1 February 2014 NGA South East Region Governor Conference School governance - What inspection tells us and learning from the best Emma Ing, Senior Her Majesty's Inspector

Overview An opportunity to consider:  Why good governance is importance  What school inspection tells us about governance  How Ofsted inspects governance and to:  discuss and share practice  consider the implications for your work as governors

Strong governance NGA conference in June 2012 HMCI stated: Strong governance is increasingly transforming schools and building effective partnerships. The role of governors is fundamental and they should never forget that. Without strong and effective governance, our schools simply won’t be as good as they can be.

What inspection tells us

 There are many improvements in education  Children in England now have the best chance they have ever had of attending a good school

What inspection tells us  However England’s schools are not yet among the best in the world. There remain three key barriers  mediocre teaching and weak leadership in a minority of schools  pockets of weak educational provision in parts of the country  significant underachievement of children from low income families, particularly White children

KS2 attainment by FSM eligibility and region, 2013 Add presentation title to master slide | 7

KS4 attainment by FSM eligibility and region, 2013 Add presentation title to master slide | 8

What inspection tells us  We also know that  the most able are not doing well enough

What inspection tells us  In the best schools strong leaders and governors routinely challenge low expectations and mediocre teaching.  They recruit and retain good teachers…They create a culture in which good teaching can flourish- orderly and welcoming schools that insist on high standards.  These leaders reward good performance and tolerate neither inconsistent teaching nor poor behaviour.

What inspection tells us  Wherever we find success, good leadership is behind it.  Effective governance is an intrinsic part of good leadership.  Good governance is not universal.

Possible consequences of a failure to challenge undermine the running of the school Governors fail to provide enough challenge to the headteacher Improvement planning does not address the real priorities Performance management of the headteacher is weak because it cannot be based on any meaningful analysis Governors do not know what training they need or what additional governors to appoint Performance management of teachers is ineffective as it is not linked to achievement The school is incapable of stopping its own decline Governors do not know what is needed to probe more closely and gather further insight Governors do not know if their actions are having any impact or how good the school really is The importance of governance

What inspection tells us The Annual report of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills 2012/13  Last year’s annual report emphasised the importance of leadership in schools.  This year, 70% of schools were judged as good or outstanding for their leadership and management, which is a higher proportion than seen in last year’s inspections.  A key element of this is good governance.

What inspection tells us The Annual report of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills 2012/13  Good governance is crucial to tackling underperformance and supporting improvement.  Governance that is weak does not challenge the school about its performance or press the school to increase its aspirations.  Over the past year, inspectors judged governance to be weak and recommended an external review of governance in around 400 schools.  Some reviews have now taken place and, in others, action has been taken to replace the governing body with an interim executive board.

Common issues with governance Issues identified in inspection reports included:  not ambitious about expectations  lack of a ‘critical friend’ approach and challenge  over-reliance on information solely from the headteacher  do not visit the school  lack of engagement with school development planning  limited role in monitoring the impact of actions  limited understanding of data and school quality.

In the most effective schools there is robust challenge to senior leaders by governors who know the school well, but who also have a secure grasp of their role

What is the purpose of governance?

Governors Handbook  Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction  Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils  Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent

Inspecting governance

Inspectors consider how well governors:  ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction  contribute to the school’s evaluation and understand its strengths and weaknesses of the school, including the impact of their own work  support and strengthen leadership, including by developing their own skills  provide challenge and hold the leaders to account for improving teaching, achievement, behaviour and safety, including by using the data dashboard, other data and examination and test results

Inspecting governance  use performance management systems to improve teaching, leadership and management – salary progression  ensure financial resources are managed effectively  operate in such a way that statutory duties are met and priorities are approved  engage with key stakeholders  use the pupil premium and other resources to overcome barriers to learning – performance of groups of pupils

How do inspectors evaluate the impact that leaders are making?  Achievement of pupils at the school - The learning and progress across year groups of different groups of pupils currently on the roll of the school, including disabled pupils, those who have special educational needs and those for whom the pupil premium provides support. - Pupils’ progress in the last three years - Pupils’ attainment  Quality of teaching in the school  The behaviour and safety of pupils at the school  Leadership and management The importance of governance

