National Leaders of Governance

1. National Leaders of Governance • The purpose of this workshop is to give you the opportunity find out more about NLGs and their contribution to system leadership • Kate Foale – First cohort of NLGs, first deployment May 2012

2. Overview of College support for governors • Chairs of Governors' Leadership Development Programme • Strong governance for good schools workshops • Review of governance – pilot • National leaders of governance

3. Review of governance • Pilot started Oct 2012 • For schools with ‘requires improvement’ where governance is judged to be ineffective • HMI-led inspections only • NLG or NLE trained by the National College conducts a short review of the quality of governance at the school, and discusses options for improvement • Non-mandatory • Available free of charge during the test and learn. • Arrangements for taking the reviews to larger scale in 2013 are under discussion.  

4. Review of governance - purpose • The purpose of undertaking a review of governance is to support a school to move out of Category 3 ‘requires improvement’ to good. • Help governing body to identify priorities for improvement in their governance • Provide support on what steps should be taken to improve

5. The new Ofsted framework and the importance of governance • Para 60 of the Framework for School Inspection Ofsted September 2012: • Inspectors will also evaluate how effectively governors, or those with a similar responsibility, challenge and hold senior leaders to account for all aspects of the school's performance.

6. A designation for system leaders in governance Highly effective chairs of governors who use their skills and experience to support chairs in other schools and academies Purpose is to increase leadership capacity to help raise standards so that improvements can be sustained Second cohort NLG has been designated and is now available for placement and partnership National Leaders of Governance (NLG)

7. Raising school performance: raising standards and leading improvement understanding and interpreting school data including RAISEonline Providing support and challenge for the headteacher: providing more effective support and challenge to the headteacher developing the chairs’ relationship with the headteacher Governance process: developing the chairs’ leadership, effectiveness and confidence mentoring a chair to provide support through a particular process What might an NLG do?

8. Deployment 1 – Facilitating academisation Deployment 2 – Head/Chair relationship Deployment 3 – GB providing sufficient challenge Keys to successful deployment : Coaching and supporting not telling There solely for the Chair of Governors Giving the Chair the confidence to challenge or consider more options What have I done so far?

9. The host school has a more effective chair who ensures the governing body makes a difference to school improvement The system recognises the impact that effective governance can make on school improvement The NLG receives recognition for his/her skills, the opportunity to develop them further and is able to contribute to a better understanding of effective governance The NLG’s school receives a grant that could be used to further develop the governing body as well as reimbursing the NLG’s expenses Benefits

11. Examples of NLG deployment currently underway • Examples of deployments underway include support for a chair who … • is new in post in a school given a notice to improve and governance was an issue • whose head is working with an LLE and where governance is an issue • is new in post and whose head has just stepped up to acting headship due to illness • is new in post, and school has just failed its first termly inspection after going into special measures • has a difficult relationship with their head • wants support in securing information about children’s progress and attainment so that the governing body can monitor and evaluate

12. “The Chair of the Governing Body has benefitted from a high quality mentoring programme and as a result is more knowledgeable and confident in leading the way and in holding school leaders to account. Parents and carers are also now better informed and a parent forum has recently been established.” Ofsted monitoring visit for primary school requires improvement “The leadership and management of the school have improved at all levels … With the support of a national leader in governance, governors are forging a more independent and challenging role within the strategic decision making process, to hold the senior managers to account better and to refocus on standards and performance achieved by the school. Committees have been restructured, for example, to reflect the importance of teaching and learning, and the governing body is now at the stage of implementing the new policies it has agreed.” Ofsted monitoring visit for primary school requires improvement SR

13. “Supporting a new chair in a school in special measures is a tremendous privilege and it has reminded me how crucial the role of the governing body is in school improvement, and how a chair and their governing body can have an immense influence on the lives of children and young people.  It has refreshed my practice as chair and my motivation in the role.” John Baker, NLG, Essex "The biggest difference I am making as an NLG is being available for a new chair of governors to discuss ideas and practices with. This has built confidence and provided support for the chair during a challenging period. It has also made me think about the way that I work as a chair!“ Richard Webster, NLG, Kent What do NLG get out of the role? SR

14. National College KPI – 75% of cohort 2 NLGs deployed by 18 March 2013 What is the associate role to support NLGs in the sourcing deployments? NLG - next steps SR

15. Chairs of Governors programme E: chair.ofgovernors@nationalcollege.gsi.gov.uk T: 0115 982 9301 Future NLG application rounds: Dates and information published on the National College website. Cohort 4 – summer term – dates tbc W: www.education.gov.uk/nationalcollege Further information