Feedback from revised Ofsted Framework 2012
It is very important that minutes of governing body meetings record challenge and action points; governors are expected to understand school assessment data and know the strengths and weaknesses of the school. There is an increased emphasis on the quality of teaching in schools – governors should receive regular reports from the headteacher and ensure that performance management is robust. More information can be found in the
Subsidiary Guidance on Inspection from 2012.
DfE advice on statutory policies
From September 2012, subject to parliamentary procedure, maintained schools will no longer be required to have in place a curriculum policy or school prospectus. The DfE has published a list of
statutory policies for schoolsThe Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act 2010 replaced all existing equality legislation and established specific duties for governing bodies under a new public sector duty. This includes a duty to publish information that shows due regard for equalities by 6 April 2012. The DfE has produced
guidance for school leaders and governors on fulfilling their duties under the Act.
From ‘good’ to ‘outstanding’
Currently, 46% of Essex schools have a ‘good’ Ofsted rating, with 16% achieving ‘outstanding’ status. CfBT Education Trust have
produced a report that identifies 6 key factors that can take a good school to outstanding. Governors may also find it useful to study the comparative criteria for ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ judgements in the
Ofsted evaluation schedule.
Education Act 2011 – What it means for Essex governors
The
Education Act, which received Royal Assent on 15 November 2011, takes forward the proposals in the schools white paper.
The Importance of Teaching, mainly by amending previous legislation. Regulations will follow later this year.
The Act includes powers to maintain better discipline, greater protection for teachers from allegations of professional misconduct, enacts the changes to the Ofsted inspection framework, removes the requirement to publish a school profile and largely rewrites the Academies Act 2010.
More information can be found on the
Parliament website.
Information for schools considering federation
Ofsted has produced a report that evaluates the impact on provision and outcomes when leadership is shared between federated schools, especially where schools have one governing body.
Guide to applying to become an academy
Social networking – code of conduct
Social networking tools present a great opportunity for school governors to communicate and collaborate effectively – but we are getting an increasing number of calls where governors or staff have fallen foul of using the web.
Here are some ideas as to how your governing body can help tackle the issue:
- Do you have robust policies in place with clear guidelines about unacceptable uses of social networking and how to deal with incidents of technology abuse – eg Acceptable Use Policy, behaviour policy and disciplinary procedures, whistle blowing policies.
- Has your governing body adopted a code of conduct which sets out the expectations of and commitment required by school governors? This is regarded as good practice, and we recommend that governors should be asked to review and sign it on an annual basis, ideally at the first meeting in the autumn term.
The revised template includes a reference to using social networks responsibly: "We will use social networking sites responsibly and ensure that neither our personal/professional reputation, or the school’s reputation is compromised by inappropriate postings."