www.kent.gov.uk/thegovernor

A MAGAZINE FOR KENT SCHOOL GOVERNORS

AUTUMN 2013 EDITION

New Pay Policy Requirements

Understanding School Data

Getting in Tune – Funding for Music Education

Packed with Learning Points

Film Education for All

Find out more on page 15

GOVERNOR SERVICES TEAM KEY CONTACTS

Linda Lissimore – Head of Governor ServicesAileen Cooper – Governor Training and Development Co-ordinatorSue Hill – Clerking Service ManagerTina Gimber – School Governance Officer (South Kent)To be confirmed – School Governance Officer (East Kent)Nick Morgan – School Governance Officer (North Kent)To be confirmed – School Governance Officer (West Kent)Trudy Moss – Administration OfficerKatie Crowe – CPD Online Administrator

The Governor Services Team is currently undergoing some changes as it re-shapes itself to deliver support, advice and guidance to governing bodies and their clerks in each of the 4 areas of Kent –North (Dartford, Gravesham and Sevenoaks), West (Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge & Malling), East (Swale, Canterbury and Thanet) and South (Ashford, Shepway and Dover). This is likely to include new team members locally deployed to better understand local challenges and needs. Please continue to use the following contact details until otherwise notified.

Contact Governor Services - Email: schoolgovernor@kent.gov.uk Tel: 01622 203820

Address Governor Services, Shepway Centre, Oxford Road, Maidstone, Kent, ME15 8AW

EditorLinda Lissimore

We would like to hear from you and welcome your contributions or suggestions for future issues of the Governor.

Please contact us at: the Governor, G54 Sessions House, County Hall, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1XQ or email schoolgovernor@kent.gov.uk

Contents

Editor’s Message

Fit for Purpose Governance by Patrick Leeson 3

News in Brief 4

Outstanding Governance by Emma Knights 5

Strengthening the Collaborations * by Sue Rogers 6

COVER STORY New Pay Policy Requirements * by Cathie Aldis 7

COVER STORY Understanding and Using School Data * 8

Safeguarding in Education * by Kel Arthur 11

Legal and Compliance Issues * 12

Enhancing the Curriculum 14

COVER IMAGE Film Education for All * 15

COVER STORY Getting in Tune – Funding for Music Education * 16

Clerking Matters * – Urgent Action 17

Agenda Setting for Terms 1 and 2 18

Governor Training and Development by Aileen Cooper 19

Annual Governors’ Conference 2013 Feedback 20

There has never been a more challenging nor more exciting time to be a school governor.

It is true to say that the role of school governor carries a high level of responsibility for a volunteer, but the impact of your decisions on the local community is great and much appreciated.

We thank you for your contribution of time, enthusiasm and commitment and encourage you to invest in your own and your governing body’s development needs so that we can continue to make sure every Kent school is supported by an effective governing body.

Linda LissimoreHead of Governor Services

* Includes Learning Points

EduKent EXPO

Kents Leading Education EventFree to attend10th October 2013Kent Showground, Detlingwww.edukentexpo.co.uk

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The new ‘Handbook for Governors’ published in May this year provides a much sharper focus on the 3 core strategic functions of a governing body,

1. Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction

2. Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils

3. Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent

In the foreword, Lord Nash outlines the government’s expectation for strong and effective governance as

“The education system is changing rapidly and school governance needs to change too to play its part. My ambition is that every school has a dynamic governing body. That means one that understands its responsibilities and is focused tightly on its core strategic functions. One that is no bigger than it needs to be with all governors actively contributing relevant skills and experience. One that operates efficiently and effectively through appropriate structures and procedures. The government’s role is to put in place the framework to enable this to happen. Our reforms set high expectations, based on the principles of accountability and transparency. I welcome Ofsted’s new explicit approach to governance. I believe that a clear and robust system of accountability is as vital to driving up the quality of governing bodies as it is to driving improvement in the quality of

the schools they govern. I want to see even greater focus on the effectiveness and impact of governing bodies in raising standards of education.”

Nationally we invest around £47 billion in education each year. Strong and focused governance is essential to making sure there is a good return on this investment by achieving higher standards and improvements in the quality of education. The expectations of governing bodies of both maintained schools and academies have grown and changed dramatically in the last few years.

Governing bodies must provide the strategic leadership and challenge necessary to support school management in driving forward continuous improvement. The effectiveness of a governing body depends on the quality of its governors and the ways in which they work together and with school leaders.

Governing bodies need a good mix of people, from all walks of life and backgrounds, who can bring different viewpoints, experience, skills and fresh ideas with them. They need those who have the commitment to gain an understanding of the role, responsibilities and boundaries of governance to contribute, who have the confidence and understanding to ask questions and offer informed opinions to hold the leadership team to account, whilst at the same time offering support.

Increasingly we see different types of expertise being shared between schools. This is evident in the form of school federations, formal collaborations, and the work of teaching schools in Kent, all working in more collaborative ways to share good practice. This is also the case with school governance. Six ‘National Leaders of Governance (NLG)’ across Kent and Medway have been accredited by the National College, and are undertaking formal deployments to support chairs of governors who are either new in post, or facing a particularly challenging issue. On 20 May 2013, in partnership with the National College, Medway Governor Services, and the three Dioceses, Kent Governor Services launched a programme of ‘Local Leaders of Governance (LLG)’ who will add capacity to our ability to offer support and expertise across a range of activities including support for new chairs, membership of an Interim Executive Board, and as Associate Governor Trainers.

In moving forward it may be helpful to undertake an exercise of ‘self evaluation’ of your governing body, and compare your current practice and effectiveness in the light of the new handbook and new regulations for school governance. It is also important to refer to the criteria in the School Inspection Framework to ensure the governing body would be rated as good by Ofsted. This exercise would help to inform a clear development plan for any necessary improvements in governance, which we are happy to support with training and advice.

by Patrick Leeson, Corporate Director

of Education, Learning and Skills

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Fit For Purpose Governance

Effective ‘School Governance’ still maintains a high profile for national debate and reform. Over the summer, the Education Select Committee is expected to publish its report, new regulations for school governance will have been introduced, and the All Party Parliamentary Group will have met once again, continuing its discussions with key partners to shape ideas to be considered further by ministers. This has major implications for governors in Kent schools as we enter a new academic year.