Inspect governance – an activity

Inspect governance  Work in fours, ask the most experienced two governors to be the inspectors  Use the briefing packs to prepare for a meeting between governors and the Ofsted inspector – 10 mins  Conduct the meeting – just 15 minutes  The inspectors feed back, what were they impressed by, less impressed by, what would their judgement be? – 10 mins

School governance: Learning from the best

Learning from the best Knowing their schools To shape the strategic direction of the school and hold leaders to account through the school development plan:  high-quality information  pupils’ progress data  quality of teaching  visits – focused, purposeful, protocols.

Learning from the best Knowing their school  A range of good-quality, regular information from a variety of sources to ensure an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development.  Did not shy away from asking questions and sought further information, explanation or clarification as part of their monitoring and decision-making processes.  Two key factors underpinned confident and productive questioning:  a positive relationship with senior leaders  absolutely clear understanding of their different roles and responsibilities.

Learning from the best Providing support and challenge  Acted as advocates for the pupils.  Systematically monitored the school’s progress towards meeting targets in the school development plan.  Understood the quality of teaching.  Supported the leaders in taking robust action to improve teaching when necessary.  Used the skills they brought, and the information they had about the school, to ask challenging questions focused on improvement and hold leaders to account for pupils’ achievement.

Learning from the best Providing support and challenge  All of the outstanding governing bodies visited struck the right balance between supporting leaders and providing constructive challenge.  Three key elements to getting the balance of support and constructive challenge right: 1.understanding roles and responsibilities 2.using knowledge, skills and experience 3.asking pertinent questions based on knowledge, information and understanding of the school.

Learning from the best Working efficiently  Role of the clerk and the chair of governors  Strong team working between the chair, clerk and headteacher  Delegation of work – for example to committees  Systematic monitoring and evaluation of progress towards meeting targets Engaging others  Parents  Pupils  Wider community

Learning from the best Making a difference Strengthened leadership by:  providing an external view  having high aspirations  approving and monitoring priorities  supporting the development of leadership potential  using skills and expertise to complement those of the leadership team  supporting the appointment and retention of staff.

Governing body self-review ‘Why are we doing this? What are we trying to achieve? What difference have we made?  Challenged own performance  Reviewed systems, structures and terms of reference  Considered committee membership  Seeking and sharing best practice Governor recruitment, induction and training Learning from the best

Questions governors might want to consider:  Do we understand our roles and responsibilities and how they differ from those of the headteacher and senior staff?  What do we know about the achievement of pupils and the quality of teaching in our school?  How do we know that the information we have about our school is robust and accurate?  How do we provide the right balance of professional support and challenge for leaders to help them improve the school’s effectiveness?  How efficiently do we use our time?

Learning from the best  Do we make the best use of the skills and expertise of all members of the governing body?  How do we know that the governing body is as effective as possible and could we do things better?  How do we review our own performance regularly?  How do we plan our training and development?  Do we consider what might be needed when governors leave? How do we ensure we still continue to have the necessary skills and knowledge?  How do we ensure that member of our governing body are prepared to step into important roles such as the chair of the governing body and chair of committees?

Supporting improvement and further reading

Supporting improvement  regional structure – focused projects  HMI working with schools requiring improvement  ‘Getting to Good’ seminars  training materials for SEN governors in development  Better English, mathematics and governance conferences  data dashboard  Raiseonline developments

Unseen children: access and achievement 20 years on, Ofsted (130155), 2013; The most able students: are they doing as well as they should in our non-selective secondary schools?, Ofsted (130118), 2013; The Pupil Premium: how schools are spending the funding successfully to maximise achievement, Ofsted (130016), 2013; Getting to good: how headteachers achieve success, Ofsted (120167), 2012; Schools that stay satisfactory, Ofsted (110151), 2011; School governance: learning from the best, Ofsted (100238), 2011; Further reading – keep up to date