Building Better Boards: An Opportunity for Education

Published by Wild Search

This report seeks to assess the state of school governance today and makes proposals that are intended to enable governors to respond to the challenges presented by a rapidly changing educational landscape. Governance used to be the Cinderella of schooling, receiving little attention from government ministers and policy wonks. That has now changed. The much discussed Trojan Horse affair has shown up the damage than can be done when governance goes awry. The move towards academisation, and with it the diminishing power of Local Education Authorities has placed an increasing burden on governors to monitor the performance of their school or group of schools in the case of Multi Academy Trusts. The preface by Lord Nash highlights the work of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Education Governance and Leadership. He recognises the importance of governance as an agent for  change in a school-led system. 

By 'school-led system' Nash means schools working together under the auspices of an Academy Chain or Multi-Academy Trust. The jury is out on whether academies perform better than maintained schools, especially when it comes to raising standards for disadvantaged students. But with David Cameron wanting all schools to have the 'opportunity' to become an academy by the end of the current parliament, it looks as though the drive towards academisation remains a key plank in the government's education policy. 

But if governors are going to help fill the vacuum left by the decline of LEAs they are going to have to sharpen up their act. The report emphasises the need for governors to be appointed on the basis of their skills and for existing governors to engage in high quality training and professional development. The authors are rather sniffy about Parent Governors. They would like to see a shift from the stakeholder model towards skills-based governance, as if it's a case of either the one or the other. I disagree. It is rather patronising to suggest that Parent Governors don't necessarily have the skills needed to govern. At Matravers our Parent Governors are a highly skilled bunch, but they are also passionate about seeing the school attended by their children continuing to make rapid progress. A concern about Parent Governors only being interested in the welfare and progress of their own darling children can be resolved by effective induction and training so that they understand the strategic nature of the role. The answer to the tendency for governor meetings to be sidetracked by parents raising issues to do with their children is good chairing, not getting rid of Parent Governors altogether.

The core functions of governance are: 1. Setting the Vision, Ethos and Strategy of the school. 2. Holding the Headteacher to account for the educational progress of the school. 3. Ensuring value for money. In all those areas parents have a role to play, as well as school leaders, staff,  members of the local community and governors appointed simply on account of their skills. In any case, when Parent Governor vacancies become available it is good practice for the role advertisement to include a description of the desired set of skills that a parent might bring to the table to complement the existing team. Do we really want a situation where Governing Boards are almost exclusively comprised of accountants, lawyers and high-powered business men and women? With all due respect to the good people of those professions, that would represent a considerable narrowing of the range of interests and backgrounds represented at board level. 

Attention is given to the challenges of governance in  Multi-Academy Trusts, especially in the light of the Education and Adoption Bill 2015-16. The bill will legislate to make it harder for maintained schools judged 'Inadequate' or 'coasting' by Ofsted to resist being forced to join an Academy Chain or MAT. However, recent Ofsted reports arising from the inspection of Chains and MATs suggest a mixed picture when it comes to these 'school-led systems' being able to turn around failing schools. Often the problem with poorly performing schools is not their maintained status, but ineffective leadership and weak governance. Forcing a struggling school to join a group that may share those characteristics isn't going to help anyone. Far better for a successful local school to offer school-to-school support at leadership and governance level to an underperforming neighbour. But where is the funding to facilitate that kind of thing? If MATs are the way to go, let them at least be area-wide set-ups that are the product of a shared vision, ethos and strategy, not 'marriages of convenience' with several schools in one part of the country and a few dotted elsewhere, having little in common save a bit of branding. 

The aspect of this report that garnered media interest was the proposal that governors, notably Chairs should be remunerated for their work. While reasonable expenses should be paid so that no one is left out of pocket for their efforts, I'm not sure that I would want governors to be paid. That does not make us dilettante amateurs, but 'unpaid professionals', who seek to serve as governors in local schools for the common good of the communities in which we live. Even when it comes to Chairs, either they would be offered little more than an insulting pittance for their work, or be paid so much as to change the nature of the role in a detrimental way. Chairs might be reluctant to do anything that might deprive them of 'a nice little earner' and fail to upset apple carts that sometimes need upsetting.

One area that did not receive sufficient reflection here was the professionalisation of clerking. If more is going to be expected of governors and they are to remain unpaid for their services, then governing boards are going to need the support of highly effective clerks. The role of the clerk is to offer the board procedural and legal advice and guidance, organise and prepare for meetings, take minutes and so on. Too often clerks are regarded as semi-professionals who routinely work well over their contracted hours. They are not always subject to regular performance management to help ensure their continued professional development. This needs to change. Effective clerking is essential for efficient, sharply focused and properly functioning school governance.  