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DFE WebsiteA new government website GOV.UK has been introduced, with links to all departments. Existing schools and governance information is still held on the old DFE site accessed via a ‘departments’ link, but using the search facility is the easiest route to find what you need.

Former Kent Chair of Governors RecognisedBarbara Letchford - Former Kent headteacher and chair of governors, and lately Branch and Regional Representative of the National Association of Headteachers, South East Region was awarded Order of the British Empire (Medallist of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2013 Honours List, for services to Education.

Many long serving governors will remember Barbara for her dedication and support to education in Kent. Although Barbara is now living in the North West of the county, her last term of office as a chair of governors was at Parkside School in Canterbury.

Select CommitteeThe Select Committee Report was published on 4 July and included recommendations for professional clerking support, better uptake of training opportunities, particularly for new governors and more use of the new flexibilities available by reconstituting the governing body.

The report concluded that paying governors was not necessary and that swifter action is needed when governance is not effective in holding a school to account. You can read the full report by following this link www.kenttrustweb.org.uk?selectcommitteereport

This link will give you direct access to a list of changes that have, or will soon be introduced to reduce regulatory burdens on maintained school governors. A quick checklist to ensure that your governing body have noted and acted on the changes may be useful.

Visit www.kenttrustweb.org.uk?governingbodies and select the document titled ‘Changes that reduce burdens on maintained school governing bodies’.

The new Governors’ Handbook has now been published and replaces the Governors’ Guide to the Law. It provides information about the role and legal duties of governing bodies in maintained schools and academies (including free schools) and is available on the Gov.uk website.

Section 1 of the handbook outlines the core role and functions of school governing bodies. All governors should read this section.

Sections 2 to 8 of the handbook summarises all of the specific legal duties on governing bodies, providing a first point of reference for those with a specific area of interest.

Further reading is signposted from within each section for those who would like more detailed information. Links are provided to relevant regulations, guidance and resources. A list of all the policies and documents that schools are required to have by law can also be accessed via the links.

A note of caution, the handbook provides links to relevant legislation but you will need to check whether the legislation has been updated by using the ‘changes to legislation’ facility on the website.

CHANGES THAT REDUCE THE BURDEN ON GOVERNING BODIES

NEW GOVERNOR HANDBOOK

NEW GOVERNING BODY PROCEDUREREGULATIONS SUMMER 2013

IN BRIEF

From 1 September 2013, the Procedures regulations, Terms of Reference regulations and the Governors Allowances regulations are to be amalgamated into one revised regulation. In line with the government’s agenda to reduce bureaucracy, these amalgamated regulations are to provide more freedom to governing bodies to delegate functions particularly with reference to the strategic purpose of the governing body.

The implications of the 2013 Procedures regulations include changes to the term of office for chair and vice-chair and the introduction of the potential for governors to participate and vote at meetings via telephone and conferencing technology. Changes to collaboration regulations will also be reviewed and notably for clerks, will reference a new requirement that the governing body must have regard to advice from the clerk to the governing body in regards to the exercise of the governing body’s functions.

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The National Governors’ Association looks at governance practice in other sectors as well as the best practice in the school sector and from those has drawn up the eight elements of effective governance:

1. The right people around the table2. Understanding role and responsibilities3. Good chairing4. Professional clerking5. Good relationships based on trust6. Knowing the school – the data, the staff, the parents,

the children, the community7. Committed to asking challenging questions 8. Confident to have courageous conversations in the

interests of the children and young people

But how do you know whether your governing body or board of trustees has all those elements in place? You will need to conduct a governance self review – there is a lot of material available to help your governing body do this.

One of the biggest challenges is using the limited time that volunteers have in the most effective way possible. When we set out the expectations we have of governors, the reaction is sometimes “you can’t expect volunteers to do that”. And why not? One doesn’t have to be paid to do a professional business-like job. The governors I meet, and I am sure the governors in Kent are no exception, they volunteer because they want to help and support the school; but sometimes volunteers might be happier and better engaged helping on school trips, listening to primary school children read, mentoring young people, presenting at a careers evening, running an afterschool activity, or chairing the PTA. There are so many ways in which someone can make a valuable contribution to the school and its pupils.

A demanding roleGoverning is a demanding leadership role, and the best governance is not always found in the schools with an excellent senior leadership team recognised as outstanding by Ofsted. It can be those schools which face a lot of challenges, possibly at risk of being labelled ‘requiring improvement’ and where

senior leaders are struggling to make a difference. In those situations outstanding governance can make the difference between success and failure of a school. The NGA encourages those who have been chair of a school not to put themselves up for election again when they have served six years at one school. The best chairs develop their team and have a succession plan for the leadership of the governing body. If they wish to continue to chair a governing body, they can volunteer at another school, so extending their own experience and passing on their knowledge to another school, this is ‘school-to-school’ improvement or even ‘systems leadership’.

A cut aboveWhat puts your governing body a cut above the rest? A good chair is at the heart of this. A good chair ensures all governors understand their role, undertakes a skills audit and then has the conversations with individual governors about their own contribution. This practice of reviews with individual governors or trustees is one which comes from other sectors; and if done well can make a real difference to the way in which the governing body or board of trustees works. A good chair ensures the culture is one where open respectful challenging and purposeful conversations can be had in the interests of the children.

by Emma Knights, CEO National Governors' Association

Outstanding Governance

Emma Knights is a keynote speaker at this year’s EduKent EXPO. Come and meet her on 10th October at the Detling Kent Event Centre, Kent County Showground, Detling. The event is free to attend – register online www.edukentexpo.co.uk

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Strengthening the Collaborations

Many schools have joined collaboratives during the past school year and indeed we continue to receive requests for new collaboratives to be established. This is all very encouraging and as one headteacher wrote recently:

“Collaboration has so many benefits – I am just disappointed it has taken so long to get to this point when the obvious benefits that come with collaboration have been staring me in the face!”

At the end of March the collaborative partnerships reported on their activity so far, based on their action plans and described the impact of their work in a number of areas. In September they will provide an evaluation of the impact of their work on the results in 2013. Whilst these are very early days for the establishment of such important structures, we believe many collaborative arrangements already see clear impact on improving the quality of teaching, leadership capacity and pupil outcomes.

