a whole school approach. The guidance outlines:

·        governing boards’ statutory responsibilities for wellbeing

·        the eight principles of a whole school approach

·        how governing boards can influence and support a whole school approach

·        questions to ask to review and monitor implementation and impact

Read the guidance

As part of our ‘widening the lens: addressing educational disadvantage’ collection NGA has also published a new toolkit to help governing boards work with their school leaders in identifying and tackling educational disadvantage of those with mental health challenges in their setting. We recommend you use the guidance in conjunction with the toolkit.

New area SEND inspection framework published

A new area special educational needs and disability (SEND) framework and report has been published in response to a consultation carried out by Ofsted and The Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The new framework comes into force in January and aims to shape inspections of SEND services in local authority areas. The inspections will have an increased focus on the impact SEND services have on children and young people. Services will be rated with three new inspection outcomes. Inspectors will continue to take account of compliance with legal duties and report accordingly.

Changes also include amendments to the framework and handbook that add clarity to the legal duties underpinning our evaluation criteria.

Wording within the framework outcomes have also been amended to ‘strike a right balance between assessing a system as it currently is and our new framework acting as a catalyst for further improvement’.

NGA’s SEND guide supports boards in meeting their legal responsibilities and securing high-quality outcomes for pupils with SEND.

Record numbers plan to leave education as mental health suffers

Record numbers of staff are considering leaving their job due to pressures on mental health and wellbeing. This is according to new research  which found that 55% of staff surveyed have actively sought to change or leave their current jobs. 59% of staff have considered leaving in the past academic year due to pressures on their mental health and wellbeing, whilst 68% cited workload as their main reason for thinking about leaving. 

The research also found that 75% of staff are stressed, with 78% of all staff reportedly experiencing symptoms of poor mental health due to their work. Education Support have described the findings as painting a “grave picture for the future of education.”

Those governing can improve the wellbeing of staff by supporting workload reduction and monitoring the wellbeing of staff in their school or trust. NGA has published guidance on managing teacher workload and wellbeing, and promoting school leaders’ wellbeing. 

New Learning Link modules for governance professionals

NGA’s suite of Learning link modules for governance professionals now includes three new modules for experienced governance professionals on advising the board:

·        How to: become a trusted advisor will help you to build your confidence when it comes to advising your governing board or committee, ultimately enabling them to make decisions that are well researched and thought through.

·        How to: clerk courageously will give you an understanding of the role and expectations of the governance professional when it comes to improving the effectiveness of the board and help you to use your skills and knowledge to clerk more courageously.

·        How to: support the development of the board provides you with the tools and knowledge required to create a culture of professional development and provide a clear picture of some of the options available to you, which can be tailored to meet the development needs of your board.

A free trial of Learning Link is available or it can be purchased online.

Executive pay guidance updated

NGA has published an updated version of the executive pay guide this week. The guidance supports trust boards in setting the pay of their senior executive leader, a process we know many boards can find challenging.

Unlike maintained schools, those governing trusts do not have to comply with mandated pay bands. This provides flexibility, but also often uncertainty around what pay award is competitive, financially sustainable, and an appropriate use of public money. The guidance covers all of the considerations that will need to be taken into account.

Those governing in a trust might find our CEO job description useful, as well as our guidance on setting pay in an academy trust. External support can be obtained from education reward specialists Pay in Education, NGA members can access the service at a discount.

Guidance on exams and assessments 2023 published

As GCSE, AS and A level exams in England return to pre-pandemic arrangements in 2023, Ofqual have announced that students are not required to memorise formulae for the assessment of mathematics, physics and combined science. This reflects their responsibility for GCSE subject content and was a change that was also made for exams that took place in 2022.

Following a joint consultation, the DfE and Ofqual have announced that schools will need to collect student performance evidence to inform student grades should exams not go ahead next year. While undergoing performance evidence, teachers should avoid over-assessment and are advised that students would not need to spend longer on these assessments than they would on existing assessment arrangements. The guidance also sets out how assessments should be taken, how they should be marked and how centres should retain the evidence.

Education ministers take questions from MP’s

This week in the House of Commons, the new education ministerial team took questions for the first time. Discussing the government’s response to the SEND Review, Claire Coutinho assured ministers that it will be coming “early in the new year”. Meanwhile on the school estate, Nick Gibb hopes to “confirm up to 300 schools” to further benefit from the school rebuilding programme, with an announcement coming in December. On school funding, Gillian Keegan reinforced the £2 billion that is to be given to education and that this should allow for an “end the threat of strike action”.

Events: Final Call

Don’t forget, there are still a couple of events left this term for you to join, book your place below.

The Governance Professional Network is your chance to find out more about the Governance Professional career pathway, a new resource to guide governance professionals in their future career decisions and ongoing development.

Our final webinar of the year is a must watch, as Steve Edmonds explores the financial challenges faced by schools and trusts in the current economic climate and how governing boards are responding to them.

Latest Ofsted findings show over 80% of outstanding schools downgraded

Ofsted have reported that 308 schools that were previously graded as outstanding and exempt from inspection have been downgraded. A fifth of the schools were reinspected and graded as requiring improvement and 4% were found to be inadequate. The report published this week also states that around 370 schools (previously graded as outstanding) had been inspected in 2021/22 and found that on average, their last inspection was over 13 years earlier.

The Education Select Committee questioned HMCI Amanda Spielman this week on the role of Ofsted and the publication of the commentary of outstanding schools. Spielman highlighted the importance of keeping parents and young people informed about the school that they are or will be a part of and said that the target for all previously exempt schools to be inspected by 2025 will be met.

Our guide to Ofsted inspection supports governing boards in their role throughout the inspection process.

Tackling educational inequality should be “a top priority for the government”

The socio-economic attainment gap is wider than before the pandemic and shows no sign of reducing. This is according to findings from a long term study following 6,000 pupils carried out by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).

The study published this week, also found that while on average, pupils who were in year 3 in spring 2022 have caught up in both reading and maths compared with pupils before the pandemic, year 2 pupils of the same cohort are still behind in their reading by about three months.

The findings come as the Fair Education Alliance (FEA) reported on the widening “gulf in KS4 results between the North East of England and London”.

Commenting on this Becky Francis, CEO of the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) said that “tackling education inequality – and the factors behind it - is the biggest challenge our education system faces” and that it should be “a top priority for the government”.

New guidance, toolkits and webinar: Widening the lens: Addressing educational disadvantage

NGA have published the first three toolkits in its ‘Widening the lens: Addressing educational disadvantage’ collection along with accompanying guidance.

The toolkits review available evidence on the various drivers of disadvantage impacting five pupil groups as well as questions for governing boards and school leaders to explore and signposts to available resources to help tackle educational disadvantage.

The collection can be found on our Knowledge Centre and includes:

·Widening the lens on disadvantage guidance

·Poverty toolkit

·SEND toolkit

·Vulnerability toolkit

·Ethnicity toolkit – coming soon

·Mental health and wellbeing toolkit – coming soon

You can also catch up on our latest webinar, Disadvantage: Widening the lens, where NGA’s Emma Knights and Fiona Fearon explore the experience of educational disadvantage for these pupil groups and how those governing can make a difference.

Education Secretary introduces herself to the education and care sector

Gillian Keegan has written to those in the education and care sector this week introducing herself and describing her role as “an honour and a huge responsibility”. Keegan praised the £2bn in extra funding given to education in the autumn statement and committed to improving the cost and availability of childcare and publishing a full response to the SEND and Alternative Provision Green Paper. Skills also featured in her statement with praise for the recently introduced T-levels. Keegan signed off with a final thanks for the “tremendous” efforts of the education sector.

Learning Link module update - Arts, culture and creativity

Our most inspiring e-learning module has been updated. Funded by and developed in partnership with Arts Council England, ‘Arts, culture and creativity: improving your school or trust and its curriculum’ provides the opportunity for governors and trustees to develop their understanding of what arts and cultural education is and how it can be used to improve schools.

Through reflective activities which encourage you to think about how your own school or trust embeds arts, culture and creativity into the curriculum the module provides the information and tools required to enable governors and trustees to influence and develop the role arts and culture play within schools.

Learning Link subscribers can find the updated module under the Pupil success and wellbeing collection on the Learning Link platform.

If you aren’t already subscribed to Learning Link sign up for a free trial to discover more about how our e-learning can support your board’s development or purchase a subscription.

Sutton trust: Mental health research

Poor mental health has increased by over a quarter since 2017, with 44% of young people aged 16 and 17 experiencing mental health problems. This is according to a briefing published this week by COVID Social Mobility & Opportunities (COSMO) looking at this generations mental health following the disruption caused by the pandemic. The study led jointly by UCL and the Sutton Trust sampled almost 13,000 year 11 pupils in 2021.

The study also found that half of the pupils from comprehensive or grammar schools rated their school’s mental health support as ‘not very good’ or ‘not at all good’ compared to just a quarter of those attending independent schools. Recommendations to address the issues within schools included implementing a whole school approach, access to independent counsellors, roll out of Mental Health Support Teams into every school and ringfencing a proportion of catch up funding for mental health support.

Final call for next week’s YGN meeting

It’s not too late to register for the first Young Governors’ Network meeting of this academic year, which takes place on Tuesday 29 November from 4.30pm to 5.30pm via Zoom.

YGN meetings provide an informal opportunity for young governors and trustees to share and reflect on their experiences and to address challenges and opportunities, focusing on relevant skills and behaviours.

Attendees are free to ask any questions related to their role as a young governor/trustee for which they would like support from other members of the network. In addition to any questions, we will also be discussing some of the misconceptions around age and governance, showing how young governors/trustees make an invaluable contribution to school and trust governance.

If you know any young governors/trustees through your board, your place of work or other networks, please do invite them to register. Attendance is open to all young governors/trustees below the age of 40. NGA membership is not required.

Annual Conference – available to view

Our Annual Conference keynote sessions proved a big hit on the day and they are now available for all members to view. Catch up with Emma Knights’ annual address as well as the passionate and inspiring keynote from Mark Russell, chief executive of the Children’s Society and Maggie Farrar’s session on Empowering Leadership.

Watch the sessions here

Don’t forget, there are still a couple of events left this term for you to join, book your place below.

Additional funding for schools announced in the autumn statement

The Chancellor has announced an additional £2.3 billion of funding in 2023-24 and £2.3 billion in 2024-25 for school budgets in England as part of his autumn statement this week, a rise from £53.8 billion this year to £58.8 billion by 2025.

The increase means that the amount of funding schools receive per pupil will rise on average by over £1000 by 2024-25, compared to 2021-22, restoring per-pupil funding to the level it was in 2010.

Capital funding, which goes towards improving school building and infrastructure, will increase from £6.3 billion this year to £7 billion in 2023-24, before reducing to £6.1 billion in 2024-25.

The announcement has been welcomed by the sector and will come as a relief to many governing boards faced with difficult and in some cases impossible choices created by unfunded pay increases and additional costs.

However, the detail behind the Chancellor’s announcement will need to be studied more closely before judging the extent to which the additional funding will help boards balance their budgets and make schools and trusts financially sustainable in a difficult economic climate.  

Please continue to let us know about the challenges you are currently facing in managing cost pressures and steering your schools and trusts clear of long term deficits: schoolfunding@nga.org.uk. 

NGA's annual report of achievements 2022 published

NGA has published this year’s annual report of achievements. The report showcases NGA's activities over the year that contribute to delivering its charitable aim of improving young people's educational standards and wellbeing by increasing the effectiveness of governing boards and promoting high standards.

The report looks back at the quality and reach of our support to school and trust boards and governance professionals.

It also highlights NGA's continued production of information and insight on a breadth of governance and education topics, including a significant focus over the year on equality, diversity and inclusion, multi academy trust governance and governance professionals.

As the expert leaders in school and trust governance, the report covers the actions that NGA has taken with other sector organisations to influence government policy and represent the voice of governors, trustees and governance professionals.

Read the report

New research: Children, violence and vulnerability 2022

New research exploring the ways in which violence and fear of violence is shaping children’s lives has found that 14% of teenage children have missed school due to fear, and a further 14% said it caused them to lose concentration.

The survey of 2,025 children and young people carried out by the Youth Endowment Fund also found that 83% of children felt safe at school, emphasising the important role school staff, leaders and boards play in ensuring processes and systems are in place to keep pupils safe.

NGA has a range of resources to support governing boards in their role in creating a safe environment for children and young people, including guidance, our new Learning Link module and our latest webinar. In our latest edition of Governing Matters we also explore the impact of the pandemic on safeguarding in our schools, what we have learned and what we can do.

Join us at upcoming NGA events and webinars

The first of our two remaining webinars is fast approaching. Join Emma Knights and Fiona Fearon as they discuss how governing boards can address disadvantage before Steve Edmonds outlines the financial challenges facing schools and trusts in December including the latest update following the autumn statement.   

There is still time to join our final networks of the year, if you are a Governance Professional or are responsible for SEND, book your place for the upcoming networks:

Inequality in the UK: More work to be done

The academic attainment of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is improving but this success is yet to translate to better or equal success in earnings. This is according to a new study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies  (IFS) which states that while educational performance among most ethnic minority groups in the UK has improved relative to the White majority over recent decades, those from Black Caribbean backgrounds continue to be at an educational disadvantage.

Governing boards have a responsibility to ensure that pupils are given the opportunity to achieve at school regardless of their ethnic background and are equipped for life beyond school and to arrive in a workplace with the skills they need to thrive. 

For more information on how boards can support their pupils to thrive beyond their time at school, refer to NGA’s careers guidance. There is also a range of resources available in our Knowledge Centre to support boards in  creating a culture that promotes equality, inclusion and embraces diversity.

Teacher induction plans delayed

The Department for Education (DfE) has announced a delay to its plans to reform teacher induction. Teaching school hubs were planned to take sole responsibility for checking induction provision from 2023, but this has now been delayed by a year. Local authorities will continue to carry out the role alongside existing hubs for the additional year. In order to ensure a successful transition, local authorities will not be allowed to register new early career teachers from September 2023.

The Department also confirmed its continued commitment to giving clearer guidance for how hubs and LAs should check induction provision. Amended statutory guidance is expected in the spring.

Governing boards and trust boards will generally exercise employer responsibilities and should ensure that their institution is meeting its obligations in developing and supporting its staff. We have published guidance on CPD for school staff to support boards. Those governing should use various sources of intelligence, including staff surveys, exit interviews and turnover data, to check their institution is developing staff effectively. 

Ofsted’s review looks to raising early years education standards

Ofsted has stressed the value of play and teaching, and the importance of developing communication skills in a new report published this week. The latest review joins the series of subject based curriculum research reviews which examines the factors that contribute to a high quality early education. Making sure children catch up after the pandemic is still a key challenge in the early years to which the report recommends that practitioners think carefully about what content to prioritise.

As a result of the review, a high quality early years curriculum and pedagogy have features that include prioritising communication and offering opportunity for disadvantaged children and valuing play to teach aspects of the curriculum.

Ofsted will be adding to this report with other reviews exploring the early years foundation stage’s seven areas of learning. NGA’s e-learning module on early years education supports those governing to develop their knowledge in this area, fulfil their statutory duties and early years provision development.

New research: Understanding what makes working in schools stressful

Supportive school leadership and reasonable workloads are both associated with reduced teacher stress. This is according to recent research by FFT Education Datalab in which 300 teachers across seven schools reported on different aspects of their working environment alongside their levels of stress in the workplace. The data also suggested that there was no discernible relationship between either collegiality of staff or having a helpful behaviour policy with levels of teacher stress.

NGA has a range of resources on workload and wellbeing that can be used to help boards reflect on the culture of wellbeing that exists in their school or trust, and create a healthy working environment for all staff.

NGA annual conference and AGM

NGA’s chief executive Emma Knights delivered her annual address at NGA’s annual conference last week. Beginning by referencing the work NGA has done last year, including on our Greener Governance campaign and the Schools White paper, Emma then set out NGA’s priorities for 2023:

·Volunteer recruitment

·Governance professionals

·Education of disadvantaged pupils

·Funding

·The people in our schools

We have published the full address on our website.

Messages were also delivered from the Minister for the Schools System and Shadow Schools Minister sharing their appreciation for those involved in school and trust governance, and NGA’s role in supporting and raising the issues facing governing boards and their schools and trusts.

To close the conference, NGA held its AGM where it was confirmed that Annie McMaster has joined NGA’s board for Yorkshire and Humber. We also said goodbye to Brent Fitzpatrick, who came to the end of his term as trustee. We want to share our thanks to Brent for his commitment over his 9 years of service to helping NGA succeed.

Increasing numbers of pupils missing from school are being home educated

A lack of support and protection for some of the most vulnerable children has been highlighted by a Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) report on the use of home education and the effectiveness of the current system.

The number of children being home educated is now 34% higher than before the pandemic. But this rise does not reflect health concerns alone with the CSJ highlighting incidences where decisions to home educate that were not made in the child’s best interests. Many parents feel pressured by a belief that schools are no longer a safe environment, citing bullying or unmet needs. Other children have a history of absences and exclusions.

While parents can choose to home educate for legitimate reasons, governing boards can influence many of the factors that negatively impact decisions to remove children from school. NGA guidance explains how improving attendance and minimising exclusions begins at board level, and how whole-school behaviour cultures are fundamental to supporting inclusion.

New development for MAT and SAT trustees – Bookings now open for Jan 2023 start

NGA is launching two new programmes to provide practical, online training for current, new, and future trustees in MATs and SATs.
 
Participants can undertake the whole programme or select specific workshops according to their learning priorities and budget.
 
Led by experienced facilitators with expertise in MAT and SAT governance, the interactive, small group workshops explore what good trust governance looks like, focussing on ‘setting’ specific governance, enabling participants to learn alongside their peers.
 
The MAT programme's eight workshops cover essential areas from ‘How trust boards work’ and ‘Setting expectations for local governance’  exploring important themes, challenges and best practice approaches focussing on the trustee role.
 
The SAT programme consisting of seven workshops covers core topics such as school improvement, compliance and effective meetings, exploring current key challenges and opportunities for SATs in areas like financial oversight and good employer practice.

New setting-specific training for trust and school leaders – Book now

From 2023, NGA will be running a short termly governance training session for executive trust and school leaders tailored to the requirements of leadership and governance in four different settings.
 

·        MAT board leaders

·        MAT academy leaders

·        SAT leaders

·        LA maintained school or federation leaders

  
Designed for CEOs, headteachers and other executive school and trust leaders, each focussed session provides the opportunity for participants to gain a practical grounding into how they can work effectively with their own governing boards. The sessions explore how to develop a relationship with the chair, making the most of support and challenge, building a sustainable organisation together while delivering a positive school culture.
 
Led by expert facilitators with recent or first-hand experience of trust and school leadership and governance, each session is setting-specific and leader-centric, enabling participants to learn alongside peers from similar organisations.

NGA and NAHT release joint advice on safeguarding and school inspection

The safeguarding of pupils is a priority for all governing boards. As well as being key to creating a safe environment for pupils, Ofsted inspectors will always make a written judgement under ‘leadership and management’ about whether the arrangements for safeguarding pupils are effective. Governors and trustees must therefore be clear on what their responsibilities are and how they action them. To aid with this, NGA and the National Association of Headteachers (NAHT) have published joint advice for governing boards on safeguarding and school inspection.

Further NGA guidance on the governing board’s role in relation to safeguarding, including a safeguarding link governor/trustee model role description and webinar can be found here.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has also released its final report. It sets out the main findings of its investigation of abuse in state and non-state institutions (including schools) and makes recommendations for reform.

The Voices of MAT trustees on the Schools System Reforms

This week, NGA was delighted to publish a report on MAT trustees’ views of the government’s reforms to the schools system. The report reflects our findings from a survey of MAT trustees which asked for views about proposals made in the white paper and subsequent Schools Bill.

Headline findings included the support of a majority trustees for greater transparency and more stringent standards on trusts. There was also scepticism towards the proposal for a fully academised system by 2030, with just 51% in agreement, despite all respondents already governing MATs.

NGA is aware that those governing in different contexts will view the reforms differently. We have been listening to the views of members through a variety of mechanisms, such as our summer leadership forums, and will continue to do so. Thank you to everyone who has shared their views so far.

NAHT explains decision to ballot members on industrial action

Paul Whiteman, General Secretary of the National Association of Headteachers (NAHT), is to write to governing boards to explain the unprecedented decision to conduct a formal ballot of its members on industrial action over pay. 

Mr Whiteman says that the decision to ballot was taken following a period of consultation and an extraordinary level of contact from members who are angry and frustrated by real terms losses to school leaders’ pay since 2010. NAHT forecast that by the end of 2022 the real terms value of school leaders’ salaries will be about a quarter (24%) less than in 2010.

The letter highlights a recent survey of over 11,000 school leaders showing only 5% expect to be able to pay unfunded teacher and support staff awards without going into deficit in 2023-24. 

Mr Whiteman adds leaders are standing up for pupils and families who deserve a properly funded and paid education workforce and NAHT will seek to avoid disruption for pupils.

Research shows schools need support for pupils with additional needs

Ofsted research has found that schools with primary aged children with additional needs lack access to specialist support. Around 7000 primary-age children in England are currently known to be in alternative provision (AP) due to schools being unable to manage their behaviour.

The study identified that pupils were referred to AP when school strategies became ineffective, usually when relationships between parents and school staff broke down. The expectations of staff and parents were found as key factors determining whether AP was a short term or long-term solution for that pupil.   

Challenges to AP referral were linked to schools having a lack of access to services, funding and the geography of the AP’s. HMCI Amanda Spielman acknowledged that despite the positive role that AP can have on pupils, the barriers that currently exist can impact the future of these children.

NGA publishes guidance to support board recruitment

A new edition of NGA’s popular ‘Right people around the table’ guidance has been published this week to support governing boards to recruit and retain volunteers.

This guide provides practical advice to help ensure that boards have the right blend of knowledge, skills, perspectives and backgrounds to govern effectively. It covers key areas to consider as part of the recruitment process, including evaluating the current board and attracting volunteers to making an appointment and induction training. It also includes advice on targeting those from underrepresented groups.

Findings from the 2022 annual governance survey shows that schools and trusts in England are facing major challenges in recruiting governance volunteers, with 38 percent reporting they have two or more vacancies. This guide aims to support boards fill these vacancies and increase retention rates of those who do start governing. Visit the Knowledge Centre to download the guide.

Visible Governance: Engaging employers

As part of the Visible Governance campaign, we are working to raise the profile of governance to organisations and encourage them to support their staff who govern. We have produced a new resource for employers which explains what governors and trustees do, why organisations should support their staff to govern, and how they can do so. If you’re employed, you can help us by sharing the guide with your employer, to share what you do and to encourage them to support you in your role.

We also want to recognise those organisations that already support their employees to govern. This may be through paid time off for duties, having a governor/trustee network or providing resources. If your employer supports you, please get in touch to share your story at  visible@nga.org.uk.

Ofsted to carry out thematic reviews of careers guidance

With a view to improve practice around careers guidance for young people in schools and further education, the government has asked Ofsted to conduct a thematic review of careers guidance available. Ofsted’s review will assess the quality of careers guidance as well as identifying strengths and weaknesses in careers provision and will rely on inspection evidence and focus groups with employers, education and training providers. Ofsted will also conduct research visits to a sample of schools in the spring and summer of 2023 and will include conversations with leaders and teachers.  

NGA guidance produced in collaboration with The Careers and Enterprise Company supports governing boards to meet its statutory duties relating to careers guidance, by supporting and challenging your school or trust to meet the Gatsby Benchmarks – the recognised blueprint for high-quality careers guidance. Visit the Knowledge Centre to read the guidance.

Join us at the upcoming NGA events and webinars

We still have some exciting events for you to join this term.

Our webinars explore two of the most challenging topics governors and trustees face. This month, Emma Knights and Fiona Fearon look at how governing boards can address disadvantage and in December, Steve Edmonds outlines the financial challenges facing schools and trusts. 

Also, this term, Annemarie Thomas-Banyard from Browne Jacobson joins the SEND Network to share her experiences of advising schools and offering practical tips to ensure SEND provision is effective.  

Our final network of the year will include the official launch of the career pathway for governance professionals.
Learn more about our events and book your place using the list below.

ASCL survey reveals the extent of the funding crisis in our schools

A survey published last week by the Association of School and College leaders (ASCL) has revealed that almost all schools and colleges in England are likely to face the prospect of having to make cuts because of rising costs and insufficient government funding. 98% of headteachers and business leaders responding to the survey said their school or college would have to make financial savings either in the current academic year or future years, or both, as a result of cost pressures.
 
Alarmingly, 60% said they will have to make financial savings both in the current academic year and in future years. 

The findings are consistent with those of our 2022 annual governance survey and the feedback from governing boards who are finding it impossible to balance their budget without limiting the curriculum, teaching support and risking a decline in educational standards.  
 
The situation has clearly reached crisis proportions. Therefore we strongly encourage governing boards to make the case direct to their MP before 17 November, when the government Autumn Statement is due to be delivered and press them to call upon the government to act. 

A letter template is available on the ASCL website, which boards can use and adapt to fit the circumstances of their school or trust.

Children’s social services referrals reach record high

The number of referrals to children’s social services by schools in England has risen by 51% since 2014. Referrals increased from 85,630 in 2013-14 to 129,090 in 2021-22, a record high, according to newly published government figures. The data has raised concerns over the ability of the system to cope with the increased demand and has led to calls from the NSPCC for the government to “make child protection a national priority”.

NGA’s annual governance survey also found that there was an increase in safeguarding concerns following the pandemic, with 71% of boards reporting an increase. Domestic abuse and neglect were among the most common concerns within schools, as well as concerns about pupil mental health and wellbeing. 

NGA have a range of resources to support governing boards in their role in creating a safe environment for children and young people, including guidance, our new Learning Link module and our latest webinar.

Preventing hair discrimination

New guidance on preventing hair discrimination in schools was published last week by The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The guidance forms part of a package of resources following research that found discrimination related to hair or hairstyles disproportionately affects pupils with Afro-textured hair or hairstyles.

Schools and trusts have a duty to ensure that all policies adhere to the Equality Act 2010 and that rules relating to hair or hairstyles are designed and implemented in a way that does not discriminate against pupils from certain groups.

NGA’s guidance on equality and diversity supports governing boards in ensuring that all policies and procedures are inclusive and fair. Where applicable boards should review policies that cover hairstyles and head coverings to ensure that such policies are inclusive of all pupils.

New ministerial team appointed for the Department for Education

Gillian Keegan has been announced as the new Secretary of State for Education following a cabinet reshuffle by the new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak. Keegan inherits the role from Kit Malthouse and formerly served as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. In a recent newsletter, Keegan stated they will work to ensure “life-long access to good quality education is available to everyone”.

Other appointments to the department include Nick Gibb and Robert Halfron as Ministers of State and the reappointment of Baroness Barran as Schools Minister.

