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Whole Governing Body and Locally Based Training

The following sessions are available for whole Governing Body training and we are able to combine elements of several sessions in order to meet the needs of your Governing Body. 
Sessions normally last 2 hours and can be delivered at a date and time to suit your Governing Body.  This could be a day-time session as part of a Governor/Staff training day, on a Saturday or in the evening.

The information below is intended as a guide to what is available.  The content can be changed to suit your Governing Body.  We can also provide training for schools in your Service District or in the same area of the city.  As far as possible trainers will make reference to the Every Child Matters agenda in all the training sessions.

For further information or to organise a course for your Governing Body, please contact Kath Rangeley, Governor Training Officer, on (0114) 250 6892
or email kathryn.rangeley@sheffield.gov.uk
 
Please select from the courses below:
 
COURSES ON GOVERNING BODY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

COURSES ON MAKING YOUR GOVERNING BODY MORE EFFECTIVE
 
TRAINING ON SINGLE TOPICS
 
SCHOOL BASED COURSES FOR NEW GOVERNORS
 

COURSES ON GOVERNING BODY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

This session is suitable for Governing Bodies new to working together – either because there is a new Headteacher, new Chair or several new Governors.  More experienced Governors will have the opportunity to learn about changes in the legislation and they will be able to share their experience with newer colleagues.
Governors will:
  • Be alerted to their three key roles of being a critical friend, providing the strategic direction of the school, and ensuring accountability
  • Understand what those roles mean in practice
  • Understand the respective roles of the Governing Body and the Headteacher
 
Governors will:
  • Be able to define the role of critical friend
  • Consider the questions they might ask in order to get to know the school
  • Look at ways in which they might find answers to the questions
  • Consider the importance of focussed Governor visits as part of the role
 
Under the current OFSTED arrangements the inspectors look for evidence that the Governing Body are holding the leadership to account.
The trainer will help the Governing Body to:
  • Ask the right questions of the leadership of the school
  • Provide evidence that they are holding the leadership to account
 
You cannot be a friend to someone you don’t know and you cannot be a friend to a school you don’t know.  In this session the trainer will take the Governing Body through a series of activities which will help them to get to know their school
Governors will:
  • Develop an understanding of what it means to be a critical friend
  • Be introduced to the variety of information available to help them to get to know the school
  • Discuss the role of Governors with curriculum links      
Governors will:
  • Be introduced to the variety of data available to schools
  • Consider how they can use the information to carry out their monitoring role
  • Be reassured that data is not frightening
 
Governors will:
  • Develop an understanding of how the School Improvement Plan is put together
  • Ask questions about how the priorities are arrived at
  • Discuss monitoring questions they might ask about progress towards targets
 
How can Governors be actively involved with the SEF?  The trainer will work with the Governing Body and the leadership team to help them agree a ways in which Governors contribute to the SEF.
Governors will:
  • Develop an understanding of the link between the SEF and OFSTED requirements
  • Develop an understanding of their role in the process of school self-evaluation
  • Look at a series of questions to ask about the sources of evidence used in the SEF
 
This session is adapted from one of the modules of the ‘Taking the Chair’ course.
Governors will:
  • Distinguish between values and vision
  • Agree ways in which values can be put into action
  • Link the School Improvement Cycle with the vision and values
  • Look at ways in which the Governing Body can monitor whether the values have been put into action
 
Governors will:
  • Review their current practice in relation to Every Child Matters
  • Clarify the Governing Body's role in supporting the five outcomes
  • Make links between the five outcomes and the self-evaluation form (SEF)
 
Governors will:
  • Discuss ways in which they might involve learners in their work
  • Agree ways in which they can be involved with the School Council
  • Be alerted to ways in which inspection teams work with children to find out what they are learning
 
Governors will:
  • Be introduced the current inspection arrangements
  • Clarify their role in the process, including appropriate involvement in the completion of the self-evaluation form (SEF)
  • Be alerted to the importance of keeping records of meetings and procedures as evidence of their work
 
 
COURSES ON MAKING YOUR GOVERNING BODY MORE EFFECTIVE
 
This course is particularly useful when there is a new Chair/Headteacher partnership or when there are a large number of new Governors who have recently joined the Governing Body.  Governors will:
  • Get to know each other and learn each other’s strengths and skills
  • Use the above to ensure that Governor time is used well
 
Governors will:
  • Understand what tasks and duties can be delegated to the Headteacher and to Committees
  • Discuss how the Committee structure can be more effective and make the necessary changes
  • Consider ways in which Committees can effectively report back to the full Governing Body
 
Governors will:
  • Review their current practices
  • Revisit the three roles of the Governing Body and ensure that their work focuses on these roles
  • Agree the respective roles of the Governing Body and the Headteacher
 
If the SEF or OFSTED judge the Governing Body to be satisfactory, a trainer can help the to look at ways in which they can move to being judged as good or even outstanding.  This process will help Governors to support the leadership and management of the school and to hold them to account.
 
Governing Body Self-evaluation:
Governors will:
  • Carry out a self-evaluation exercise based on the suggestion outlined in the Governors’ Termly Newsletter from Spring 2007
  • Make links with school’s own self-review cycle
  • Use the results to ensure that they are working as effectively as possible
  • Agree actions for future development
 
Governors who have carried out this exercise have said that it helped them gain a deeper insight into their work and to look at ways in which they can move from being a satisfactory Governing Body to being a good one.
 
 
TRAINING ON SINGLE TOPICS
 
This session is suitable for groups of schools working in partnership to provide extended services.
Governors will:
  • Be introduced to current issues
  • Discuss examples of good practice in this area
  • Understand how the Extended Schools’ agenda fits in with the three roles of the Governing Body
 
This session is suitable for all Governors, not just members of the Finance Committee
Governors will:
  • Be alerted to their financial responsibilities
  • Receive an update on the current budget settlement
  • Be introduced to the Financial Management Standards and Toolkit
  • Link all the above to the three key roles of the Governing Body
 
The course is particularly useful for schools that are undergoing major building work.
Governors will:
  • Understand their responsibilities in relation to Health and Safety
  • Be alerted to typical safety hazards on school sites and risk assessment procedures.
  • Understand how policies and codes of practice are processed by the Local Authority.
 
Governors will:
  • Be informed about their responsibilities in what can be a very sensitive area
  • Consider the school’s policy
  • Look at the nationally approved SRE materials
  • Discuss how to monitor the effectiveness of their SRE Policy
  • Make links between their self-evaluation activities and the five outcomes of Every Child Matters
 
This session would be useful for Governing Bodies about to recruit new staff and who have members who have attended the four-day recruitment and selection course and undertaken safer recruitment training. This session would provide the rest of the Governing Body with an introduction to the process and enable them to support their colleagues.
Governors will gain an overview of the recruitment and selection process including:
  • Shortlisting and inviting to interview
  • Asking appropriate questions
  • What to look for in the answers
 
 
SCHOOL BASED COURSES FOR NEW GOVERNORS
 
Full details of the course are set out on the Central Courses page. 
We can run this course for clusters of schools and it can be run during the day if this is the most suitable time for Governors.  We need to know that there will be at least six Governors before we can run the course.
 
This course can be run as a whole or half day course.  It is a shortened version of the Induction Course and is particularly useful for those Governors who have difficulty in attending evening training sessions.  It is also useful where there is a large group of Governors in one school who would like to do Induction training together or with Governors from other local schools.
 
For further information or to organise a course for your Governing Body, please contact Kath Rangeley, Governor Training Officer, on (0114) 250 6892
or email kathryn.rangeley@sheffield.gov.uk

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