One collaborative wrote in their first report:

“We have already seen the benefits to all the schools in the collaborative. Staff, governors and pupils have enjoyed their joint activities, and evaluation from these events has been overwhelmingly positive. We are committed to working together in the future and are excited about the possibilities which are developing as we embed the collaborative approach into our planning.”

We aim to build on this work in the coming year and will continue to provide funding to support a more

by Sue Rogers, Director Education, Quality and Standards

Learning pointsLook out for the ‘Self Evaluation Tool’ and ‘Guidance for Governors on Trust Arrangements’ coming in the autumn term

mature and sustainable approach to schools working in partnership to support their improvement. We have produced a draft ‘Collaborative Framework’ which offers guidance for collaboratives on how they might move from establishing their work to enhancing their practice, and moving finally to embedded practice as a partnership. This is a self evaluation tool which we think governors might find useful as a guide to the benefits of the school’s increasing involvement in this initiative.

We are looking to fund some of the collaborations to strengthen their partnerships on the same lines as the new Teaching Schools model, offering a wider alliance of support to achieve more improvement. Early discussions with headteachers have been very positive.

In addition we know that some collaborative groups would like to deepen their partnerships by exploring various trust arrangements. There are various trust models and the Local Authority will provide guidance for governors and collaborations to enable further discussion. This is not about any school or group of schools becoming an academy or about governors giving up any powers or responsibilities, but becoming a trust can offer opportunities for greater sharing of accountability and resources. In a recent conversation a headteacher summed up the ambition of the Local Authority and of many schools around the collaborative activity:

“We would like to transform this into school-to-school support at its finest”

As governors will know, many schools have been working in a newly developed collaboration with other schools from as early as September 2012. These collaborative partnerships vary in size from 4 to 24 schools. Some are purely primary, while there are an increasing number involving secondary and special schools.

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The new regulations remove pay progression based on the length of service by a teacher; from September 2013, any pay rise must be clearly attributable to the performance of the teacher. Schools will also be given the option of increasing individual teachers’ pay at different rates based on their performance. Schools are being given more freedom to determine starting salaries of new teachers to the school and the obligation to match a teacher’s existing salary when recruiting, has also been removed.

Governing bodies will now have to review their pay policies, setting out how appraisal outcomes are linked to pay decisions through the ‘appraisal statement’ which all teachers must receive at the end of the 2013 / 2014 appraisal cycle. The DfE’s advice says the pay policy ‘should set out how all pay decisions will be made, with sufficient detail for individuals to understand the basis on which pay decisions will be made in their particular school’.

The pay policy will need to set out the criteria used when assessing whether teachers have met their objectives; these will be underpinned by the Teachers’ Standards document. The DfE advice suggests the criteria might include:

» impact on pupil progress » impact on wider outcomes for pupils » impact on effectiveness of teachers or other staff » wider contribution to the work of the school » improvements in specific areas such as behaviour management or

lesson planning

As well as linking pay progression to performance, the new arrangements allow schools to vary the size of any increases in salary according to performance. Although mandatory pay points within the pay scales for teachers are being abolished, creating a ‘minimum to maximum salary range’, the existing pay point structure could be retained for reference, should a school wish to do so.

Initially, the Senior Leadership Team is expected to review, revise and consult on the schools’ pay and appraisal policies, ensuring that the school is clear about what it wants to reward and the direct link to the School Improvement Plan. To aid this process, the local authority has produced a Model Policy which can be located on the Schools Personnel Service web site; the other document to be used by schools is the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document 2013. The governing body must then agree and adopt the policies, including the appeals procedures. The Senior Leadership Team should then ensure that all teachers understand how the new arrangement will be applied.

Learning points • Consider, consult and adopt

pay and appraisal policies which include the criteria for pay progression

• Agree the extent to which specific functions relating to pay determination and appeals processes will be delegated to others, such as the headteacher

• Ensure appropriate arrangements are in place linking appraisal to pay and that these arrangements are applied consistently with transparent justification for pay decisions

• Approve teachers’ salaries, including the school’s recommendations on whether to award performance pay increase in line with the school’s policy

• Monitor the outcomes of pay decisions including the extent to which different groups of teachers may progress at different rates and check policy into practice with transparency of decision making

• Consider the budgetary implications of pay decisions and factor these into the school’s three year budget plan; Kent’s current Financial Planning Tool will facilitate this

by Cathie Aldis, Senior Improvement Adviser - Leadership

New Pay Policy RequirementsSchool Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document 2013

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Understanding and Using School Data

Ofsted Data Dashboardby Linda Pickles, Improvement Adviser

In February 2013 Sir Michael Wilshaw, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector (HMCI) introduced the Ofsted’s School Data Dashboard. This document provides information about a school’s performance in statutory tests (SATs) at the end of Key Stages 1, 2 and 4 over a three-year period.

The Dashboards are available through a link on the Ofsted website and can be used by school governors and by members of the public to check the performance of the school in which they are interested. It is likely that the Dashboards for 2013 data will be published in the autumn term to be more in line with the release of schools’ unvalidated data in RAISEonline.

Attainment measures are presented as the percentage of pupils achieving expected levels at the end of each Key Stage. For Key Stage 1 this is the proportion of pupils achieving Level 2, for Key Stage 2 this is the proportion achieving Level 4 and for Key Stage 4 it is the proportion of pupils achieving five A* to C grades at GCSE, including English and Mathematics. Expected progress across Key Stage 2 is two levels of progress and expected progress between Key Stages 2 and 4 is three levels of progress.

The Dashboard provides comparative data with other similar schools, as well as all schools nationally. Quintile graphs for performance data have not been published by Ofsted before and are used to rank schools by splitting schools into five groups, each group representing 20% of the data. The groups are not necessarily evenly split as there may be several identical scores in the dataset and these would be placed in the same quintile (20% section).

The Dashboard also shows how well pupils entitled to Pupil Premium funding performed, compared with their peers. These pupils are referred to as ‘disadvantaged’ pupils on the Dashboard. Narrowing the gap measures compare the gap between the performance of pupils in the disadvantaged category and those in the other pupil category. Disadvantaged pupils are those pupils who were eligible for free school meals at any point during the last six years and children in local authority care.