Improving reading in secondary schools: Ofsted’s latest research

Prioritising reading, testing reading ability, staff CPD and monitoring impact were among the six approaches that Ofsted identified as effective methods to strengthen reading abilities in secondary schools. The research gained insight into the methods taken in six secondary schools in which a higher than expected proportion of poor readers move on to achieve a grade 4 or above in English language.

The research highlighted instances where the role of the governing board supported the school to prioritise reading. Examples included regular discussions around reading at board meetings and a primary school headteacher on the governing board delivering training to staff.

HMCI Amanda Spielman commented on the release of the report emphasising that “all children, with very few exceptions, should leave school proficient readers. That’s why it’s essential that children who leave primary school unable to read well get the additional teaching they need to participate both academically and in wider society”.

Final call to secure your place at the Annual Conference

NGA’s Annual Conference and AGM is fast approaching but there is still time for you or a member of your board to join us on Saturday 12 November at The Eastside Rooms, Birmingham.

Attending the conference is a great opportunity for you or a newer member of your board to meet and share experiences with other governors, trustees and governance professionals.  Delegates can also speak to NGA’s expert team about how our services can best support your school or trust.

We are delighted to be joined by a fantastic range of speakers for the other sessions on the day, including:

·        Mark Russell, chief executive, the Children’s Society outlining the key messages from “The Good Childhood report 2022”

·        Maggi Farrar, Empowering Leadership who will be discussing “Governance as leadership”

·        a panel of young people from MockCOP, Teach the Future, UK Schools Sustainability Network and St-Christopher's C.E. High School discussing - “Developing global citizens: pupils of tomorrow”

Book your place now

Guidance on provision for transgender pupils

NGA has worked with a range of sector bodies to produce guidance for maintained schools and academies in England on provision for transgender pupils.

The guidance includes information on medical perspectives, legal definitions and perspectives, and the legal requirements for schools.

Governing boards and senior executive leaders should have regard to relevant legislation whilst creating an environment which respects and balances the rights and needs of all pupils. This will include reviewing policies, practices and procedures and analysing relevant data.

Governance professionals’ jobs

NGA’s free job advertisement service for governance professional roles has had a facelift! It has been updated and rebranded as ‘Governance professional jobs’ to reflect the more varied professional landscape and the different roles which exist within it.

If you have a vacancy to fill, the online form is quick and easy to complete. There are prompts to make sure relevant information is included to attract quality candidates. You can also upload documents to accompany the advert such as a person specification. Those posting adverts will also be prompted to select which of the three levels of clerk, governance manager and lead governance professional most closely matches the position they are advertising.

And if you are looking for a governance professional job, check out the adverts listed on the webpage. They can be filtered by location or levels.

Make the most of this free service and allow us to make your search a successful one.

Book your free place at NGA’s Annual Conference and AGM

Join us for a packed day of keynotes and networking at a brand new venue, the Eastside Rooms in Birmingham on 12 November.

We’ll have keynote speeches from Mark Russell, chief executive of the Children’s Society and Maggie Farrar of Empowering Leadership as well as a panel session with young people on “Developing global citizens: pupils of tomorrow”. NGA’s chief executive Emma Knights will also deliver her annual address. 

You’ll also get a chance to meet and share experiences with other governors, trustees and governance professionals, chat to NGA’s team about how we can best support you and explore a wide range of exhibitors.

The conference concludes with the AGM at 3:30pm. You can find out more about the resolutions to be voted on in the full notice of the AGM. 

Book your place through the event page to avoid disappointment as places are filling up fast.

New Learning Link module launch: Safeguarding - How to fulfil the governance role

NGA’s new Learning Link module Safeguarding: how to fulfil the governance role is now live. This module aims to give you an understanding of what you and your governing board need to do to fulfil your safeguarding role.

Equipped with a combination of engaging learning activities, animated scenarios, governor and trustee explanation and more, this module will help you to explore how your board should approach safeguarding in your organisation.

To find out more about how this module can improve your knowledge and skills in fulfilling your safeguarding role please visit our course page.

You can also view NGA’s recently recorded webinar The Governance of Safeguarding for free. Presented by NGA’s Steve Edmonds, director of advice and guidance and Rani Kaur, head of advice, this informative webinar provides an overview of the safeguarding responsibilities of governing boards and how governance ensures schools and trusts create a safe environment for children and young people.

Preparing for pupil premium strategy publication

All maintained schools and most academies are required to publish a pupil premium strategy statement on their website. The purpose of the statement is to explain the decisions made by school leaders and governing boards regarding how pupil premium is spent and the intended impact of these decisions. The statement also serves as an action plan that governing boards can monitor.

As the deadline for publishing the statement (31 December) approaches, we encourage governors and trustees to discuss pupil premium spending plans with school leaders. Our pupil premium guide for governing boards explains how plans should be informed by identified barriers to learning. The guide also sets out how school leaders are expected to use research to inform spending decisions.

School staff to vote on strike

The National Education Union (NEU) has announced that teachers and support staff are likely to strike at the end of January next year if voted for. Formal ballot action will open next week. The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) have both also announced that they will be formally balloting their members.

The move to industrial action follows the 5% pay rise agreed for teachers and headteachers, with increases rising to 8.9% for newer teachers as a step towards achieving a minimum starting salary of £30,000. The planned increases have been criticised amid current levels of inflation and the resulting cost of living crisis as well as off the back of years of real term pay cuts to the profession.

National Tutoring Programme summary evaluation released

Findings on the impact of the two pillars of the National Tutoring Programme (NTP), Tuition Partners (TP) and Academic Mentors (AM) have been published this week by The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).

Findings for the academic year 2020-21 indicated better assessment scores in English in primary schools where there were higher amounts of tutoring, as well as better teacher assessed grades in maths and English for year 11s. However, the analysis also showed that the majority of pupil premium eligible pupils did not receive AM.

Commenting, NFER’s head of classroom practice and workforce, Ben Styles, said that the findings should be “interpreted with caution” due to the study being impacted by the partial school re-closures in January 2021.

Recommendations included greater clarity on the expectations of the schools’ role in managing and delivering tuition and more to be done to target support at disadvantaged pupils.

Early years funding announced

The government has announced funding of £180 million to improve children’s development in the early years. Aiming to put children’s education and skills back on track after the pandemic, the funding will be used to improve teaching of children’s early speech, language and numeracy, along with professional development. Among the planned strategies is a new universal online child development training offer to help staff improve their knowledge and understanding of children’s development.

Governing boards are well placed to cultivate a positive culture of CPD for staff, and in doing so should build an understanding of how staff development needs are assessed, opportunities identified and aligned with strategic priorities. Having mechanisms in place to ensure that appropriate opportunities are explored and utilised is vital in cultivating a positive culture, NGA’s CPD for school staff guidance can help boards do this. 

Join us for our MAT Governance Network

The last MAT Governance Network of the year is fast approaching but there is still time to book your place for Tuesday 1 November 2022, 4.30-6.00pm. The network is your chance to share your thoughts, ideas and challenges with your peers.
 
A representative from the Department for Education (DfE) will attend to provide the latest information on the regulatory review and take feedback from delegates. NGA's Fariha Choudhury and Megan Tate will present a series of case studies looking at the different models of local governance being used in trusts.

Book your place

The Chair’s Handbook, 9th edition is out now

The 9^th biennial edition of our bestselling guide The Chair’s Handbook is out now and available to order. 

The latest edition focuses on best practice advice set out on supporting chair’s as they come to understand more about their new role and features guidance on Leading governance in schools, becoming the chair, leading and developing the team, planning succession, leading board business and much more.

If you are a chair with NGA GOLD membership or NGA Multi Academy Trust membership you will receive a complimentary copy of The Chair’s Handbook as a part of your membership. Please ensure that your role and contact details are up to date in your NGA membership account so that we can send you a complimentary copy.

To order a copy of The Chair’s Handbook or to find out more information please visit our website. To enquire about bulk discounts or if you have any other questions please contact us.

NGA joins the speaker line up at the Schools & Academies Show

NGA will join a line up of over 100 education experts at the Schools & Academies Show (co-located with the EdTech Summit) on 17 November at the NEC, Birmingham. The show will bring together 3000 school leaders and 150 leading education suppliers to provide a platform to network and discuss the challenges facing the education sector.

NGA’s Emma Knights, chief executive, Clare Collins, head of consultancy and Sam Henson, director of policy and communications will take to the main stage to deliver sessions about the future vision of governing bodies, and how governors can adapt their governance structure in the current climate to deliver impact across their institution.

Registration for the Schools & Academies Show & EdTech Summit is free for those who work in schools, multi academy trusts, charities, and local and central government. You can register your place for free today.

View the full CPD agenda here.

How to review suspensions and exclusions

NGA’s Learning Link module for governance professionals and those sitting on exclusion panels has been updated to reflect the latest statutory guidance on suspension and exclusions.

Using a step-by-step walk through and a case study of the headteacher’s decision to permanently exclude a pupil, How to: review suspensions and exclusions demonstrates how everyone involved can fulfil their roles effectively at each stage of the process.

NGA’s latest annual governance survey revealed that, of those panellists who received training, 94% of respondents found it useful, highlighting the importance of utilising resources that outline what an effective review panel meeting looks like and how robust decisions are made.

A procedural guide for boards and governance professionals, along with additional guidance for those serving on exclusion panels, is also available on NGA’s Knowledge Centre.

Calls to extend free school meal eligibility to ease cost of living pressures

Extending free school meals (FSM) to all children living in a household receiving Universal Credit would deliver core economic benefits of £8.9bn, or £1.38 return for every £1 invested. This is according to a costs/benefits analysis published this week by Impact on Urban Health.

Meanwhile, The Food Foundation launched their Feed the future campaign campaign this week which calls on the Government to urgently extend eligibility to all children from families in receipt of Universal Credit or equivalent benefits.

NGA’s annual governance survey found that there is a significant increase in the number of schools supporting families in financial need through foodbanks and meals outside of term time.  With one in three school aged children growing up in poverty, not currently eligible for free school meals, we support the call for the Government to extend FSM eligibility to all children living in a household receiving Universal Credit.

NGA’s Annual Membership Survey is still open!

If you haven’t completed the Annual Membership Survey, there is still time to take part and provide feedback on how we can better support you and improve our services. The survey is available to members only and takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. It closes on Tuesday 1 November 2022, 12pm.

Take the survey!

Governing Chatters: Making EdTech work for you

In this month’s podcast, Steve Edmonds and Nina Sharma explore the increasing prevalence and reliance on technology in our schools and classrooms.  We wanted to find out how those who are governing keep pace with these developments and ensure that technology is being used effectively.

Steve and Nina were joined by Al Kingsley, Chair of trustees, Hampton Academies Trust and group CEO, NetSupport, and Julie Carson, Director of Education at Woodland Academy Trust, who gave us their expert view on the impact of technology in schools.

You can listen to the podcast here

The Open University has launched an e-learning course that will help school leaders become more digitally informed and make decisions about the provision and use of online learning in schools.

Find out more here.

Department for Education (DfE) boost teacher training bursaries in bid to improve recruitment

Increased bursaries and scholarships will be available to certain teacher training courses from September 2023 in an attempt to resolve the continuing recruitment problem in schools. STEM subjects are set to receive the highest amount of support followed by languages, geography, and English. Schools minister Jonathan Gullis says this will bring the “brightest and the best” into the teaching profession.

The increased support is welcome news as our annual governance survey revealed schools that are facing difficulty in recruiting teaching staff has increased from 29% to 53% since 2021. With many respondents expressing particular difficulty in recruiting STEM and modern foreign language (MFL) teachers.

School teachers’ pay and conditions document 2022

An updated version of the statutory guidance on School teachers’ pay and conditions document (STPCD), for teachers in England, has been published and is valid from the 1 September.

The publication should prompt governing boards to carry out the annual review of school and trust pay policies and clarify their approach to making performance based pay decisions and to set out the extent to which the national pay uplift is considered when making any individual pay decisions.

Local authority maintained schools must comply with the requirements of the STPCD, whether they are the legal employer or is exercising employer responsibility on behalf of the local authority.

Trusts can develop their own terms and conditions for new staff but must apply the STPCD to teachers who are covered by TUPE regulations.  Many trusts choose to apply the STPCD requirements to all their teaching staff. 

For more on this visit our Knowledge Centre.

AGM calling notice, 2022

This year, NGA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place at 3:30pm on 12 November at Eastside Rooms, Birmingham. The AGM is your opportunity to have your say. You can find out more about the resolutions you and other members are voting on by taking a look at the full notice of the AGM . Emma Knights will deliver the Annual Address at 2:00pm followed by the AGM at 3:30pm.  

To book your place at the Annual Conference and AGM please visit our events page.

For full information on the AGM and voting please see our AGM page.

First speaker announcement for the Annual Conference

We are delighted to announce our first guest speaker for NGA’s Annual Conference, Mark Russell, Chief Executive of the Children’s Society who will be speaking on the Good Childhood report 2022.

Join us at the conference and take the opportunity to meet and share your experiences with other governors, trustees and governance professionals. You can also speak to NGA’s expert team about how our services can best support your school or trust.

Book your place at the Annual Conference now.

Don’t forget, we have a range of other events and webinars you can join this term.

Autumn term events

Election of new NGA Trustee for Yorkshire & Humber

This year NGA sought nominations for a new trustee in Yorkshire and Humber.  Two candidates have been nominated for election: Annie McMaster and Paddy Hall.  Members in the Yorkshire & Humber region can read their statements on our website and vote for the candidate of their choice.  

The final date to submit your vote is Wednesday November 9, 2022.  The results will be announced at this year’s Annual General Meeting.

COVID-19 study reveals widened inequalities

A new study by UCL and The Sutton Trust has revealed disadvantaged pupils have suffered greater learning loss due the pandemic. Analysing survey data from 13,000 year 11 pupils in England during 2020-21, the study found that the COVID-19 had “severely widened existing inequalities” with schools in disadvantaged areas having slower access to online learning in both lockdowns and pupils from poorer households often lacking access to suitable devices and quiet spaces. Although catch-up support had more uptake from schools in deprived areas, the study revealed 39% of disadvantaged schools still did not take part in any at all.

The report recommended the provision of devices for those in receipt of pupil premium due to the likelihood of online learning being a permanent fixture of schooling, as well as targeted pupil premium funding for post-16 pupils.

Supporting new governors and trustees

Many of you will be welcoming new volunteers to your board at this time of year. A well-planned induction helps new governors and trustees become familiar with their school or trust and what their role entails. NGA’s step-by-step guide provides a starting point to develop an induction programme that is suitable for your context and the experience of the new board member. NGA GOLD and multi academy trustee members can also encourage new board members to attend one of our new Welcome to Governance LIVE sessions. These virtual sessions are designed to help new governors and trustees make an impact in their first six months.

Children’s Commissioner: New study on access to childcare services

Barriers to high quality childcare have been highlighted in a recent study by the Children’s Commissioner, Rachel de Souza. Funding, affordability, availability, flexibility and access to information about childcare locally were among factors that make it difficult for families to access key childcare services.

To address these issues, the Children’s Commissioner has called for early education to be brought into the wider school sector by utilising unused school building space for childcare and by extending the school day to address gaps in provision for older children.

Working collaboratively between schools can be beneficial as this allows those involved to pool resources and share good practice, resulting in a mutually beneficial working relationship that focuses on improving teaching and learning for all. Where possible, governing boards should think about how they can collaborate with other settings in a meaningful way.

Funding to build children’s literacy announced

The DfE has announced £24 million of funding to build children’s literacy skills. It forms part of the £5 billion recovery plan announced by the government in 2021 which aims to see 90% of primary children reach the expected standard of literacy and numeracy by 2030.

The funding will be used to support the English Hubs Programme which aim to help build the confidence of children in reading and writing including those with dyslexia.

NGA’s Annual Membership Survey is now open!

Your feedback is valuable in helping us to understand how we can better support you and make your NGA membership the best it can be. We are committed to giving you the best possible value for your membership fee, so please let us know how we are doing and how we can improve our services.

The survey is available to members only and takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. It closes on Tuesday 1 November 2022, 12pm.

Take the survey!

Conservative party conference

Speaking at the Conservative party conference this week Education Secretary, Kit Malthouse did not reveal new policies, but instead stated that his team would be “much more assertive about intervention and standards” in schools and this would require “constant attention and constant pressure”. The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) have since responded with an open letter criticising the speech.

At a fringe event, Education Minister Jonathan Gullis, stated that the government are “not going to budge” on the 5% pay rise for teachers and are “committed” to the £30,000 starting salary. Focus on education funding was absent from the rest of the conference leading to 12 organisations representing education staff, parents, governors and trustees writing an open letter to the Prime Minister and Education Secretary warning of a “critical” situation with school funding.

In recognition of the pressure on school budgets, NGA are asking those governing to share the challenges with us at schoolfunding@nga.org.uk. 

Cost of living and its impact on teachers

A third of primary teachers are struggling to afford food, with a further 30% stating that financial pressures were “impacting their ability to do their job well”. This is according to a poll of primary teachers which also highlighted the impact of the cost of living crisis on the mental health of teachers.

Commenting, Tiffinie Harris from the ASCL said that without government intervention there is an increased risk that more teachers will “quit teaching and seek better paid employment elsewhere.” 

The results follow the publication of NGA’s report, The priorities and challenges facing our schools, which found that nearly a third of respondents considered staff workload and wellbeing to be one of their top three challenges, with many boards expressing that the cost of living and travel is driving staff away.

Visit our Knowledge Centre to access a range of staffing resources including workload and wellbeing.

Children’s safety online

The mental health and wellbeing of children was brought into sharp focus last week as the inquest into the tragic death of Molly Russell drew to a conclusion. Molly, 14, died from an act of self-harm in 2017 after viewing online content related to suicide, depression, self-harm and anxiety.

The headteacher of Molly’s secondary school said it is “almost impossible” to keep track of the risks associated with social media, but highlighted the importance of schools acting on information as they receive it and educating pupils about online safety.

The mental health and wellbeing of pupils is an area of key importance to governing boards with almost half of respondents considering it to be one of their strategic priorities according to findings from this year’s annual governance survey. To support boards in their role in promoting safeguarding and wellbeing we have a range of resources available on our Knowledge Centre as well as guidance on how online safety can be promoted through an effective PSHE curriculum offer.

Updated accountability measures guidance published

Updated guidance on secondary accountability and primary school accountability has been published as the Department for Education (DfE) stressed the need to move back to publicly available data about exam results. It is said the move will improve transparency and support parents and students when choosing schools or post-16 institutions.
 
The updates explain how measures are calculated and provide information about policies that have been announced for the 2022-23 academic year. The updates also include information about how the DfE will calculate KS2 and KS4 MAT measures for the academic year 2021-22.
 
KS1 and KS2 attainment data has also been published showing that attainment at KS1 has fallen across the board in the first set of tests since 2019, with poorer pupils falling further behind than their better off peers. KS2 data also shows that the proportion of pupils meeting expected reading standards at the end of KS2 has fallen among those with low prior attainment since COVID-19, but held up among higher attaining pupils.

Final chance to book your place

The final Governance Leadership forums of the autumn term are fast approaching but there is still time to secure your place as we examine the challenges of recruiting and retaining volunteers on the board, including the impact of the time commitment and responsibility required.

Potential volunteers clearly need to fully understand the role they are applying for, but is this an increasingly unrealistic ask for many? Are we losing great candidates for chairing because of the expectations? We will be exploring solutions to this conundrum and listening to your experiences.
 

 
Don’t forget, we have a host of events this term to support your governance practice, shape your thinking and keep you informed of all of the key issues in school and trust governance. Find out more about our other events and webinars now.

New School Admissions Appeals Code and updated guidance

A new School Admissions Appeals Code has been published by the DfE and came into force on 1 October 2022. Limited changes include a permanent provision for admission appeals to be heard remotely, in hybrid format or via telephone, subject to certain conditions and with an overriding emphasis on fairness and transparency. Additional guidance for admission authorities, for clerks and appeal panels, and for parents and guardians has been updated accordingly.

Unheard appeals lodged on or before 30 September 2022 must be held in accordance with the previous version of the Appeals Code, which will remain available online until it is likely any appeal lodged on or before 30 September has concluded. Any appeals lodged from 1 October must be held in accordance with the new Appeals Code.

Managing appeals is part of the important role admission authorities have in relation to their admission arrangements. For more information on ensuring compliance with the School Admissions Code, visit our Knowledge Centre.

Labour outlines plans for education

Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson outlined plans to “build a future where children come first” at the Labour Party Conference this week. Labour pledged free breakfast clubs for primary school pupils in England at a cost of £365 million funded by reinstating the 45p rate of income tax for the highest earners. Phillipson also emphasised a “curriculum that prizes skills, as well as knowledge” committing to improving careers advice and the work experience system. Changes to the apprenticeship levy will mean a minimum of 50% would have to be spent on apprenticeships and remaining funds can be utilised for other training.

On multi academy trusts (MATs), Steven Morgan the shadow schools minister, said Labour will not force academisation but will look to enforce the national curriculum in all schools as well as Ofsted inspection of MATs. The role of the local authority will also be greater, with potential responsibility for school admissions and exclusions. NGA’s response to the announcements can be found in our latest news.

Schools shielding pupils from food price rises

Calls to widen free school meal eligibility are increasing across the sector, with schools having to find thousands of pounds from already squeezed budgets to cushion the effects of meal price inflation on pupils. As reported by Tes, schools and trusts face cutting spending in other areas as a consequence of "protecting families against the cost of inflation".

This follows findings from NGA’s 2022 Annual Governance Survey showing almost all schools (95%) offer additional services to families with breakfast provision among the top three. Headteachers have said they do not want to pass on price increases to families that just fall outside the eligibility for free school meals.

In response, the government have highlighted their investment in the National School Breakfast programme and core funding support of £53.8 billion. In recognition of the pressure on school budgets, NGA are asking those governing to share the challenges in managing cost pressures and steering your schools and trusts clear of long-term deficits to schoolfunding@nga.org.uk. 

Broadening the curriculum

As part of their equality, diversity and inclusion commitment, AQA is introducing more diverse texts from September to allow pupils to access a range of content and writers that ‘’better reflects modern Britain’’.

The news comes as boards have said they are prioritising their educational offer, with 70% of respondents from NGA’s annual governance survey identifying ensuring a broad and balanced curriculum as one of their strategic priorities in 2022.

NGA’s Curriculum effectiveness guidance advises boards to think critically about what is important for their pupils and the decisions about what to teach and why.  As a starting point, boards should consider how they are ensuring that the curriculum meets the needs of all pupils and whether it provides a rich and rounded educational experience that promotes equality and diversity for all, through all subjects. 

Grading exams and assessments announced

Ofqual has announced that the grading arrangements for 2023 will return to pre- pandemic grading as the next step in ‘getting back to normal’. While this means students sitting exams will not be provided with advanced information, there will be protection for pupils impacted by COVID-19 disruption.

It is expected that overall results in 2023 will be much closer to pre-pandemic years than results since 2020, and will therefore be lower than in 2022. In recognition of the challenges that teachers may face to accurately predict grades, UCAS have recommended that teachers use the familiar pre-pandemic standard as the basis for predicting their students’ grades.

Department for Education (DfE) school governance update: September 2022

The latest edition of the DfE’s school governance update is now available. The update, which covers both maintained schools and academy trusts, acknowledges the significant rise in energy bills that schools have seen and signposts government plans to help cut bills.

The latest DfE publications also feature alongside a call for governors and trustees to respond to the school food survey – an opportunity to share your views on current school food guidance.

Sign up now! Spaces available on NGA’s Leading Governance development courses

The development for chairs programme is designed for both trustees and governors who currently chair, and those aspiring to become a chair, and will support the development of leadership skills.

Trustees: Start date - 9 January 2023 
LA Maintained and LGBs: Start date - 9 January 2023
Cost: £270 per participant.
*Discounted rate of £249 per participant for bookings made before 31 December 2022.

The Level 3 Certificate in the clerking of school and academy governing boards programme is an accredited programme designed for governance professionals and clerks with at least three months experience, currently working in any school or trust setting.
Cost: £480 per participant.
*Discounted rate of £449 per participant for bookings made before 31 December 2022.

To find out more about either of these programmes, call us on 0121 237 3780 dial option 5, email us at leading.governance@nga.org.uk, or visit our website.

Deadline extended for recruiting consultants

NGA is the leading nationwide provider of governance development and support. Due to increased demand for our quality assured external reviews of governance, training and development programmes and workshops, and other bespoke support for those governing trusts and schools, we are growing our team.

We are looking for governance consultants committed to helping others to improve governance who have experience of multi academy trust governance and are also able to confidently deliver training, both face to face and virtually.

To find out more, visit the vacancies page where you will find the role description and details of how to apply. 

Welcome to Governance LIVE – dates available

Free virtual sessions aimed at new governors and trustees are now open for bookings. The Welcome to Governance LIVE sessions are exclusively available to those with NGA GOLD or MAT trustee membership and will support you in making an impact in your first six months.
 
Autumn dates:
Tuesday 4 October, 12.30pm - 1.45pm - for new trustees of a SAT
Wednesday 5 October, 4pm - 5.15pm - for new governors of a local academy committee within a MAT
Tuesday 11 October, 4pm - 5.15pm - for new trustees of a MAT
Thursday 13 October, 4pm - 5.15pm - for new governors in maintained school
 
The sessions will explore:

·        what you can expect (the positives including examples of real-life challenges)

·        top tips and the support available to you

·        how to make an impact quickly (the type of school/trust you’d like it to be and how to support achieving its vision)

 
You can book your place by visiting our events page. 
 
Existing NGA members can upgrade to GOLD membership to access these sessions.

Updated Ofsted e-learning module

NGA’s Learning Link modules on Ofsted and inspection practice have been updated in line with the changes made to the inspection handbooks this term. Key updates include changes to the names of inspection types, whereby inspections are now known as graded and ungraded inspections and no formal designation inspections are called urgent inspections. As the period for transitional arrangements ends, Ofsted has introduced a new grade descriptor which recognises that schools may be taking longer term approaches to returning pupils to the intended curriculum.

To find out more about what to expect from Ofsted inspections this year, you can watch NGA’s webinar exploring the role of governance during inspections, read our updated guidance on the Knowledge Centre or listen to our podcast on our recent findings from Ofsted inspection.

Join us at one of our autumn term events

We have a host of events this term to support your governance practice, shape your thinking and keep you informed of all of the key issues in school and trust governance.

Whatever your role, there is an event for you this term, whether it is joining one of our hugely popular webinars or spending the day with us at the Annual Conference and AGM in November we have an event for you.

Autumn term schedule

Visit the events or webinars page to find out more and book your place. 

NGA publishes latest report – School and trust governance: The priorities and challenges facing our

NGA’s third report presenting the findings of the annual governance survey, the biggest of its kind, was published today revealing balancing the budget as the biggest challenge schools and trusts are currently facing.

The research also found that 95% of schools/trusts are offering pupils and their families additional services, this includes 21% of respondents offering or signposting to a foodbank, up from 8% in 2019. 37% of respondents also said that they offer meals outside of term time up from 4% in 2019.