I don't want to sound too negative about this report, though. That fact that governance is being given attention in a document like this is welcome in itself. There are some good things here, such as arguing the case for governors to engage in rigorous self-evaluation. The emphasis on skills and training is welcome. The pieces on The Importance of Communications and Promoting the Role of Governors are helpful enough. The findings of Building Better Boards should stimulate discussion among governors as to how we may best respond to the challenges that we face in the current educational climate. Boards would do well to review their practices in the light of the report's recommendations. While not all of the proposals found here may command agreement, they at least deserve serious thought and consideration. 

Open Evening

Last Thursday was our Open Evening. The event was designed to showcase the school to parents and their children. Especially children who are considering continuing their educational journey at Matravers from September 2016. The evening included a stunning performance by a school choir, engaging talks by our head students, a word from me, and an address delivered by our Headteacher, Dr. Riding. After that parents and children were conducted on a tour of the school where they were able to mingle with students and staff. If anyone missed the Open Evening, feel free to contact the school to arrange a personal tour. 

The role of the Board of Governors is to set the vision for the school and agree the strategy for making that vision a reality.  It's my job on such occasions to try and set out the board's vision for Matravers and what that means for those who opt to study with us. Below is an edited version of what I had to say:

"None of us would be here this evening did we not believe that education has the power to change lives. Its core purpose is to provide our young people with the knowledge, skills and values that they need to get on in life.

The Board of Governors’ vision is for ‘Matravers to be a world-class centre for teaching and learning at the heart of the Westbury community.’ Making that vision a reality means ensuring that every student from 11-18 exceeds their potential in all aspects of their education.

Matravers offers a broad and enriching curriculum with a good mix of academic and vocational choices. We want to make sure that our students achieve the highest possible exam results and vocational qualifications. We want to fire their ambitions and help them reach their goals on leaving school, whether that’s work-based training, taking a college course, or attending a top flight university. We are passionate about ensuring that studying here will open up our students’ life chances in ways they never could have imagined.

Our commitment to excellence in the arts has earned us three prestigious Artsmark Gold awards in a row. But we also boast students who compete at the highest level in a wide variety of sports. Our science results are top of the range year after year. Whatever our students’ gifts and interests, we hope to support and inspire them in their quest to be the best.

On a personal note I am grateful to Matravers for what the school did for our children. My son is now studying Chemical Engineering at the University of Nottingham and my daughter has just started her Nutrition studies at Bournemouth University. They are just two of the young people whose dreams Matravers helped to make a reality.

This is a good school. An outstanding one in many respects.  But don’t take my word for it, as I may be just a little biased. When Ofsted came to visit earlier this year they judged Matravers Good with many Outstanding features. (See the report from February 2015). This summer our students achieved their highest ever exam results, with a record breaking 63% getting 5A*-C GCSEs including best English and Maths.

The Ofsted report recognised the outstanding leadership of our headteacher. We trust that with Dr. Riding at the helm the school will continue to go from strength to strength. 

We certainly want our students to be academically successful, but that’s not all. We also want them to feel valued as individuals and assured that their views about this school matter. It was the students who asked governors for the change to a blazer and tie-based uniform. They told us, ‘We don’t want to look like the poor relations anymore’. In changing the uniform the board simply supported our students’ aspirations for themselves. Now Westbury young people can hold their heads high when mixing with their peers from other schools.

Education at its best is an exercise in character formation. It involves instilling a set of positive values and virtues. Our values are defined on the school website. As far as key virtues are concerned, we expect Matravers students to be considerate, courteous and conscientious at all times. Our staff are not afraid to challenge behaviour that falls short of our high expectations.

Parents are, of course, the primary educators of their children. With your involvement and support we aim to mould our students into rounded and grounded individuals with a strong sense of moral purpose; the kind of young people who will go on to make a difference in the world.

Because at Matravers we believe that education is not just for school, but for life."

The Board of Governors currently has two Parent Governor vacancies. See here for more info on what's involved and how to apply. 

Parent Power (Home-School Agreement consultation)

At Matravers we believe that it is our role to educate children with their parents rather than for their parents. Our Home-School Agreement (HSA) acknowledges the importance of parent power in education saying,  ‘[Parents/Carers] are the primary educators of [their] children’. With that in mind we wished to consult parents and carers when it came to updating some of the wording on that document.

I take it that the vast majority of parents and carers were happy with the new version. We made it clear when asking for their views that we would take 'no response' as a sign of agreement. In all he consultation elicited 9 responses. Of those 9, 1 was in full agreement, 2 made no comments, and 6 included various points. We have changed the wording of the HSA reflect some of the constructive criticism from parents/carers.