The New Fischer Family Trust (FFT) Data Dashboard by Katherine Atkinson, Performance and Information

Manager

FFT is a non-profit company solely focused on providing accurate and insightful information to schools to support pupils in achieving their full potential and schools to improve. They have been providing analyses to all schools and Local Authorities in England and Wales for over 10 years. Their FFT Live reporting tool is used by most schools to analyse pupil results and progress across all subjects and key stages, comparing performance to similar schools and the national average. The majority of schools in Kent have chosen to subscribe to FFT Live.

The Governor Dashboard has been produced by FFT, working in partnership with the National Governors’ Association and the Wellcome Trust. It aims to present a concise and visual summary of school performance information for governors which is consistent with the data in RAISEonline, FFT Live and Ofsted’s Data Dashboard. It also provides new additional information for governors including pupil progress for all GCSE subjects and attendance by year group. It can be easily accessed and shared with governors (four-sided PDF), and at each stage of its development over the past 8 months it has been trialled with a group of schools.

There is no simple way to get a dashboard in front of every governor in the country. The FFT dashboard is available from FFT Live. Governors will need to ask their school to download the dashboard and share it with all governors. The dashboard will be updated in October with this summer’s results.

Guidance documents giving more detail about what is included in the dashboard and how best to use it are on Management Information’s Kent Trust Web page: www.kenttrustweb.org.uk?maninfo

Both RAISEonline and the FFT dashboard primarily focus on what has happened in the past. Governors need to use this historical information to understand how their school performance compares to other schools. However, it is also really important that governors and school leaders monitor and track the progress of pupils currently in the school. This pupil progress information will only be available in your school, and you will need to ensure that it forms part of your regular reporting requests to the headteacher.

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Value Added Pupil Progress (Achievement)

This dashboard will help school governors to:

• Understand the school’s performance and hold their school to account• Support and challenge the leadership team• Make more informed strategic decisions

The dashboard can be used to answer six key questions:

1. How does attainment and pupil progress compare to the national average?2. How are we performing in different subjects?3. Do we have any under-performing groups of pupils?4. How might the context of our school affect our performance?5. How does pupil attendance compare to the national average?6. What are the strengths and weaknesses of our school?

Learning points

An example of part of the Governor Dashboard:60

%

100%

70%

80%90%

Average

% Level 4+ English & Maths

23

33

25

27 29

31

Average Point Score (EMS)

Sign�cantly above average

-20%

20%

-10%

0%10%

Average

% Level 4+ English & Maths

-3

3

-2 2

-10 1

Average Point Score (EMS)

Sign�cantly above average

Pupil Results (Attainment)

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In Year Progress DataYour School Improvement Plan (SIP) is essential in the strategic management of your school, and usually the Management Information System provides the data to measure progress against the SIP objectives. All schools have a Management Information System (MIS) to record statutory and other information.

Capita SIMS is the most popular MIS in Kent schools, made up of Core and Add On software modules; it is a very powerful tool. Schools can organise data in almost any way they choose; at individual, group, class, year or whole school levels, for almost any time scale and benchmark against national, local area or whole school criteria. However, just because something can be measured doesn’t mean it needs to be measured.

Governors, in their role as critical friend to the headteacher and senior management team, can play a key role in determining whether their school is measuring the right things, especially with the need to show benefits of Pupil Premium funding and the 2014 changes to the National Curriculum.

If you are a new governor, it is worth finding out…..

• Which MIS your school uses.• What information is recorded on the MIS and how often?• Which reports are used to track which SIP objectives.• How recent/current the reports are.• What criteria/benchmarks your school is using to measure success.

The data gathered to monitor SIP progress should be current, easy to collate and compare in order to allow the school to make clear decisions for the benefit of pupils; after all this year’s Year 9 group is not the same as last year’s; and the headteacher may wish to monitor the impact of a new intervention with a particular vulnerable group.

Good reporting gives the SMT a clear insight into what might be happening beneath the surface in particular year groups and enables them to decide where best to put resources to improve learning outcomes.

For teachers, good MIS reporting is a gift; bad MIS reporting is at best a time wasting burden. The key to getting the best from the MIS is creating routine relevant clear reports to measure SIP objectives, to set relevant and measurable targets and to frequently question ‘what is being measured and why?’.

Schools using SIMS can create standard bespoke reports to incorporate the four key areas of Improvement:

• Assessment and Discover modules can provide detailed information about children’s progress and attainment,

• Attendance and Behaviour modules provide relevant data around behaviour and safety targets,

• Personnel modules record information about staff including CPD and provide Performance Management tools.

• And there are a number of modules which can be used to provide information relating to leadership and management.

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Safeguarding in Education by Kel Arthur, Head of Children’s Safeguarding Unit

A regular Child Protection Newsletter is published each term and is available on Kent Trust Web. A new version of ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ was published in April and the DfE consultation on new statutory guidance for schools, ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ closed in June. It included a proposal to remove the requirement to have a recruitment panel member trained in safer recruitment and will replace the current ‘Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education’ document.

Safeguarding record keeping in schools

In response to lessons learned from serious case reviews and multi-agency child protection audits, KCC has updated the guidelines on record keeping for safeguarding in schools. We have had some cases where this was identified as a weakness and where it contributed to a serious safeguarding

concern. In other cases records are not passed on when a child changes school, which can impact detrimentally on safeguarding the child.

A working group, which included a number of headteachers, reviewed and amended the guidelines to reflect current good practice in record keeping. The document is available on the Kent Trust Web site.

Safeguarding procedures for managing allegations against staff

We have also recently updated the guidance on managing allegations against staff in schools in the light of new legislation which, for example, introduced an anonymity clause for teachers who are the subject of an allegation. This revised guidance is also on the website.

E-Safety – Being Prepared for Ofsted

Learning points • Governing bodies should be aware of these recommendations for schools and encourage

the implementation of outstanding practices to ensure that staff and students are being kept safe and are aware of how to manage risks, even when they are not on the school site.

