Governance Service
About
The quality of school governance has never been as important as it
is now. Having an excellent governing board is crucial to ensuring
schools and trusts are effective in achieving the best outcomes for
children and young people, and in providing a great place to work for
all their staff.
Sheffield has high ambitions for its schools and their governance.
Learn Sheffield’s School Governance Improvement Service (SGIS
aims to play a key role in delivering those ambitions.
Learn Sheffield prides itself on providing a responsive service
tailored to the needs of governing boards. We want
to ensure that your governing board or trust board
has access to the latest information about good
governance and what is expected of them.
Working closely with our experienced team of
Learn Sheffield Improvement Partners and other
services, one of the key features of the School
Governance Improvement Service is the ability to
offer a fully joined up approach to support
governors and school and trust leaders.
Meet the Team
Andy Wynne – Governance Lead
Andrew Bingham – Manager, Finance & Governance
Susanna Bradbury – Governance Manager
Jane Smith – Governance Officer
Chris Powell – Governance Support Admin Officer
Rebekah Rowan-Robinson – Governance Support Admin Officer
Contact Us
If you have any questions or queries, please contact us at governance@learnsheffield.co.uk or on 0114 2507417.
Feedback from Schools and Trusts
We’re always pleased to hear feedback from schools and trusts – it’s great to hear when you
think we’ve done a good job and any feedback helps us to make sure we’re improving and
developing the service to better support your governors and trustees.
Here are a few comments we’ve received from colleagues in schools and trusts this year:
""The Governance team have provided essential support for me as a new head
teacher, particularly in terms of expert and professional advice. Replies are quick
which helps me to navigate the many challenges! The range of training offered
equips governors with the skills and knowledge needed to carry out their roles
effectively. The accurate and timely minutes provided by the clerking service have
been instrumental in maintaining clear communication and ensuring that all
decisions and discussions are properly documented.The clerk has also been an
essential support in meetings as a guide through processes, procedures and
legalities, ensuring we are effective in our roles and meet our responsibilities."
Heather Partington - Head teacher, Talbot Specialist School
"The Learn Sheffield governance service provides me with reliable and honest
advice and responds quickly to my questions and queries in a personable and nonjudgmental
manner. Their clerks, drawing from extensive experience across
multiple schools, offer invaluable insights that greatly enhance our governance
discussions. With strong links established with the service, I find them to be a
highly trustworthy resource for my school."
Caroline Fairfax, Head teacher, Reignhead Primary School
"Across our Trust, we've found the Learn Sheffield Governance
Improvement Service to be consistently professional, reliable, and highly
responsive. The clerking support for our governing boards has been
invaluable, ensuring our meetings run smoothly, are well-documented
and fully compliant. The team’s advice and support, for example around
managing complaints, has also been particularly effective - always clear,
timely, and practical, helping us navigate sensitive issues with confidence.
It’s a service we continue to trust and value highly."
Jim Dugmore, CEO, Peak Edge Trust
"The Learn Sheffield Governance Service have been a valued partner for our Trust since
we formed in Sept 2022. The clerking service combined with the use of Governor Hub
has helped us to move from the individual governance practice across 13 individual
schools to an aligned and coherent approach. More recently, we have begun to work
more strategically with the service in developing a more bespoke approach to evaluation
of the effectiveness of governance and governor development."
Steve Davies, CEO, St Clare Catholic Multi Academy Trust