Governor Services Briefings
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The information contained in this briefing paper is correct at the time of publication P a g e | 2 (Apr 2017) but may subsequently be subject to change DATES FOR GOVERNANCE BRIEFINGS ACROSS THE WHOLE COUNTY SUMMER TERM 2017 Date Time Venue Chichester Chichester High School for Boys Wednesday 3.45pm (Sport Centre) 26th April Kingsham Road PO19 8AE Horsham Thursday County Hall North 9.30am 27th April Chart Way RH12 1XH Worthing Tuesday Durrington High School 6.00pm 2nd May The Boulevard BN13 1JX Burgess Hill Wednesday St Paul’s Catholic College 6.00pm 3rd May Jane Murray Way RH15 8GA Horsham Thursday County Hall North 1.30pm 4th May Chart Way RH12 1XH Chichester Chichester High School for Boys Monday 9.30am (Sport Centre) 8th May Kingsham Road PO19 8AE Petworth Herbert Shiner Building Monday 6.00pm Petworth Primary School 8th May South Grove GU28 0EE Crawley Tuesday The Charis Centre 6.00pm 9th May West Green Drive Crawley, RH11 7EL Worthing Wednesday Durrington High School 1.30pm 10th May The Boulevard BN13 1JX Crawley Thursday The Charis Centre 9.30am 11th May West Green Drive Crawley, RH11 7EL The information contained in this briefing paper is correct at the time of publication P a g e | 1 (Apr 2017) but may subsequently be subject to change DATES FOR GOVERNANCE BRIEFINGS ACROSS THE WHOLE COUNTY AUTUMN TERM 2017 Date Time Venue Worthing Tuesday Durrington High School 1.30pm 12th September The Boulevard BN13 1JX Burgess Hill Tuesday St Paul’s Catholic College 6.00pm 12th September Jane Murray Way RH15 8GA Crawley Wednesday The Charis Centre 9.30am 13th September West Green Drive Crawley, RH11 7EL Petworth Wednesday Herbert Shiner Building 6.00pm 13th September Petworth Primary School South Grove GU28 0EE Chichester Chichester High School for Boys Thursday 3.45pm (Sport Centre) 14th September Kingsham Road PO19 8AE Horsham Monday County Hall North 1.30pm 18th September Chart Way RH12 1XH Chichester Chichester High School for Boys Tuesday 9.30am (Sport Centre) 19th September Kingsham Road PO19 8AE Crawley Tuesday The Charis Centre 6.00pm 19th September West Green Drive Crawley, RH11 7EL Worthing Wednesday Durrington High School 6.00pm 20th September The Boulevard BN13 1JX Horsham Thursday County Hall North 9.30am 21st September Chart Way RH12 1XH The information contained in this briefing paper is correct at the time of publication P a g e | 2 (Apr 2017) but may subsequently be subject to change CONTENTS Page Title Information/Action: No. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FROM THE 1. INFORMATION 4 SPRING TERM BRIEFINGS 2. SUMMER TERM LINK ADVISER VISITS ACTION 5 HEADTEACHERS’ PAY – TEMPORARY INFORMATION & 3. 6 DISCRETIONARY PAYMENTS ACTION HEADTEACHERS’ PAY – TEMPORARY 3a. INFORMATION 7 DISCRETIONARY PAYMENTS – ANNEX A 4. PRIMARY ASSESSMENT UPDATE INFORMATION 8 INFORMATION & 5. PUPIL PREMIUM STRATEGY 10 ACTION INFORMATION & 6. NATIONAL LEADERS OF GOVERNANCE 11 ACTION 7. INCLUSION INFORMATION 12 A COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK FOR 8. ACTION 14 GOVERNANCE 9. GOVERNOR E-LEARNING (GEL) INFORMATION 16 WEST SUSSEX SERVICES FOR SCHOOLS - INFORMATION & 10. 17 UPDATE ACTION 11. NEWS IN BRIEF INFORMATION 18 The information contained in this briefing paper is correct at the time of publication P a g e | 3 (Apr 2017) but may subsequently be subject to change West Sussex Governance Briefings Summer Term 2017 Questions and Answers from the Spring Term Briefings: Q. Is it possible to have some training sessions in the Burgess Hill/Haywards Heath area? A. The training programme for 2017/18 has been published but we will certainly consider this in future if the demand is there. Q. Could the schools correspondence indicate who the letter is intended for on the front page so that governors can view what is relevant to them rather than having to check every letter? A. This will be included in all correspondence in future. Q. Can a link to the school correspondence be included in the regular email to clerks now that the weekly reminder email is not being sent? A. A link to the letters is often included in the governors update email but this will be included in every update in future. Q. Is it possible to simplify the LA governor appointment process? A. The process has been implemented by Councillors and only they can change it. They are not planning to make any changes at this time. Q. Can governors access the safeguarding seminar materials if they are unable to attend the sessions? A. The materials from the session would not make sense out of context so it is not possible to share these. There are safeguarding training sessions in the governors training programme, and also available as an in-school session. Q. The letter to the head regarding link adviser visits