The findings also highlight the challenges schools and trusts are facing in the recruitment of teachers and support staff with the highest number of respondents expressing difficulty in recruiting to teaching posts since 2016.

Read the report to find out the latest findings and NGA’s comments.

New: Governing Matters out now

The latest edition of Governing Matters is available to read online now. Our latest issue includes updates on keeping children safe in education, suspensions and exclusions as well as diversifying governing boards and the teachers pay update.

We also hear from David Brown, chief executive of Eynsham Partnership Academy, as he discusses the relationship between local governors and MATs and the importance of celebrating the local tier.

Download your copy now

Energy bills support for schools

Guidance setting out how the energy bill relief scheme will work for non-domestic customers, including schools and colleges, was published this week by the government.

Under the scheme the price of electricity and gas will be capped for six months from 1 October 2022 and 31 March 2023. While the energy cap will be welcomed by the sector, many schools will still face higher bills than they budgeted for. 

NGA welcomes the publication of this guidance and any support offered to relieve the financial pressures that schools and trusts are under. However, we are concerned that limiting the scheme to six months provides only a temporary respite and creates challenges for governing boards when planning their budget and deciding how it should be spent.      

We will therefore continue to lobby the government to provide long term support and investment in our schools.

Help support our lobbying by sharing the challenges your school or trusts are currently facing managing cost pressures.  Email schoolfunding@nga.org.uk

Children’s wellbeing continues to decline, according to new Good Childhood report

Children’s wellbeing continues to decline, according to the Children’s Society’s Good Childhood report 2022, published yesterday. 1 in 16 children aged 10-15 are unhappy with their lives and almost 1 in 8 (12%) are unhappy with school.

The annual report tracks the wellbeing of children in the UK, and this year explored children’s experiences of school, continued impacts of the pandemic and current cost of living on children and their families. It found 85% of parents and carers are concerned about how the cost of living crisis will affect their family, with a third already struggling with the cost of school trips and purchasing uniform.

Hear more of the findings and recommendations from the Good Childhood report at NGA’s Annual Conference, where we’ll be joined by The Children’s Society’s chief executive Mark Russell. Book your place.

Government exploring plan for new grammar schools

The possibility of opening new grammar schools is being explored by the government, with “parental choice” given as a key driver. In an interview with the Yorkshire Post, new Education Secretary, Kit Malthouse revealed that he would be “looking at the policy seriously” and looking at “areas that want to have it”. However, there was no confirmation that the ban on opening new grammar schools that was introduced in 1998 would be lifted.

Meanwhile, any potential overturning of the ban has come under sharp criticism from some corners of the sector who have said instead time needs to be spent on the issues impacting the sector such as funding and the recruitment of teachers. Speaking to Schools Week, Professor Becky Francis, the chief executive of the Education Endowment Foundation also pointed to the issue of new grammar schools potentially widening inequality in the school system, saying it is  “pretty clear” that grammar school expansion was “unlikely to reduce education inequality”.

The Chair's Handbook: New edition available to order

The 9th edition of our best selling guide The Chair’s Handbook is now available to order. Building on NGA’s vast experience of working with many governing boards of both academy trusts and local authority maintained schools, along with our research, we have produced an invaluable guide to performing the role of chair effectively. The latest edition explores how you can lead and develop your board, work successfully with your senior leadership team and lead school improvement. 
 
NGA members - chairs of trust boards, and chairs of GOLD governing boards/GOLD academy boards will receive a complimentary copy as part of your membership and do not need to place an order. Please ensure that your role and contact details are up to date in your NGA membership account so that we can send you your copy.
 
Order your copy now

New guidance on board’s role in pay

As the academic year gets underway, school and trust staff will be reaching the end of their appraisal cycles. This will require senior staff and those governing to make pay decisions for the staff they are managing. In the present climate of the cost of living crisis, there is particular attention on the pay of school and trust staff, so those governing need to be aware of their responsibilities and to what extent they can show discretion.

With this in mind, NGA have published new guidance on the board’s role in pay. Given the distinct legal and organisational contexts, we have produced separate guidance for maintained schools and trusts. This guidance complements our existing resources on senior leader appraisal, and executive pay in trusts, where boards have a central role.

Learning Link modules for governance professionals

NGA’s suite of Learning Link modules for governance professionals are not just for those new to clerking but are a helpful refresher and can be used to ensure consistency of approach across an organisation.

The Introduction to clerking suite of modules give a reminder on best practice and the panel modules are invaluable if you find yourself facing the need to form and clerk a panel – even if you have previous experience. You can also access the modules available to governors and trustees which will deepen your governance knowledge and enable you to better support your board.

If you don’t already have Learning Link membership, why not try the free trial of ‘How to: run an effective HR review panel’ and ‘What does the governance professional do’.

Welcome to Governance LIVE – new dates available

Free virtual sessions aimed at new governors and trustees are now open for bookings. The Welcome to Governance LIVE sessions are exclusively available to those with NGA GOLD or MAT trustee membership and will support you in making an impact in your first six months.

Autumn dates:
Tuesday 4 October, 4-5.15pm - for new trustees of a SAT
Wednesday 5 October, 4-5.15pm - for new governors of a local academy committee within a MAT
Tuesday 11 October, 4-5.15pm - for new trustees of a MAT
Thursday 13 October, 4-5.15pm - for new governors in maintained school

The sessions will explore:

·        what you can expect (the positives including examples of real-life challenges)

·        top tips and the support available to you

·        how to make an impact quickly (the type of school/trust you’d like it to be and how to support achieving its vision)

You can book your place by visiting our events page.
 
Existing NGA members can upgrade to GOLD membership to access these sessions.

New research and resources: Governance volunteers and practice

The second report outlining the findings of NGA’s annual governance survey was published today. ‘Governance volunteers and board practice’ explores the characteristics of governors and trustees, their experiences of governing in practice and stakeholder engagement. The report also explores the challenges that governing boards have in recruiting to the board and the manageability of the role of volunteers.

Findings reveal that in addition to governing boards vacancies being at their highest level since 2015, the diversity of boards is not improving. The percentage of respondents under 40 years old has halved over the past five years to 6%, and those under the age of 30 remains at 1%. Only 4% of chairs are from an ethnic minority background, compared with an estimated 16% of the UK adult population belonging to a minority ethnicity.

Building on NGA’s e-learning module, 'Equality and Diversity: A Practical Guide for Governors', NGA has partnered with the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) to develop a suite of e-learning modules focusing on going beyond compliance to create an inclusive culture.

This week we have published the second module in the series, which aims to give users the knowledge, understanding and practical tools needed to cultivate an inclusive school/trust culture where everyone can thrive. Both modules are available to all Learning Link subscribers and freely available to those who sign up for a free trial of Learning Link.

NGAs upcoming Governance leadership forums will continue to examine the challenges of recruiting and retaining volunteers on the board, including the impact of the time commitment and responsibility required. Emma Knights, NGA’s chief executive, will be joined by a panel of experienced chairs of governing boards to discuss the issues, and hear what you our members have to say on the topic.

Book your place on the NGA events page.

Finding your next chair

The chair’s leadership helps to achieve successful teamwork and a competent board. Succession planning for governing boards is about ensuring continuity of leadership by having the right people in the right place at the right time. This means recruiting new board members and encouraging learning and development.

NGA has collaborated with Inspiring Governance and Governors for Schools to produce a guide to finding your next chair. The guide aims to help governing boards in schools and trusts make succession planning part of their long term practice. It sets out activities and conversations that governors and trustees can engage in to maintain strong leadership and, therefore, effective governance.

New Education Minister appointed

Jonathan Gullis has been appointed as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Education continuing the flurry of recent appointments under the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss. Gullis inherits the role from Brendan Clarke-Smith and formerly worked as a teacher and served as member of the education select committee. Gullis has also campaigned for the re-introduction of grammar schools.

New webinar: The governance of Safeguarding

Join NGA’s Steve Edmonds and Rani Kaur for our latest webinar on Wednesday 19 October, 1-1:45pm as they provide an overview of the safeguarding responsibilities of governing boards.

Steve and Rani will be discussing how governance ensures schools and trusts create a safe environment for children and young people as well as the recent changes to the statutory guidance, Keeping children safe in education that all boards should be aware of.

Book your place now.

Governing Chatters: 2022 -The challenges ahead

As we start a new academic year, Emma Knights, Sam Henson and Steve Edmonds discuss the challenges schools are facing in our latest podcast episode.

With a new Prime Minister and Secretary of State we explore what is sitting in the in-tray for the new ministerial team at the Department for Education (DfE), particularly the financial challenges schools are dealing with. We also explore the findings from NGA’s annual governance survey and outline what that means for MATs and explore the issues boards are facing recruiting volunteers. 

You can listen to the latest episode of Governing Chatters here or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

New Secretary of State for Education appointed

Kit Malthouse has been announced as the new Secretary of State for Education this week following a cabinet reshuffle by the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss. Malthouse inherits the role from James Cleverly and formerly served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Other appointments include Kelly Tolhurst who takes over from Will Quince as an Education Minister.

Our chief executive, Emma Knights, has written to Mr Malthouse welcoming him to the role and expressing desire for action on the financial crisis facing schools and trusts.

Energy price cap announced for schools

The government has announced that prices of gas and electricity will be capped for the public sector for six months from October. NGA welcomes the announcement which will provide some reassurance to governing boards throughout the country who are struggling to balance their budgets in the face of significant cost pressures and unfunded national pay awards for their staff.
 
However, the cost pressures remain and are creating serious challenges to long-term financial sustainability for schools and trusts, compounded by the fact that the funding for schools per-pupil remains below the level it was in 2010. Visit NGA’s news page to read our full response. 
 
Email us at schoolfunding@nga.org.uk to share the challenges you are currently facing in managing cost pressures and steering your schools and trusts clear of long term deficits.

Annual governance survey findings published: Governing in a multi academy trust

The first report outlining the findings of NGA’s annual governance survey was published today. ‘Governing in a multi academy trust’ explores the views, experiences, and practice of those governing within a MAT both at board level and local academy committee level.

Findings show a continuing positive relationship and purpose between the two tiers of governance, with 90% of respondents agreeing that their trust board is committed to ongoing local governance arrangements. Looking to the future, the school’s white paper, Opportunity for all, is influencing growth decisions with over half of respondents (55%) listing reasons related to this as one of their motivations for future MAT growth.

Read the report to find out the latest findings and NGA’s comments.

DfE funding announcement

The DfE has announced £200 million of funding to address the disadvantage gap. It forms part of the £5 billion recovery plan announced by the government in 2021 and will be used to fund evidence based programmes developed by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), increased access to literacy and numeracy programmes and early years interventions.
 
The funding announcement is followed by the publication of the latest key stage 2 data indicating that disruption to learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has had a greater impact on disadvantaged pupils with the disadvantage gap index is at its highest level since 2012.

Oak National Academy established as independent curriculum resource provider

The online classroom and resource hub, Oak National Academy is set to receive £43 million in government funding over the next three years. The announcement follows its relaunch this week as a new independent arms length body who aim to “strive for greater access to a high-quality curriculum in order to improve pupil outcomes and close the disadvantage gap.”

Oak National Academy will work with schools, publishers and other organisations for the “creation of resources” that align with the national curriculum.

Boards may wish to communicate this opportunity to schools as part of their commitment to curriculum support and development.

New guidance explains governing board’s role in procurement

Procurement in schools and trusts is the process of identifying and purchasing the goods or services needed to meet the organisation’s objectives. Governing boards have strategic oversight of procurement, which includes approving certain purchases, ensuring that processes are followed and those conducting procurement tasks have the right skills and knowledge.

Our new procurement guidance will help boards, and in particular finance and resource committees, to ensure that every purchase secures good value for money and follows a fair process.

Performance management guidance

As many boards will currently be appointing their headteacher/CEO appraisal panels, NGA have a range of resources available to support the process.

Most boards recognise that appraisal takes place throughout the year and serves not only as a mechanism for accountability but also as an opportunity to provide support and encourage development. Appraisal conversations are an opportunity for leaders to identify and access the CPD and learning they need to build their capacity and expertise. Also, how this should be prioritised alongside achieving a work-life balance, good physical and mental health, and emotional wellbeing. For those governing it is an opportunity to highlight wider support, such as the school leaders wellbeing support programme, which is fully funded by the DfE.

Join us this autumn

We have a fantastic autumn events schedule for you this term, starting with our webinar on recruiting and retaining governors and trustees. Join NGA’s Emma Knights and Steve Edmonds as they explore why good governance requires diverse governing boards and ways in which to induct, involve and engage volunteers.

We also have a range of forums, network events, conferences, and webinars to keep you up to date with the latest information, advice and guidance.

 
Book your place now

Governance experts needed!

NGA is recruiting consultants
NGA is the leading nationwide provider of governance development and support. We owe much of our success to the professional expertise and dedication of our team of consultants.

Due to increased demand for our quality assured external reviews of governance, training and development programmes and workshops, and other bespoke support for those governing trusts and schools, we are growing our team.

We are looking for governance consultants committed to helping others to improve governance who have experience of multi-academy trust governance and are also able to confidently deliver training, both face to face and virtually.

Visit the NGA website where you will find the role description and details of how to apply. 

NGA would like your feedback on our website!

We would really like to get your feedback on your experiences accessing NGA’s website. Please take a few minutes to share your opinions, which are essential in helping us provide the best online experience possible. Complete the survey. 

This term’s essential Knowledge Centre resources

In last week’s newsletter, we shared our blog which set out changes to key areas of governing board responsibility. At this time of year, you’ll also be planning a number of routine board tasks. Explore our essential resources to support you in the months ahead:

·        Our 2022 skills audit includes improvements to format and ease of use.

·        Use our governing board diversity indicators form to gather diversity data on your board’s membership as a basis for discussion and action.

·        Use and adapt our 2022 model code of conduct – now available as 2 separate versions; for maintained schools and academy trusts.

·        Our policy review schedule and annual governance planner can help you to construct meeting agendas in partnership with your executive leader.

Welcome to the new school year

Over the summer NGA staff have reviewed and updated our key guidance, and despite the changes in Department for Education (DfE) ministers, we have also been kept busy liaising with the DfE about the proposed reforms to the schools system instigated by March’s white paper. A series of discussions have covered the range of proposed changes to the regulation of academy trusts and the ways in which the strategic governance of trusts will be judged. To ensure we reflect the views of trusts, we are asking MAT trustees to complete our survey on the proposed reforms. Thank you to the many who have already participated, your insights are invaluable.
 
At the end of last term I wrote to DfE ministers about the affordability of welcome pay rises, but since then other costs pressures have been increasing, including soaring energy bills. You and your school and trust leaders are no doubt currently reviewing budgets. We are also working collaboratively with National Association for Headteachers (NAHT) and the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL).
 
NGA will do all we can to ensure that the pressure on school budgets is acknowledged by the new education secretary and chancellor and that financial support is provided as a matter of urgency.  We must make the best use of the evidence and case studies in our lobbying efforts. Therefore please use schoolfunding@nga.org.uk to share the challenges you are currently facing in managing cost pressures and steering your schools and trusts clear of long-term deficits.

We know for some this might include redundancies, a reduction of the offer to pupils and less expenditure on buildings – illustration of these are very useful, not just for us but also for MPs.  Please consider enlisting the support of your MP, and if you do write to them, we would appreciate a copy of that letter. Together we successfully lobbied for an increase in funding with the then new Prime Minister in 2019 and we need to repeat that endeavour now.

Closer to home, I would like to invite members in the North East and Yorkshire and Humber to consider to put themselves forward for NGA’s board of trustees or nominate colleagues. I do not need to tell you what an important role our board plays in holding me to account ensuring NGA continues to be the growing successful organisation it is. Successful candidates will be announced at our AGM in Birmingham on 12 November.

Members are able to book a free place for the Annual Conference on that day, at which our key note speaker will be Mark Russell, Chief Executive of the Children’s Society who will be speaking about the Good Childhood Report. As our only in-person event of 2022, I am looking forward to seeing many of you there
 
Emma Knights, chief executive, NGA

Fears grow of a school funding crisis

The impact of rising cost pressures on school budgets is now being extensively reported. A survey of school and trust leaders carried out by TES indicates that 77% are considering restricting heating in their schools in order to cover costs.  

While the DfE recognise the high degree of variability on individual budgets, they say the current funding settlement means that schools can broadly afford to deal with cost pressures in 2022/23 – a conclusion NGA and many others across the sector firmly disagree with.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies say that costs look “just about affordable” before budgets reduce in real terms the following year. However, the changing economic landscape casts doubt on their underlying assumptions and the government has acknowledged that it is no longer on track to restore funding real terms per pupil funding to 2010 by 2024-25.

New requirements for governing boards explained

Important changes across key areas of governing board responsibility take effect this week. Read our blog for a summary of what you need to know and to find relevant NGA resources. Changes impacting governors and trustees include:

• The latest version of statutory safeguarding guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education sets out new training requirements for governing boards.
• New Working together to improve school attendance guidance from the DfE makes clear that all schools should have an attendance policy. It also details expectations for boards to review attendance data and evaluate the impact of attendance efforts.
• New DfE Behaviour in schools advice describes what effective behaviour management looks like and what must be included in a school behaviour policy.
• Updated DfE statutory suspension and exclusion guidance covers new requirements relating to who headteachers must notify when making the decision to suspend or permanently exclude a pupil and the expectations around withdrawing such decisions.

Staff pay update

In July, the government announced that it had accepted the recommendations of the School Teacher Review Body (STRB) that teacher starting salaries increase by 8.9% from September alongside a salary increase of 5% for more experienced teachers and leaders (on the upper and leadership pay scales).

The salaries of school support staff are negotiated via the National Joint Council for Local Government Services.  The offer of a flat increase of £1,925, worth between 4% and 11% depending on staff pay, has been put to unions.  If it is accepted then it would be binding on maintained school staff, and many academy trusts would be likely to mirror the award.

The government is currently consulting on a revised School Teachers Pay and Conditions document (STPCD). Governing bodies in maintained schools have ultimate responsibility for pay decisions, and must comply with the STPCD.  Academies do not have to comply with the STPCD however it remains relevant as a starting point for pay decisions, as many of their employees may have worked in a maintained school prior to conversion, and so carried over their pay and conditions.  

Teachers witness increasing anxiety and depressive symptoms among pupils

82% of secondary school teachers have seen increasing levels of anxiety or symptoms of depression among pupils during the last school year, according to new findings published by the Early Intervention Foundation.

The survey of over 4,000 teachers and leaders also found that the proportion of secondary school teachers and leaders receiving mental health training has risen by 6 percent this year to 41%. Teachers in schools with lower Ofsted ratings were significantly less likely to have received training.

In July, former children’s commissioner for England Anne Longfield published a report in collaboration with the Centre for Mental Health warning that children’s mental health services are “buckling under pressure”, with more young people at risk of exclusion, exploitation and offending due to the lack of support available. The report recommends immediate investment in wellbeing recover programmes, mental health hubs and training for all professionals working with children and young people.

Academy Trust Update

Over the summer, the Department for Education published the delayed revision of the Academy Trust Handbook which applies from 1 September. Due to the current government upheaval, the vast majority of anticipated changes were removed at the last minute, so the Handbook looks very similar to the 2021 version. The amendments which have been made are explained here.

ESFA’s weekly updates continue to provide useful information for trusts. Those trusts who are members of the risk protection arrangement are reminded of the conditions for cyber cover, including training requirements for those trustees with particular IT access. We have published an information sheet on the board’s role in cyber security.

NGA comments on A level, GCSE and vocational results

Thousands of students received GCSE, AS level, A level and vocational results last month. As part of a transition towards normality following the pandemic, adaptations were put in place to support students,  grades being more leniently awarded compared to 2019 but lower than results in 2021.

27% of entries achieved a grade 7 and above, up by 5.2 percentage points compared to 2019, but 3 percentage points lower than 2021. Overall A level results are higher than 2019. 35.9% of students received a grade A, compared with 25.2% in 2019 and a record 425,830 students are due to take a place at university.

Disparities among these results highlight the ongoing effect of the pandemic on results and learning outcomes in different schools up and down the country and NGA would therefore urge caution in how results are interpreted.

Read NGA’s full comments to AS levels, A levels, GCSEs and vocational qualification results on our news page.

Updated NGA Ofsted guidance

As schools enter into a new academic year, Ofsted has updated their handbook as a standard practice procedure which takes effect from September 2022. NGA has updated its guidance on Ofsted inspections to mirror these changes which you can find on the NGA Knowledge Centre.

Key updates include changes to the names of inspection types, whereby inspections are now known as graded and ungraded inspections and no formal designation inspections are called urgent inspections. As the period for transitional arrangements ends, Ofsted has introduced a new grade descriptor which recognises that schools may be taking longer term approaches to returning pupils to the intended curriculum.

To find out more about what to expect from Ofsted inspections this year, you can watch NGA’s webinar exploring the role of governance during inspections.

Join NGA’s board of trustees – nominations sought in North East and Yorkshire & Humber

NGA is looking for members based in the North East and Yorkshire & Humber to put themselves forward for election to our board of trustees. Eligible members are those whose school or trust (or home address for individual members only) is in those regions.
                                                                
Our trustees are school governors, academy trustees and governance professionals from across England. They are ultimately responsible for directing the affairs of NGA, and ensuring that it is solvent, well-run and delivering the charitable objective to improve the educational welfare of pupils by promoting high standards and improving governance in state schools.
 
We are particularly encouraging women to come forward as they are currently under-represented on NGA’s board but also younger and black, Asian and minority ethnic nominees.
 
For more information about the role and application process visit the board web page. In addition, you may wish to join us for a pre-application remote information session taking place on Wednesday 28 September 2022 at 6pm. To stand for election, please complete and submit a nomination form by no later than 12 noon on 3 October 2022.

NGA would like your feedback on our website!

We would really like to get your feedback on your experiences on NGA’s website. Please take a few minutes to share your opinions, which are essential in helping us provide the best online
experience possible https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/NGA-website

Sign up now! NGA’s Leading Governance development courses

This development for chairs programme is designed for both trustees and governors who currently chair, and those aspiring to become a chair, and will support the development of leadership skills.

Trustees: Start date - 13 September 2022 
LA Maintained and LGBs: Start date – 26 October 2022
Cost: £249 per participant.
 
The Level 3 Certificate in the clerking of school and academy governing boards programme is designed for governance professionals and clerks with at least three months experience, currently working in any school or trust setting. An accredited programme, it develops the knowledge and skills needed for high-quality clerking through virtual face-to-face workshops, one-to-one mentoring, and independent learning.
Cost: £480 per participant.

*The full cost of this programme will be at a discounted rate of £449 per participant for bookings before 31 December 2022.

To find out more about either of these programmes, call us on 0121 237 3780 dial option 5, email us at leading.governance@nga.org.uk, or visit our website.

What we learnt from you this year

As another challenging year comes to an end, NGA would like to say a massive thank you to all of those that dedicate their time to school governance for the valued time and effort that you commit to your role to ensure that children and young people receive the best possible education.

We know that NGA members look to us for essential governance knowledge and support, but we don’t often talk about how much we learn from you (and we’ve learnt a lot this academic year).

Talking directly to members through our events, forums, networks, and taking note of the resources you use most shapes the work we do and helps us to represent your voices and drive positive change in the sector.

Read our end of term blog where we reflect on the topics NGA members have been engaging with most this year.

Visible Governance – New film highlights the role of governors and trustees

NGA has launched a new animated film as part of our ongoing Visible Governance campaign. The film is a way for governors and trustees to highlight what they do and the difference they make, as well as for use in recruiting volunteers to join their board.
Please share the film to: 

·        shine a light on what you do as a governance volunteer

·        share what your governing board does to support your school or trust with parents, pupils and staff 

·        Recruit new governance volunteers 

The film has also been designed to encourage more people to volunteer as a member of a school or trust board. Recently published findings from our 2022 survey show 67% of governing boards report at least one vacancy and vacancies are at their highest since 2022.

Please share the film on your personal social media networks, and your school or trust’s social media and website. Head to the NGA website for more information on how you can help us make governance visible.

System reforms continue

This week saw the government’s Schools Bill reach the report stage in the House of Lords. Despite the recent political upheaval, and the significant amendments to the Bill, the government have restated their commitment to passing the Bill.

Some elements of the Bill have been put on hold pending the outcome of the department’s regulatory review. NGA was pleased to be joined by Department for Education (DfE) representatives at Monday’s MAT Network, who listened to delegate perspectives on issues raised by the review. The department were grateful for the varied and forthright opinions expressed.

Issues being discussed by the regulatory review include:

·        Defining and measuring a “strong” trust

·        Minimum trust standards

·        Regulating trusts, including when intervention is appropriate, and the possibility of trust-level inspection

·        The department’s approach to establishing and growing trusts

If you would like to be involved in possible governance focus groups or want to share any thoughts on these issues, please contact Michael at michael.barton@nga.org.uk.

Ofsted update school inspection handbooks

Ofsted has reviewed and updated its inspection framework and school inspection handbooks to take account of the pandemic, curriculum transition arrangements and general understanding of inspections.
 
The changes which will take effect from September include the renaming of section 5 inspections which will be known as a ‘graded inspections’ and section 8 inspections which have been changed to ‘ungraded inspections’. These updates come as Ofsted also publish their corporate annual report and accounts.
 
A new grade descriptor has been embedded into the quality of education judgement to recognise that amendments to elements of the curriculum will be ongoing to suit the needs of pupils following the pandemic .
 
Watch NGA’s latest webinar on Ofsted and the role of governance during inspections.

More schools to benefit from the DfE’s Rebuilding Programme

The government has announced a further 61 schools are to receive funding to rebuild or refurbish their estates through the School Rebuilding Programme. Backed by £1 billion of funding, schools in the North West, North East and Yorkshire and the Humber have been selected including primaries, secondaries and special schools. New buildings will be net zero in operation with Education Secretary, James Cleverly, stating that this means they will be “fit for the future”.

To date, under the Conservative government, around 500 schools have benefitted from the programme. Going forward the department say that more schools will be identified to allow staff and pupils access to top facilities helping to achieve the aims for education outlined in the recent Schools white paper.

Autumn events

Our first events of the Autumn term are open for bookings. Our Governance Leadership forums will examine the challenges of recruiting and retaining volunteers on the board, including the impact of the time commitment and responsibility required.
 
Potential volunteers need to fully understand the role they are applying for, but is this an increasingly unrealistic ask for many?  Are we losing great candidates for chairing because of the expectations? We will be exploring solutions to this conundrum and listening to your experiences.
 
MAT Governance Leadership Forum – Thursday 29 September 4:30-6:00pm
Local Academy Committee Governance Leadership Forum – Thursday 6 October 4:30-6:00pm
SAT Governance Leadership Forum –  Tuesday 11 October 4:30-6:00pm
LA Maintained Governance Leadership Forum – Tuesday 13 October 4:30-6:00pm
 
You can book your place on the events page.
 
