I was a teenage Mod. Fred Perry
three button polo shirt. Check. Sta-pressed trousers. Check. Stripy boating
blazer. Check. Bowling shoes a-la
Paul Weller circa 1982, worn with white socks. Check. Why am I telling you
this? Well, it helps to explain the title of this blog post. The slangy
spelling isn’t due to my inability to write properly, although some might
disagree on that score. It’s the title of a track by sixties Mod heroes, The
Small Faces. Their first single, in fact. I’m referencing the song because on
reading the school’s latest Ofsted Inspection report, you may be asking
the exact same question: ‘Hey govs; ‘Requires Improvement’, whatcha gonna do
about it?’
That’s especially the case as
governors were singled out for criticism. Apparently “it is only recently that
governors have gained a clearer understanding of their roles and
responsibilities”. I suppose we could whinge about that, question the validity
of the judgement and carry on as before. But that has not been our response. Navel
gazing introspection wouldn’t exactly help the cause, but the judgement calls
for a bit of reflective self-criticism on our part. We can’t be taken seriously
in our role as a ‘critical friend’ of senior leaders if we refuse to subject
our own practice to rigorous examination.
So, what are we going to do about
it? I revert to proper English lest I bump into head of subject, Mr. McMahon
and he punishes my sloppy writing by making me do a hundred lines. Had enough
of that when I was in school as a pupil, thanks. Anyway, the important thing is
that governors recognise the need to sharpen up our act.
To that end we recently met with Keith
Clover for a Governors’ Training Session. Keith
is a National Leader of Governance and has helped many a governing body to
improve its performance. Our main task was to work our way though the Twenty
Questions for Governing Bodies devised by the All-Party
Parliamentary Group on Education Governance & Leadership.
We
looked at matters such as the composition and structure of the governing body, performance
reviews and the importance of having a clear strategic goal for the school. Keith
has now devised an improvement plan for governors on the basis of our answers to
the questionnaire.
It
was a useful exercise that I trust will help us on the journey towards becoming
a more effective governing body. Some of newly appointed Parent
Governors were able to attend and new head Dr. Simon Riding also dropped in, which
was nice.
We’re
getting there and after a recent monitoring visit, Her Majesty’s Inspector,
James Sage reported that, “The governing body is already much better placed to
ask challenging questions to hold the school’s senior leaders to
account.”
Yes, we are doing something about it. But we still have work to do in the quest to become a governing body that ensures every student at Matravers fulfils their educational potential. We can rest content with nothing less.
We're grateful to Mrs. Martin for all that has been accomplished under her leadership over the last year and we look forward to working with new Head, Dr. Riding from September. We have recently welcomed six new members to the governing body, all brimming with enthusiasm and determined to make a difference. Exciting times.
Oh, and at the last meeting of the Full Governing
Body, I was appointed Chair of Governors.This blog is one of the ways in which
we hope to communicate our vision for the school to students, parents, staff and
the wider community.
Guy Davies