did not mention that there was an expectation that at least one governor would be present. A. A letter will be sent via the heads communications on 27th April that will include an expectation that the Link Adviser will meet with governors. Q. Can governors have access to information about who the link advisers are and which ones support which schools? A. The list changes regularly – if you would like to know who the link adviser is for your school check with your headteacher. Q. Is it possible for governors to receive notification when letters relevant to them are published on the website? A. A list of communications relevant to the chair of governors is included in the fortnightly clerks bulletin and letters on the West Sussex Services for Schools website are now labelled to show who they are applicable to. We hope this will be helpful. The information contained in this briefing paper is correct at the time of publication P a g e | 4 (Apr 2017) but may subsequently be subject to change West Sussex Governance Briefings Summer Term 2017 For action Summer Term Links Adviser School Visits What should governors be aware of? The Link Adviser visits in the summer term will focus on Leadership and Management. A central part of the visit will discuss and assess the strength of governance in the school. It is often the case that many governing bodies are able to describe the way they approach governance but are not so effective at being able to evidence the impact they are having. The Link Adviser visit will therefore focus on this aspect and will be asking 4 key questions: Are governors able to articulate the strengths and weaknesses of the school? Are they able to show evidence of their activity for one of these weaknesses? Are they able to show evidence of the impact of this activity? Are they able to show evidence of their monitoring of the Headteachers’ Performance including any interim reviews and how do governors hold senior leaders stringently to account for all aspects of the school’s performance? What should governors consider? Governors should take into consideration: 1. what reports and data you used to identify the strengths and weakness; 2. did you benchmark against local or national data? 3. how did you approach agreeing the actions required to resolve the issue? 4. What did you agree would be governors’ involvement? – how did you delegate within the GB? 5. did you agree the evidence you would require to assess impact? 6. how are these discussions and decisions recorded? Action for governors Governing bodies should find out the date of the Link Adviser meeting, agree who will attend and be prepared to answer the questions above. Governor in-school training sessions are available on ‘Identifying the Impact of your Governing Body’ References or web-sites Compare school and college performance https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/ Contact details – Patrick Cummings – General Adviser [email protected] Governor Inschool Training - [email protected] The information contained in this briefing paper is correct at the time of publication P a g e | 5 (Apr 2017) but may subsequently be subject to change West Sussex Governance Briefings Summer Term 2017 For information and action Headteachers’ Pay – Temporary Discretionary Payments What should governors be aware of? There have been some recent enquiries into temporary discretionary payments for Headteachers at the top of their school group size pay range. This paper is to clarify when such payments can legitimately be used under the remit of the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD). Details are set out at Annex A. What should governors consider? In order to avoid equal pay claims and other challenges about Headteachers’ pay when schools are facing financial pressures, governing bodies considering such payments are recommended to take advice from Senior Advisers before any decisions are made. Action for governors As a reminder, the following support and courses are also provided to governing bodies: the Employment Services Service Level Agreement (SLA) provides governors with access to the Human Resources (HR) Professional Support Team. This is the team of experienced HR professionals who provide advice and support on all HR policies and procedures in relation to all employment matters and more specifically performance management and application of the appraisal and pay policy to Headteachers; the Governor Services SLA includes ‘An introduction to employment matters in schools’ for governors which is delivered by the HR Professional Support team; the Governor Services SLA also offers ‘Understanding the Performance Management Process for Headteachers’. Both of the above courses can be booked through the Learning Gateway: https://www.westsussexcpd.co.uk/cpd/Default.asp Date Month