Save the date 
Our Annual Conference and AGM will be taking place on Saturday 12 November at Eastside Rooms, Woodcock St, Birmingham B7 4BL. Further information on the programme will be released in the Autumn term.

Ofqual reveal findings of their latest surveys on pupils and teachers

The teacher assessed grade (TAG) process implemented after exams were cancelled in 2021 were time consuming, stressful and exhausting according to the latest Ofqual research.

The report highlights the experiences of 1,785 teachers and 550 pupils throughout the process, with many teachers stating they felt pressure from senior leaders or parents. The findings indicated that there were inconsistencies between subjects and individual teachers with 45% reporting that they encountered issues. Pupils reported that they felt ‘anxious’, ‘stressed’ and ‘uncertain’ during the process and only 42% of secondary school pupils felt prepared for their future.

The report comes as the Chair of the Education Committee, Robert Halfon wrote to the Education Secretary, James Cleverley urging fines to be issued to exam boards following multiple errors in exam papers this year. In his letter, Mr Halfon described these errors as “negligent” and urged Ofqual to implement recommendations such as levying penalties on exam boards proportionate to the scale of the errors.

NGA is recruiting!

NGA is looking for several ambitious individuals to join the team. It is an exciting time to join NGA as we see governance continuing to rise on the political and school improvement agendas, providing us with more opportunities to deliver our charitable objectives. The roles include:
 

·        Information officer

·        Project officer and personal assistant to the chief executive

·        E-learning developer

·        Finance officer

·        HR manager

 
The roles are engaging and challenging and will offer candidates various opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge. Other benefits include flexible working, CPD budget, and a 7% employer pension contribution.
 
For more information about the roles and to apply please visit our website.

NLG recruitment extended to 22 July

We have extended the recruitment window for new National Leaders of Governance (NLG) applications. This is a targeted recruitment round. NGA is specifically looking to increase our NLG capacity in three key geographical regions, the South West, North East and North West of England.  Applications close on 9:00am on Friday 22 July.  
 
NGA would be delighted to consider applications from those who have a track record in improving governance and meet the DfE set criteria. We particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian and other minority ethnic backgrounds and from candidates with experience of governance in schools and academies with religious character, including non-Christian faiths. Please visit our website for more details on how to apply. We encourage applications but can only consider candidates who meet the DfE criteria which is set out in our recruitment information, so please read these carefully before applying.  

New webinar open for bookings

Recruiting and retaining governors and trustees: An increasing challenge for governing boards
Friday 16 September, 12.30-1.10pm

In our first webinar of the Autumn term NGA’s Chief Executive, Emma Knights will explore:

·        the scale and nature of the recruitment challenge using data from the 2022 Annual Governance Survey

·        why good governance requires diverse governing boards, and how to achieve this

·        recruiting the right people round the table: promoting your vacancy, targeting under-represented groups and interviewing candidates

·        inducting governors and trustees: NGA’s step by step guide

·        involving and engaging volunteers

Emma will be joined by Steve Edmonds, NGA Director of Advice and Guidance, to introduce NGA’s updated guidance on succession planning for chairs and vice chairs.
Book your place

If you missed our final webinar of this term, you can watch Sam Henson and Nina Sharma update you on Ofsted: inspection and governance, watch it here.

Cabinet reshuffle - new Secretary of State appointed

Following the resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, James Cleverly has been appointed as Secretary of State for Education. Cleverly formerly served as Minister of State (Minister for Middle East, North Africa and North America).

The new appointment follows several resignations within the Department for Education (DfE) this week including Robin Walker who served as Schools Minister, Will Quince who served as Children’s Minister and most recently Michelle Donelan who was briefly the Secretary of State for Education. Former Secretary of State Nadhim Zahawi has been appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Key stage 1 and 2 results show a drop in pupils meeting expected standards

Latest key stage 2 SAT results show a fall in attainment from pre- COVID-19 results. Overall, the proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard in all three areas of reading, writing and maths at age 11 was 59% this year - far below the 2019 figure of 65%. Among all subjects, the largest fall in attainment was in writing by 9 percentage points, followed by maths, grammar, punctuation, spelling and science.
 
These results further evidence the impact that COVID-19 has had on learning and attainment and shows a widened gap in the government’s ambition for 90% of primary school children to achieve the expected standard in Key Stage 2 reading, writing and maths by 2030 as set out in the schools white paper.
 
Research from the FFT education datalab projects similar findings at key stage 1 whereby fewer pupils have reached expected standards this year, particularly in writing. NGA’s joint guidance with the National Association for Head teachers (NAHT) and the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) counsels against governors and trustees using 2022 performance data as the basis for performance management or decisions about pay progression for school and college leaders.

New: NGA governing board diversity indicators form

Increasing the diversity of governing boards is a long-standing priority for NGA – we have published research that looks at how boards and the organisations that support them can increase the participation of underrepresented groups in school and trust governance.
 
Our members tell us that they are having conversations about the diversity of their board but would like practical tools to support this discussion. We’ve worked collaboratively with members to develop our diversity indicators form, published this week. The form can be adapted and used by governing boards in all types of school structure to gather diversity data on their membership and use this as a basis for discussion and action. Read our blog to find out more about the form and how it was created.

Updated NGA skills audit available now

NGA's skills audit helps governing boards to identify where they need to develop knowledge, skills and behaviour to deliver their functions effectively. Our updated skills audit builds on the changes made last year: concise scoring guidance helps governors and trustees to provide accurate and consistent scores. While the content of the audit remains largely unchanged, you’ll notice further improvements to format and ease of use.

Visit the Knowledge Centre to download the skills audit and collate your scores using our skills dashboard. You can also watch our video tutorial to learn how to complete the process and start to build your board’s development plan.

Your views requested: support with school food

High quality school meals are under threat due to a combination of rising food costs, supply chain issues and a lack of government funding, according to a recent survey carried out by LACA, the school food people.

The school food association for England and Wales whose members provide 80% of the school catering service in England and Wales, reported cost increases of between 20 to 30% for many products, with prices often fluctuating weekly. Measures such as caterers switching to cheaper, imported meats are compromising schools’ ability to meet the school food standards. The government said it was watching the issue of funding for free school meals "very closely" as costs rise.

The report comes as the DfE seek the views of governors and trustees who have a role in the oversight of school food in their school(s). This includes the current guidance available to you and what can be done by the DfE to better support you.

The survey will take no longer than 10 minutes to complete and closes on 17 July. Complete the survey.

Final call to join the MAT Governance Network

The final MAT Governance Network of this academic year is fast approaching but there is still time to join us on Monday 11 July 2022, 4 - 6.00pm The network is your chance to share your thoughts, ideas and challenges with your peers.

We will be focussing on the government white paper and what promises to be a lively conversation. We will also be discussing executive pay and looking for your feedback and thoughts on how NGA can support MATs in the coming months.
Book your place.

The DfE publish updated National Tutoring Programme guidance for 2022-23

New guidance providing information about the National Tutoring programme (NTP) for the 2022-23 academic year has been published by the DfE. NTP provides subsidised tutoring to help pupils catch up on missed learning.

Plans to simplify the programme that aims to support pupils catch up on missed learning, were announced on 31 March 2022. The plans include £349 million of funding issued directly to schools, giving them the freedom to decide how best to provide tutoring for their pupils.

Graduate vacancies now live!

NGA is recruiting three new graduates to join the team. It is an exciting time to join NGA as we see governance continuing to rise on the political and school improvement agendas, providing us with more opportunities to deliver our charitable objectives. Paying £21,000 per annum, the roles include:

·        Information officer

·        Project officer and personal assistant to the chief executive

·        E-learning developer

The roles are engaging and challenging and will offer candidates various opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge. Other benefits include flexible working, CPD budget, and a 7% employer pension contribution. Previous post holders still with NGA include our Head of Advice and several Senior Officers. Others have gone on to careers in the legal sector, PR, research, business development and as governance professionals in other sectors.
 
For more information about these roles or our other vacancies of finance officer and HR manager please visit our website.

Sign up now! Spaces available on NGA’s Leading Governance development courses

NGA’s Leading Governance development programmes will equip chairs or clerks to lead and support their governing board in having an impact on school improvement.

The Development for chairs programme is designed for both trustees and governors who currently chair, and those aspiring to become a chair, and will support the development of leadership skills.

Trustees: Start date - 13 September 2022.
 LA Maintained and LGBs: Start date – 9 January 2023
Cost: *£249 per participant.
*From January 2023 the fee will be £270 per participant.

The Level 3 Certificate in the clerking of school and academy governing boards programme is designed for governance professionals and clerks with at least three months experience, currently working in any school or trust setting. An accredited programme, it develops the knowledge and skills needed for high-quality clerking through virtual face-to-face workshops, one-to-one mentoring, and independent learning.
Cost: £449 per participant.

To find out more about either of these programmes, call us on 0121 237 3780 dial option 5, email us at leading.governance@nga.org.uk, or visit our website.

Government launches Regulatory Review

The government has launched the regulatory review promised in March’s schools white paper. The review is intended to ensure that an effective system of regulation and accountability exists for a trust-led schools system.

Questions under consideration include the standards which trusts will be required to meet, and how intervention in trusts will work in the situations where these standards are not met. The review will also consider the Department for Education's (DfE) approach to delivering the envisaged trust-led system, both how to support the growth of existing strong trusts, and how and when to commission new MATs.

The review has been tasked with providing recommendations for both the short and long term, and will conclude by the end of 2022. The DfE have taken the opportunity to again reassure trusts that the new Schools Bill, which the review complements, will not materially change academy trust standards “in the first instance”.

If members have thoughts on this issue, please email Michael Barton at michael.barton@nga.org.uk. We are particularly keen to hear individuals’ recent experiences of working with their regional director to form a new MAT, grow an existing trust, or resolve a Notice to Improve.

Consultation findings on supporting schools not making necessary improvements

Earlier this year the government proposed to make all schools with two consecutive Ofsted judgments of below ‘Good’ eligible for intervention. The government has now published the findings that came through prominently in the consultation responses. Headline findings include:

• most parties are supportive of the idea that schools not making necessary improvements should be better supported to do so
• a schools specific context needs to be considered before intervention decisions are made
• two consecutive below ‘Good’ judgements is not the correct measure – some schools need more time to be turned around than others
• a school on an upward trajectory and making improvements but with two Ofsted judgements of less than Good should not be in scope, especially if there is confidence that the right leadership is in place.

The Secretary of State’s right to intervene in schools is set out in the Coasting Regulations (England), which will be laid before Parliament on 30 June 2022. Providing that this measure becomes law, it will come into effect on 1 September 2022 and will be accompanied with supporting guidance.

DfE figures reveal increase in EHC plans

DfE figures show that there were 473,300 children and young people with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans as of January 2022 - a 10% increase from January 2021. Despite a requirement for EHC plans to be issued within 20 weeks (subject to certain exceptions), figures show that only 59.9% were issued within this time limit.

The Local Government Association (LGA) is calling for improved inclusion of pupils with SEND within mainstream settings, including incentives for mainstream schools to take in more children with SEND, as well as powers for LAs to hold schools to account for the support they provide. Councillor Anntoinette Bramble, Chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, urged the Government to eliminate councils’ high needs deficits to help relieve the strain on councils’ budgets and enable them to better support children with SEND.

The consultation on the SEND review closes on 22 July 2022. NGA will be responding and would welcome views from members to inform our consultation. For more information on the consultation, please see our summary sheet and recent webinar. 

To share your views, please email rani.kaur@nga.org.uk

The power of music to change lives

Schools should provide at least one hour of music a week as part of the curriculum in key stages 1 to 3  as outlined in the national plan for music education, which sets out the government’s vision for music education.

The plan sets out how by 2030 all children and young people will be enabled to sing, learn instruments, create music and progress musical interests. Governing boards will be expected to consider how music fits into the curriculum and how they can ensure the quality of their music offer. Although not statutory, schools are encouraged to consider implementing the national plan for music education guidance over the course of the next academic year.

Governing boards are in a unique position to influence and support curriculum development in their schools and trusts. NGA’s collection of cultural education guidance, specifically our music guide for governors, coupled with our curriculum guidance supports boards in carrying this out. Our music education and curriculum guidance provides boards with the practical knowledge to positively influence music education in their school or trust to ensure that all pupils from all backgrounds benefit from music education of the highest quality.

Emerging pressures faced by middle leaders

Middle leaders have had their say in a report from Education Support, which sets out the growing challenges affecting their role. The focus groups supplementing the report, spanned across middle leaders in state-run primary and secondary schools, where testimonials expressed an overall satisfaction in their work despite the obstacles faced. However, an overwhelming proportion of teachers spoke of recurring themes including time pressures, bureaucracy, and a lack of autonomy or reward despite the additional responsibility. The consequences of these challenges were reported to be physical and mental fatigue and increasing levels of anxiety, with the lasting effects of COVID-19 exacerbating issues further.
 
The report sets out clear recommendations for school leaders and policymakers to improve working conditions for middle leaders. For many, the extra time to fulfil management duties without a personal compromise was a tangible agent of change. As the middle leadership tier is growing, there seems to be a clear opportunity for schools to develop a culture of support that is sensitive to unique stresses and strains. NGA’s guidance for managing teacher workload and wellbeing is intended to support governing boards implement relevant strategies and initiatives and can be found in our Knowledge Centre.  

Planning for the year ahead: new Knowledge Centre resources

Our latest resources are designed to help governors and trustees plan board business and ensure effective governance with the support of their governance professional.

Visit the Knowledge Centre to explore and download new resources, including:

• Annual governance planners
• Policy review schedules
• Example terms of reference now includes academy trust board curriculum and outcomes committee.
• Model code of conduct – updated, with separate versions for academy trusts and maintained school governing boards now available.

Catch up on our Summer seminar series

Last week NGA hosted its four- day summer seminar series. If you didn’t get a chance to join us live or would like to rewatch the seminars, the recordings are available on our website.

Environmental sustainability
The series kicked off looking at the governing board’s role in achieving environmental sustainability. Tune in to hear what panelists including the DfE, Ashden Climate Change charity and a chair of governors all had to say.  

Leadership
Seminar two looked at the challenges of leadership across the sector. Panelists from HeadsUp4HTs, NAHT, ASCL and ISBL discussed ways that boards can support their leaders and ways of managing workload and wellbeing.

Wellbeing
With over 1.5 million children and young people predicted to need mental health support over the next decade, seminar three invited experts from Young Minds, Well Schools, What works Centre for Wellbeing and Place2Be to discuss the important role governors and trustees have in the whole school approach to wellbeing.

Disadvantage
Emma Knights was joined by the Education Policy Institue, Mark Rowland, the Child Poverty Action Group and the Education Endowment Foundation to discuss the latest on how pupils are academically impacted due to socioeconomic barriers.

To find out more about our upcoming events, visit the events page and sign up!

DfE publish school governance update

The Department for Education has published it’s school governance update for July 2022. This latest updates provides information on the recently release white paper and SEND green paper, updated guidance on education recovery support, statutory safeguarding guidance which comes into effect in September 2022. The update also invites governors and trustees to a series of training webinars on the financial position of school and enabling governing boards to support school finance teams. 
 

Join us for the final MAT Network of the academic year

We are delighted to be joined by Baroness Barran, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for the school system at our upcoming MAT network. Join us on Monday 11 July 2022, 4pm where you can hear the latest on the government white paper and join the conversation with Baroness Barran.

We will also be discussing executive pay and looking for your feedback and thoughts on how NGA can support MATs in the coming months.
The network is your chance to share your thoughts, ideas and challenges with your peers, join us for a lively discussion as we close out the summer term.

Book your place

Fears over post-pandemic teacher recruitment

There are signs of teacher shortages as schools anticipate difficulties securing enough suitably qualified teachers next academic year, according to research by SchoolsDash. Concerns were pronounced in the secondary sector, with 44% of secondary school leaders more worried than normal about this.

The study found that the proportion of assistant and deputy heads who intend to remain in the profession in three years’ time fell from 81% pre-pandemic to 75% today, with the share wanting to become a headteacher declining from 56% to 48%.

Higher levels of teacher job movement are also likely, as recruitment activity increases after the disruption of recent years.  Meanwhile research by the EPI suggests the long-term issues facing the sector, such as low retention rates for more experienced teachers and failure to meet recruitment targets, continue to persist.

Boards can go some way in helping to address these issues by ensuring their organisation is an attractive place to work, and NGA has resources to support boards with this.

Record numbers of children referred to mental health services

The number of young people referred to mental health services has reached a record high, according to NHS data analysed by YoungMinds.

90,789 young people were referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health services in March 2022, the highest since data was first collected, and 41% more than the previous month. In the same month urgent referrals to crisis teams where almost double (2,547) than those in March 2019 (1,252).

Olly Parker, Head of External Affairs at YoungMinds said, “This situation is devastating for young people and their families and unsustainable for the health system. We must have more options for young people to get support for their mental health when they first start to struggle.”

NGA is responding to the Government’s call for evidence for a 10 year mental health plan. To share your experiences of supporting pupil mental health and wellbeing in your school or trust, the challenges you face, and the provisions you would like to see in the plan, email Elizabeth.collin@nga.org.uk.

Pupils face exam disruption

Pupils sitting exams this week are among the many groups of people impacted by this week’s rail strikes. To mitigate the impact of the strikes and any future disruption, the DfE has advised schools to draw on “existing contingency arrangements” for affected pupils and staff, and referred schools to Joint Council for Qualifications guidance.

Exams return “as usual” for the first time since the pandemic this year, but in addition to the rail strikes, pupils and staff have had to content with a number of high profile errors across multiple exam papers. Chief regulator, Jo Saxton has acknowledged the distress these errors have caused but expressed hope that the overall support provided has been beneficial. Meanwhile Schools Week has reported that pupils could face a delay in receiving exams results this summer as exam board staff are balloted to strike over pay.

NLG recruitment is open - closes 30 June

A second round of targeted recruitment is underway for National Leaders of Governance. NGA is specifically looking to increase our NLG capacity in three key geographical regions, the South West, North East and North West of England.  Applications close on 9:00am on 30 June.

NGA would be delighted to consider applications from those who have a track record in improving governance and meet the DfE-set criteria. We particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian and other minority ethnic candidates and from candidates with experience of governance in schools and academies with religious character, including non-Christian faiths. Please visit our website for more details on how to apply. We encourage applications but can only consider candidates who meet the DfE criteria which is set out in our recruitment information, so please read these carefully before applying.

DfE publish resources for schools to help support children and young people arriving from Ukraine

The DfE has published various resources for schools to support children and their families arriving from Ukraine. As more than 9,000 Ukrainian children are placed at schools in England, the guidance provides an explanation of the education system, resources for learning English and explains where schools can seek mental health and wellbeing support for children and young people impacted.

The Government has also announced new rules that will allow Ukrainian children under the age of 18 to come to the UK alone, enabling a child to apply for a visa if they have proof of parental consent. Education Secretary, Nadhim Zahawi has said he is “determined that children who have been forced from their homes by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine do not have their life chances spoiled as a result and that is why we must do all we can to ensure they benefit from our incredible schools”.

Attendance consultation: school registers and national thresholds for legal intervention

Following the release of new attendance guidance that will apply from September, overcoming the wide and complex barriers to pupil attendance remains a top priority.

Crucial to the DfE’s vision for improved rates of attendance as set out in the recent schools white paper is the accurate recording and sharing of attendance data. The department is therefore consulting on a revised regulatory system for the keeping of admission and attendance registers, the sharing of register data, and the rules for granting leaves of absence.

The consultation also seeks views on a new national framework for the use of fixed penalty notices for absence and for excluded pupils in public places during the first 5 days of an exclusion.
Proposed changes are intended to further support stakeholders in preventing patterns of absence from developing, and to intervene effectively where patterns of absence already exist, reflecting the rationale behind various policy, monitoring and training requirements outlined in the new guidance.

In the meantime, good practice attendance guidance also comes in the form of a DfE webinar series that includes case studies and other training sessions. NGA has various resources on attendance you can access and you can also watch a webinar we recorded on the topic earlier this year.

New careers education consultation

The Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022 which passed into law in April, has set out the new legal requirement for schools to provide pupils with the opportunity to speak to providers of technical education and apprenticeships on at least six occasions between years 8 and 13. As a result, the DfE has launched its careers education consultation, seeking views from governors, trustees and school leaders on the proposed changes to the accompanying statutory guidance. The closing date for responses is 25 July 2022.

Secondary school governing boards are encouraged to appoint an individual to take a strategic interest in careers education. Boards may wish to consider evaluating their current arrangements against the new statutory framework, using NGA’s careers education guidance to support discussions.

Join us for the final summer term events

Our final events of the summer term are open for bookings, join us for the finale to our 2021/22 events programme.

Webinar - Ofsted: inspection and governance

Our final webinar of the summer term will take place 14 July 2022, 12.30 – 1.10pm and is presented by Sam Henson, Director of Policy and Communications and Nina Sharma, Senior Policy and Research Officer. They will be exploring the role of Ofsted, offering insight while debunking myths, and looking specifically at the way inspection interacts with governance. This practical and informative webinar will include:

• The latest on the Education Inspection Framework
• What those governing really need to know about inspection and the role of governance
• Looking at the experiences of governors and trustees who have participated in inspections

Book your place now

Have your say: NGA to launch focus groups on early years

We are looking for governors and trustees who govern in early years settings to participate in our upcoming focus groups. The purpose of this research is to identify key issues and challenges faced by boards in the sector. The information gathered will help inform NGA’s work in relation to early years to allow us to best support you.

The focus groups will take place over a two week period at the beginning of July.
 
If you currently govern in a setting with early years provision and are interested, please email adelaide.chitanda@nga.org.uk

How do you engage with stakeholders?

Hearing from stakeholders is essential to good governance. Meaningful engagement with staff, pupils, parents and the wider community helps governing boards to be visible and to build trust in decision making. The summer term could provide opportunity to take stock of your board’s stakeholder engagement activity.

• Use NGA resources to learn about methods of engaging with staff as well as maintaining effective communication with parents.
• Learning Link subscribers can further explore the topic by completing a stakeholder engagement e-learning module.

Sign up now! Spaces available on NGA’s Leading Governance development courses

NGA’s Leading Governance development programmes will equip chairs or clerks to lead and support their governing board in having an impact on school improvement.

The Development for chairs programme is designed for both trustees and governors who currently chair, and those aspiring to become a chair, and will support the development of leadership skills.

LA Maintained and LGBs: Start date - 13 September 2022
Trustees: Start date -  13 September 2022 
Cost: £249 per participant.

The Level 3 Certificate in the clerking of school and academy governing boards programme is designed for governance professionals and clerks with at least three months experience, currently working in any school or trust setting. An accredited programme, it develops the knowledge and skills needed for high-quality clerking through virtual face-to-face workshops, one-to-one mentoring, and independent learning.
Cost: £449 per participant.

To find out more about either of these programmes, call us on 0121 237 3780 dial option 5, email us at leading.governance@nga.org.uk, or visit our website.

Ofsted reports diminishing role of governance – new NGA study findings

NGA is calling for Ofsted reports to return to a more informative format with information targeted at those responsible for school improvement, including school leaders and those governing. In an open letter to Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman, NGA has expressed concern over how Ofsted inspections approach governance. It comes as NGA report on emerging findings from a new study on the interaction between Ofsted inspection and governance.  

The report builds on NGA’s findings published in 2020, with the 2022 data based on the views and experiences of 111 governors and trustees and a further analysis of 120 published Ofsted reports. Among the key findings:

·        Only 36% of governing boards said that the Ofsted inspection helped governance

·        31% of analysed reports not mentioning governance

Sam Henson, director of policy and communications said the study “reveals an increasing trend towards Ofsted inspection reports more generally lacking sufficient depth”, with NGA  calling on Ofsted to “return to a format that works for everyone.” Read the full report on the NGA research page.  

Join our next webinar where NGA’s Sam Henson and Nina Sharma discuss the ways governing boards can get the most out of their Ofsted inspection. 

NGA's senior policy and research officer, Nina Sharma gives a snapshot of the findings in the latest edition of Governing Matters on pages 10-11 for Ofsted.

New guidance on a whole school approach to environmental sustainability

Coinciding with Clean Air Day, NGA has published new guidance to support governing boards in achieving a whole school approach to environmental sustainability. The guide will help boards to develop conversations, understand their role in leading change, and signpost to helpful resources. Expanding on our recent information sheet, the guidance includes case studies from a range of schools and trusts, tips and relevant links to the Department for Education’s (DfE) sustainability and climate change strategy for education.

NGA, NAEE and SchooliP have also come together to develop a free environmental sustainability audit tool which supports governing boards adopting environmental sustainability as a strategic priority and school leaders developing a climate action plan.

It’s not too late to sign up to our virtual summer seminar on environmental sustainability happening Monday 20 June 4.30-6pm where we will be joined by the DfE's Jonathan Dewsbury, Let’s Go Zero’s Alex Green and University of Reading’s Professor Andrew Charlton-Perez. 

On pages 24-27 of the latest edition of Governing matters, NGA's policy and research officer Megan Tate introduces a range of organisations that offer solutions to the Greener Governance challenge.

Teachers fear COVID-19 made pupils less ready for work

80% of teachers feel that pupils are now less ready for the world of work than they were before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic according to a report from education charity Teach First. The study highlights how COVID-19 impacted careers education and the fears of over 3,000 teachers and 500 business HR leaders that pupils are less equipped with the vital skills and opportunities to access employment.

72% of businesses believe that school leavers lack the core skills needed to enter the job market and over half of teachers state that pupils’ views of careers open to them have diminished. The report calls for action in the form of increased funding to address to the widening gap for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, while also asking the DfE to develop a framework for careers education that follows the Gatsby benchmarks.

NGA can help your school and governing board promote and improve the vital function of career education in schools. For more information visit the Knowledge Centre.

Children’s commissioner: attendance is everyone’s business

Children are falling through the gaps in the education system, with growing numbers persistently absent or missing entirely. The Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, says she is making it her mission to see "100% attendance on the first day of the September term” as the findings of a national Attendance Audit are released. 
 
Voices of England’s Missing Children provides an insight into the many reasons why children might be missing from school. These can involve complex individual challenges including bullying, poor health, and inadequate SEND provision. The report calls for schools to “create a culture which prioritises and obsesses about attendance”.

Effective attendance management involves identifying and removing specific barriers between children and schools – a requirement outlined in new DfE guidance that applies from September. The guidance is clear that improving attendance begins at board level with oversight of an effective whole-school culture of high attendance that is underpinned by a clear attendance policy. As outlined in NGA’s latest information sheet, the policy should be tailored to the needs of individual schools and the barriers to attendance pupils experience, as identified through robust analysis of school-level data.

New funding announced for free school meals “does not go far enough”

An additional £18 million of government funding for universal infant free school meals (FSM) was announced this week, working out to an 7p increase per pupil. The announcement comes after NGA joined education unions calling for FSM eligibility to be expanded to all pupils from families in receipt of universal credit, in an open letter to government ministers.