• Email Rebecca Avery, E-Safety Officer esafetyofficer@kent.gov.uk to discuss and review their current practise

• Consider governor training on safeguarding

by Rebecca Avery, KCC E-Safety Officer

The latest Ofsted school inspection handbook features e-safety as an important part of an inspection. E-safety and cyberbullying are highlighted in the Ofsted inspection framework in two of the four key judgements, ‘the behaviour and safety of pupils at the school’ and ‘the quality

of leadership and management’. Ofsted has also published a briefing ‘Inspecting e-safety’, which highlights key points schools and Governing Bodies will need to consider.

Ofsted has identified a number of features of good and outstanding e-safety practice. Governing Bodies can find a range of useful guidance and resources to support them in developing their e-safety ethos at www.kenttrustweb.org.uk?esafety

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Maximising income from school land is an objective which you as a governor might be required to achieve.

Many schools either have converted or are in the process of converting to academy status, by which school premises are leased to an academy in a format prescribed by the Department for Education. In some cases the lease might be subject to pre-existing agreements with telecoms providers. These will need to be taken into consideration if your school/academy is planning to redevelop the site because agreements with telecoms operators are regulated by the Electronic Communications Code (‘the Code’) which is contained in the Telecommunications Act 1984.

Most academy leases prohibit any form of subletting or sharing occupation, but some allow this with the landlord’s permission. You might be approached by telecoms providers offering an attractive rent in return for the right to place a mobile phone mast on school land. Before agreeing to this, however, you should be aware that the Code gives telecoms operators security of tenure, which cannot be excluded. The significance of this is that, on the expiry of a lease, the landlord is not automatically entitled to remove telecoms equipment from the site or take possession of the property. If the landlord wants the site back and is unable to agree this by negotiation with the telecoms operator, the next step is to serve a notice on the operator under paragraph 21 of the

Code, requesting removal of the telecoms apparatus. If the operator refuses to comply, the landlord will have to apply to court for an order requiring the equipment to be removed.

Similarly, if the landlord wishes to redevelop its property and requires the telecoms equipment to be modified or altered to facilitate this, the landlord must serve a notice on the operator under paragraph 20 of the Code if agreement cannot be reached between the parties. If, following service of a Section 20 notice, the operator refuses to cooperate, the landlord has no alternative but to apply to the court for an order – a process which can be both lengthy and expensive.

Legal and Compliance Issues

Telecommunication Rights and the Impact on Land by Jane Kostelnyk, Solicitor, Legal Services

Learning points • If your school/academy

is proposing to carry out redevelopment, find out if there are any telecommunications agreements in existence affecting the land.

• Ensure that you comply with the provisions of the Electronic Telecommunications Code before taking any action to remove or modify the telecommunications equipment.

• If your school/academy is intending to maximise income by subletting to a telecommunications provider, be aware of the statutory constraints which apply to telecoms agreements.

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A recent survey of Religious Education (RE) and Collective Worship in Kent schools by the Standing Advisory Council for RE (SACRE) found that not all schools are complying with statutory requirements to teach RE to all pupils, and to provide daily acts of Collective Worship. Additionally, the survey showed that a number of schools are not aware of the recently revised Kent Agreed Syllabus for RE (2012).

Over the past two years confusion has arisen about the status and position of RE in the curriculum, as the subject is not being considered as part of the review of the National Curriculum. In fact, the position of RE has not changed. All schools should be providing RE in accordance with the expectations of the Kent Agreed Syllabus (2012).

Good practice for school governors and headteachers

As well as meeting the legal requirements, schools should ensure that RE is:

• of a high standard, where expectations are clear to pupils, parents, teachers, governors, employers and the public

• coherent and shows progression, particularly across the transitions of the key stages and post 16

• contributing to the school’s duty to promote high standards of achievement

• understood by the school community, who have confidence in the school’s provision and achievement.

Complying with Requirements for Religious Education and Collective Worship

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Learning points• Access the Kent Agreed Syllabus for RE (2012) at :

www.kenttrustweb.org.uk?PrimaryRESyllabus or www.kenttrustweb.org.uk?SecondaryRESyllabus

• A “Questions and Answers” paper for Academies and Free Schools is available at: www.kenttrustweb.org.uk?SecondaryRE or www.kenttrustweb.org.uk?PrimaryRE

• In the past, SACRE has published guidance for schools on Collective Worship, “Gathering Together: Policy and Practice for Collective Worship.” For information about this see: www.kenttrustweb.org.uk?worship

The responsibilities of governors and headteachers

As well as fulfilling their legal obligations, the governing body and headteacher should also make sure that:

• all pupils make progress in achieving the learning objectives of the RE curriculum

• the subject is well led and effectively managed and that standards and achievement in RE and the quality of the provision are subject to regular and effective self-evaluation

• those teaching RE are suitably qualified and trained in the subject and have regular and effective opportunities for CPD

• teachers are aware of RE’s contribution in developing pupils’ understanding of religion and belief and its impact on promoting community cohesion

• where appropriate, pupils have opportunities to take courses leading to an accredited qualification in the subject

• teachers explore how new pedagogies and technology can be fully utilised to support RE learning objectives and promote community cohesion

• clear information is provided for parents on the RE curriculum and the right to withdraw

• RE is resourced, staffed and timetabled so that the school can fulfil its legal obligations on RE and pupils can make good progress

• where there are insufficient teachers in a school who are prepared to teach RE, the headteacher ensures that pupils receive their entitlement to RE. In these circumstances, headteachers might wish to seek advice from their LA or SACRE.

by Allan Foster, Consultant Adviser to SACRE

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Enhancing the Curriculum to Improve Academic Achievement in Schools by Peter Mahoney, Parent Governor from The Churchill School, Hawkinge

An account on my experience on the impact the Kent Children’s University (KCU) can have on young people.

The Churchill School, which is a Primary school in Hawkinge near Folkestone, became involved with Kent Children’s University in 2012 because we saw it as a fantastic opportunity to enhance the already well-developed experiential learning opportunities provided to pupils. The Children’s University™ aims to promote exciting learning opportunities and experiences outside normal school hours for children aged 7 to 14 (and 5 and 6 year olds with their families) through the Passport to Learning scheme.

