QA Tool for Governors CPD Activities

Governor Support Team

Draft Quality Assurance (QA) Tool for Governors CPD Activities

As gatekeepers of your own development the governing body of LA maintained schools and academies need to move away from an historic dependency on the Local Authority and take ownership for decisions and follow-up actions around their own CPD. Governing bodies have to identify, locate and normally pay for training, support and advice and so they are strongly advised to allocate sufficient funds from their school CPD budgets to meet their needs.

Training is an LA expectation of LA maintained school new governors and chairs of governors. As autonomous entities governing bodies are able to access training from the ‘market’.

The aims of the NCC Governor Support Strategy include empowering governing bodies to be able to QA the training and development activities they receive for themselves rather than depend on the provider to do this. As part of our Governor Support package we provide this tool and will support your governing body in using it.

Why? Because there are so manypotential providers offering different learning methods for governing bodies to access that it is impossible for the Governor Support Team to QA all provision on your behalf; this would not be specific enough for your needs nor cost effective. Indeed the LA partner organisation LGSS OWD is a separate entity to the NCC Governor Support Team and although we strongly recommend their training packages we do not have capacity to QA each course with your individual needs in mind.Governor CPD learning opportunities can include school visits (including learning walks), online training, research, attending school staff CPD, network meetings and membership of National Governor Association.

Stage One

• Identify a lead governor for CPD
• Regularly audit and identify the skills gap in your governing body – recruit to the skills needed or plan to train existing governors to fill the gap
• Consider succession planning and dispersed leadership within the governing body –how do you ensure existing and future chairs of governorsand chairs of other governor committees are prepared and able to undertake their roles, how do you enable ‘lead governors’ (reporting on Safeguarding, SEND provision, Pupil Premium etc) to undertake their monitoring role
• Complete a Training Needs Analysis - always thinking ahead to what you would like and need to be prepared for.
• Ensure that governor CPD and feedback from governor CPD in the Terms of Reference for governor committee(s) – is it a standing item for a committee meeting to encourage governor training and feeding back on the quality of provision
• Is attending governor training and development part of new governor induction and an expectation of all governors (referenced in the Governor Code of Conduct and the application form)

Stage Two

Once you know what your training needs are for the year ahead, look at the market – consider creatively the wide range of opportunities to develop understanding available. A list of possibilities is being devised y the Governor Support Team and will be available to your nominated lead governor for CPD.Cost is important but if the cheapest training does not make any difference to your governing body’s effectiveness then it was a waste of money. Make sure you know what you hope to have learnt by the end of the course – does the course description give you confidence that your learning needs will be met?

Stage Three - IMPACT, IMPACT, IMPACT

It is strongly advised to have CPD as a standing item on every FGB meeting. The CPD lead governor should lead this agenda item with a review of training and development activities and a discussion around impact.

*Impact Evidence Scoring- if answer to the questions belowis yes with confidence score two points, if partial with some reservations score one point, no confidence score 0 points. For CPD to demonstrate good value for money governors should aim for an impact evidence score of at least 8/10 at 3 months and 6 months. Any lower would suggest further CPD activities should be sourced.

1. Trained governor/s has/have absorbed key learning points, or disseminated to Committee/ FGB as appropriate, which has changed practice in some way e.g. new governor active involvement, asking questions in meetings, contributing to school development planning or self evaluation with confidence and understanding.

1. Evidence of this changed practice can be seen in minutes (CPD Lead must see at least one example)

1. This changed practice has directly contributed to a discussion about a change in school policy, procedures, development, pay award, budget setting, etc.

1. This changed practice has strengthened collective knowledge and understanding of role of governance as evidenced by a standing agenda item for governors CPD

1. There is evidence of a fundamental attitudinal or behavioural change since the training/ development event or course, with ‘no going-back’ for the trained governor/s as evidenced by minutes under standing item for CPD.