Holding Your School to Account

Holding your school to account

A guide for governors in North Somerset, taking account of governors’ views expressed at the annual conference 2011

[email protected] 1 www.thegovernor.org.uk "If local democracy had worked, if local governing bodies had worked in the most challenging schools and for the most disadvantaged children, we would never have needed academies…Often governing bodies are the problem, actually“

Sir Michael Wilshaw

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector

“The new theology of the Coalition government is autonomy and choice…Governors are more important in a more autonomous system. Their ability to challenge and lead is the key.”

Sue Hackman

Chief Adviser for School Standards, DfE

[email protected] 2 www.thegovernor.org.uk Holding your school to account

Accountability includes

 Being ACCOUNTable

 Taking ACCOUNT of

 Giving an ACCOUNT

This means being accountable for…

 Effectiveness: school performance

 Efficiency: value for money

Taking account of…

 Performance data

 Feedback from stakeholders

 Self-evaluation

 Policies, plans, improvement strategies

 School environment

 GB’s actions

And then…giving an account

 To parents and the community

 To Ofsted

 To Diocese

Being accountable [email protected] 3 www.thegovernor.org.uk Holding the head to account

“Governing bodies should be the key strategic body in schools, responsible for the overall direction that a school takes. In that respect, governors are also therefore the key body for school improvement.’ Lord Hill, 2011

“The headteacher is accountable to the governing body – both for the functions performed as part of the headteacher’s normal role, and for powers delegated by the governing body” A Guide to the Law for School Governors, 2010

Holding the school to account means, in most cases, holding the head to account, unless distributed leadership has really been implemented in your school.

[email protected] 4 www.thegovernor.org.uk Taking account of… How do you know how well your school is doing?

 Doing…in what sense?  How well should it be doing?  How do we know?  What should we be looking for?  Where might we find it?  What questions should we ask?  Who can we ask?  How do we know if the answers are reliable and honest?  What do we do if we find they’re not?

This is what some governors wrote:

 ETHOS

 Meet staff socially/informally to establish relationships – bonding  Performance management  Talk to children at playtimes  Fetes and summer fairs etc  Governor visits to school – meet staff  Governors’ specific responsibilities - literacy, numeracy etc  Governor presence at parents’ evenings  Friday afternoon assemblies – parents, church, community  Data from head –RAISEonline, SATS, internal school data, SEF – joint meeting of SLT and governors to discuss  Governors’ meetings – head’s report (look at range of school activities, clubs etc), reports from staff and governors’ committees  Staff and children – to talk about teaching and learning  Children invited to present learning at meeting  Impact – document  Parents – open evening to meet governors; questionnaires to parents  Communication via newsletters, website, “rogues gallery”, prospectus

[email protected] 5 www.thegovernor.org.uk  Doing what? Measuring what?  Pupil achievement – attainment, progress  Value for money  Staff performance – teaching quality  Leadership  How well are we doing?  ALIS data; FFT; SISRA (finer cutting)  How we know?  Reports  Link visits  Developing good professional relationships with staff  Results data  Reports to committees  Ofsted  Policy renewal – questions  Gain trust of all areas of school workforce by making yourself known to them  NB it takes a long time for a governor to get under the skin of a school; it’s a long term relationship

[email protected] 6 www.thegovernor.org.uk  Take note of formal indicators (data)  Recommend head reports under the new Ofsted framework  Parental observations – “Parent voice” meetings termly, attended by a link governor  Feedback from the community and wider stakeholders  Pupil voice – School Council - GB link  Questionnaires – pupils, staff, parents  Staff morale – monitor staff absence, turnover etc; work-life balance survey  Diocese (SIAS) – audit process, pre-inspection – GB involvement  Ethos, culture, respect, openness – impressions do count – visual messages, parental perceptions  Communication – informal/formal  How are the vision and values implemented on a daily basis?  What would/do we see in each classroom if the vision and values are being implemented?  Measure ourselves against GB aims and objectives  Audit of GB to determine strengths and “even better ifs”