Kate Anstey from the Child Poverty Action Group described the funding as “tweaks” stating it “won’t make the kind of difference that kids need to see”, with Zoe McIntyre, project manager at the Food Foundation adding that the increase “is not in line with inflation”.

Nadhim Zahawi, Secretary of State for Education also chaired a roundtable with supermarkets and sport organisations this week as “a call to arms” to provide support for the government’s holiday activities and food (HAF) programme, aimed at children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The programme was introduced in 2018 and will run until 2025 backed by £200 million in funding each year.

Winners of the Place2be’s wellbeing in Schools Awards announced

Children, young people and adults were celebrated this week for their “passion, determination and hard work” in leading and running a ‘mentally healthy school’.

The award ceremony was held at BAFTA and hosted by the Place2be who provide mental health services in schools. It brought together 29 finalists, chosen from 120 nominations by a panel of independent judges.

Among the winners was Jan Irwin, a pupil from Oakwood Primary School in Glasgow, who was described as “a reliable, secure figure for everyone in the school” and Tracey Redgrave, Lewis Street Primary School who won the Adult Champion Award. More details about the awards ceremony, nominees and winners can be found on the Place2be’s news page.

NGA will be joined by Place2be’s Marina Smith and others at our Summer Seminar on Wednesday 22 June, 4.30-6pm, as we discuss the governing board’s role in supporting and enhancing pupil well being. Visit our events page to book your place.

New report highlights the benefits of flexible working within schools

Delivering flexible working within schools, whilst not straightforward, is not impossible, and brings a return on investment, according to the findings of a new report published on a pilot programme run by Timewise.

The report focuses the work of eight schools in three trusts implementing changes to their flexible working practice, including the development of action plans. All the schools involved agreed that the changes would benefit their recruitment and retention, staff wellbeing, career progression and the gender pay gap. They also highlighted the importance of a proactive whole-school approach, as opposed to a request and respond model, which opens up opportunities for flexibility across all roles.

Our guide to flexible working in schools explains how governing boards can be influential and collaborate with their executive leader to develop a culture of flexible working that works in practice and ultimately brings benefits to pupils.

Academy staff more likely to resign now than during the COVID-19 pandemic

42% of academy staff have considered resigning this academic year, up from 34% in 2020-21, according to new findings published this week. The figure is the highest it’s been since education research company, Edurio, launched the annual survey in 2018-19.

The report cites workload and a deferral of career-based decisions during the pandemic as key reasons for the rise, with teachers and middle leaders most at risk of resignation.  The data comes from annual surveys of over 75,000 academy school staff members and highlights a positive change in staff workload during the disruption caused by COVID-19.

As workload and wellbeing issues increase for school staff after the COVID-19 disruption, NGA encourages all governing boards to take strategic steps to promote wellbeing and reduce unnecessary workload.  Visit the Knowledge Centre to find out more about how boards can make a positive impact on teacher workload and wellbeing. 

Report explores reasons and solutions for schools stuck in “vicious cycle” of poor Ofsted grades

New research into ‘stuck’ schools, has found that a “vicious cycle” exists where poor Ofsted outcomes lead to increased teacher turnover, a more deprived pupil intake, and further adverse Ofsted findings.

The report, focusing on schools that have received poor Ofsted grades since 2005, was published this week by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) and UCL Institute of Education. It explores whether adverse Ofsted outcomes made future poor judgements more or less likely and considered possible interventions the break the cycle. In both primary and secondary schools, a change in headteacher was found to have a negative impact on the likelihood of improvement, while joining a multi academy trust (MAT) was found to have a positive effect on “stuck” secondary schools, and no impact on primaries.

For those governing in these contexts, the key takeaway is that there is no “silver bullet” to drive improvement, but there are factors which make improvement less likely which boards can address. For example, protecting staff wellbeing can help to reduce turnover. 

Facing the leadership challenge

Facing the situation of increasing numbers of exhausted leaders resigning is becoming more of a reality for some boards. In a brand new blog NGA’s chief executive, Emma Knights, notes that “there is so much boards can do and indeed many have done – on establishing a healthy culture”.

If this is an issue that resonates, or you want to hear more about it, join us at our leadership summer seminar on Tuesday 21 June, 4.30-6.00pm where we will hear from National Association of Headteachers (NAHT), Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), Institute of School and Business Leaders (ISBL) and HeadsUp on tackling this issue.  

75 new schools announced to aid in levelling up

The Department for Education (DfE) has announced that 75 new free schools and standalone sixth forms are to be created, offering thousands of new school places for disadvantaged children living in Education Investment Areas.

The new schools form part of the governments levelling up agenda and will include 15 mainstream schools and 60 special schools and alternative provisions, the first of which will be opening from September 2025.

Commenting, Nadhim Zahawi said the new schools will allow parents to feel confident that their child will succeed “no matter where they live or their ability”. Local authorities will be able to apply for new schools and allocations will be made according to need.

A guide to joining or forming a multi academy trust

Schools considering ‘taking the next step’ to join or form a MAT can use our updated guidance to evaluate their options. The guide, produced with the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) and Browne Jacobson, is designed to help governing boards and school leaders understand the current policy landscape and develop a shared understanding of the process.

The guide is intended to be used by schools where the decision to join or explore the option of forming a trust resides with the existing governing board. Schools compelled by an academisation order may wish to refer to our information on directive academy orders.

How robust is your cyber security?

A schools week investigation has found that 177 data breaches across 135 academy trusts, including cyber attacks, were reported in 2018-19, leading to the loss of important personal data stored on their systems.

The investigation follows the publication of data by the DfE in March, sampling all school types including free schools, LA maintained schools and special schools. The findings highlighted secondary schools and further education colleges as being most likely to identify breaches.

With schools and trusts being increasingly reliant on digital technology coupled with the growing threat of cyber attacks on the education sector, having proportionate controls in place to safeguard against cyber attacks is key.

NGA’s cyber security information sheet provides practical guidance on how governors and trustees can build cyber security awareness and ensure the right controls are in place to enable schools and trusts to effectively respond to cyber attacks if necessary.

Have your say: NGA to launch focus groups on early years

We are looking for governors and trustees who govern in early years settings to participate in our upcoming focus groups. The purpose of this research is to identify key issues and challenges faced by boards in the sector. The information gathered will help inform NGA’s work in relation to early years to allow us to best support you.
 
The focus groups will take place over a two week period at the beginning of July.
 
If you currently govern in a setting with early years provision and are interested, please email adelaide.chitanda@nga.org.uk

Summer seminar speakers confirmed

We are delighted to confirm more of our exciting array of speakers for our virtual summer seminars. Emma Knights OBE, chief executive of NGA will chair the four seminars in the week of 20 June 2022.

Please join us as we hear from the leading thinkers and experts to explore the issues you have told us are high on your list of strategic priorities.  With speakers from the DfE, NAHT, ASCL, ISBL and more now confirmed, join us for the highlight of our summer term activities. Click the links below to secure your place.

Summer seminars
The governing board’s role in achieving environmental sustainability - 20 June, 4.30-6.00pm
The leadership challenge - 21 June, 4.30-6.00pm            
The governing board’s role in achieving pupil well-being - 22 June, 4.30-6.00pm
The governing board’s role in supporting disadvantaged pupils in 2022-23 - 23 June, 4.30-6.00pm
 

Summer term events
SEND Network - 13 June, 4.30-6.00pm
Webinar: The SEND green paper - 16 June, 4.30-5.00pm
Governance Professional Network - 30 June, 10 -12.00pm
Regional Forum – East Midlands - 7 July, 4-6.00pm
MAT Governance Network - 11 July, 4-6.00pm

Have your say on the implementation of the National Funding formula consultation

The National Funding Formula (NFF), first announced in 2016, is how the DfE works out each state school’s core funding. It has not yet been fully implemented although the recent Schools Bill restated the government’s commitment to achieving this. With no definitive end date for implementation, schools continue to be funded according to the relevant local authority’s formula. 

Following on from a consultation last year, the DfE have launched a further consultation focusing on more technical aspects of implementation. This includes special educational needs budgets for schools and funding for schools experiencing significant growth in pupil numbers, or falling rolls, which are of interest to governing boards, who we encourage to respond.

NGA will be responding to the consultation and welcomes feedback from members to help form our response. Please contact steve.edmonds@nga.org.uk if you wish to comment.

You can read our response to the 2021 consultation here.

DfE updates its strategy for supporting resource management in schools and trusts

The DfE have updated their Schools Resource Management (SRM) strategy, which supports boards and those leading schools and trusts to make effective financial decisions, which target valuable resources towards the best outcomes. 

The strategy focuses on developing leadership and governance skills and knowledge; effective workforce deployment to maximise impact and maximising the impact of non-staff spend.

Whilst calling on the government to do more to relieve the financial pressure schools are currently under, NGA welcomes the publication of the updated strategy.  In particular, the commitment it makes to providing training for governing boards to support their capability and confidence in financial oversight, as well as the focus on supporting schools and trusts to establish a positive workplace culture.

Access our resources that support boards to carry out their third core function on the Knowledge Centre.

Sign up now! Spaces available on NGA’s Leading Governance development courses

NGA’s Leading Governance development programmes will equip chairs or clerks to lead and support their governing board in having an impact on school improvement.

The Development for chairs programme is designed for both trustees and governors who currently chair, and those aspiring to become a chair, and will support the development of leadership skills.

LA Maintained and LGBs: Start date - 13 September 2022
Trustees: Start date -  13 September 2022 
Cost: £249 per participant.

The Level 3 Certificate in the clerking of school and academy governing boards programme is designed for governance professionals and clerks with at least three months experience, currently working in any school or trust setting. An accredited programme, it develops the knowledge and skills needed for high-quality clerking through virtual face-to-face workshops, one-to-one mentoring, and independent learning.
Cost: £449 per participant.

To find out more about either of these programmes, call us on 0121 237 3780 dial option 5, email us at leading.governance@nga.org.uk, or visit our website.

Final chance to complete the annual school governance survey!

The annual school governance survey gathers the views and experiences from the nation’s largest volunteer group, covering key and current educational topics including academisation, support for families, pupil mental health and wellbeing and school/trust funding. Click here to take part!

The survey will close on Monday 30 May at 5pm so please, if you have time, have your say before the deadline closes. There is still an opportunity to pick up where you left off if you haven’t yet had a chance to complete your survey response.

Your responses will help us to campaign on and draw attention to the issues that matter most to you.

We want to hear from all governance volunteers in England, regardless of role on the governing board or length of service. Please share it with your wider networks. Thank you to all those who have filled in the survey so far. If you haven’t but would still like to take part, please click here to complete the survey.

Government’s School System Reforms Gather Pace

The government’s schools system reform plans are gathering momentum with the Department for Education (DfE) publishing an update on its next steps for implementing the vision set out in March’s white paper. The implementation plan contains a notable commitment to an “area based approach”, focusing initially on the 55 education investment areas. NGA has summarised the key parts of the plan, and provided a comment on our news page.  

Meanwhile, the Schools Bill had its second reading in the House of Lords – you can access our information sheet on its contents here. One of the key elements of the Bill which has attracted criticism across the sector, is the proposed legal framework allowing the Department to set academy trust standards. This has been portrayed by Lord Baker as a “power grab”, increasing the control that the Department can exert on trusts. In response, the Department has updated its factsheet which explains the proposals in more detail.

Finally, the DfE also published details of its plans for Local Authority (LA) established trusts, and how LAs can express an interest in forming one. These trusts’ governance arrangements will be almost identical to other multi academy trusts (MAT), with the main difference simply being a higher proportion of LA associated members being allowed.

DfE releases updated Keeping children safe in education

From September, all governors and trustees will need to receive appropriate safeguarding and child protection training at induction. Their training will also need to be regularly updated. The requirements come in as the DfE published the latest iteration of Keeping children safe in education 2022. The statutory guidance is currently for information only but will come into force on 1 September 2022. The guidance sets out the legal duties schools and trusts must follow to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils.

NGA recommend that training is undertaken annually with important updates also shared throughout the year. The training should provide governors and trustees with the knowledge to provide strategic challenge in relation to safeguarding – this would include safeguarding data, policies, and procedures. Training for governing boards should be different to the operational safeguarding training delivered to staff.

Pupils missing out as cost of school trips soar

Pupils are missing out on “invaluable” experiences as school trips become “prohibitively expensive” due to soaring fuel prices. With the cost of coach hire rising by 25% compared with pre-pandemic levels, headteachers reported having to lease a minibus as a cheaper option, offer payment instalments to parents and in some cases only book trips within walking distance.

As well as the cost of transport increasing, the activities have increased in price too with trips to the local swimming pool reported to have gone up by 20%.

Speaking to TES, Bethan Cullen, operations director for the Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL) said that schools “may decide to reduce these trips or they may decide some trips are unviable” as a result of inflationary rises.

Has your school been impacted by inflation and the rising cost of living? Answer questions on balancing the budget in the annual governance survey.  NGA will use the results of the survey to raise your concerns with the officials and organisations who can effect change.

Complete the survey.

1,000 secondary schools offered free access to wellbeing platform

Up to 1,000 secondary schools will be able to access an online wellbeing platform for free to monitor and support pupil wellbeing, as part of a new government-backed program. Launched last week by digital wellbeing platform Govox, the offer has been developed in conjunction with Kings College London and NHSX and supported by leading mental health charities. The platform allows pupils to complete mental health “check-ins”, access resources and provides data and insights for school staff. Schools can sign up to the platform via the Govox website.

This comes as the DfE announced its intentions to work with schools and MATs to develop a handbook on enrichment and extracurricular activities, emphasising how these can be used to support pupil mental wellbeing. Announced in its response to the education select committee’s report on the catch-up programme, the DfE rejected calls from the committee for all children to undergo a clinical assessment of their mental health and wellbeing.

Teacher training qualifications to be free for the next two academic years

Every teacher in the country will have access to free, high-quality, ongoing training as part of the government’s continued drive “to ensure every pupil in England is taught by an excellent teacher, levelling up education across the country”. The DfE this week announced the move that forms part of the government’s commitment to provide 500,000 teacher training opportunities.

As well as the availability of national professional qualifications NPQs being extended, additional payments to small schools are being introduced, helping ensure that where a child lives has no bearing on the quality of teaching they receive. The Targeted Support Fund will give a grant payment of £200 per participant to schools with 1600 pupils, for every teacher or leader they employ who participates in an NPQ.

This announcement has also been joined by improved online training and research being carried out on the experiences of early career teachers. NGA will continue to follow the development of these announcements.

A desire for tutoring to be a permanent part of school education

The National Tutoring programme should be a “permanent” feature of school education in England - Nadhim Zahawi has revealed writing for the Sunday Express. This will form part of the ‘Parent Pledge’ outlined in the recently released schools white paper that will require schools to inform parents of how they will address children falling behind in maths and English.

Further support measures to improve education catch-up announced this week include a doubling of the Recovery Premium funding for secondary schools from 2022/23 which could see an average secondary receiving £60,000 compared to £30,000 the previous year. A typical primary school will also receive nearly £7,000 extra.  

Shadow education secretary criticises Schools Bill and outlines Labour’s plans

Shadow Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has criticised the recent Schools Bill labelling it “devoid of serious ideas” and that on issues such as pandemic recovery, teacher recruitment and retention and skills/career education there was “silence”.

Mrs Phillipson accuses the government of “trying to undo messes of their own making” whereas Labour has clear priorities. Their proposed measures include ending tax breaks for private schools to address the recruitment and retention crisis in teaching, appointing professional careers advisors in every school alongside compulsory work experience and ensuring consistent access to digital technology for all children.

Education Select Committee: SEND Green paper review

Concerns have been voiced that the proposals within the SEND green paper focus on saving money rather than improving the experience and outcomes of children and young people with SEND and their families. The Education Select Committee heard from a series of experts to discuss the proposals, with the chief executive of the Independent Provider of Special Education Advice saying there was a risk plans would come at the expense of "diluting rights and entitlements of children and families".  

Concerns surrounding the proposal of new national standards in SEND were also raised, specifically that a standardised approach would mean a move away from an individual centred approach to support towards a one size fits all approach.  

The ongoing impact of the pandemic was also emphasised. It was acknowledged that existing issues were exacerbated by the pandemic and the impact continues to be felt by children and young people with SEND, for example, in the form of developmental regression. There continues to be a significant number of unmet needs due to backlogs and the strain that services are currently under because of the pandemic.

Major reforms to children’s social care

Following an independent review of children’s social care, the government has set out new measures to better support vulnerable children and families in England in what is described as a fundamental shift in children’s social care services.

Plans include strengthening links between social care and schools, funding local authority schemes to place social workers in schools. Other proposals include providing designated safeguarding leaders with supervision from senior social workers. The measures intend to help the early identification of need, provide better support for families, and keep vulnerable young people engaged with their education, with consequent improvements in attendance, behaviour, and attainment.

Using 2022 exams data for performance management

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted pupils’ learning and preparation for assessment and examination. As GCSE and A level exams begin across England, 8 in 10 school leaders have reported an increase in exam-related anxiety compared to pre-pandemic years.

ASCL, NAHT and NGA have published joint advice this week on using data from 2022 assessments and examinations for performance management or decisions about pay progression. Given the significant impact of the pandemic, the advice cautions that “data produced from the results may tell users more about the impact of the pandemic than the performance of the school”.

New report: The impact of COVID-19 on learning: A review of the evidence

The proportion of four and five-year-olds reaching expected levels of development dropped from 72% in 2019 to 59% in 2021, according to new research released this week by The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF).

The report, published alongside a practical recovery guide for schools, highlights the growth of the attainment gap between disadvantaged and their peers across all ages and the wider impact of the pandemic on the mental health of pupils and those with SEND.

Sir Peter Lampl, chair of EEF called the findings “deeply concerning” stating that “there needs to be a concerted focus on the early years” if the government are to meet their 2030 targets.

We want to know about your experience of being a governor/ trustee, and how your board addresses key issues such as disadvantage and pupil mental health and wellbeing. Have your say in our annual governance survey, your contribution will help us campaign on the issues that matter to you. Take the survey!

Concerns raised about government proposals

NGA chief executive Emma Knights has raised concerns about the new LA academisation powers set out in last week’s Schools Bill. Under the draft legislation, local authorities can choose to request an academy order for maintained schools in their area. While governing boards must be consulted, the LA could ultimately choose to academise the school against the governing board’s objections. NGA is currently engaging with the Department for Education (DfE) over the proposals set out in the white paper, and a DfE representative will be attending our maintained schools leadership forum on 6 June.

The DfE is also facing criticism from several sources this week in relation to other proposals set out in the schools white paper. Ambition Institute have begun a legal challenge over the government’s procurement process for the Institute of Teaching, while legal action has also been threatened over their plans for the Oak National Academy.

Racial Disparities in the Teacher Career Pathway

New research reveals that racial disparities occurring right at the start of teaching careers prevent people from ethnic minority backgrounds entering senior leadership positions. Despite more people from Asian, Black and other ethnic backgrounds applying to Initial Teacher Training (ITT) courses, they remain underrepresented among candidates accepted on to the training. Meanwhile, individuals from white backgrounds who are under-represented in applications to ITT, remain over-represented at every other stage of the career pipeline.

The findings are taken from a report on racial equality in the teacher workforce  by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), in partnership with Ambition Institute and Teach First. The report calls on ITT providers to review their selection processes.  Co-author Jack Worth said the report showed schools “currently do not have a teacher workforce that reflects the ethnic makeup of wider society”, while Hilary Spencer, CEO of Ambition Institute said disparities must be tackled “that occur right at the start of people’s careers”.  

New initiative piloted to cut truanting

A new pilot scheme has been announced to reduce absenteeism in schools, which is set to begin in Bedfordshire next month. The scheme is being initiated by the county’s police and crime commissioner, Festus Akinbusoye, and comes after increased truancy reports following the pandemic, with the release of the schools white paper in March warning that “children will not achieve their potential in a school with poor standards of attendance”. The scheme entails youth intervention workers to visit the homes of absent pupils from six secondary schools within hours of the pupil not arriving in school.

Governing boards should be reviewing attendance data, and ensuring leaders have processes in place for engaging with frequently absent pupils. You can read NGA’s guidance on attendance on the Knowledge Centre.

Warning over danger posed by poor conditions of school buildings

In an internal government document leaked to the Guardian, senior officials working for the Secretary of State for Education, Nadhim Zahawi, claimed that some school buildings in England are in a condition that poses a “risk to life”. The document goes on to say that often costly and energy-inefficient repairs are favoured over rebuilding and that the rebuilding demand is triple the supply. Pepe Di’Iasio, a headteacher of a school rated in the bottom 200 for its condition has said that “on a rainy day, it’s commonplace to see a dozen buckets around the school” and that the only solution is “patching over the roof”.

The letter follows a DfE announcement this week that a further 1,405 schools and sixth forms will benefit from £498 million of School Condition Improvement Funding. The school rebuilding programme also aids in rebuilding 50 schools per year. NGA’s annual survey results in 2021 revealed for the first time that managing and improving premises came second only to pupil mental health and wellbeing as the top strategic priority for governing boards of all school types.
 
Share your school’s or trust’s strategic priorities in the 2022 annual governance survey here!

Schools Bill 2022 - setting the standards

On Thursday, the government introduced its new Schools Bill, which they will now seek to pass through parliament. The bill proposes a new statutory set of national standards for multi academy trusts, including allowing the secretary of state to set standards in relation to governance structures and board composition, and a new power for LA’s to apply for academy orders for one or more of their schools to join a MAT. Most of the bill’s content reflects previous announcements, and the direction of travel set out in the schools white paper. Nonetheless, if the bill is passed by parliament as expected, it will bring significant changes to the sector. NGA has produced an information summary sheet outlining the bills keys proposals, and you can read NGA’s response on our news page.

Schools must budget for the ‘parent pledge’ next year

The government has told schools that they will need to factor in the new ‘parent pledge’ when planning their budgets for next year. The parent pledge, which was introduced in the recent white paper, requires schools to keep parents informed of when their child falls behind in English or Maths and to let them know of the support they will be given to help them get back on track. Schools have been asked to look at the different funding available, including the pupil premium, prompting further fears of funding aimed at disadvantaged pupils being broadened out to fulfil a wider remit.  This follows the white paper signalling a  potential “watering down” of pupil premium funding after the government indicated that the money can be used to support literacy and numeracy skills “where needed”.
 
Governors and trustees discussing the budget for next academic year may want to access NGA’s guidance for maintained schools and academy trusts on budget setting.

‘Working together to improve school attendance’

In line with its commitment to strengthening the school attendance regime, and following a consultation on improving the consistency of support, the Department for Education (DfE) has produced new guidance to help schools, trusts and local authorities maintain high levels of pupil attendance.
 
The guidance will apply from September 2022, and details what is expected as schools publish their attendance policy. The guidance also includes what is expected of governing boards in terms of the support, guidance and challenge required to ensure effective whole school approaches to improving attendance. As improving school attendance on a whole school or trust basis begins at board level, the summary table of responsibilities that accompanies the guidance also clearly outlines governing board attendance responsibilities in relation to various pupil groups.
 
NGA’s recent webinar on pupil attendance covered current legal requirements and the principles of an effective attendance strategy from a governing board perspective.

Ofqual confirm plans for exams and assessments 2023

Ofqual has confirmed that exams will return to normal in the next academic year with no adjustments for pupils to take account for the impact of the pandemic. This means that there will be a return to full subject content coverage for GCSE subjects. Ofqual said that it would “continue to monitor” the impact of the pandemic and that it would evaluate the mitigations used to help pupils this year before it finalised plans for 2023. This comes as ASCL research reveals pupils are more stressed about GCSE and A-level exams than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Euan Blair, co-founder of Multiverse and Sir James Dyson have critiqued the purpose of GCSEs stating they don’t prepare students for the workplace.
 
NGA is engaging in the conversation with governors, trustees and other education specialists to understand how the examination system can be better improved to secure the future of young people, removing barriers to success and enabling equal opportunity for all. More information on this work will be announced later on in the term.

Additional funding for senior mental health lead training

To mark Mental Health Awareness Week, the DfE has announced a further £7 million in grants for senior mental health lead training. The announcement means up to two thirds of eligible schools and colleges in England will be able to access funding for quality assured senior mental health lead training by the end of this financial year.
 
Over 8,000 schools and colleges claimed a £1,200 grant to train a senior mental health lead between October 2021 and March 2022. The training provides knowledge and skills to develop a whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing in your setting. You can find out more about the training and claiming a grant on the government website.
 
Have you identified a senior mental health lead? How does your school or trust support pupil wellbeing? What would help your board address mental health challenges in your setting? Let us know in the annual governance survey. Your views will influence our response to consultations on mental health support, inform conversations with the DfE and shape guidance we produce.

LGA publishes report on the impact of academisation on Ofsted rating

Published this week, the Local Government Association (LGA) has reported that local authority maintained schools are more likely to perform better than academies. Comparing Ofsted ratings from August 2018 to January 2022, LGA found that 56 per cent of local authority maintained schools were able to improve from inadequate or requires improvement to good or outstanding compared to 45 per cent of academies that were already an academy in August 2018. However, of the 1,579 schools that had academised since August 2018, only 23, or 1%, have received an inspection as an academy, making some analysis unsuitable for drawing solid conclusions.
 
The DfE has commented on the findings stating that as academisation often includes taking on lower performing schools, the quality of the remaining local authority maintained schools is “inevitably” higher. The DfE also says analysis requires a longitudinal approach as it can take “more than one inspection cycle” to see improvement.

Discuss the SEND green paper at NGA’s SEND Network

The deadline for the public consultation on the proposed changes to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision (AP) system in England has been extended to 22 July 2022.
 
The green paper sets out its vision for a single, national SEND and AP system that will introduce new standards in the quality of support given to children across education, health and care. There are also proposals for a reformed and integrated role for AP, with a new delivery model in every local area focused on early intervention.
 
NGA members will have an opportunity to share their thoughts, experiences and reaction to the plans at our forthcoming SEND Network meeting where we will be joined by a representative from the DfE.
 
The Network meeting, taking place on Monday 13 June will also be revisiting the topic of how boards promote the role of children and young people as meaningful partners in decisions about SEND and we are delighted to welcome recent former pupils who will share their experiences of the schools’ system.

Join us at our summer events

Our first two Governance Leadership Forums for Multi Academy Trusts and Local Academy Committees are fast approaching but there is still time for you to secure your place.  We are delighted that Paul Cohen - Deputy Director, Governance and Trust Development Division, Department for Education will be joining us to present and discuss the implications of the upcoming White Paper.
 
Book your places now.

New membership benefit – a responsible approach to salary benchmarking

NGA members can now access a robust, affordable salary benchmarking service built exclusively for education at a discounted price as part your NGA membership. The service is offered through Pay in Education (PiE) and can help your organisation make informed decisions on how to spend the pay budget. The PiE salary benchmarking tool is available for MATs, single academy trusts and maintained schools.
 