The school worked with Children’s University to become a Learning Destination which means that we are able to validate the quality of the learning taking place within our extensive range of after-school clubs. This validation is set against the national Planning for Learning framework and strongly supports the School Improvement Planning process, which in turn offers self-evaluation evidence for Ofsted regarding our ethos for providing high quality learning opportunities outside normal school hours.

The fact that the scheme is managed by our assistant headteacher, Zoe Stone, is indicative of the high-priority we give to KCU. Zoe is passionate about giving children learning experiences beyond the classroom and is a nationally trained Planning for Learning Validator which means she can validate the quality of learning in other settings if required.

Our pupils are proud of their Passports To Learning and use them to record their learning activities both on the school site and at off-site destinations such as Leeds Castle and Wildwood.

We recently hosted two graduation ceremonies (for 30 hours of learning) at our school, where families were invited to see their children graduate in the traditional mortar boards and gowns. One parent said: “Thank you for a lovely graduation ceremony at The Churchill School this morning. It was lovely to see all the children beaming all the way through it.” (Mrs Allen) We also saw two children graduate, with 65 hours learning, at Canterbury Christ Church University in July. This was an incredibly powerful opportunity for the children and families involved.

As a governor, I recognise the importance of innovative learning opportunities such as this not only to help support and develop children’s learning but by doing it in an interesting, stimulating and engaging way for the children. I firmly believe that if a child can have fun and enjoy their learning experience, in whatever subject, they will get so much more out of it and go from strength to strength.

Governors will continue to monitor and assess the impact of the scheme and look for further innovative opportunities to contextualise learning for the young people as they embark on their journey through The Churchill School.

At the heart of the link with Children’s University is the mutual ambition to raise aspirations, boost achievement and foster a love of learning, so that young people can make the most of their abilities and interests and we will continue to develop opportunities for our children to capitalise on that learning potential.

We are happy to share what we have done with others but for more information about Kent Children’s University please email kcu@kent.gov.uk

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Learning points• Find out if FILMCLUB is operating at your school.

• For further information or to set up a free film club visit www.filmclub.org, email schools@filmclub.org or call 0207 288 4520.

• Be part of the first National Youth Film Festival and register your interest now to receive details of the full programme

Barming joined the education charity FILMCLUB in September 2011 and it is now firmly established as our most popular club, with over 60 children regularly attending from Years 3-6. The club meets on alternate Fridays at the end of the school day throughout the year.

Members are encouraged to discuss the films and most importantly to submit a review online for the other children to read, which helps to develop their literacy and communication skills. Our screenings are also very social events, with children discussing what they have seen with each other and their parents.

Everyone’s a critic!We have a core group of very successful reviewers who relish the opportunity to analyse the film and give their views. We have had several prizewinners and have twice had children selected by FILMCLUB as ‘Reviewers of the Week’ nationally. These achievements are celebrated with the whole school. As well as screening popular, mainstream films we challenge children by showing films they may not usually choose – such as short films, black and white films, or much older films - Laurel and Hardy was particularly enjoyed! We also use film to support the curriculum – for example linking Goodnight Mr Tom to Year 5’s study of World War II, and using Bridge to Terabitha to promote a discussion about

bullying in PSHE. The charity supports schools effectively with a range of materials,

and also

offers access to filmmakers and other industry professionals through its monthly live webcasts, which give young people an insight into the industry that they wouldn’t otherwise receive.

To extend our club we ran a special private screening, earlier this year, of ‘Wreck It Ralph’ at the Maidstone Odeon for FILMCLUB members only, including a behind-the-scenes tour.

Millions investedWe are always looking for ways to develop our film club and will embrace the new opportunities on offer following the British Film Institute’s decision to invest £26 million of Lottery funding in a unified programme of film education so every school in the UK can have easy access to watching, making and learning about film.

The new curriculum based resources will be a useful learning tool with which we can expand our use of film to support learning across a variety of topics. I also look forward to participating in the new National Youth Film Festival and to taking pupils to the free screenings and workshops highlighted in the festival programme.

In almost every excellent school in the UK you will find a thriving music programme.

Film Education for All by Robin Halls, Headteacher at Barming Primary School

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Learning points

To find out more about Soundhub, visit

www.soundhubkent.com

Getting in Tune - Funding for Music Educationby Peter Bolton, Chief Executive, Soundhub

Is this a coincidence? Not at all! For many years research has shown that children and young people engaged in music do well in their academic studies.

Professor Sue Hallam at the Institute of Education at the University of London is just one of a number of academics who have researched this over a number of years. Amongst many findings in her book Music Education in the 21st Century in the United Kingdom written with Andrea Creech she says: “Overall, academic attainment depends on the development of literacy and numeracy skills which themselves are influenced by engagement with music.”

The government considers the links between music, academic and social development to be so important that in 2011 it published a National Plan for Music Education and backed it up with £63m of ring-fenced funding from September 2012 to March 2015. This funding is designed to ensure that every child between the age of 5 and 18 has the opportunity to learn a musical instrument and to sing.

The politicians have understood that to have a rounded music education you need to learn a musical instrument and sing in addition to studying the national curriculum. This means, of course, that any school devising a music programme must ensure that in addition to excellent curriculum teaching, there is excellent provision of instrumental teaching, choirs, vocal programmes, ensembles and groups.

Luckily, some of the £63m has been allocated to your school to help provide this activity. The funding is allocated by Soundhub, the new music education hub for Kent. Soundhub is charged with working with partners including schools to ensure that every child has access to instrumental tuition, ensembles and singing so that they can make good progress as musicians.

Soundhub has been operational since September 2012 and has a team of local hub leaders who have visited all schools throughout the year and will be developing plans over the summer for how it aims to work with schools in the next academic year. Our aim is to ensure that the government money is used as effectively as possible so that all children are given the opportunity to benefit from a music education.

Funding from Soundhub is not sufficient to ensure a thriving music programme in every school. In most counties in England, schools contribute to instrumental lessons and the provision of ensembles, groups and choirs from their own resources to ensure the widest music benefits across the school. We are keen to work in partnership with schools throughout Kent to ensure that any funding that we contribute is matched by funding from other sources so that music programmes become embedded in schools across the county.