[email protected] 7 www.thegovernor.org.uk  Doing  Looking, observing; questioning; looking/comparing; reading data  Academically  Behaviour  Attendance  Well-being – all  SMSC  Financial (value)  Relationships  How well?  Data  Benchmarking  SEF  SDP  Head’s report  How do we know?  Outcome of Academic performance, Behaviour, Attendance, Well-being, SMSC, Financial (value) and Relationships  Focus governor visits  Talking to pupils and staff

[email protected] 8 www.thegovernor.org.uk  How well are we doing?  How are the individual needs of all children being met?  In what sense?  Progress  Happy school  Committed staff  Order – creative environment – comfort/homely environment  Welcoming reception  Satisfied parents  How do we know?  SIP  SATs  Relationships  Ofsted  Questionnaires  Well supported  RAISEonline  Headteacher reports  Events  Good budget setting  Governor presence in school  We know if answers are not honest if…  Head’s answers can be tested against the above  Pupil intake level is low  Performance of other schools  Head’s ideas are not followed  Shared vision not in evidence  What do we do if school is being mismanaged?  Confidential items discussed when head is asked to leave the room

[email protected] 9 www.thegovernor.org.uk How does Ofsted do it?

 Data analysis  Validation of self-evaluation  Asking questions - teachers, parents, youngsters, governors, head…  Triangulation – comparing responses to the same questions from different groups  Lesson observation  Comparisons  Work sampling  Discussion between inspectors (where possible)

Ofsted framework 2009

. Overall effectiveness . How effective and efficient are the provision and related services in meeting the full range of learners’ needs and why? . What steps need to be taken to improve the provision further? . Achievement and standards . How well do learners achieve? . The Quality of Provision . How effective are teaching, training and learning? . How well do programmes and activities meet the needs and interests of learners? . How well are learners guided and supported? . Leadership and Management . How effective are leadership and management in raising achievement and supporting all learners?

Ofsted framework 2012

. report on ‘the quality of education provided in the school’ and must give priority to: . the achievement of pupils at the school . the quality of teaching in the school . the quality of the leadership in and management of the school . the behaviour and safety of pupils at the school . Inspectors must consider the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils; and the extent to which the education provided by the school enables all pupils to achieve, in particular disabled pupils and pupils who have special educational needs.

[email protected] 10 www.thegovernor.org.uk Sources of information

Data Published When and Recipient What does it tell us? by frequency Ofsted Ofsted Roughly every Governors From 2012 inspections will report on ‘the quality of report 2-3 years Leadership education provided in the school’ and must give team priority to: Teachers Parents  the achievement of pupils at the school LA  the quality of teaching in the school Local community  the quality of the leadership in and management of the school  the behaviour and safety of pupils at the school. Inspectors must consider the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils; and the extent to which the education provided by the school enables all pupils to achieve, in particular disabled pupils and pupils who have special educational needs. RAISEonline Ofsted and Annually, Head via National summary results, including value-added DfE autumn or password- (VA) information and benchmark information. This spring term, protected allows schools to understand what progress pupils depending on website and students are making, compare the progress Key Stage made by individual pupils with progress made by other pupils with similar prior attainment, and compare their performance with similar schools SATs QCDA Annually, Head Teacher Assessment and national test results in results (until autumn term Teachers core subjects at the end of Key Stages 1-3 autumn Governors 2011) Parents Pupils LA GCSE, AS Various Annually; Students The achievement of each student in all the subjects and A level exam August Head they have studied. results boards Teachers Parents Governors LA (secondary schools only) School- School Throughout Head Practice varies from school to school. Could include generated the year Staff reading scores, Cognitive Ability Test (CAT) results; data Governors value-added data; anonymised pupil-tracking data. (?) Attendance School Possibly Head Record of pupil non-attendance (authorised and data termly; at least Staff unauthorised) annually Governors LA Exclusions School Possibly Head Record of pupil exclusions, both fixed-term and data termly; at least Staff permanent annually Governors LA

