Governor Services Contracts and Services 2015 - 2016 ‘This Government recognises that governors play a vital role in driving up school and pupil performance.’ Lord Nash – July 2014 Introduction School Governing Bodies and Boards of Directors are increasingly being held to account to ensure that every child receives the best possible education by the DfE and Ofsted. School governors and directors must have access to high quality support, advice and training in order to fully understand their role, know their core strategic functions, feel empowered and confident in their ability to challenge and support school leaders, and are up to date in governance issues. In addition, school governors and directors must ensure that the work that they do is documented and evidenced to monitor and evaluate the impact of their work. The role of the Clerk is paramount in assisting governors and directors to achieve this. Governor Services provides a holistic service for School Governing Bodies and Boards of Directors in order to prepare you to meet the challenges and provide support and advice to help you drive school standards up. We are flexible and adaptable and can meet your needs whether you are a maintained school, an academy of any structure, or a free school. We offer a service that provides value for money, and will help equip your governing body or board of directors, including the governing body clerk with the key skills, knowledge and understanding in order for you to have the necessary impact and help raise standards in your school. Benefits: By choosing our service, governing bodies and board of directors will receive: • Dedicated and experienced school governance specialists for maintained schools and academies • Cost effective and value for money contracts and services. • High quality and responsive training and development. • Needs led, accurate and up to date advice and support. • Challenge through thought provoking questions and observations. Trust our knowledge and expertise Governor Services Contracts Services for school governing bodies / board of directors will be delivered through a service contract or on a pay as you go basis. Our school governance contract offers exceptional value for money and guarantees adaptability according to need and new initiatives. Our contracts School Governance Governor Services Clerking Pool Clerk Mentoring £2400 £450/£375* £775/£700* for 3 x 2 hour sessions All contracts runs from 1 April 2015 – 31 March 2016. * Discounted rate for those schools in our school governance contract. School Governance Contract £2400 This contract includes: • Governor and clerk training and development programme (20 – 30 sessions a term) • Bespoke 2 hour training or consultancy session. • A free place on the Chair of Governors Leadership Development Programme OR The Clerks Development Programme. • Governor’s e-learning (GEL.) • Personalised advice and support. • Briefings for governors. • Welcome packs for new governors, chairs and clerks. • Support in the recruitment of governors, including references. • Access to a comprehensive, password protected, managed learning environment containing key documents, briefing papers and best practice guides. • Telephone and email advice and support on governance procedures and regulations to chairs, head teachers and clerks. • Advice on legal requirements including articles of association, constitution and committee structures. Training and development programme Governing bodies have unlimited access to a large, diverse and relevant rolling programme (subject to availability of places) that is regularly updated in response to changes affecting governance and to meet the needs of governors. It is customised to meet local need and can be tailored for particular groups. All training is interconnected with the core strategic functions of school governance and the requirements from Ofsted. It is also linked in to Trust our knowledge and expertise governing body self-evaluation and school improvement and includes training on the governors’ role in safeguarding, performance management, and financial responsibilities as well as providing an extremely popular, valuable and impactful induction for new governors and chairs of governing bodies. Our training venue is located in central Croydon and is easily accessible via car, train, tram and bus. Bespoke 2 hour training or consultancy session Every governing body’s challenges and needs are different, as every school is different. As part of the contract your governing body is entitled to a 2 hour training or consultancy session tailored to meet the specific gaps or needs of your governing body. These may be sessions adapted from the LA training programme, or bespoke training especially designed for you. A free place on the Chair of Governors Leadership Development Programme OR the Clerks Development Programme Both programmes are licensed by the National College for School Leadership. The Chairs’ Leadership Development Programme is for chairs and aspiring chairs of governors and aims to provide a framework to explore, develop, and practice leadership skills for effective governance and school improvement. The clerks’ development programme is delivered through a competency framework which will provide clerks with clarity about the core competencies associated with effective clerking and an understanding of how those competencies are translated into core skills, knowledge and practice for a clerk. As part of this contract each governing body will either have one free place on the Chairs development Programme or one free place on the Clerk’s development Programme (each worth £399.) Governor’s e-learning (GEL) We understand that governors are volunteers and are very busy with work and family commitments. We know governors are sometimes not able to attend face to face training in key areas that they need in order to perform their role effectively. GEL provides information and training modules online until governors and clerks can attend the training in person. A range of modules are available and includes: head teacher recruitment and succession planning, taking the chair, monitoring performance data and target setting. Governing bodies who have signed up to the contract have unlimited access to all modules. Personalised advice and support With the changes that are happening in school governance and the fast pace changing landscape in education, governing bodies must have access to prompt and specialist advice. Contract members can seek guidance and discuss governor related issues via telephone or email. Governors will be signposted to the most