Governance Training 2020/21

This course will help academy trustees to understand their roles and responsibilities as far as finance is concerned, specifically relating to the academy funding agreement and the Academies Financial Handbook which set out the specific responsibilities of the board of trustees.

Effective appraisal of the Headteacher is one of the ways that Governing Boards can carry out their roles of providing strategic direction to the school and holding the Headteacher to account.

This course will help those governors who are responsible for the Headteacher’s appraisal by considering:

1) The role of the Chair/VC in school leadership:

The session will be tailored to the participants needs and will be suitable for established and new Chairs and Vice-Chairs.

2) Leading an effective Governing Body:

The session will be tailored to the participants needs and will be suitable for established and new Chairs and Vice-Chairs.

The role of Clerk to Governors has evolved and developed and is so much more than preparing meeting agendas and taking minutes. This seminar will explore the responsibilities of Clerks, the skills needed to undertake the role and good practice advice, with a focus on the DfE Clerks Competency Framework.

The seminar will be delivered though a presentation and focussed discussion. The seminar is for Clerks to Governors, those thinking about undertaking the role of Clerk and governors who would like to learn more about the responsibilities and duties of Clerks.

This training is designed to support governors and trustees with the opportunities and challenges of governance is faith schools. The session will be delivered by a colleague from the catholic sector who is highly experienced in both school leadership and governance, but will also have relevance to those who are engaged in governance of schools in a variety of faith settings.

It is essential for the Governing Board to reflect on its own effectiveness including the effectiveness of its processes and structures. This will assist in building relationships and improving accountability, and will enable the board to ensure that there is a clear distinction between strategic and operational leadership. It will also assist in setting the tone and culture of the board.

This session will provide governors with an overview of school and governors’ roles around Data Protection and Freedom of Information against the background of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into force in May 2018.

The session will support governors in understanding the school’s responsibilities as a data controller and will cover best practice in drafting and updating policies and procedures, managing information risks and also in dealing with information requests and data breaches.

The session will be delivered by a Certified GDPR Practitioner who acts as a Data Protection Officer for a number of schools in Sheffield.

This course is specifically designed to ensure that governors are able to fulfil the key role of deciding whether an excluded pupil should be reinstated. Based on schools’ experiences at Independent Review Panel (IRP) meetings over the last 24 months and with interactive elements, this course aims to set the context of behaviour and exclusions for governors ensuring that the Governing Body Discipline Committee (GBDC) can avoid common pitfalls in reviewing a Head teacher’s decision to exclude a pupil. A detailed and considered review by the GBDC significantly reduces the risk of a successful challenge at an IRP. By the end of this course you should also be ready to face the scrutiny of the IRP and able to robustly defend your head teacher’s decision. You will also gain an overall understanding of the recent changes introduced into the new statutory guidance dated September 2017.

By the end of this short course, governors will have a clear understanding of the role of the employer in managing health and safety in school and in particular, the role of governors. The course will enable governors to gain an understanding of how health and safety is enforced under current legislation. Governors will also consider the importance of risk assessment.

The course will also enable governors to understand where they can go for support and advice in effectively managing health and safety in school.

This course focuses on the third of the “core functions” of Governing Boards identified by the DfE and Ofsted and uses the Pupil Premium and Sports Premium to illustrate how governors can ensure that resources are used effectively to improve the achievement of pupils and students. The course will help governors to develop good practice in response to this national expectation by considering how to ensure that resources are aligned to strategic priorities. Governors will also be able to reflect on how to identify success criteria for initiatives and projects, how to monitor and evaluate spending and on the use of ‘benchmarking’ to help in identifying cost-effective ways to allocate resources.

The importance and profile of issues around mental health and well-being have grown in recent years and there has been a growing recognition of the role that schools can play in supporting and promoting positive mental health and well-being, both for pupils and also for staff. This course will look at the current picture in the children and young people and will enable governors to consider how best schools can support pupil and staff mental health. At the end of the course, governors will be equipped to ask the right questions of senior leaders and ensure that appropriate policies and practices are in place in schools and academies.

This course will enable governors and trustees to consider their role in monitoring, supporting and challenging school leaders during this school year against the background of the COVID pandemic. It will cover the modified Ofsted monitoring arrangements, monitoring of quality of teaching and curriculum and the approach governors and trustees need to take in balancing short term measures against medium and longer term oversight.

This course will enable governors and trustees to consider their role in monitoring, supporting and challenging school leaders during this school year against the background of the COVID pandemic. It will cover the modified Ofsted monitoring arrangements, monitoring of quality of teaching and curriculum and the approach governors and trustees need to take in balancing short term measures against medium and longer term oversight.

This course will enable governors and trustees to consider their role in monitoring, supporting and challenging school leaders during this school year against the background of the COVID pandemic. It will cover the modified Ofsted monitoring arrangements, monitoring of quality of teaching and curriculum and the approach governors and trustees need to take in balancing short term measures against medium and longer term oversight.

This course will examine what is meant by Online Safety in 2020. It will look at the major safeguarding risks in the online space and correlate them with the concerns and experiences of children and young people in Sheffield. Governors will be introduced to key pieces of research particularly about safeguarding particularly vulnerable young people online and will also look at the requirements for schools and academies in terms of safeguarding guidance. There will also be an opportunity to explore the Sheffield Online Safety Curriculum.

This course will enable governors to consider the key issues in monitoring the effectiveness of the school in improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils, for whom the school receives extra ‘Pupil Premium’. The course will look at why gaps in achievement exist and will help governors to understand how academic achievement of disadvantaged pupils can promote social mobility. The course will help governors to more effectively monitor the effectiveness of pupil premium spending in the school, including ensuring that Pupil Premium reports clearly demonstrate that the school is focusing on the needs of disadvantaged pupils.

All schools will receive concerns or complaints from parents or other stakeholders at some time. It is important therefore that governors attend training to ensure that complaints are dealt with appropriately. This course will look at the roles and powers of the Headteacher and the Governing Board when handling both informal and formal complaints from parents or other members of the community. This session will include effective practice in the early stages of a complaint to ensure that it is handled appropriately in order that it is resolved satisfactorily.

This Safer Recruitment course is designed for governors who are involved in recruiting people to work in schools. The course will look at the ways we can identify and deter unsuitable candidates whilst embedding safeguarding into the culture of your school.

It is a statutory requirement that all maintained school appointments have at least one person on the recruiting panel who has undertaken this training, schools are expected to demonstrate that this is the case as part of the current Ofsted inspection framework. Academies are also expected to demonstrate their commitment to Safer Recruitment as outlined in the Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education 2007. After completing this training, delegates will receive the required statutory accreditation.

Cost - This training is free if you have subscribed to the Learn Sheffield subscription offer which includes the governance training package or if you are a maintained Sheffield school. For non-subscribing schools/academies the cost will be £150 per person.

This course will provide an overview of the SEND code of practice and will enable governors to gain an understanding of recent changes to the code of practice. The course will consider the implications for schools of this legislation and provide an opportunity for governors to discuss and share their response to these expectations.