Our courses

This can be offered in the following formats:

• Full day
• Over 2 half day sessions
• 3 twilight sessions

The induction courses cover all 6 areas of the DfE Governance Competency Framework at a high level.

Aimed at new governors / trustees and those with less than twelve months experience, the session covers the following key issues:

• What is the role of the board?
• What is ‘effective governance’?
• What does Ofsted hold boards accountable for?
• Effective meetings
• Visits to school
• Being Strategic: What does it mean in practice?
• Monitoring and evaluation: how can the board hold its school(s) to account?
• Accountability: how should governors/trustees fulfil their accountabilities to stakeholders?

This session will be particularly useful for governors and trustees with more than twelve months’ experience who either were not able to attend an induction course or want to brush up on the ‘basics’, now they have greater experience to which to apply what they learn. The session covers the following key issues:

• The three core roles of boards and what these mean in practice
• Department for Education and Ofsted expectations of boards

A session for new clerks or a refresher for experienced clerks. As well as covering the basics every school and academy clerk needs to know, the session will explore current thinking around effective governance and how the clerk can support and promote this, Ofsted’s expectations and the evidence they might seek around governing boards, and good practice around minute taking.

This session will inform Clerks of recent changes to the educational landscape including to DfE and Ofsted expectations. Content varies from term to term, and is an excellent opportunity for Clerks to stay up to date.

By the end of the session attendees will have an understanding of their role in setting the vision and ethos of the school/trust and how to ensure that this is monitored effectively.  The session covers the following key issues:

• What are vision and ethos?
• What role should the board play in setting these and what does this mean in practice?
• How can governors/trustees effectively monitor the vision and ethos in their school(s)?

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Area 1 Strategic Leadership

This session will be of relevance to all governors/trustees and also to headteachers and school business managers, in understanding the key elements of an effective strategy and will cover the following key issues:

• What are the key elements of effective strategic planning over a 3-5 year timeframe?
• How should boards agree and set the strategic vision, values and ethos?
• What analysis tools are available to support establishing “where are we now”?
• Risk management
• How should this inform the strategic plan?
• How should boards implement and review progress against the plan?

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 1 – Strategic Leadership

This session covers:

• The Educational Landscape – and drivers for collaboration
• Whether there’s a future for standalone schools
• What Multi Academy Trusts and Federations are
• Effective multi-school governance arrangements
• Next steps for schools considering greater collaboration/new partnerships
• Forming/joining a multi-academy trust and due diligence processes

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 1 – Strategic Leadership

This session aims to clarify what boards should know about teaching, learning and assessment, and how they can develop that knowledge whilst remaining strategic, regardless of educational experience. The session focuses on the following key areas:

• What is Ofsted looking for?
• “I’m not a teacher, how can I make a judgment about teaching?”
• How does the governing board know about the quality of teaching, learning and assessment?
• Practical approaches to developing governors’/trustees’ knowledge and confidence

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 2 – Accountability for educational standards and financial performance

By the end of the session governors/trustees will have an understanding of curriculum requirements and the role the board should play in establishing and monitoring the school’s/trust’s curriculum offer. The session covers the following key areas:

• The national curriculum and other curriculum requirements
• The link between the school’s vision and ethos and its curriculum
• The role of the board and the role of school leaders in setting the curriculum
• Key questions for governors/trustees to ask

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 2 – Accountability for educational standards and financial performance

By the end of the session governors / trustees will have an understanding of how pupils are assessed in each key stage from Early Years to key stage 5. The session covers the following key areas:

• the key aspects of assessment across all phases
• the range of statutory assessment data that is available (5 – 18 years)
• how this information can be used to support school improvement including at key points of transition
• how governors/trustees can develop confidence in asking the ‘right’ questions about performance data

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 2 – Accountability for educational standards and financial performance

This session covers what governors/trustees need to know about spiritual, moral, social and cultural education, covering the following key issues:

• what SMSC is
• how SMSC is judged
• what questions boards should be asking about SMSC
• the importance of keeping SMSC at the centre of the curriculum.