appropriate support. Trust our knowledge and expertise Briefings for governors Keeping informed of educational changes, both locally and nationally, is essential for governing bodies to be effective. Governors will receive an electronic newsletter at the beginning of each term and mid-term/end of term electronic updates of key information. A termly Academies specific newsletter is also provided. Welcome packs Effective governors are those that understand their roles and responsibilities. New governors, new chairs of governors and new clerks will receive welcome packs tailored to support and guide them in their new role. These welcome packs include, where appropriate, the latest NGA booklet. Other Features Support in the recruitment of governors, including references. Access to a comprehensive, password protected, managed learning environment containing key documents, briefing papers and best practice guides. Telephone and email advice and support on governance procedures and regulations to chairs, head teachers and clerks Advice on legal requirements including articles of association, constitution and committee structures Trust our knowledge and expertise Clerking contracts ‘High quality professional clerking is crucial to the effective functioning of the board.’ The School Governance (roles, procedures and allowances) (England) Regulations 2013. Governor Services Clerking Pool Contract £450/£375* Governor Services has a Clerking Pool to help governing bodies recruit a high quality professional governing body clerk. The Governor Services Clerking Pool is an easily accessible database of new clerks seeking governing body clerking employment. Governor Services has advertised, shortlisted, interviewed, tested and gained references for potential candidates. Successful candidates are added to the Clerking Pool which schools can then access to help them identify and employ their own clerk. By joining the clerking pool the chair of governors and head teacher will be given access to the Clerking Pool database where they will see all the successful candidates’ application forms, shortlisting score sheets, interview & test score sheets and references. Once the information has been reviewed, they are then able to select a clerk or clerks they are interested in employing for an informal visit to assess suitability for their governing body. Benefit Schools benefit from a streamlined and efficient service for recruiting a governing clerk from a pool of high quality potential clerks. Price: £450/£375* for use of the Clerking Pool. *Discounted rate for those schools in our school governance contract Clerk Mentoring Contract £775/£725* Clerk mentoring supports and encourages new clerks to manage their own learning in order for them to maximise their potential, develop their skills, and improve their performance. Through 3 x 2 hour mentor sessions over the course of one term, an experienced clerk will share their knowledge, skills and experience with the newly appointed clerk to assist them in understanding the role and what it means in practice. The clerk mentor will motivate and empower the new clerk to identify areas for development and will help them find ways of achieving these, not by doing it for them, or expecting them to do it in a prescribed way, but by sharing different ways of working and facilitating a best practice approach. Each session is tailored to each individual clerk’s identified areas for support. Trust our knowledge and expertise Mentoring allows time for the new clerk to look more closely at current working practices and to explore their own ideas for different ways of working in order to support the governing body to become more efficient and effective. Benefits to your new clerk: A smooth transition into their new role • Professional development • An experienced clerk to turn to for advice and guidance • Structured one-to-one mentor sessions • Objective feedback on skills and progress • Increased career satisfaction Benefit to you: A highly efficient clerk to support efficient and effective governing body working Price: £775/£725* for 3 x 2 hour mentor sessions over the course of one term. *Discounted rate for those schools in our school governance contract Trust our knowledge and expertise Additional services We have a range of services which can be purchased on a ‘pay as used’ basis. This includes a service contract for independent clerks to support and to keep them updated. Please contact us for further information and pricing details. Ad hoc Clerking £300/£275* If your clerk cannot minute a meeting, a clerk will be provided. This service will consist of: minuting the meeting, writing up the draft minutes, sending electronically the draft minutes to the head teacher and the appropriate chair in 7 days for comments, making any amendments as appropriate and then circulating the agreed draft minutes electronically. Any governance questions that cannot be answered in the meeting, the clerk will email governor services and we will provide answers within 48 hours. Governance review £1,350/£1250* An in depth analysis of your school’s governance which will include a report on the strengths and recommendations for improvement. Bespoke whole governing body training session £450/£425* Every governing body’s challenges and needs are different, as every school is different. This is a 2 hour training session tailored to meet the specific gaps or needs of your governing body. These may be a bespoke training session especially designed for you or adapted from the LA training programme. Governor Consultancy £450/£425* A two hour session to fulfil a brief in terms of helping governors to find solutions to specific issues or helping with specific projects. Chairs of Governors Leadership development Programme £399 per place This programme is licensed by the National College for School Leadership. The Chairs’ Leadership Development Programme is for chairs and aspiring chairs of governors and aims to provide a framework to explore, develop, and practice leadership skills for effective governance and school improvement. Clerks’ development Programme £399 per place This programme is licensed by the National College for School Leadership. It is delivered through a competency framework which will provide clerks with clarity about the core competencies associated with effective clerking and an understanding of how those competencies are translated into core skills, knowledge and practice for a clerk. *Discounted rate for those schools in our school governance contract Trust our knowledge and expertise
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