Executive pay in academy trusts in particular has been a reoccurring issue for the sector in recent years. Following the release of our guidance on executive pay, NGA has been keen to establish further support for boards with PiE providing expertise in reward and education and understand the nuances of benchmarking salaries in our sector.
 

If you have questions for the PiE team or want to enquire about a quote for an annual subscription email subscriptions@payineducation.co.uk

PiE’s approach ensures users can access data, which is appropriate, tailored, and relevant to each trust, whilst ensuring GDPR compliance and anonymity of data. Contact PiE and take advantage of a discounted subscription as part of your NGA membership.

For more information on exactly what PiE can offer your trust, visit the PiE website

Have your say in the annual governance survey

Thank you to all those who have taken the time to complete our annual governance survey so far.

As the education sector grapples with key issues such as increasing running costs, the impact of the cost of living on pupils and staff, implications of the recent white and green papers and many other topics, it’s as important as ever to hear your voice.

We want to understand your experience of volunteering, your views on topical education policy and your insight into your board’s practice. We will use the results to campaign on the issues that matter to your board, amplify the voice of school governance across the education sector, and improve the support that we – and others – offer to governing boards to further improve the educational standards and wellbeing of children and young people. You can see the 2021 reports by visiting our research library.

We value the views and experience of all governance volunteers in England regardless of your role on the governing board or length of service. Please share it with your wider networks. You do not need to be an NGA member to complete. Although this survey is for governors and trustees (including ex-officio governor/trustees), we appreciate the support of governance professionals and executive leaders in sharing it with their board(s).

Depending on the answers you give, the survey will take around 20 minutes to complete. The survey is open until Monday 30 May at 9am.

Complete the survey here.

Heads cast doubt all academy system will boost outcomes

76% of headteachers surveyed by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), believe that a fully academised system would fail to improve pupil outcomes, despite this being a key ambition of the government’s recent white paper.

The survey of over 1000 headteachers also found that 62% of respondents who were not currently part of a MAT did not expect to join one in the future, citing issues including lost autonomy and the need to retain their school’s identity. However, 57% of headteachers who were part of a MAT declared they were satisfied with the experience, noting that it facilitated increased collaboration, and the benefits of centralised finances and HR.

The results demonstrate that the government still has work to do to persuade leaders of their vision, and will need to listen to schools and trust feedback. To facilitate these conversations, NGA will be hosting a Department for Education (DfE) representative at our upcoming leadership forums, and parliamentary under-secretary of state for the school system Baroness Barran at our July MATs Network. Visit our events page to book your place.

New free Learning Link module – Equality, diversity and inclusion: First steps

NGA are pleased to have partnered with ASCL to develop a programme of e-learning modules intended to focus on creating an inclusive culture in your school or trust through effective ‘equality, diversity and inclusion’ practice. It goes beyond the basic knowledge and fundamentals of compliance, covered in our existing Equality and diversity module, by giving you the confidence, understanding and tools to do so.

The first module in this programme is now available in the usual way to all Learning Link subscribers and freely available to others through our Learning Link trial site.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion: First steps invites you to consider your own implicit biases using Implicit Association Tests (IATs). Learners will consider how comfortable they are when it comes to thinking about moving diversity and inclusion work forward in their school or trust and will help gage current levels of knowledge around certain key topics beyond simply meeting EDI legislation requirements.



Completion of this module is the first step in supporting vital conversations about equality, diversity and inclusion in your school or trust, helping you to make sure that every pupil, staff member, parent and the wider stakeholder group feel included, valued, and represented.

The remaining three modules that complete the programme will be released over the course of the next year and will also be freely available.

Read our latest blog by NGA’s chief executive, Emma Knights, as she reflects on the significance of this latest programme of e-learning modules.

Learning Link subscribers can log in to complete this module. The module is also freely available as part of the free Learning Link trial for non-subscribers.

Join us to find out more about the White Paper and what it means for your school/trust

Our first two Governance Leadership Forums for Multi Academy Trusts and Local Academy Committees are fast approaching but there is still time for you to secure your place. 

We are delighted that the DfE’s Paul Cohen, Deputy Director of Governance and Trust Development Division, will be joining us to present and discuss the implications of the upcoming White Paper.

The forum will provide you with an opportunity to share your thoughts, experiences and reaction to the plans with those governing and leading schools in similar situations. Whether you have questions about the programmes for teacher development and recruitment, the support for schools to secure the fundamentals of behaviour, attendance and wellbeing for all, the various interventions to target support to those who need it most or the implications of the move towards a fully trust-led system. The forum gives you the opportunity to ask your question to the department directly and to hear how others see the proposals. Visit our events page to book your place.

You can find out more about the white paper by watching our latest webinar or listening to the latest episode of our podcast, Governing Chatters.

Education secretary sends letter to schools outlining how they can support Ukrainian families

Nadhim Zahawi, Secretary of State for Education, has outlined his expectations for local authorities and their schools to work with families arriving from Ukraine, in a bid to enable the children to attend school as soon as possible.

In the letter sent out this week, Mr Zahawi states that schools should continue to offer the national curriculum to arriving children. To aid with this, he also encourages the use of the Oak National Academy’s online lessons which feature an auto-translate function. The Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science have also published their curriculum online alongside Ukrainian education resources.

Where children are receiving schooling outside of school hours it is also recommended that parents are signposted to keeping children safe in out of school settings to inform them on how to check a setting is safe.

Schools were additionally prompted to ensure that children who are eligible have access to the Holiday Activities and Food Programme as well as being lent laptops and tablets available through COVID-19 government investment to support remote education and online social care.

Calls for an end to ‘exclusions culture’ to tackle teenage violence and exploitation

Thousands of vulnerable children are at risk of serious violence, county lines, criminal exploitation, grooming and harm due to a growing exclusions culture, according to findings published last week by the Commission on Young Lives (COYL).

The report, All together now: Inclusion not exclusion, states that children aged 12, 13 and 14 have the highest number of exclusions and most at risk of becoming involved with the criminal justice system. In the third thematic report, Anne Longfield, chair of COYL, calls for a ban on primary school exclusions from 2026 and removals of pupils from secondary schools to be a genuine last resort.

The report was followed by the launch of an inquiry into the links between behaviour and mental health in schools, which will be led by former Minister Sir Norman Lamb, Chair of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition who Sir Lamb now chairs.

Are behaviour and exclusions, pupil mental health and wellbeing and the effective safeguarding of you pupils among your strategic priorities this year? Why not tell us more by completing NGA’s annual governance survey and having your say on some of these key issues.

How to secure a development culture in your school or trust

Governors and trustees have a responsibility to ensure that their schools are great places to work. With new figures showing a decline in school leader retention rates, building a culture of development is essential to attract and retain staff and to secure positive outcomes for pupils. Use the NGA resources below to help your board support, influence and invest in staff development.

·        Podcast: Creating a culture of development

·        Governing board guide to school staff CPD

·        Governing board guide to executive leader CPD

·        Seminars: The governing board’s role in developing teachers and leaders

DfE releases report on school leadership characteristics and trends

The DfE have found that, although improving, school staff from minority ethnic backgrounds continue to be under represented in leadership roles compared to the wider teaching population.

The report on characteristics and trends in relation to school leadership in England 2010 to 2020 also highlighted that female teachers, who make up a high proportion of the workforce, are less represented in leadership positions, with men becoming headteachers earlier in their careers than women. 

Governing boards have a key role in ensuring that employment practices across the school/trust are inclusive and that all staff receive appropriate support and development. Governors and trustees should ensure that there are sufficient resources in place to support strategic CPD priorities and that development needs are discussed during appraisals. A culture that encourages and promotes flexible working will also help diversify the staff team.

NGA has produced guidance on the governing boards role in relation to professional development and flexible working.

National tutoring programme data to be published for each school

The number of tutoring sessions individual schools deliver, alongside the amount of funding they have been given for the roll out of the national tutoring programme, will be published this autumn.

Writing in an update to parents, Mr Zahawi said the measures would help parents to “understand how and whether” schools are supporting children that need access to tuition. Figures collected by the department will also be shared with Ofsted and together they will decide how to make best use of them. 

The letter published on bank holiday Monday has attracted criticism from sector leaders, with the Association of School and College Leaders’ general secretary, Geoff Barton accusing the DfE of “political grandstanding” and Natalie Perara, chief executive of the Education Policy Institute stating “Accountability for the NTP and its deficiencies should fall on the DfE, not individual head teachers and leaders”.

Mr Zahawi has urged schools not already offering tutoring, a key part of the DfE’s parent pledge, to sign up “as soon as possible”.

Welcome to the summer term from Emma Knights, NGA’s Chief Executive

I hope that the range of content here in this newsletter and on NGA’s Knowledge Centre speaks to the issues that you are facing as you return to govern this term. At GovernanceHQ in Birmingham we are fully aware of the many issues your schools and trusts are facing, often complicated by COVID-19 still causing absences. Furthermore, the funding available for COVID-19 recovery in many cases has not proved sufficient; however the change to funding for tutoring coming direct to schools this year should be helpful.

Cost of living increases are already affecting both schools directly and also pupils’ families. NGA has a role in advocating on your behalf to national policy makers, and we are always grateful to hear our members’ experiences as stories are powerful examples to back up the quantitative data we obtain from our annual survey.  The 2022 governance survey opened this week and we are thrilled with the immediate response: thank you to those who have already completed it. Last year we had fewer responses from those governing at academy level within multi academy trusts, often called local governing bodies, so we be especially grateful if you could forward it to colleagues who govern at academy level.

Today, Steve Edmonds, our Director of Advice and Guidance, and I are giving oral evidence to the School Teachers Review Body (STRB) as part of the formal process of setting pay for the coming year. We draw on our quantitative evidence from the survey but supplanted with nuance from the stories you are sharing with us, for example on the difficulty of recruiting senior leaders at present. So we are asking for three things: a pay settlement that takes into consideration cost of living increases, secondly one that improves both the value of starting salaries and applies an uplift to the pay of the experienced teachers and leaders we need to keep in the profession, and thirdly, sufficient funding to afford that settlement.

Although boards can do much to develop policies and a culture that means schools and trusts are great places to work, this will only take them so far without sufficient funding for fair pay. We will continue to make the case on your behalf.

Schools and trusts will also need more funding to achieve the Department for Education’s (DfE) ambitions set out in last week’s Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability strategy. While NGA has been very pleased to see this work happening, it was deeply disappointing that there was no funding accompanying the aspirations as we said on the day. We have been in discussions with the DfE about this omission, including with Robert Walker MP, the DfE minister for school standard and revenue funding, and will continue to do so.

This term has historically been when governing boards meet with senior leaders to undertake their annual review of the school vision and strategy, a vital component of the board’s core function. I do hope that this important discussion is in your timetable of meetings for this term, preferably at an ‘awayday’ all of its own. It really can’t be sandwiched between the usual items of board business. You need the space that encourages a generative mindset, being curious, thinking about things from first principles, exploring options. If a whole school/trust approach to environmental sustainability isn’t already one of your objectives, it would be worth considering. Alongside the Association of School and College Leaders and National Association of Headteachers, we produce guidance called Being Strategic. 

Very many of you downloaded our information sheets on the DfE’s school white paper and its SEND green paper from the last newsletter of the Spring term. Those policy papers will be followed by many consultations this term which we are fully engaged with and which we in turn wish to engage you too. After our podcast and an introductory webinar on the white paper next Tuesday lunchtime, we invite you to our interactive governance leadership forums where you can ask questions of key DfE officials relevant to your own situation. With regards to SEND we again have both a webinar for information and the SEND network for further discussions. We very much look forward to hearing from you.

I hope you enjoy your engagement with your schools this term and that visits to school remind you of why you put much time and effort into this activity voluntarily. 
Thank you.

Have your say in the annual governance survey

Our annual survey for school governors, trustees and local governing body /local academy committee members is open now!

This important piece of research looks to capture a snapshot of governance in 2022 and asks for your opinions and experiences on key and current educational topics, including academisation, local governance arrangements, support for families, disadvantage and school/trust funding. 

Your responses will help us to campaign on the issues that matter to your board and shape our response to the Schools white paper on the future education system.

We want to hear from all governance volunteers in England, regardless of role on the governing board or length of service. Please share it with your wider networks.

Depending on the answers you give, the survey will take around 20 minutes to complete. The survey is open until Monday 30 May at 9am.

Although this survey is for school and trust governance volunteers, we appreciate the support of governance professionals and executive leaders (if not an ex-officio governor/trustee) in sharing it with their board(s).

Complete the survey

Out Now - Welcome to Governance 13th edition

An updated 13^th edition of Welcome to Governance, NGA’s popular induction guide is out now.

Welcome to Governance is aimed at new governors, new trustees in single academy trusts and those new to governing at a local level in a MAT. It remains essential reading for anyone who wishes to gain a clear and practical understanding of governing at a single school, and for those wishing to refresh their knowledge of key roles, responsibilities and good practice.  As well as chapters which cover core strategic functions, governing effectively, the guide has new content covering financial oversight at board level and how those governing contribute towards their schools being great places to work. The glossary of commonly used acronyms have also been updated for this edition.

To find out why reading Welcome to Governance is a great way to start your journey into school governance, read our latest blog by NGA’s director of advice and guidance, Steve Edmonds.

Order a copy of Welcome to Governance here 

New governors/trustees of NGA GOLD governing boards members will receive a complimentary copy as part of their membership as well as access to our Welcome to Governance LIVE virtual sessions starting next week. The sessions will explore: what to expect – positives and challenges, top tips and support available, and how to make an impact quickly.

Ofsted publish five year strategy

Increased proportions of graded, section 5 inspections are among several actions that the education sector should expect to see from Ofsted over the next five years. In their corporate strategy, published this week, Ofsted set out eight strategic priorities, stating they would “continue to be a force for improvement” and drive improved standards of education for all pupils.

Other steps announced included:

·        the inspection of all schools by June 2025

·        inspections of local safeguarding partnerships using a new joint targeted area inspection programme

·        more summary evaluations of multi academy trusts 

·        developing and implementing a new casework system that will improve our oversight and regulatory decision-making

·        sharing insights to inform decision makers and practitioners, including the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and learners

Her Majesty’s Chief inspector, Amanda Spielman spoke at the schools and academies show this week highlighting emerging issues that schools are dealing with as a result of the pandemic and citing “children’s safety and welfare” as one of Ofsted’s top priorities.

To learn about what to expect from Ofsted inspections, read NGA’s latest guidance or catch up on NGA’s director of policy and communications, Sam Henson’s webinar.

New Information Sheet - environmental sustainability

NGA has published a new information sheet today on environmental sustainability for governors and trustees. The introductory resource includes key take aways from the Department for Education sustainability and climate change strategy published last week. At the launch of the strategy the Secretary of State for Education Nadhim Zahawi MP acknowledged the scale of the climate challenge and stated that “positive action” is required from the education sector. He announced that by 2025 a natural history GCSE would be introduced as well as climate action plans and a sustainability lead within each school.

Read our introductory information sheet on environmental sustainability on the Knowledge Centre and join our Greener Governance campaign.

New statutory duties for schools as Skills Bill becomes law

Schools will be required to ensure all children have the opportunity to meet providers of technical education such as T Levels and apprenticeships as part of their careers education curriculum offer. The laws passed yesterday, through the Skills and Post-16 Education Act aim to transform the skills and training landscape and help economic recovery and growth.

Skills to support the emerging green economy will be prioritised and employers and colleges will be encouraged to work together to identify the skills and jobs needed in the local area.

Produced in collaboration with the Careers and Enterprise Company, our guide for governing boards in the secondary phase explains how your board support and challenge your school or trust to meet the Gatsby Benchmarks – the recognised blueprint for high-quality careers guidance. 

Find out more on the white paper at NGA’s Governance Leadership Forums

Following the release of the new white paper, ‘Opportunity for all: strong schools with great teachers for your child’, we are delighted that we will be joined at our summer term Governance Leadership Forums by Paul Cohen - Deputy Director, Governance and Trust Development Division, DfE who will present and discuss the implications of the white paper.

Summer term leadership forum schedule
MAT Governance Leadership Forum - 16 May, 4.30-6.00pm
Local Academy Committee Forum - 17 May, 4.30-6.00pm
Local Authority maintained schools Governance Leadership Forum - 6 June, 4.30-6.00pm
Single Academy Trust Governance Leadership Forum - 9 June, 4.30-6.00pm

We will also be focussing on the SEND and alternative provision green paper at our SEND Network meeting in June and will be joined by a representative from the DfE to discuss the Government’s vision for a single, national SEND and alternative provision (AP).

Survey reveals latest data on funding challenges faced by schools

57% of senior leaders say that catch up funding has been insufficient, with primary school leaders significantly more likely to report the financial shortfall than secondary schools. Research published last week by the Sutton Trust, also highlighted the impact of the pandemic and the cost of living crisis as likely causes of school provision being cut, with a third of leaders using their pupil premium to plug funding gaps.

The report follows the Education Policy Institute’s (EPI) latest blog, welcoming the government’s decision to permanently extend free school meals (FSM) to children from families with no recourse to public funds. It highlights the role FSM have in addressing food poverty and improving children’s physical health, attendance and attainment.

NGA has a range of guidance for boards to help ensure the effective use of pupil premium funding in their school or trust. The Education Endowment Foundation has recently published a new evidence brief which identifies research that schools can use when deciding how to use their pupil premium funding.

New data spotlights school leader retention crisis

Increasing numbers of school leaders are leaving their roles after less than five years in post, this is according to DfE data obtained by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT). The data also details a similar trend for that of assistant and deputy heads and middle leaders, demonstrating a decline across every category of school leadership since 2018.

Giving oral evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB), NAHT’s general secretary, Paul Whiteman attributed the retention crisis to cuts in pay as well as “high stakes accountability, crushing workload, long hours, and inadequate school funding”.

However, the DfE maintains that “the overall picture of school leadership in England is positive” with a spokesperson stating “vacancy rates are low and the quality of leadership is high, but we do recognise school leaders have faced challenges”.

Boards have a duty to support their school leaders and ensure wellbeing is prioritised. NGA’s wellbeing evaluation tool invites participants to reflect on the approach taken towards staff wellbeing at board and operational level.

Updated guidance on what governing boards and school leaders should expect from each other

The sixth edition of the popular guidance jointly produced by NGA and the national professional organisations, which covers what governing boards and school leaders should expect from each other has been published. In a departure from the previous five editions, there are now two separate versions: one for governing boards and headteachers in single schools and federations and another for multi academy trust boards and CEOs.  Both versions are focused on ensuring relationships between school leaders and governing boards are as effective as possible, and improve outcomes for children and young people, through:

• Respecting respective roles
• Working together to set a strategy
• Stakeholder engagement
• Ensuring your school/trust is a great place to work
• Making governance effective
• Ways of working

 Read the sixth edition of the “what governors and school leaders expect of each other” guidance here

COVID-19 update: Calls for more support to deal with ongoing disruption

Disruption caused by COVID-19 is greater now than at any previous point during the pandemic, according to many school leaders. A joint letter to the Secretary of State from NAHT and ASCL points to the “government’s apparent lack of concern” as leaders grapple with it becoming increasingly difficult to keep schools open. The letter repeats a request to reinstate free access to testing while calling for a rethink on the decisions to publish school performance tables this year and the sharing of Key Stage 2 SATs results with Ofsted.

Latest government figures on attendance showed that Covid-related pupil absence on 17 March was 2.5%, up from 0.7% the previous fortnight, and teacher and leader absence was 9.1%, up from 5.8%.

In view of the ongoing disruption it remains important that boards should receive assurance that their schools  maintain capability to provide remote education when it is not possible for some or all of their pupils to attend in person. Visit the NGA Knowledge Centre to find out more about the measures that reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission and minimise potential disruption to pupils' education.

The emerging picture on education recovery

Catch up strategies are continuing to be used effectively to identify areas of concern but the wider impact of the pandemic is continuing to be felt, particularly in early years.  Ofsted’s latest briefing on education recovery  highlights overall clear signs of improvements but casts concern on the impact of high levels of absence on pupil mental health and behaviour. Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman said she was “particularly worried about younger children’s development”. The report emphasizes the continuing impact on communication and language development as well as the negative implications for children’s personal, social and emotional development.

However, the report does indicate that school leaders are responding well by putting measures in place including staff modelling positive behaviour to develop the youngest pupils’ understanding of sharing and listening skills and creating calm atmospheres where possible.

Secretary of State’s letter to LAs about Ukrainian children school admissions

All children and young people arriving under government schemes to support those fleeing the war in Ukraine have the right to access education and childcare whilst in the UK.

In a letter to local authorities (LAs), the Secretary of State for Education has set out his expectation that LAs will work with families arriving from Ukraine to enable the children to attend school as soon as possible. The letter makes it clear this should be the case even if places are not in the immediate vicinity of the family’s home.  Where necessary, LAs are being asked to apply flexibilities to admit above published admission number (PAN), even if it means exceeding the infant class size limit.

To support this process, the Department has updated its guidance on school access rights for pupils from overseas and will add some questions and answers to the Homes for Ukraine frequently asked questions page. If you have any questions about access to school places for children arriving from Ukraine, please email SSPO.DfE@education.gov.uk

The missing pool of talent on governing boards

NGA is working to increase governing board diversity and the number of volunteers from underrepresented groups. A recent report from GovernorHub supports this ambition to ‘broaden the talent pool on boards’, setting out findings that focus on increasing the public profile and understanding of school governance.
 
NGA’s long-standing Everyone on Board campaign and increasing participation research report highlight the benefits of diverse boards and support those governing to recruit and retain volunteers with a balance and diversity of skills, experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and attributes. A range of board diversity and inclusion resources are available on the NGA website.
 
Our latest podcast features two members of NGA’s Young Governors’ Network who talk about their experiences of being a young governor, the importance of diversity of thought and representation on boards and what they have learnt from governing.

National Association for Environmental Education to launch their manifesto

The National Association for Environmental Education (NAEE) is set to launch their manifesto later this month aimed at guiding a range of educators including governing board to improve their school or trusts environmental sustainability. The manifesto sets out 16 commitments that will help to do this. This is a free event taking place 28 April 5-6pm which you can book onto via their booking page.

NAEE supported the creation of NGA’s current environmental sustainability guidance, advocating for a whole school or trust approach through using the 4 Cs of sustainability; campus, curriculum, culture and community.

New membership benefit – a responsible approach to salary benchmarking

NGA members can now access a robust, affordable salary benchmarking service built exclusively for education at a discounted price as part your NGA membership. The service is offered through Pay in Education (PiE) and can help your organisation make informed decisions on how to spend the pay budget. The PiE salary benchmarking tool is available for MATs, single academy trusts and maintained schools.

Executive pay in academy trusts in particular has been a reoccurring issue for the sector in recent years. Following the release of our guidance on executive pay , NGA has been keen to establish further support for providing boards. PiE provide expertise in reward and education and understand the nuances of benchmarking salaries in our sector.

If you have questions for the PiE team or want to enquire about a quote for an annual subscription. email subscriptions@payineducation.co.uk

PiE’s approach ensures users can access data, which is appropriate, tailored, and relevant to each trust, whilst ensuring GDPR compliance and anonymity of data. Contact PiE and take advantage of a discounted subscription as part of your NGA membership.

For more information on exactly what PiE can offer your trust, visit the PiE website.

Governing Chatters - a double bill!

NGA has brand new podcast episodes available to listen now!
In our latest episode, Emma Knights is joined by Sam Henson and Steve Edmonds to discuss the recently published white paper ‘Opportunity for all and the the green paper on the SEND review.
Emma, Sam and Steve discuss what was included, what boards need to know and what NGA would like to have seen included.

Last week’s episode focused on young governors, as Sam Tranter was joined by two members of NGA’s Young Governors’ Network, Anju Dhir and Matthew McKirgan to talk about their experiences of being a young governor, the importance of diversity of thought and representation on boards and what they have learnt from governing.

Listen to both episodes here or on your favourite podcast platform.

NGA support and development for chairs

Chairing a board is a complex and challenging role. NGA provides a range of guidance and development opportunities to support governing board chairs:

• Leading Governance Development for Chairs programme – a blend of flexible learning and workshops with opportunities to network.
• Time management tips for chairs – practical advice on managing the role.
• Co-chairing in practice – how to share the role of chair.
• The Chair’s Handbook – essential reading for chairs of governing boards.
   

New Learning Link modules – how to run panels

Three brand new modules are available to all users on Learning Link:
How to: run an effective admissions appeal panel provides an introduction as to how panel members, panel chairs and clerks can fulfill their roles effectively.

How to: run an effective HR review panel supports panel members through the process and general principles of running an effective HR panel.

How to: run an effective complaints review panel comprehensively demonstrates how panel members, panel chairs and clerks can fulfill their roles effectively at each stage of the process.

Each module uses a step-by-step walk-through approach and a case study of an example panel to demonstrate how to run these panel effectively, and also provide useful examples of questions to ask and templates to use.

These modules complete the panel suite which also includes the modules Panel work: an introduction and How to: run an effective exclusion review panel. Each module can be found under the Pupil Success and Wellbeing and Clerking collections on Learning Link.
If your school or trust does not already subscribe to Learning Link, find out more about how our e-learning can benefit you, or sign up for a free trial today.

A major week for the future of education

The arrival of the government’s long awaited white paper for the education system and it’s SEND and alternative provision green paper have dominated education news this week. This special edition newsletter brings you a round-up of the key policy proposals.

For further detail on the proposed policies, NGA has published:

• a white paper summary and SEND green paper summary
• a direct response to both the white paper and green paper 

White paper – Opportunity for all

The release of a white paper marks the first such publication since 2016, providing a mixture of previously announced national policies, with a number of new ones. It contains some constructive insight on the future of national education policy, building on the ambitions from the government for a “flourishing school system”. As we expected, it also sets out the government’s plan for a fully trust based system, but it does not go so far as to mandate its arrival.

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said the release marked “levelling up in action” but the overall reception to the white paper has been mixed, with many sector commentators noting the lack of new announcements. Commenting on the release on Monday, NGA chief executive said, “the totality of what has been published today is somewhat underwhelming and a missed opportunity to tackle the big issues facing pupils”.  For NGA’s full response visit our news page.  

A key role for governance

Governance was a noteworthy feature in this week’s release. Firstly, the department has included the need for “strategic governance” within its new definition of what constitutes a strong trust. This specifically references the requirement for ethical standards and a strong local identity.

The importance of local governance within multi academy trusts (MATs) has also been acknowledged as a key part of the future trust-based system. The DfE included its expectation for all MATs having local governance arrangements for their schools “so that trusts continue to be responsive to parents and local communities”.

NGA has been a leading voice in the sector’s conversation around local governance. Our recent blog  questions if now is the time to set the standard for local governance in MATs, while our latest thought piece MAT governance – the future is local, explores lessons from over a decade of local governance practice.