What can you do as a governor? Firstly, be aware that there is a ring fenced fund for music. Second, listen out for the signs of a flourishing music programme in your school: instruments being played; choirs in full song; rock bands jamming; orchestras rehearsing; iPads composing. If these things are in place they are positive signs of good academic and social health in the school as a whole.

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Using Technology to Improve Communication – Collaborating in the Cloud by Sarah Jones, Marketing Manager EIS

The clerk is responsible for the many school documents, reports and minutes circulated, analysed and created by the governing body, almost always now electronically. Have you ever lost track of which is the current version? Improved technology means that schools now have an opportunity to provide their governing body with its own specific web collaboration area either on the school’s Virtual Learning Platform such as KLZ (Kent Learning Zone) or by creating an extranet on the school’s website.

This means that all governor information, SIP, policies and so on can be stored securely on the schools network and accessed with a password through the Internet. As clerk, you can store the current versions of any documents centrally and securely, and simply send governors a link to them when they are available. This can save time at meetings and ensure that everyone is working on the same document. Governors can access up to date and relevant information whenever and wherever they need it through the Internet.

In our experience, headteachers feel much happier knowing that confidential information remains within the school network rather than on personal email accounts. The school can control the access levels and ensure confidential staff or pupil information is not being compromised and vice versa.

Clerking Matters

Raising the Profile of Clerking Nationally

Following a commitment by the NGA to promote and support the work of governing bodies, they hosted a roundtable discussion with a range of organisations, (including Hampshire Governor Services who run The Accredited Clerk programme).They broadly agreed that there is:

• considerable diversity among the experience, skills and legal expertise of clerks, and what people understand and expect of clerking

• a lack of understanding of the importance of a trained clerk

• a need to pay clerks appropriately for a professional job• governing bodies need to know how and where they

can source good clerks and develop them further (see page 7 of the Governors Handbook)

As a result of their discussions it was agreed that ‘A Manifesto for Outstanding School Clerking’ be developed to address the issues outlined above and raise the profile of clerking. This should have now been published (in the July issue of NGA’s magazine ‘Governing Matters’), and will be covered in more detail in the next issue of the Governor.

Learning pointsFind out if your school has a virtual learning platform or access to an extranet which could be used by your governing body.

Learning points• Take an active role in your own development by

planning training in the areas you feel less confident in. You can book on any session in the Governor Training programme, not just those directed at clerking.

• Read the manifesto and contribute to the discussions at the Clerks Network Meetings in the autumn term.

• Read the new Procedures Regulations and relevant sections of the new Governors Handbook (replaces the Guide to the Law and be prepared to advise the governing body of any changes as they complete their annual review (see News in Brief on page 4).

Making a Formal Constitutional Change

The governing body can review and change their constitution at any time. If your governing body wants to change their constitution you need to follow this process:

• Obtain agreement by the full governing body - the full governing body minutes must detail the exact requirements of the proposed constitution www.kenttrustweb.org.uk?constitutionregulations2012

• If your school is a voluntary aided or voluntary controlled school it will also be necessary for you to obtain authorisation from the respective diocese prior to forwarding your request for change to Governor Services.

• A copy of the draft minutes (along with authorisation from the diocese if necessary) should be forwarded to Governor Services, who check if the proposal complies with the legal requirements and will make a new Instrument.

• Please allow at least one month for the process. Please note - the change will not come into effect until it has been signed on behalf of Kent County Council.

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Urgent actionIf you have not already done so, as a matter of urgency, could you please logon to your CPD account using the following link www.kenttrustweb.org.uk?CPDlogon and check the information currently held by us. We have uploaded user instructions for accessing your governor details on CPD Online which can be found in the ‘Clerks News’ section of the Kenttrustweb.

Agenda Setting for Terms 1 and 2

Autumn term

Key tasks

❏ Set dates of meeting for the year❏ Set objectives, monitoring and visits, governing body activities❏ Set support and training for the development of the governing body for the year❏ Review SATs/national tests/public examination results❏ Complete/review School Self Evaluation / Approve School Improvement Plan (SIP)❏ Receive updates of SIP priorities❏ Receive and review teacher/governor reports/SIP update❏ Receive headteacher’s report

❏ Consider Pupil Performance targets

Statutory tasks

❏ Elect chair and vice chair (according to your governing body procedure)❏ Agree committee structure, membership and terms of reference for all committees and working groups ❏Review Capability, Appraisal and Pay Policies❏ Review headteacher performance❏ Draw up admissions policy for the next school year (Voluntary Aided and Foundation Schools)❏ Review Health and Safety items

Finance requirements

❏ Present and discuss latest Budget Monitoring;❏ Formula and Devolved Capital❏ Review school charging policy e.g. School trips❏ Review of Benchmarking comparisons❏ Best Value MonitoringN.B. Items in blue are required for SFVS

On a regular basis Statutory tasks

❏ Review policies ❏ Complete SEN report ❏ Action planning following OfSTED inspection

Publish and update on school website

❏ Pupil Premium allocation❏ Curriculum year by year and subject❏ Admissions ❏ Behaviour policy

The 5 Minute GB Agenda PlanYou may find this agenda planner a fun way to work through your agenda setting. It can be accessed using the following link

www.kenttrustweb.org.uk?agendas

Governor Services DatabaseFollowing the recent migration of our database to the CPD online service provided by Webbased Ltd, we requested your help in ensuring the accuracy of the data transferred.

Governing Bodies have a statutory responsibility to ensure that the Local Authority has the most up-to-date information regarding its membership and as the clerk to the governing body, this responsibility rests firmly with you. Providing us with prompt updates ensures that your new governors receive their welcome pack, (including the NGA publication Welcome to Governance) together with information about induction training. For other governors we use the database to create our mailing list for the Governor magazine and to send other appropriate communication.

The database allows you to view online the data that we hold on your governing body and also provides the facility for you to download the details held of your governing body into an excel spreadsheet from which you can then add columns to manage your own records.

Because the new database is online we will not be carrying out the usual Detailed School Report (DSR) annual database check. It is our future intention to provide clerks with access rights so that you will be able to amend the details held on CPD Online yourself. However in the meantime please continue to send in all new appointments / resignations / change in designations to schoolgovernor@kent.gov.uk as soon as possible.