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 1 – Strategic Leadership and Section 2 – Accountability for educational standards and financial performance

The attainment gap between children in more disadvantaged contexts and their peers is one of the greatest challenges faced by schools and society in this country. This session supports governors/trustees in understanding the pupil premium and focuses on the following key issues:

• what the pupil premium is and who is eligible for it
• how schools are held accountable for how the pupil premium is spent and what needs to be published online
• the range of ways that pupil premium funding can be used effectively to diminish the differences between different groups
• how governors/trustees can effectively monitor the use of the pupil premium

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 2 – Accountability for educational standards and financial performance and Section 5 – Compliance

By the end of the session governors/trustees will understand how school/academy budgets are generated and how they can effectively monitor the school’s finances. The session focuses on the following key issues:

• Where the money comes from
• Different types of funding available ( including pupil premium, sports grant, SEN)
• Annual budget cycle (maintained schools and academies)
• Financial reporting and budget monitoring
• Benchmarking
• Key accounting terminology
• Financial roles and responsibilities of the governing body

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 2 – Accountability for educational standards and financial performance and Section 5 – Compliance

The session supports governors’/trustees’ understanding of their responsibilities for and role in keeping children safe, focusing on the following key areas:

• the legal context for safeguarding
• the difference between safeguarding and child protection
• the signs and symptoms of child abuse
• the issues in school that can give rise to concerns a child is being abused
• the responsibilities placed on governors/trustees through legislation, statutory guidance and inspection frameworks
• questions to ask to evaluate safeguarding practices
• what contributes to a vigilant culture in schools
• self-assessment of safeguarding policies, procedures and practices

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 2 – Accountability for educational standards and financial performance and Section 5 – Compliance

This session will enable governors/trustees to increase their knowledge and confidence in SEND and in ensuring that all children in their school have equitable access to the provision of high quality education. Governors/trustees will leave the training with an understanding of recent changes in SEND legislation and the requirements on schools, focusing on the following key issues:

• the identification of children and young people with SEN and disabilities
• impact of teaching, learning and assessment of children and young people with SEN and disabilities
• effective monitoring of outcomes of children and young people with SEN and disabilities

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 2 – Accountability for educational standards and financial performance

By the end of the session governors will have enhanced their understanding of:

• The range of factors that can increase the vulnerability of a child e.g. poverty, mental ill health and being a looked after child
• Special educational needs and disability legislation and the requirements on schools
• Governors’ responsibilities for child protection and keeping children safe
• What the pupil premium grant is and how schools can use it to diminish the difference
• Role of the board in monitoring the impact of SEND provision, safeguarding and the use of the pupil premium grant

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 2 – Accountability for educational standards and financial performance and Section 5 – Compliance

This session provides an overview of the different ways in which governors/trustees can and should get to know their school(s) and how this should inform their monitoring, focusing on:

• the information available to governors and trustees which allows them to build up a picture of their school and identify what it does well and what it needs to do to improve
• how governors’ and trustees’ roles and responsibilities can be developed to allow close working relationships with schools

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 2 – Accountability for educational standards and financial performance and Section 4 – Structures

This session covers the main areas of the current framework with a focus around how governance is inspected and how governors/trustees can ensure they are best placed to achieve a successful outcome, with a focus on the following key issues:

• which aspects of schools’ work are graded;
• the frequency and duration of inspections, and the possible outcomes;
• the expectations Ofsted has of governing boards;
• what to expect before and during and inspection;
• what the governors’ / trustees’ interview with the lead inspector will entail.

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 2 – Accountability for educational standards and financial performance and Section 5 – Compliance

The session will increase governors’ confidence in their role in developing an emotionally healthy community in their school, covering the following key areas:

• mental health facts and figures
• the impact of stress
• recent guidelines from government
• developing an emotionally healthy school community
• healthy ways of coping

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 3 – People

This session covers:

• the role of the chair
• the relationship between the chair and the clerk, the headteacher/principal and other governors
• leading the team
• setting agendas and running effective meetings.

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 3 – People and Section 4 – Structures

The programme is designed to give experienced governors/trustees a greater understanding of the elements that contribute to effective governance in a learning environment that recognises and builds on the experience that delegates bring.
Over three sessions the programme focusses on effective meetings, building and supporting a team, formulating and implementing a strategic school plan.