[email protected] 11 www.thegovernor.org.uk Other possible sources

 Raw data and league tables

 Self-Evaluation Form (SEF)

 Headteacher’s report

 Subject leader report

 Link governor report

 School Improvement or Development Plan (and related progress reports)

 School Profile

 School Awards (eg Investors In People, Healthy Schools, Artsmark; Basic Skills)

 Curriculum Committee minutes

What else should governors monitor and evaluate?

This is what one group of governors wrote:

 Pupil and staff attendance, sickness, turnover

 School awards – ecoschools; healthy schools; investors in people etc

 Staff CPD – are staff actively pursuing professional development?

 Excellence clusters

 Provision and quality of wraparound care – how well is it used?

 Is the school popular? – waiting list, vacancies, parent opinion polls

 Are the children happy and contented?

 How much positive press the school receives [email protected] 12 www.thegovernor.org.uk  Value for money – getting the right balance; effective budget management; profiling and forecasting

 Safeguarding and SEN – special support for parents and children from vulnerable backgrounds

 Achievement beyond/after your school’s age group – University, jobs, FE

 Gifted and talented register

 Number of visits and support from other services

 Target setting and monitoring – pupil tracking; head’s performance management

And another group added:

 Welfare of head and school staff

 Child’s engagement and enjoyment

 Environment

 School vision

[email protected] 13 www.thegovernor.org.uk Problems and solutions

What if the head doesn’t share the data with us?

Now you know what you’re entitled to see, what do you do if the head is not passing on the right information? You want the information but you probably don’t want to run the risk of alienating him/her, so proceed with caution.

Try to work out why the head is behaving in this way. Is it a cock-up or a conspiracy? Is it insecurity? Is there a problem of confidentiality, real or perceived? Is one of the governors over-zealous in challenging the school and the head? Is the head a poor leader or manager? Is other information not being shared?

Check your perceptions with other governors. Each situation is unique, so there’s never an off-the-peg solution. Once you’ve done your best to work out why the data isn’t being shared, you could try one or more of the following strategies:

 Ask the chair to ask the head for the data.

 Ask an appropriate committee chair to request the data.

 Talk to the head about it, after you’ve tried the first two approaches and if they’ve failed.

If the data is still not forthcoming, it has become a serious issue and the chair should take responsibility on behalf of the governing body. The chair of a governing body of a maintained school could approach the local authority to see if it could help to improve the flow of information. A Chair of Governors could request the relevant log- in details for RAISEonline from the DfE.

It’s unlikely that things will need to be taken this far but, ultimately, governors are responsible for ensuring that standards are as high as they could be and they can only be assured of that by seeing the hard data for themselves. Ofsted, the DfE and the LA all expect heads to share such data with governors. In the National Standards for Headteachers, which form the basis for all headteachers’ national qualifications, you’ll find the following:

Makes sense of complex and sometimes conflicting data to present a coherent, understandable and accurate account of the school’s performance to a range of stakeholders

So there’s no excuse for a head not to share information with governors!

[email protected] 14 www.thegovernor.org.uk This is what some groups of governors wrote:

Governors’ challenge:

1 Assessing reliability – questioning of all, not just the headteacher, based on good relationships – pertinent, relevant and transparent questions – supply evidence. Consistency in framework for questioning – Code of Conduct

2. Facing up to results

NB Recognise that there is support from Governor Services

Our problem was related to the involvement of parents in pupils’ target setting:

 Ofsted report identified that parents were not sufficiently involved in discussion of targets at parents’ evenings  Chair and head co-operated to produce a suitable parent questionnaire following MB meeting had discussed this issue  GB - head challenge and response worked well  Early days so medium to long term impact not known

We could do with collaboration between GBs from other schools in the area – sharing of good practice