The following updates highlight the key policy announcements in each of the white paper’s four chapters:

An excellent teacher for every child

The paper makes an important and welcome acknowledgement of the need to secure sustained teaching and school improvement through CPD opportunities. While the DfE state that improving the quality of teaching is the “single most important in-school factor” in improving outcomes, Sam Freedman, previously a senior policy adviser under Michael Gove, told Tes this “entire chapter…is a rehash of existing policy”. The reiteration of previously announced policy initiatives includes the early careers framework, expansion of NPQ’s and the £30,000 starting salaries for teachers.

In terms of new policies, there will be a consultation on a new leadership level NPQ for SENCOs, a scholarship to attract language graduates and a new Initial Teacher Training course aimed at supporting engineers to teach physics.

Delivering high standards of curriculum, behaviour and attendance

Chapter 2 introduces a minimum expectation on the length of the school week of 32.5 hours by September 2023. While aimed at addressing the current discrepancy in teaching times, it is not statutory, and schools can in theory, fulfil this by adding more time on to break or lunchtime.  However, the white paper stated that Ofsted will be looking at this when they inspect schools.

The requirement falls short of the additional 30 minutes of high quality teaching time that Sir Kevan Collins previously called for in his former role as education recovery commissioner. Paul Whiteman, NAHT general secretary told the BBC that "simply adding five or 10 minutes to a day is unlikely to bring much, if any, benefit."

Other policies announced in this section include a literacy and numeracy test for a sample of year nine pupils, which has received a mixed reaction, while legislation to “modernise” rules on recording attendance appear to have been broadly welcomed.

Targeted support for every child who needs it

Every pupil who falls behind in English or maths will receive targeted support, with the government introducing a Parent Pledge as part of an increased emphasis on parental engagement. The pledge ensures that parents are kept informed about their child’s progress and will see schools providing evidence-based support such as tutoring.

ParentKind responded positively to this development, highlighting that parental participation makes a huge difference to ensuring children reach their academic potential.

The white paper cemented tutoring as a “permanent feature of our school system”, bolstered by a DfE announcement this week confirming a move away from external tutoring providers. From next academic year, schools will receive funding directly to facilitate tutoring; a move welcomed by school leaders.

Concerns raised over government’s proposals on pupil premium spending

The white paper has raised the issue of the potential watering down of pupil premium funding after the government indicated that the money can be used to support literacy and numeracy skills “where needed”. Carole Willis, CEO of the National Foundation for Educational Research, speaking to Tes, warned that the suggestion that pupil premium would be "watered down" was a "concern".

While “driving up the attainment of disadvantaged children” is cited in the white paper as the core focus of the pupil premium, it was also linked to being key in delivering the Parent Pledge, a universal recovery intervention. David Laws, Executive Chairman of the Education Policy Institute (EPI), said “it is disappointing that there is no commitment to a really big reduction of the disadvantage gap between the poorest pupils and the rest, in the ambitions set for 2030.”

The DfE have produced a menu of recommended approaches to pupil premium spending, based on evidence published by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), who will benefit from £100 million in government funding as part of the plans.

NGA’s view is that pupil premium spending should be targeted at those who need it most, to address inequity in education. We have already raised our concerns with the Department directly on this point.

Fully trust-based system

One of the most newsworthy passages in the white paper was a commitment that “all children will benefit from being taught in a family of schools” by 2030, meaning their school would either be in a MAT, or planning to join or form one. However, there was a lack of concrete proposals for how single academy trusts (SATs) or maintained schools will be persuaded to join MATs. The government has committed to engaging with the sector on how to achieve this goal, with no suggestion at this point of forcing schools to academise. This section was also accompanied by an additional publication – The Case for a fully trust led system which NGA chief executive said was “unlikely to be enough to inspire all decision makers that joining a trust is in the best interest of their pupils”.

However, the white paper did include a number of new policy proposals around both academisation and the development of trusts, including:

• new powers for the Department to academise schools where requested by their local authority (LA)
• the ability for LAs to be involved in the creation of new MATs with Department's approval
• a new policy of forcibly academising schools with two consecutive below ‘good’ Ofsted judgements
• a consultation on exceptional circumstances in which a good school could request that the regulator agrees to the school moving to a stronger trust

All of these proposals will be subject to consultation before becoming law.

The white paper also signaled some shifts in Department policy – limiting the proportion of schools in a local area run by an individual trust, and expecting that trusts should serve at least 7,500 pupils or 10 schools so they have the scale to develop central capacity.

The Green Paper – SEND Review: Right support, right place, right time

The long-awaited SEND Review was published this week with Nadhim Zahawi, Education Secretary, promising “a more inclusive and financially sustainable system, where every child and young person will have access to the right support, in the right place, at the right time”.
It sets out the government’s proposed reforms to SEND and AP provision and addresses three key challenges:

• outcomes for children and young people with SEN or in AP are poor
• navigating the SEND system and alternative provision is not a positive experience for children, young people and their families
• despite unprecedented investment, the system is not delivering value for money for children, young people and families

The delivery of the plans is set out in chapter 6 of the review and includes the publication of a national SEND and alternative provision delivery plan and a new National SEND Delivery Board.

Appearing on the BBC news channel on Tuesday, Steve Edmonds, NGA’s director of advice and guidance welcomed the publication of the Green Paper but stated that it’s delay means it “needs to be fired by bold improvements and system change that has to come quickly”. For NGA’s full response, visit our news page.
 

A single national SEND/AP system

Decisions about the support and provision offered to society’s most vulnerable children should be based on their needs, in co-production with families, not on where they live or the setting they attend. The green paper proposes a new national SEND and alternative provision system, setting national standards and new local SEND partnerships, including units within mainstream, alternative and specialist provision to help realise this ambition.

The proposals mean that education settings will have greater clarity about the SEND support that they are expected to deliver, as well as engaging in strategic decision making in their local area.

With 8,600 appeals made in 2020-21, up 8% on the previous year, highlighting the “increasing frustration” of parents and carers with the system. The SEND Review also proposes reforms to the process that addresses EHCP disputes. It proposes mandatory mediation, making it easier to resolve disputes earlier and retain tribunals for the most challenging cases.

NGA’s guide to SEND and the governing board includes a comprehensive checklist of SEND responsibilities and aims to help governors and trustees secure high-quality outcomes for pupils with SEND.

Support from early years to adulthood

There is a clear requirement to build a “continuum of support” where the need for each child and young person is targeted and identified as early as possible and continues into adulthood. The green paper proposes to achieve this largely by increasing the total investment in a number of different SEND provision initiatives, detailed in NGA’s information summary sheet. Increasing knowledge and expertise within the sector is seen as vital, and so the green paper also proposes to consult on the introduction of a new SENCo National Professional Qualfication (NPQ).

This overall approach has been widely welcomed, with Geoff Barton, General Secretary of ASCL noting it as “right and sensible”, although the sector generally seems to share NGA’s view that the proposals should have arrived a long time ago.

The importance of the relationship between the governing board and the SENCo is also emphasised, and  as stated in NGA’s guidance for governing boards, the relationship between the SENCo and the governing board will continue to be key to the effective governance of SEND and ensuring positive outcomes for children and young people with SEND.

A reformed and integrated role for alternative provision

The quality of alternative education provision (AP) is inconsistent across the country, with only 4.5% of pupils who attend AP passing GCSE English and maths. A reformed AP system set out in the green paper have been widely welcomed.

The paper recognises the positive role AP can play in supporting children facing challenges in their education and proposes to create a national vision, delivered by an integrated SEND and AP system with clear national standards.

The proposals also include greater funding stability for APs, the opportunity to join a trust, greater oversight and transparency of pupil movements and a call for evidence on the use of unregistered provision.

Proposed reforms mean mainstream schools will have a “clear, tiered package of support”, building capacity to address a range of needs that present a barrier to learning.

While NGA welcomes the government’s proposals, we will be calling for greater clarity on how the proposals will be achieved and resourced.

System roles, accountabilities and funding reform

Voices across the sector agree that significant SEND funding reforms are desperately needed. Responding to the green paper, Annamarie Hassall MBE, nasen CEO and Chair of Whole School SEND commented: “It is…critical that we resolve the inequalities in funding…These inequalities are currently leading to the rationing of vital therapeutic services, such as speech and language therapy, and mental health support.”

The government aims to strengthen accountability across the education, health and care systems, enabling it to be more transparent and consistent. Proposals include a new inspection framework, consistent national benchmarking and new funding agreements between local government and the DfE.
Sector leaders hope that fair and consistent funding, together with robust accountability, will help providers to deliver effective services and give parents confidence in the system.

More information about the green paper and the proposals within it can be found in NGA’s green paper summary.

New NGA guidance, tools and e-learning

NGA has revised the hugely popular ‘questions governing boards should ask themselves’ to support boards self-evaluate and improve their practice. The 20 questions for single school governing boards and the 21 questions for MAT boards have been updated, and 16 questions for academy committees (LGBs) have been added.

COVID-19 update: increasing pupil and staff absence

Increasing numbers of pupils are missing school due to COVID-19. Department for Education (DfE) attendance data shows that pupil attendance fell from 92.2% on 3 March to 89.7% on 17 March, reversing the positive trend seen previously. Special schools remain worse affected than mainstream schools.

Many schools are also facing high staff absence, with 9.1% of teachers and school leaders absent on 17 March, up from 5.8% on 3 March.

Visit the NGA Knowledge Centre for guidance on reducing COVID-19 related risks and education recovery.

Chancellor’s spring statement - no extra cash for schools

Despite the pressures caused by increasing energy bills, increased staff absence/ supply teacher costs and providing extra services, the Chancellor’s spring statement did not include any additional financial help for schools.

Schools will have to rely on the investment announced in 2019 (£7.1 billion) and 2021 (£4.7 billion), which served to only to return their funding to 2010 levels.

For some governing boards, the continuing squeeze on school budgets will make provision for future pay awards unaffordable unless savings are found elsewhere. There is also likely to be an impact on retention rates as experienced teachers and leaders will see the real value of their pay fall under the government’s current pay proposals.

In our evidence submitted to the School Teacher Review Body earlier this month, we called on the government to cover the costs of pay rises that are needed over the next three years to cover inflation and ensure that teacher pay is made more competitive.

Finding the balance: new Governing Matters out now

The latest edition of Governing Matters is available to read online now. In this issue we explore how you can make a success of the vital partnership between the board and executive. David Weston, CEO of the Teacher Development Trust, outlines the key elements to create a culture of improvement in schools and Vivienne Porritt, vice-president of the Chartered College of Teaching highlights the extent and consequences of the gender pay gap in schools.

We also have the third instalment from our Greener Governance campaign as we highlight the work some schools are undertaking, while Sam Henson celebrates the local tier of MAT governance. 
Download your copy now

New report: The future of qualifications and assessment in England

GCSEs are “versatile and valued qualifications” but there is “room for innovation”, according to findings published this week by Pearson. In their report, Qualified to succeed, Pearson identify the need for a system wide approach with a more “coherent and broad-based curriculum that is better able to connect with and inspire young people” also highlighting the need for greater diversity and representation in the curriculum.

Other recommendations include more incentives for employers to engage with educators and strengthen teachers’ capacity to bring work themes into the classroom.

The learning company added “action is needed to ensure the government’s policies succeed in supporting young people to gain the skills they need and help the UK ‘level-up’”.

NGA have been engaging in this topic through a working group to gather the views of members around the future of the assessment system. This report will contribute to, and inform NGAs work moving forward.

Teacher recruitment and retention concerns

The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) have reported that many recruitment targets will be missed this year, while retention rates are also falling. Published this week, NFER’s annual report state a resurgence in the wider labour market and limited capacity in schools for supporting trainees were among reasons for recruitment issues, while high workload and teacher pay down 7-9% in real terms are impacting on retention.

While governing boards cannot solve the most structural problems, they can take steps to make their organisation as attractive as possible to current employees and potential recruits. NGA have published guidance for those governing on managing teacher workload and wellbeing, and a guide to flexible working in schools. We have also published an interactive tool for boards on supporting their school leaders’ wellbeing.

Free school meal eligibility permanently extended to children affected by NRPF

Children from families with no access to public funds (NRPF) will now have permanent entitlement to free school meals (FSM). The announcement made yesterday by Children and Families Minister, Will Quince, is a victory for Marcus Rashford’s child poverty campaign and others who have been calling for the temporary extension of FSM entitlement during the pandemic to be made permanent.

Josephine Whitaker-Yilmaz, policy and public affairs manager at charity Praxis, said “this decision could not come at a better time” due to cost of living is rising rapidly. However, she has urged the department for clarification as to whether children who are affected by NRPF because their parents have insecure or irregular immigration status will benefit from this change.

NGA are currently working with partners to develop new guidance on the governing board’s role in school food provision. If you would like to share your thoughts on this topic you can get in touch by emailing Fiona.fearon@nga.org.uk.

All schools to have high speed internet by 2025

All schools will be able to access high speed internet by 2025, with schools most in need of WiFi upgrades to benefit from £150 million in government funding. Speaking at the Bett Show this week, Nadhim Zahawi, Education Secretary also shared plans to publish a set of technology standards. The standards aim to support schools and colleges in understanding which technologies they should have in place to best support effective teaching. He described the education sector’s experience of the pandemic as a “springboard to embed new and better ways of using technology in schools, and across education”.

The announcement follows the recent publication of a DfE report exploring the relationship between schools’ digital maturity and attainment. Using data from the education technology (EdTech) survey: 2020 to 2021, the report found that just 9% of schools were classified as being digitally mature.

To learn more about education technology you can attend the upcoming EdTech festival, designed to inspire educators and leaders to integrate technology into their practice, to enhance opportunities and outcomes for young people.

Final call for the Governance Professional conference

Our sixth annual conference for clerks, governance managers, company secretaries and other governance professionals is fast approaching, but there is still time to secure your place for one of the most important events in NGA’s calendar. The conference is taking place next week, 30 - 31 March, 10:00-12:30pm.

The conference boasts a packed agenda exploring a career framework for governance professionals, the role and experience of Company Secretaries, guidance on salary benchmarking and the implications for governance professionals of a growing MAT sector. We are delighted that Mark Blois, Head of Education at Browne Jacobson will be joining us to give you a legal update and we will also be hearing from Clare Collins on the result of NGA’s consultation on 20 & 21 Questions.

Visit our events page to book your place.

Raising the quality of PE and school sport

Ofsted has highlighted factors that contribute to a high quality school physical education (PE) curriculum in a research review published this week.

PE, together with school sport and other physical activity, supports pupils’ mental health, social wellbeing and wider development. Effective delivery can offer opportunities rich in personal development as well as creating opportunities for increased overall attainment.

NGA’s PE and school sport guidance outlines how governing boards can influence and support the planning and delivery of PE and monitor the impact. The guidance features a case study showing how one school encourages girls – particularly those of Muslim faith – to be physically active.

Changes to the school suspension and permanent exclusion process due to COVID-19

Statutory guidance describing temporary changes to the school suspensions and permanent exclusions process will not apply to suspensions and exclusions that occur from 25 March 2022 onwards. This brings an end to temporary arrangements regarding the use of remote access technology for meetings of governing boards and independent review panels (IRPs), unless the exclusion being considered occurred up to and inclusive of 24 March.

Governing boards and IRPs must ensure that meetings take place within the normal statutory timescales described in the statutory guidance suspensions and permanent exclusions from maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units in England.

The DfE is currently seeking views on revised exclusion guidance that could make virtual meetings a permanent option in any circumstances.

22% fall in GCSE design and technology uptake as government push vocational study routes

The uptake of GCSE design and technology has fallen by 22% since 2009 according to research published this week by the Education Policy Institute (EPI). A focus on the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), was cited as a “potential factor”, along with a decrease of over 6,000 design and technology teachers. The report also found that school governance changes are linked with the fall in numbers, with sponsor led academies most likely to have a below average uptake of the subject.

It comes as the government is attempting to push vocational education through the introduction of T-levels, apprenticeship reforms and Institutes of Technology. Emphasising the importance of a broad and balanced curriculum, a spokesperson for the DfE said that Design and Technology can “teach young people vital practical skills, inspire their creativity, and help their wellbeing”.

Governing boards have a crucial role in making sure their school/trust prioritises providing pupils with a broad and balanced curriculum, providing a range of experiences vital to sustaining wellbeing and to improving life chances. Visit NGA’s Knowledge Centre to  learn more about your role in ensuring an effective curriculum .

Making a decision on your future school structure

Thank you very much to those who responded to our request to hear more about boards’ deliberations on whether to join a multi academy trust (MAT). That intelligence has been invaluable during our discussions with the Department for Education (DfE) on the forthcoming Schools White Paper, and Emma Knights our Chief Executive summarises the gathered evidence here and covered today in Schools Week here.

The White Paper expected shortly will set out the Secretary of State for Education’s vision for the schools sector, including all schools in the long-term to be within a MAT. So far he has said that governors of maintained schools and trustees of single academy trusts will remain in the decision-making seat.  NGA as ever remains committed to making sure you have the best possible information for making these important decisions. Once we see the White Paper, GOLD members may want to discuss any issues with our GOLDline advisers, and we will be updating our guidance as soon as we can after its publication.

As the advocates of good and meaningful local governance, NGA was very pleased to that the DfE has already announced that a strengthening of local governance within MATs will be included in the White Paper. We will continue to help establish and spread what ‘good and meaningful’ look like. If you govern a MAT, please join us next Thursday, at 4pm at our termly MATs Network to continue that conversation.

Government release latest report: Inclusive Britain

In response to the report by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, the government has published their report, Inclusive Britain. The report sets out their action plan to address race and ethnic disparities in Britain, including a more inclusive curriculum, and school hair and uniform policy. The importance of an inclusive uniform policy was also emphasised in an article by the Guardian, where a poll of 500 teachers found that only 12% said they had received equality and diversity training that included policies on hair
 
Although the government has plans to address these issues, equality diversity and inclusion (EDI) should be at the forefront of the minds of governors and trustees. This means considering equality implications before and at the time that they develop policies and take decisions, not as an afterthought. EDI matters are something that governing boards need to keep under review on a continuous basis – this is not only the right thing to do but will also help ensure that schools and trusts comply with their Public Sector Equality Duty.
 
DfE advice to help schools understand how the Equality Act affects them and how to fulfil their duties under the Act can be found here. NGA has also produced guidance for governing boards on Equality and diversity: responsibilities, culture and impact and Information on developing uniform policies.

Supporting ethnic minority teachers

School leaders should be “deliberate and proactive” in facilitating open dialogue around race when looking at staff retention, as outlined in a new research based guide for schools. The guide, released by UCL researchers and school leaders in the ASCL Ethnic Diversity Network, draws attention to recruitment and retention practices in education, with a specific focus on how they affect ethnic minority teachers.

The guide also calls for school leaders to be mindful of how teachers are deployed and promoted  and  willing to recognise and tackle ‘whiteness’ as a cultural norm.  
 
Governing boards should also be proactive in working collaboratively senior leaders to develop a good understanding of  recruitment and retention practices. In order to cultivate an inclusive approach, boards should consider the projects, systems, or programmes that are in place to promote equity for all, and how they can be improved.  This information should then be used to inform meaningful action and practices. Consistent deliberate action is essential to long term progress.

Ofqual advise school leaders on supporting pupils in the lead up exam season

The Ofqual chief regulator, Jo Saxton has advised that schools can use special considerations to help pupils ease their stress and anxiety around exams. Speaking at the ASCL conference, Dr Jo Saxton said “a one-size-fits-all approach” would not work for everything and that a “whole package” of support and flexibility would provide a fair way forward for 2022.

In 2022, results will reflect a staging post between 2021 and 2019. This will act as a safety net for those students who might otherwise just miss out on a higher grade. 2022 national results are likely to be higher than in 2019, but not as high as in 2021.

Recent research indicates that the return of exams and assessments correlates with the increase in pupils feeling stressed and anxious. Governing boards should engage with stakeholders and senior leaders to understand how the school promotes positive mental wellbeing and provides support to pupils during this time. Visit the Knowledge Centre to find out more about how boards can make a positive impact on pupil mental health and wellbeing.

Investigating measures to improve attendance

Sending personalized letters or texts to parents can help improve attendance, according to the findings of a review by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF). The review examined 72 attendance related studies, and while it found evidence “of promise for several strategies”, including parental engagement, the wider quality of evidence on how to reduce absenteeism was found to be weak.

The study looks at the evidence for eight different approaches – including parental engagement, incentives and disincentives and mentoring – to identify strategies that could help boost attendance. For example, engaging with social workers to identify high absences due to transport issues and intervening by assigning an older ​“walking buddy”. Overall, the review found that very few studies took place in English schools, and were unable to draw solid conclusions.

The EEF has partnered with the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) to address this evidence gap by finding, funding and trialing different approaches to improve attendance and reduce exclusions.

Join NGA’s Fiona Fearon and Dr Sam Tranter for their webinar Thursday 21 April 2022 4.30-5pm discussing the board’s role and responsibilities in improving and maintaining good attendance and what that might look like in practice. Book your place by visiting our events page.

Education Committee scrutinise success of the National Tutoring Programme under Ranstad

The National Tutoring Programme (NTP) has come under fire by the Education Committee this week, with Chair, Robert Halfron, calling for the contract with Ranstad to be revoked.

It was critisised for its “misleading data” on the number of children that have benefited from the programme and lack of detail on how many are from disadvantaged backgrounds. Responding, Robin Walker, Education Minister, assured MPs that with the continued growth of the NTP’s more successful school led route, it was likely to hit its target of two million starts. Mr Walker also promised a progress report by the end of March as well as indicating that long term, tutoring will become “a standard part of the system”.

Concerns were also raised by the committee over the draft terms of reference for the UK COVID-19 inquiry, calling for a focus on the impact that school closures had on the mental health, wellbeing and life chances of young people.

As governing boards and school leaders continue to focus on pupil wellbeing and recovering lost learning, we encourage members to refer to our COVID-19 education recovery priorities.

Reviewing your plans for school governance visits

Many governors and trustees have once again started to experience school life, culture and ethos first-hand in recent weeks. While all governing boards are mindful of ongoing disruption related to COVID-19, now may be a suitable time to construct or review a schedule of visits that aligns with your strategic priorities and plans for COVID-19 recovery.

·        Use our school visits guidance, report template, schedule and policy to support your planning

·        Review any link governor/trustee responsibilities to ensure these roles are effective and well understood

·        Subscribers to NGA Learning Link can complete a module to help make the best use of visits to school 

Visit NGA’s updated research page!

The NGA research page has recently been updated to make it easy and clear for you and others that may be interested in our research to view. NGA research spans a broad range of policy areas as well as focusing in on governance roles and school structures. You can explore all of our latest and current research as well as our historic research which can be found in the research archive.
 
Our latest research includes: 

·        Annual school governance survey (2021)

·        Closing the gender pay gap (2021)

·        School and trust governance professionals: 2021 and beyond

·        Increasing participation in school and trust governance (2021)

Supporting governance professionals

If you are a new governance professional, or have recently appointed one, NGA has developed a suite of e-learning modules providing new and aspiring clerks with the basics they need to start performing standard clerking tasks in any setting with more confidence.

Hundreds of governance professionals have completed these modules since they were released and developed their skills and knowledge. Here is what some of them had to say about their experience with these modules:

“As someone who has never been a clerk before this was a helpful, gentle introduction to what is expected of me”
 
“I am an experienced clerk of many years, completing the clerking modules as a refresher. I have still found ways to improve my practice. This was very clear and concise and helpful”

“I would have found these modules very helpful and reassuring when I was new to the job a couple of years ago.”

The modules complement the guidance and resources on the governance professional webpage. They also provide a first-step in preparation for further CPD such as the Level 3 certificate in the clerking of school and academy governing boards.

Learning Link users can find these modules under the Clerking collection. Keep an eye out for further modules covering clerking in new contexts and running different panels coming soon.

Governance professionals can also sign up to attend NGA’s Governance Professionals Conference – this must attend event comes to you over the course of two days on 30 and 31 March.

NGA is recruiting!

NGA is excited to announce two new opportunities to join our team, for more information on how to apply, please visit our vacancies page.

Public relations manager
This is a hybrid working model (2 days in the Birmingham office, 3 days homebased), however can be offered as a remote homebased role upon request. You will join us on a full time, permanent basis working 37.5 hours per week, and in return, you will receive a competitive starting salary of £33,075 - £38,850 per annum depending on experience.

Regional development lead – London and South East
This is a homebased role to cover the South East, London and East of England regions. You will join the newly formed Governance Development team on a full time, permanent basis working 37.5 hours per week, and in return, you will receive a starting salary of £39,000 per annum. As part of our flexible working, we are also willing to consider a four day a week contract, part time for one region or full time for all of the regions.

Interim findings of attendance audit published

Interim findings from the Children’s Commissioner’s attendance audit, were published this week highlighting what Dame Rachel de Souza DBE described as “a very concerning situation”.

The results of the survey, issued to every local authority (LA) in England, found that in Autumn 2021 there were 1,782,000 pupils persistently absent (missing over 10% of sessions) from education and 124,000 pupils severely absent (missing over 50% of sessions).

The report identified four potential solutions to improve school attendance including a review of how schools collect data. It follows Ofsted’s report, Securing good attendance and tackling persistent absence, published last month highlighting the importance of governing boards in setting clear direction for leaders on promoting attendance and challenging absence.

As part of our ‘Questions for governing boards to ask: raising standards’ collection, we encourage boards to look beyond the overall school attendance figure, consider variations in attendance and punctuality of different student groups and explore some of the issues that could be lying behind the absence. Visit our Knowledge Centre to find out more.

South East Regional Forum – your opportunity to put your questions to Ofsted

Join us at the South East Regional Forum, Tuesday 15 March, 4.00-6.00pm.

We are delighted to be joined by Matthew Purves, Ofsted Regional Director, South East who will be giving a regional perspective on Ofsted inspections and taking your questions. This is your chance to hear the latest updates from Ofsted and share your experiences of inspection.

In addition, we will also be joined by Richard Tyson, Director of Teaching School hubs who will be outlining ‘effective professional development for teachers and school leaders, challenges and opportunities’.   
       
Visit the events page to book your place now.

Schools White Paper: New independent government body to focus on supporting teachers

The Education Secretary, Nadhim Zahawi has announced plans for a new independent government body to support teachers in delivering excellent curriculum content, continuing the mission to level up education.

Speaking at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) conference, Mr Zahawi set out how the upcoming launch of the Schools White Paper will deliver on the vision for excellent teaching, through:

·        converting the Oak National Academy into a new Arm’s Length Body to the Department for Education (DfE) to support teachers deliver excellent lessons.

·        re-committing to delivering 500,000 teacher training opportunities by 2024 for teachers from trainee to head level.

·        delivering £30,000 starting salaries and retention payments for teachers in priority subjects in areas currently with lower attainment.

The Schools White Paper is due to be delivered later in March. NGA will continue to update members on what the plans mean in practice for boards, and their schools and trusts.

Education committee criticise delivery of National Tutoring Programme in review of catch-up programm

A new report published by the Education Committee this week has criticised the government’s catch-up programme, with MPs reporting that it’s failing to reach the most disadvantaged pupils.