❏ Charging policy❏ SEN and disability❏ Links to Ofsted❏ Links to performance data

The following list of tasks will provide a guide for you alongside your chair and headteacher in drafting the agenda for the Autumn Term. They are not exhaustive. A full list of tasks that should be addressed at sometime during the year can be found on the ‘Governing Body Annual Planner’ which can be downloaded from the clerks pages, document bank on www.kenttrustweb.org.uk?Clerksdocuments and www.kenttrustweb.org.uk/Advisory/govclerksmodel.cfm

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Governor Training and Development 2013-14

I will be managing the development programme and the Governor magazine from 1 September 2013. As a fully traded service, we have spent some time over the last six months planning a range of courses that we hope you will find stimulating, informative and supportive of your role as a school governor. Increasingly our sessions are interactive with workshop style activities shared with fellow governors.

Little gems

As well as the input from the course facilitator and the session materials, many governors comment that they have picked up ‘little gems’ of good practice in table discussions with fellow governors. We want to continue offering good opportunities for this to happen in a facilitated environment.

As governors prefer to attend training that is delivered close to home, the booklet is arranged highlighting the offer in each of the four areas of Kent – North, West, East and South, (shown in the map below) each of which should have exactly the same range of courses and opportunities. You are however not limited to attend courses on offer in your area, but are encouraged to book on any course in any venue across the county that suits your needs.

Check with your clerk to find out which level of training and development package your governing body subscribes to. In most cases this will be one whereby you can book on as many courses as you wish throughout the year and

by Aileen Cooper, Governor Training and Development Manager

At the time of going to press it is our intention that accompanying this issue of the Governor will be your own personal copy of the Governor Training Programme for 2013/14.

includes one governor attending the governor conference. For non subscribing schools, there is no charge to an individual governor for training, but a charge will be made to the school for each course attended.

As well as development sessions for new governors, clerks and chairs, there are sessions to improve your effectiveness within the governing body, to understand your statutory duties, such as Managing Staff and Finance; Safeguarding Children; and preparing for an Ofsted inspection. The programme also provides opportunities to explore and understand school data, understand provision for children with additional needs, conduct the appraisal of the headteacher and manage parental complaints. Hopefully we have provided something for every governor, but if not please let me know as we will be reviewing and developing our programme throughout the year.

Once you have browsed through the brochure and agreed your development needs with your governing body,

booking is electronic through CPD Online. You can find both information about CPD Online and a user guide on how to create a user account and book on any courses by following this link www.kenttrustweb.org.uk?aboutus

Information on how to book can also be found in more detail in the Governor Training Programme booklet.

Aileen Cooper

Governor Training and Development Manager

Ashford

Dover

Swale

Shepway

Maidstone Sevenoaks

Canterbury

Tunbridge Wells

Thanet Swale

Tonbridge& Malling

Dartford Gravesham

Management Information, ELS, KCC05/04/2013

ArcMap 10.0 This map is based upon Ordnance Survey material with the permission of OrdnanceSurvey on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office © Crown Copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. 100019238 2013

Kent LA by Area and District

NORTH KENTRichard Dalziel

WEST KENTJared Nehra

EAST KENTMarisa White

SOUTH KENTDavid Adams

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Annual Governors’ Conference 2013 FeedbackThis year we adopted a different approach to planning our conference and concentrated on governor’s participation and interaction.

The carousel activity in the morning called ‘Time to Talk’ focused around three 20 minute table discussions, each led by a table facilitator. A presenter for each focus was available to answer questions and contribute to the discussions, and then moved on (the carousel bit) to the next group of tables to host the topic for a 2nd and then a 3rd time. The 3 topics were ‘Continuous School Improvement’ hosted by Patrick Leeson, ‘the Quality of Teaching’ hosted by Linda Pickles, and ‘Challenge and Support’ hosted by Linda Lissimore. Overall feedback for this session was very positive, however as with any new activity there were some things we could have managed better and will take into account if we repeat this type of activity next year.

(You can find the feedback from the carousel activity at www.kenttrustweb.org.uk?governors under Annual Governors’ Conference).

The second part of the morning ‘Time to Plan’ provided a separate workshop for secondary school governors on making the best use of the financial resources in school, whilst primary governors participated in a workshop on how Ofsted makes a judgement about the governance of a school.

After lunch governors were challenged in ‘Time to Think’ spending the whole afternoon with Professor David Hargreaves, considering a ‘Self Improving Schools System’ where schools would work collaboratively with the outcome being that the whole system gets better. At the core of governor’s discussions during the afternoon was the notion of ‘Joint Development Practice’ (JDP), working on joint solutions to problems rather than being given a ‘key message’ or information to adopt. Governors often only have experience in one governing body or school and were encouraged to consider visiting

Do you know someone who would make an excellent Clerk to the Governing Body?Since 2005, the Kent Clerking Service has recruited, trained and deployed over 80 clerks as a named clerk to an individual governing body. Over 200 schools currently use the service, and we are now in a position where, in some areas, we have a demand that exceeds the number of trained clerks we have available.

We offer flexible working (usually late afternoon or evening), full training (including access to a national accreditation), an opportunity to shadow and be mentored by an existing clerk, in exchange for an hourly rate of pay approximately £10 per hour depending on qualifications and experience.

If you or someone you know is interested, find out more by contacting Sue Hill on 01622 203800 ext 290, or email clerkingservice@kent.gov.uk

another governing body and observing practice and inviting governors from another school to visit them. For those who did attend the conference, this was facilitated by a pledge card and it would be really helpful if you would share some feedback with us about how this went for you. A short comment to schoolgovernor@kent.gov.uk would be very much appreciated.

This is how one governor summed up their experience of the day

“How much I both enjoyed and valued the Governors’ Conference…felt totally engaged from beginning to end with time seeming to pass quickly (always a good sign!)…The pace was managed well with different types of engagement with the audience – networking, carousel, straight presentation and Prof Hargreaves’ interactive style in the afternoon. Prof Hargreaves lived up to the expectation I had received from a colleague who had seen his presentation in Cambridgeshire. It was inspirational as well as thought provoking. The table sizes felt right and allowed for good interactions to take place and the carousel activity worked well”.

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