As we expected, the point that proved most controversial was the one where we ask parents and carers to:

•           Refrain from using social networking sites to discuss sensitive issues or complaints relating to the school.

There are a number of reasons why we updated the HSA to make reference to social media. When speaking to a Pupil Voice Panel at a recent Governor Visit Day it became evident that students’ pride in their school was being dented by negative comments about Matravers on social media sites. The Ofsted Report noted, “A small minority of parents do not recognise the rapid improvements made by the school.” That's a shame, but so much is evident from comments made on certain social networking sites.

Further, if a parent or carer wishes to avail themselves of the official Complaints Process, matters aren’t helped if they have already discussed their complaint on social media. Under Stage 3 of the process complainants have the right to appeal against the Chair of Governors’ decision to a panel of three governors. According to the Complaints Process those governors must not be tainted by ‘prior involvement in or knowledge of the case’. It makes it a bit difficult to ensure we can do that if the complaint has been the subject of comment on social media and has then been taken up by the local press. Parents are depriving themselves of due process when they 'discuss sensitive issues or complaints relating to the school' on social media and then wish to make a formal complaint using the proper channels.

A couple of respondents suggested that having parents and carers sign up to the point in question is a breech of their civil right to free speech. However, asking parents and carers to agree to forbear doing something is not the same as trying to force them to do so. We have no power or wish to do that. But we think that it is reasonable to ask parents and carers to refrain from tarnishing the reputation of the school to which they have chosen to send their children by making negative comments about Matravers on social media. Especially given the impact that kind of thing has on our students. Fair enough? 

Another complained that it is patronising to request that parents agree not to, "discuss sensitive issues or complaints relating to the school" on the internet. I respectfully disagree. Should a member of staff criticise the school on social media, up to and including the Headteacher, they would face disciplinary action. Students who do so have been warned that they will be suspended from the school. Governors who comment on matters relating to the school on social media know that they will soon find themselves ex-governors. I for one can't see how it is patronising to ask parents to act in the same responsible manner as staff, students and members of the Board of Governors when it comes to social networking. 

As the consultation revealed, the vast majority of parents and carers support the updated Home School Agreement. Of those who responded, only three expressed reservations about the point on social media. The objections don’t stack up and there are very good reasons for asking parents and carers to abide by this commitment.  

As their children’s primary educators parents and carers have great power. But as Spiderman’s uncle often admonished him, ‘With great power comes great responsibility’. 

Jenny Clements (1940-2015) - A Tribute

We were very sad to hear of the death of Jenny Clements last Friday. She was a great servant to the Matravers Board of Governors. She was Vice Chair of the Board and Chair of our Every Child Matters committee for many years.

Jenny will be greatly missed by all who knew her at the school. It was her abiding interest in the welfare and wellbeing of the children and young people of the Westbury area that led Jenny to devote so much time and effort to school governance. With friends at Westbury Infants and the Manor School, Melksham we will feel her loss very keenly.

Jenny had a special concern for disadvantaged children and young people. As noted, she was chair of ECM. The committee’s title stemmed from educational agenda of a previous government and there was some talk of renaming it, but Jenny was adamant, Every Child does Matter and so it remained. As a governor Jenny was capable contributing to discussions on school strategy and immersing herself in the finer points of data reports, but she never allowed us to forget that it was all about the children.

Jenny was not only involved in school governance. Amongst other things she was involved in the Hospital League of Friends, Westbury Lions, and the United Reformed Church. It was her faith that inspired her to spend her life in service of the people of the Westbury area. Jenny wasn’t a great one for email. My correspondence with her was decidedly one sided, but her email address was ‘JennyWestbury’, which kind of says it all.

It’s difficult to imagine governance at Matravers without Jenny’s steadying presence, but she would want us to press on with our quest to ensure that the school provides the outstanding education that the young people of our area deserve. I for one will miss Jenny’s wise counsel, forthright manner and good humour. It was a privilege to have know her and worked alongside her.  

The end of the beginning

"Good things come to those who wait", my mum used to tell me. I was never quite convinced by that particular piece of maternal wisdom. Like "cleanliness is next to godliness", it didn't seem always to ring true. But maybe there was something in it after all. We've been waiting for the publication of the school's Ofsted report since the inspectors came to call in February, with a follow-up visit in April. But now, at last, it's out (see here). Staff were briefed on the report last week. Hopefully parents have received their copy and I hope you've been able to give it a once-over. 