It highlights continual regional disparity in the uptake of the National Tutoring Programme (NTP), disparity between academic and mental health recovery and states that there have been significant failures by Randstad to deliver the NTP.

With Randstad reaching just 10% of their target, the committee’s recommendations include reducing the bureaucracy of the NTP and streamlining funding into one pot for schools to access and spend. 

The committee have also called for the DfE to terminate its contract with Randstad by Spring if it fails to meet its targets for the number of pupils receiving tuition, including those who are disadvantaged.

Other recovery recommendations included a push for each school to have a designated mental health lead, mental health and wellbeing assessments for pupils, and enrichment activities and longer school day.

Visit our COVID-19 education recovery page for information on how governing boards and their school leaders can ensure that they have the right plans in place to support every pupil in their education recovery.

Diversity indicators form – feedback sought

As part of NGA’s commitment to improving the diversity of governing boards, we are developing a diversity indicators form for governing boards. The form consists of questions designed to help assess board diversity using indicators such as age, gender, ethnicity and level of education. It is intended to supplement the board’s skills audit and we hope it will provide a more complete picture of how the composition of the board reflects the communities it serves and provides a range of perspectives from different backgrounds.

Prior to publication, we are seeking input from our members. If you wish to join our focus group to discuss the diversity indicators form and consider how your board will use it, please contact rani.kaur@nga.org.uk.

New report: Paving the way, careers guidance in secondary schools

Pupils are still lacking quality careers guidance according to a report published by the Sutton Trust this week. The research found that 36% of pupils lack confidence about next steps in education and training and less than a third had completed work experience by year 13, prompting a call on the government to develop a new careers strategy. The report also highlighted a variation in the quality of careers education between schools in more and less deprived areas.

It comes as Robert Halfron, Chair of the Education Committee, addressed the House of Commons this week to debate the longstanding social justice issues in education and called for pupils to have more careers encounters at school.

Produced with The Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC), NGA’s guide on providing an effective careers programme, explains boards can support and challenge their school or trust to meet its statutory duties relating to careers guidance.

New report: How well are parents and carers engaged by schools in England?

Findings of a survey exploring how well parents and carers are engaged by their child’s school was published this week by Edurio. Effective communication was identified as the biggest driver of parental engagement, out of all the activities measured in the survey.

The research also highlighted that parents are keen to see that their voice has an impact in decision making across the school. Among parents who always see that their feedback has an impact, 97% also felt satisfied with the school’s attempts to engage them as a parent, almost ten times more than the 10% of parents who never feel that their feedback has an impact.

Joint guidance from NGA and Parentkind is designed to prompt conversations between governing boards and school and trust leaders around developing a strong approach to engaging with parents.

You can also watch our webinar on engaging stakeholders: the governing boards role where Emma Knights discusses the importance of stakeholder engagement on strategic decision making.

New guidance: Effective behaviour management

Governing boards have a crucial role in the development and maintenance of successful behaviour cultures.

To support boards in promoting effective behaviour management in their school or trust, NGA has produced guidance outlining how boards are responsible for influencing behaviour policies and practices. Also outlined is the importance of a clear and consistent whole school approach that prioritises an inclusive curriculum and effective stakeholder engagement while minimising the risk of exclusion.

The guidance builds on NGA’s bitesize e-learning module on minimising exclusions, further prompting boards to think about how their school or trust’s behaviour policy is implemented and monitored with a view to creating supportive, safe and inclusive learning environments.

NGA’s latest webinar on behaviour and exclusions is also available to view online.

Teenage girls “pushed out of sport” according to Women in Sport findings

43% of teenage girls who once considered themselves ‘sporty’, disengage from sport after leaving primary school, according to findings published by Women in Sport this week. This compares with just 24% of boys at the same age, with a fear of feeling judged and a lack in confidence cited as the main reason.

The report, Reframing Sport for Teenage Girls, calls on sport and exercise providers to better target their teenage girl audience. Commenting, Stephanie Hilborne, Women in Sport CEO said, “teenage girls are not voluntarily leaving sport, they are being pushed out as a consequence of deep-rooted gender stereotypes”.

It comes as the DfE announced up to £980,000 in funding for its new programme, “Your Time”. Led by Sports Leaders Qualifications (SLQ), it aims to give girls aged eight to 16 more opportunities in competitive sport.

Written in collaboration with Youth Sport Trust (YST), NGA’s PE and school sport guide for governing boards, highlights the importance of an inclusive PE and school sport offer in pupils’ wider development including their mental health and wellbeing. It comes with the Girls Active case study detailing the journey one school went on to make their PE offer more inclusive for girls.

Sign up now! Spaces available on NGA’s Leading Governance development courses

NGA’s Leading Governance development programmes for chairs and clerks will help you to lead and support your governing board in having an impact on your school’s improvement.

The Development for chairs programme provides chairs, vice chairs, committee chairs and future chairs opportunities for developing leadership skills and confident governance and offers a blend of flexible, virtual-face-to-face learning and will take approximately three terms to complete. Separate cohorts are available for both those governing in maintained schools and trusts.
Cost: £249 per participant.

The Level 3 Certificate in the clerking of school and academy governing boards programme is designed for governance professionals and clerks with at least three months experience, currently working in any school or trust setting. It develops the knowledge and skills needed for high-quality clerking through virtual face-to-face workshops, one-to-one mentoring, and independent learning.
Cost: £449 per participant.

To find out more about either of these programmes, call us on 0121 237 3780 dial option 5, email us at leading.governance@nga.org.uk, or visit our website.

Supporting pupils and staff during the conflict in Ukraine

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine is heartbreaking and has left us all dismayed. During this deeply distressing time, many children and young people will be struggling and feeling increasingly anxious as they watch from a distance the suffering faced by so many families across Ukraine. 

The Department for Education (DfE) has published a blog with the aim of helping schools and families talk to pupils about the conflict in Ukraine.  The blog encourages teachers to be “comfortable without an answer for everything – and help your pupils feel comfortable with that too”. The Children’s Commissioner has also spoken on the issue, writing in Schools Week that “children today are a generation that feel connected across the world through social media…we should not hide what is happening but support children in understanding it”. 

Governing boards will understandably be concerned about how it is impacting both pupils and staff and may want to consider asking the following questions:

·        What are we doing to explain to our students what is happening?

·        Are we aware of any students who may be particularly affected by what is happening, including of course pupils who have fled from other war zones and areas of unrest as well as those with Ukranian connections, and are there any wellbeing and/or safeguarding implications?

COVID-19 update

NGA members will be aware that national COVID-19 legal restrictions have been lifted in line with the government’s “Living with COVID” plan.

School staff and pupils are no longer expected to test twice weekly. Updated operational guidance for schools states that pupils and staff should follow guidance on people with COVID-19 and their contacts if they have COVID-19 symptoms. Anyone who tests positive is advised to stay at home for at least five days, although the legal requirement to self-isolate has been removed.

This comes as pupil attendance continues to improve. The latest DfE data shows that 90.3% of pupils were in attendance on 10 February, up from 89.1% on 3 February.

While legal restrictions have been lifted, school leaders will continue to actively manage the risks associated with COVID-19. You can read more about ongoing measures and the role of governing boards on the NGA Knowledge Centre.

As governing boards and school leaders continue to focus on pupil wellbeing and recovering lost learning, we encourage members to refer to our COVID-19 education recovery priorities.

Concerns raised by The Public Accounts Committee over the true cost of financial health in schools

Concerns that financial pressures faced by schools could “damage children’s education” have been raised in a report published by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). The report warns that the DfE is relying too much on national figures as an indicator of the system’s financial health, masking "significant variation and challenges for individual schools”. It highlights staffing cuts, dropping subjects from the curriculum and reducing support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), as some of the measures being taken to maintain financial sustainability.

The PAC found that deprived schools are disproportionately impacted by financial pressures under the DfE’s new funding system, with Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the PAC highlighting the “unacceptable differences in life chances for our children and young people from the get-go, through no fault of their own”.

Governing boards are responsible for overseeing the financial performance of their school or trust and making sure its money is well spent. Visit NGA’s Knowledge Centre to browse our suite of finance resources.

New guidance: SFVS and school resource management self-assessment checklist (SRMSAC)

All maintained schools and academy trusts must complete and submit the SFVS and SRMSAC, respectively. They provide governing boards and trust boards with assurance that their organisation is meeting the basic standards of good financial health and resource management.

NGA has developed new guides to help boards get the most out of these tools and to follow an efficient process when completing them. The guidance is also designed to encourage collaboration with school business professionals and make best use of their expertise.

·        Download SFVS guidance for governing bodies

·        Download SRMSAC guidance for trust boards

New report: The cost of the school day in England: Pupils’ perspectives

Pupils experiencing poverty in England are financially excluded from full participation in a wide range of school subjects and activities. This is according to findings published this week by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and Children North East.

As part of The Cost of the School Day project, the report shares the voices of pupils and their families, highlighting the stigma that comes from schools often unintentionally drawing attention to family incomes with children feeling embarrassed and different. Speaking about requirements to supply own stationary, one pupil said, “if you don’t have something the teacher gives you a warning or a detention”, reinforcing the fact that for some pupils are indirect sanctions for living in poverty.

Among the recommendations, CPAG and Children North East have called on the government to provide adequate funding to schools to ensure all curriculum-related costs are removed for pupils as well as universal free school meals for all school aged children in England.

In our latest issue of Governing Matters we interview CPAG’s Kate Anstey and Georgina Burt as they unpack how you and your board can ‘poverty proof’ your school.

Pandemic pushes demand for children's mental health services

The pandemic has caused an unprecedented increase in demand for children’s mental health treatment, according to new analysis from the Nuffield Trust and the Health Foundation. Referrals to services increased by 81% between April and September 2021 compared to the same period in 2019. The research also found that one in five children and young people waited more than 12 weeks for a follow up appointment with mental health service between April 2020 and March 2021.

Trusts and schools are on the frontline identifying and supporting pupils with suspected mental health needs and access to additional services is an increasing issue many are facing. Governing boards have an important role in promoting positive wellbeing across their organisation and supporting leaders to meet the mental health needs of their pupils.  Read our information sheet for prompts to review your approach to wellbeing, and our latest blog which provides tips on considering what pastoral support and services your organisation can access.

Government set to diversify the curriculum

Schools play a crucial role in assisting young people to understand the world around them and their place within it.

The government is set to overhaul the history curriculum to make it more diverse and global. The overhaul will result in a focus on Britain’s place in the world, including diversity, migration, cultural change and contributions made by different communities. This aligns with calls from Birmingham City footballer Troy Deeney, for wider teaching of Black and Asian experiences at school, prompting Education Secretary, Nadhim Zahawi to agree to discuss the matter further.

As part of a broad and balanced curriculum schools should consider how they ensure that their curriculum is diverse. The DfE have published a blog outlining how Black, Asian and minority ethnic history can be taught in our schools which boards may find useful as a starting point. NGA have a range of information and resources to support boards in promoting diversity and inclusion within their setting.

Learning Link module spotlight: How to arrange meetings

One of our newest Learning Link modules ‘How to arrange meetings’ covers one of our most requested topics – scheduling, agenda setting and the organisation of meetings.

Ideal for new clerks, someone who is providing administration for your board or experienced clerks seeking a refresher, this interactive e-learning module uses videos and guided learning activities to give a practical demonstration of arranging a meeting. Upon completion, learners will understand why meetings are needed, the timeline for arranging a meeting, and how to prepare good, strategic agendas.

This module is part of the new introduction to clerking collection for aspiring clerks or those with less than six months experience. We will be spotlighting some more of the modules in the programme over the coming weeks.

Learning Link users can find this and the rest of the modules in the programme under the ‘Clerking’ category on Learning Link.

If you or someone you know would benefit from completing these modules, find out more or start a free Learning Link trial today.

New webinar on Behaviour and exclusions

Join Emma Balchin, NGA’s Director of professional development on Thursday 10 March, 4:30 - 5:00pm as she explores the role of governors and trustees in setting and monitoring behaviour policy, and the links to managing and minimising exclusions. The webinar will touch on:

·        The requirements of behaviour policies,

·        How governance can influence policy and practice through shaping a whole school approach to inclusion

·        The importance of stakeholder engagement and effective liaison

·        The use of exclusions

Visit our website to book your place.

Post-16 qualifications measures

The DfE have announced that thousands of qualifications are set to be transformed to enable people to gain the skills employers need to progress into work.

A consultation has been launched seeking views on plans to reform post-16 qualifications at Level 2 and below so everyone has access to high-quality options that will lead to good outcomes whether that is going on to further study or into a job.

The new measures aim to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds or with special educational needs or disabilities, who are more likely to take these qualifications, will also benefit from higher-quality courses that provide the support they need to fulfil their potential, and help open the door to opportunities to progress.

Deaf pupils fall behind due to a decline in the number of specialist teachers

The number of specialist Teachers of the Deaf (ToDs) has dropped to its lowest figure in a decade, triggering concerns about an increasing attainment gap between deaf pupils and their non-deaf peers. Consortium for Research into Deaf Education (CRIDE) reports that since 2011 the total number of specialist teachers in England has fallen by 16.5%, highlighting that there are now 867 fully qualified teachers for pupils with hearing impairments, compared to 1,062 in 2011.

In response, the National Deaf Children’s Society is calling on the Government to announce more funding specifically targeted at increasing the specialist support provided to school during the upcoming SEND review.

Governing and trust boards should have a clear oversight of the education of deaf pupils within their schools, as part of their responsibility in supporting pupils with SEND. Our SEND and the governing board resources are available on the Knowledge Centre and help governors and trustees build an understanding of their responsibilities relating to SEND and inclusion, including a checklist to support conversations between governing boards and school leaders.

New Political Impartiality in schools guidance published

New Political Impartiality in schools guidance has been published by the Department for Education (DfE) and reflected in the updated RSHE implementation guidance. The new guidance helps schools understand what to consider when teaching about political issues but is based on existing legal duties and does not include any new statutory requirements.

It comes as more young people engage in political debate through multiple platforms including social media where misinformation can easily spread. The guidance acknowledges that pupils may raise these views, and teachers should be prepared to challenge factually inaccurate claims.  Speaking on the release of the guidance, Secreatary of State for Education Nadhim Zahawi said “that nothing in this guidance limits schools’ freedom to teach about sensitive, challenging, and controversial political issues, as they consider appropriate and necessary”. 

Governing boards have a duty to ensure a broad and balanced curriculum, ensuring all pupils receive high quality teaching, monitoring the support available to the pupils who need it. As part of this, school leaders and staff need to have the confidence to facilitate political discussions in rounded, safe and appropriate way.  NGA’s guide to curriculum effectiveness help those governing focus on and better understand what the curriculum is, what it can do in their school and to evaluate curriculum outcomes. The guide is available through the Knowledge Centre. 

Ofsted extend curriculum transition again

The School Inspection Handbook has been updated to acknowledge that not all schools have had the opportunity to complete the process of adopting or constructing their curriculum fully due to COVID-19. Paragraphs 229-231 outlines the transitional arrangements that have been temporarily put in place and will be reassessed in September 2022, depending on COVID-19.

In other related news, the government has extended its COVID-19 workforce fund for schools again, this time until Easter. The fund is to cover supply costs at schools and colleges facing “significant staffing and funding pressures”, so they can continue to “deliver face-to-face, high quality education to all pupils”. COVID-19 workforce fund for schools guidance has been updated to reflect this extension .

Research finds nine in 10 teachers say their job has impacted mental health

Teaching union NASUWT has published the results of a survey into teacher wellbeing. The survey makes sober reading, with 91% of teacher reporting that their job had adversely impacted their mental health in the last year. Teachers reported a lack of support from both their schools, and central government. Many of the findings are consistent with similar surveys published in recent weeks, including the TES Wellbeing Report 2022.

Those governing have a direct responsibility for the wellbeing of their school staff. They will either be the legal employer of their organisation’s staff or will be exercising employer responsibilities on behalf of another body (usually the LA). As such, staff wellbeing should always be a consideration for the board when taking decisions.

NGA has published guidance for boards on managing staff workload and wellbeing, which includes advice on how boards can measure wellbeing in their specific context, and shape their organisational culture in response. We have also produced specific guidance on promoting school leader wellbeing.

Teach First publish a ‘costed proposal for levelling up’ in their new report

Three quarters of teachers have called for government funding to be channelled more towards schools serving disadvantaged areas. The poll commissioned by Teach First, found that this figure rose from 74% to 87% when hearing from teachers in the most disadvantaged schools.

In their report published this week, Teach First provide a costed proposal for levelling up, stating that a fair and efficient way for the government to improve the educational prospects of disadvantaged pupils is target the funding already pledged towards schools that serve them.

The recommendations include aligning early years pupil premium with primary school rates, an increase in the current pupil premium rates and a new ‘persistently disadvantaged’ pupil premium category.

For more information on making the most of pupil premium funding, identifying and removing financial barriers to learning and how to ‘poverty proof’ your school, read our latest issue of Governing Matters.

Enriching the cultural experience of pupils

Tukwini Mandela, granddaughter of Nelson Mandela has expressed concern on the lack of Black representation across the UK schools curriculum. Speaking to The Independent Ms Mandela said that “representation is crucial” in the curriculum and  raised the issue of Black children not being represented on boards.

Her concerns were shared as the Black Cultural Archives, in collaboration with Snap – the parent company of Snapchat, launched the ‘Hidden Black Stories’ project, which will unveil hidden stories of Black British and Black people in the UK through Augmented Reality.

The aim of the project is to provide a better understanding of Black history and to recognise the contributions of Black British and Black people throughout history.

Our collection of cultural curriculum guides help boards ensure that pupils are offered a rich and engaging, inclusive curriculum. You can also find more information and resources in our Knowledge Centre on your role in ensuring a culture of diversity and equality in your school or trust.

Consultation on changes to the School Admissions Appeals Code

The DfE is consulting on a revised version of the School Admissions Appeals Code that would make permanent some of the temporary flexibilities which enabled appeals to continue during the pandemic.

The permanent changes being consulted on are:                                       

·        To allow admission authorities to decide whether to hold appeal hearings remotely (by telephone or video conference) or in person, or to give a choice of either, without reasons relating to COVID-19.

·        To allow appeal hearings to continue and be decided by a panel of two, if the third member of an appeal panel has to withdraw and either postponing the remaining hearings or restarting the appeal will lead to an unreasonable delay.    

It is proposed that these changes will apply to both sorts of admission appeal hearings dealt with under the Appeals Code (appeals against an admission authority’s refusal to admit a child and appeals by governing bodies against a local authority’s decision to admit to their school a child who has been permanently excluded from two or more schools).

Admission authorities can access the consultation document and Appeals Code here.

Updated guidance for early years first aid

The first aid in schools, early years and further education guidance has recently been updated. The guidance focuses on the duties of governing boards in relation to first aid issues on their premises and off-site. Governing boards should ensure that they are familiar with the guidance and the strategic functions that relate to the governing board to ensure that needed resources, policies and procedures are in place.

Help shape the development of Learning Link – complete the 2022 user survey

 
The 2022 Learning Link user survey is now open. If you are a Learning Link user, please take a few moments to answer some questions about your experience of the service and the e-learning modules. Your answers will be used to improve the service and inform future developments to the platform.

The survey should take no more than 15 minutes to complete. The closing date for responses is 11:59pm on Tuesday 15 March.
 
Complete the survey here.

Not yet subscribed? Find out more about how our e-learning can benefit you and your board and start your free trial today.

Department for Education shakes up Regional School Commissioner regions

The DfE has confirmed a shake-up of the areas regional school commissioners (RSC) cover with London getting its own RSC, and eight current regions becoming nine so they align with those more frequently used by government. The changes planned for summer 2022 will see the regions changed to:

·        North East

·        North West

·        Yorkshire and the Humber

·        West Midlands

·        East Midlands

·        East of England

·        South East

·        South West

·        London

A DfE spokesperson said that “these changes reorganise us to be a department that operates better locally by being aligned to the nine regions used elsewhere in government”.

SEND Network

Join us at the latest SEND Network, on Tuesday 8 March from 4.30 – 6.00pm as we discuss NGA’s fourth core function, stakeholder engagement.  Guest speakers will share examples of pupil, parental, staff, and local community engagement, with opportunity for members to share examples of their own setting.

Our discussions will also include how leadership and governance work together to set the culture and whole school or trust approach to meeting the needs of pupils with SEND, ensuring they reach their full potential. 

Visit the events page to book your place now to avoid disappointment.

Secure your place at a Regional Forum

We are delighted that our Regional Forums are returning in two regions this term. Led by the Regional Lead, the Forums give you the opportunity to share experiences with each other and take the time to discuss the key issues in your region.
 
Bookings are now open for the South-East and South-West events in March.
 
South East Regional Forum - 15 March, 4.00 - 6.00pm
South West Regional Forum – 17 March, 4.00 - 6.00pm

Join us as we learn from each other and explore what works.

Children’s mental health week 2022 round up

The majority of UK school staff have witnessed signs of worsening mental health of pupils since the start of the school year according to findings by the Place2Be published last week. The research carried out with NAHT found that 95% of school staff witnessed increased levels of pupil anxiety, low self-esteem 83% and depression 75%.

The findings follow the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) new state of the nation report published this week into children and young people’s wellbeing. It found “signs of recovery” of children’s subjective wellbeing in 2021 and suggests a link with relaxation of pandemic restrictions, and attendance in school. This comes as children's wellbeing expert Lord Layard urged the Education Select Committee to push for a national rollout of the Mental Health Support Teams beyond current targets of reaching a third of schools in 2022/23.

The DfE has also released an additional £3 million to extend senior mental health lead training to more schools and colleges. In addition, the Anna Freud Foundation is recruiting over 100 secondary schools as part of the final wave of the Education for Wellbeing programme, schools can express interest on the Anna Freud website.

For more information on how governing boards can support pupil wellbeing, and champion positive mental health, read NGA’s new blog.

New report: COVID-19 and Disadvantage Gaps in England 2020

Despite disruption to the education system caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the measured GCSE disadvantage gap fell very slightly in 2020, according to a new study published this week by the Education Policy Institute (EPI). Pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds scored on average 1.24 grades below their non-disadvantaged peers, compared to 1.26 grades below in 2019, meaning fears that teacher assessed grades for GCSEs in 2020 could penalise students from disadvantaged backgrounds were largely unfounded.

However, the report, COVID-19 and Disadvantage Gaps in England 2020 concludes that the government has failed to improve the relative outcomes of students in long term poverty after a decade of policy interventions with the gap remaining consistently wider than the headline gap for all disadvantaged pupils which narrowed until 2017.

Local authorities with a high proportion of pupils trapped in long term poverty, such as Knowsley, Blackpool and Salford, also saw the biggest attainment gaps.

Find out how your board can play their part in addressing educational inequity in our latest edition of Governing Matters.

Ofsted publish new report: Securing good attendance and tackling persistent absence

In their new report, Securing good attendance and tackling persistent absence, published this week, Ofsted have highlighted the higher-than-average pupil absences in some schools due to COVID-19, challenges indirectly related to the pandemic and how schools are tackling the issue. Some leaders who have improved attendance in their schools said they worked with their governing board to change mindsets and raise expectations, with the report acknowledging the influential role of a governor/trustee in this process.

However, Ofsted also found that those responsible for governance are “not consistently setting a clear direction for leaders on promoting attendance and challenging absence”. Only around a quarter of inspectors identified that in most or all of their inspections, those responsible for governance had done this.

As part of our ‘Questions for governing boards to ask: raising standards’ collection, we encourage boards to look beyond the overall school attendance figure, consider variations in attendance and punctuality of different student groups and explore some of the issues that could be lying behind the absence. Visit our Knowledge Centre to find our more.

Get prepared for budget setting

The NGA Knowledge Centre contains a range of resources to help you prepare for budget setting.

Our guide to integrated curriculum and financial planning (ICFP) is designed to help governing boards work with school leaders to develop an integrated plan for an effective curriculum that is both affordable and sustainable. Learning Link subscribers can also access a module on using ICFP.

Staffing costs account for over 70% of most school and trust budgets. Our advice on managing staffing costs outlines questions to ask and steps to take to evaluate your staffing structure and identify areas for improvement.

Exams 2022

As the summer exam series approaches, the DfE have published guidance setting out how the secondary accountability measures are calculated for maintained schools, academies and free schools. The government has confirmed that results achieved by pupils entered early for GCSEs in the last two years will not count towards school league tables this year. In other exam related news, Dr Jo Saxton, chief regulator of Ofqual shared that the introduction of advanced information on topics can inform thinking for future years.

NGA would like to hear from members to discuss your views on the current examination system and rethinking the process of awarding grades as a whole. Join our working group on 16 February, 2-3.30pm via Zoom. You can register your interest by contacting Nina Sharma at nina.sharma@nga.org.uk.

Secure your place at a Regional Forum

We are delighted that our Regional Forums are returning in two regions this term. Led by the Regional Lead, the forums give you the opportunity to share experiences with each other and take the time to discuss the key issues where you are.

Bookings are now open for the South East and South West events in March.

·        South East Regional Forum - 15 March, 4.00-6pm

·        South West Regional Forum – 17 March, 4.00-6pm

Join us as we learn from each other and explore what works.
Book your place now.

Consultation on revised behaviour and exclusion guidance

The DfE is consulting on proposed revisions to the Behaviour in Schools guidance and Suspension and Permanent Exclusion guidance. This is with a view to publishing clearer, more consistent guidance to support schools to create positive behaviour cultures and ensure suspensions and permanent exclusions are conducted in a lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair way.

Revised Behaviour in Schools guidance provides advice to headteachers, school leaders and staff on developing and implementing a behaviour policy which creates a school culture with high expectations of behaviour.

Revised Suspension and Permanent Exclusion guidance provides greater clarity to headteachers, independent review panels and governing boards on their responsibilities when considering suspensions and permanent exclusions.

For more information of the consultation which closes on 31 March 2022 and how to take part, visit the DfE website.

Our Learning Link module, How to run an effective exclusion panel supports governors, trustees and governance professionals in fulfilling their roles effectively at each stage of the process and also provides useful examples of questions to ask and templates to us.

Final chance to tell us about your inspection experience 2021/22

There are only a few days left to share your Ofsted inspection experience with us. The short survey that closes on Monday 14 February asks about the experiences that those on governing boards had during their Ofsted inspection. If your school has been inspected since September 2021 please complete this survey that will take no longer than 10 minutes to complete.

The responses from the survey will help shape NGA’s future discussions with Ofsted and inform updated findings from NGA’s 2019 report, A View from the Board.

Have your say in our 20 and 21 self-review questions consultation

Have you or your board used NGA’s longstanding 20 or 21 questions for self-review? We would appreciate your feedback on how you’ve used the questions in the past, how they’ve shaped and improved practice and where changes are needed.

The consultation is open until Monday 7 March 2022 at 9am. You can get involved by completing our quick questionnaire, attending one of our events or emailing us. Visit the consultation page for more information.