Session 1

The first session focusses on board meetings, examining practical aspects including agenda setting, maintaining focus, timings along with broader issues of committee structures and the relationship between those committees and the full board.

Session 2:

The second session concentrates on the people around the table: their skills, knowledge, experience and training and the chair’s role in building the team.

Session 3:

In the final session delegates consider the wider educational context and the implications for the future plans for their schools. The session introduces techniques for structuring discussions about strategic direction that allow that allow boards to tackle emotive issues in a productive way. 

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 1 – Strategic Leadership, Section 3 – People, and Section 4 – Structures

This session is aimed at new and experienced academy trustees, and local governors in multi-academy trusts, who want to understand the legal context of the organisation they govern, and how to ensure they are governing effectively. It will also be of interest to maintained school governors considering conversion. The session covers:

• the legal structure of academies and the differences between single and multi academy trusts;
• the different roles of members, trustees and local governors;
• the key requirements of the academies financial handbook;
• the elements of effective governance and how these apply in an academy context.

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 1 – Strategic Leadership, and Section 4 – Structures and Section 5 – Compliance

The session is for heads and chairs to attend together to explore approaches to effective working relationships, working with and developing the governing body, external accountability and strategic thinking.

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 1 – Strategic Leadership and Section 3 – People

This session considers the role of governor visits in effective monitoring, including use of link governors/trustees to maximise their impact, focusing on the following key issues:

• understanding how governors’/trustees’ visits can add value to governance
• To share current practice around visits
• To consider the impact of visits and how this can be improved

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 2 – Accountability for educational standards and financial performance and Section 4 – Structures

A session for all members and prospective members of the headteacher’s performance management panel, covering:

• an overview of the performance management framework in schools;
• the governing body’s responsibilities;
• the role of the headteacher’s performance management panel;
• the role of the external adviser in the performance management process;
• how the headteacher’s performance management process links to decisions on pay.

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 1 – Strategic Leadership, Section 3 – People, and Section 5 – Compliance

At the end of the session, delegates will:

• understand the governing body’s (GB’s) responsibilities on Performance Related Pay (PRP) for teaching staff;
• have had the opportunity to consider the robustness of their school pay policy;
• have had the opportunity to share policies and good practice;
• be equipped to monitor the implementation of the PRP policy in order to ensure it is fair and objective; and
• understand how pay appeals might arise.

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 3 – People, and Section 5 – Compliance

This session will explore the issue of school complaints including:

• What are the governing body’s responsibilities?
• What should a complaints procedure include and what does publishing it mean?
• How much information should governors have about complaints?
• What is the role of the headteacher and what is the role of the governors?
• What are complaints hearings and how should they be conducted?
• What are the potential outcomes of a complaint and what avenues are available for appeals?

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 1 – Strategic Leadership, Section 4 – Structures, and Section 5 – Compliance

The session aims to improve governors’ understanding of their responsibilities as employers of staff and in managing the most common employment scenarios. It covers the following issues:

• who is the employer?
• school staff terms and conditions of employment
• pay
• appointments and terminations
• attendance
• staff well-being

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 1 – Strategic Leadership, Section 4 – Structures, and Section 5 – Compliance

Based on an understanding of offender behaviour to:

• Identify the key features of staff recruitment that help deter or prevent the appointment of unsuitable people
• Consider policies and practice that minimise opportunities for abuse or ensure its prompt reporting
• Help participants begin to review their policies and practice in recruitment with a view to creating a safer culture

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 5 – Compliance

This course covers the basics of governors’/trustees’ responsibilities in respect of health and safety law in Schools.  The course covers

• the legal framework,
• what a health and safety policy looks like and why it is different from other school policies
• two specific areas where schools / governors may feel they need more information
  • school trips
  • building work (including asbestos in schools)

Attendees will gain a clearer picture of how health and safety law is applied and their role in ensuring that their school effectively manages this critical area.

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 4 – Structures, and Section 5 – Compliance

Governor Mark is a self-evaluation tool, which can lead to an externally accredited quality mark for governing boards. This session explores the principles of governing body self-evaluation and will consider the Governor Mark materials and why and how governing bodies might seek to gain accreditation, alongside other self-evaluation tools.

This course maps to DfE Governance Competency Framework Section 6 – Evaluation