 Problem with maths GCSE results  Identified through the annual report on results  Governors requested that the chosen faculty report for that year focused on the maths faculty  Governors were pushing at an open door. SLT were as worried as anyone and were keen to have governors’ support for action  Governors, through the curriculum committee, got regular reports on progress  SLT were willing to take on governors’ ideas – eg “A” half of year taught in mixed gender groups; “B” half taught as single sex groups  Major staffing changes took place  “overstaffing” of maths gave small teaching groups  Outcome – over 3 years maths results went from approx. 30% A*-C to 60% + A*-C  Governors did not manage the changes that brought about the improvement but they did challenge and support the changes. To be fair, however, we were, as I said, pushing at an open door. The school wanted to improve. [email protected] 15 www.thegovernor.org.uk “As a link governor I went to see the head of subject. I asked a group of parents if they had any points they wanted me to raise and one said that her daughter, although she was very fond of her teacher, was upset that it took 3 months to get the results of a mock GCSE exam. The head of department showed me system she had in place to ensure staff set work at points during the year but also through my story realised that she didn’t have an evaluation process in place – ie she didn’t check whether the job had been done. I hope that she now has a checking process in place.”

 New experience  Forming of federation – two schools – one head now executive head of both schools – need to forge strong links between both schools  Holding head accountable to get schools together  Protecting each school’s identity  Balanced approach to both schools  Headteacher’s report, separate sub-committees etc  Challenging questions at governing body meetings  Amalgamation difficulties – linking of both staffs, etc  Friction, but underlying desire to work together…  Circulated questionnaire to staff. Arranged confidential meetings with staff to discuss problems.  Gave report to head.  He accepted confidentiality to move forward.  Problem  Governors not taking responsibility for role  Solution  Action plan which identified expectations, roles, responsibilities  The beginning of a journey…

Behaviour management

Problem: the perception of some parents of level of behaviour: do parents know what the policy is?

Solution: As a result of discussion at a governors’ meeting staff agreed to further publicise procedures but also to emphasise low level of poor behaviour. Positive PR needed to reinforce good aspects of school.

School budget

Problem: High cost of individual colour printers

Solution: Governor came in to help re-network PCs to one colour printer [email protected] 16 www.thegovernor.org.uk Giving an account

Demonstrating accountability to parents and the community

Giving an account: To parents and the community

Do any governing bodies publish an Annual Report? Only one GB represented at the conference still did – but there’s nothing to stop any GB from doing so – and the advantage over the past model is that you decide what to include – it’s not determined by the DfE

Most GBs take advantage of the school’s regular communication systems:

• Newsletter • Website • Presence at school

One group of governors wrote:

 Improving communication  Most schools want communication to be better  How do we make sure parents, staff, community feel well informed?  How do we make effective use of modern technology – Facebook, email, SMS, texts?  Use newsletters, local press. Share responsibility amongst governors

To Ofsted (current framework)

Ensuring the governing body provides effective challenge and support so that weaknesses are tackled decisively and statutory responsibilities are met

• Fulfil statutory responsibilities • Shape the direction • Challenge and support leaders

[email protected] 17 www.thegovernor.org.uk What’s next?

 New National Curriculum in development – slimmer, more knowledge based – gives schools and teachers room to enhance the core curriculum

 New assessment regime and methodology will be needed as the new NC comes in

 Progress measures are very important indeed, not just outcome measures

 English Baccalaureate and its effects, even on primary curriculum: narrowing teachers’ focus on “traditional”, academic subjects at the expense of other subjects

 How well do deprived groups do? Narrowing the gap between the top and bottom is still a major national focus for improvement

 What happens when students leave? Numbers of those not in education, employment or training are rising…

 New floor standards have been introduced – most schools failing to reach them will be forced to take on Academy status

 Value for money – results vs expenditure – increasingly important and under the microscope

 What are your internal school performance indicators?

[email protected] 18 www.thegovernor.org.uk