Since Ofsted first visited in 2001 Matravers has only ever been judged a Grade 3 school; 'Satisfactory' in old money, or 'Requires Improvement' as it's called in Wilshaw era. So it's pleasing to note that  we were judged Grade 2, or 'Good' at the most recent inspection. That's quite a turn-around considering the work that needed doing in the school as highlighted in the previous inspection report from February 2013. It is tribute to the outstanding leadership of our headteacher, Dr. Riding, and the hard work of our dedicated staff and remarkable students that things have moved so far so fast. Thanks too to fellow members of the Board of Governors and our clerk for doing their bit. A big well done one and all!

Did you notice the number of times the word 'outstanding' is used in the report, or 'at least good', or the repeated mention of 'rapid improvements', all hallmarks of a Grade 1 'Outstanding' school? There is an old saying, 'If it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck and swims like a duck, it's a duck'. But it seems that for now we'll have to be content with 'Good', notwithstanding the many outstanding features of the school highlighted in the report.   

By a strange coincidence the report was published on 8th May, which date also marked the 70th anniversary of VE Day. Over the weekend the nation celebrated the memory that momentous occasion. With the benefit of hindsight the allied victory in WWII seems almost inevitable in the wake of the success of the D-Day landings in the June of the previous year. But early on in the war the outcome was far from certain. Battle after battle was lost by British forces. A turning point was the victory of the Eighth Army over Rommel's Battalions at the Battle of El Alamein. Churchill reflected, "Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat." At the same time the war leader knew that there was still a long way to go before victory was finally secured. He cautioned, "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." And so it was.

Similarly, we don't regard being judged 'Good' at long last as the end of the journey. It merely marks, we trust, the end of a new beginning for the school. We aim to be 'Outstanding', not mainly for the kudos of receiving the ultimate Ofsted accolade, but for the sake of our students. We want them to enjoy an outstanding education that will give them the values, skills and qualifications they need to make it in the big wide world. Can we rest content with anything less for the young people of the Westbury area? 

Fire and Skill

What was I saying now? Got distracted for a minute. More like three months to be exact [since the last post]. But a lack of activity on the blog front doesn't mean stuff hasn't been happening in gov-land. It has. Lots of stuff, actually. All a bit of a blur really. I have a foggy memory that before Christmas senior governors had a high powered meeting with the Headteacher and School Improvement Advisor and then enjoyed  a slap-up Christmas dinner in the canteen with all the trimmings. Crackers included. After that we attended a CVQO awards ceremony to watch students receive their certificates from military top brass. All in the same day. 

After Christmas Oftsed came to call. And things haven't quite been the same since. Whoever said, 'all publicity is good publicity' evidently wasn't familiar with some of the stuff trotted out in the media around these parts. Less said on that front the better, I think.

School uniform. Some people have difficulty in accepting that our students made the running in wanting to change from the existing get up to blazers and ties. I mean, it's daft to think that they could have such high aspirations for themselves. Much easier to believe that the move was a dastardly plot dreamed up by the Headteacher with the connivance of the Governing Board. Westbury children wanting to look as smart as any school kid out there, whatever next? But they do, with 65% of our students backing the change. Good on them, I say. 

The school production Singing in the Rain was brilliant. Well acted, brilliantly staged and with some great singing. Still haven't worked out how they did the rain special effect. 

Last week it was back to school for the govs for another Visit Day. I attended History and Geography lessons. In History the subject was the American West; Cowboys and Indians and that. The lesson involved an interactive quiz using clicky things that resemble a TV remote, but can do more than just change channels and adjust the volume. A governor colleague and I got 60% between us. Mostly due to inspired guesswork on our part, I must admit. In Year 7 Geography one task was colouring in maps of the UK according to population distribution, but I didn't get to have a go at that. Just as well, as I was always hopeless at colouring between the lines.

During the Visit Day we also held some Pupil Voice panels in order to get students' perspectives on the school. We were not only interested in whether they are making academic progress in relation to their targets, but also what fires them up about education, and whether their time at school is helping to prepare them for life in the big wide world.

Last Friday night my wife and I went to see a Paul Weller concert in Swindon. The Modfather was in fine form. As teenager I was really into The Jam; Eton Rifles, Going Underground, Town Called Malice and all that. The band's motto was, 'Fire and Skill'. It was meant to encapsulate The Jam's explosive mix of fiery passion and skillful playing ability. And that kind of sums up what we're trying to do at Matravers. Not simply to give our students the right skills and knowledge, but also fire up their ambitions and give them a strong sense of moral purpose so that they will be the kind of people who make a difference to the world in which we live.

 'Matravers for education with fire and skill'.