AUTUMN TERM - GOVERNOR NEWSLETTEr- OCTOBER2017
Dear Governors
We hope you have settled into the new academic year, refreshed after the summer break,having managed to get some rest and relaxation ready for another busy term. Having said that, no doubt many of you will already have started to attend meetings.
Over the summer break, new initiatives and statutory guidance were released and we will cover these areas in this newsletter. IanHeggs, Director of Education,has already sent his termly newsletter to Chairs and Headteachers and I am sure your Chairs will have passed that on to you.
We would like to remind you that for schools that buy into the school improvement SLA,Governors and Headteachers can decide whether to use their allocated consultant time for governance or day to day management support. Additional days of support can also be purchased at reduced rates for those schools purchasing the SLA, whilst schools that choose to commission support elsewhere, can also purchase support from the team on a pay as you go basis.
During the last year many schools have been opting to commission whole governing board training sessions, bespoke to the needs of the governing board.
If you would like further information please do not hesitate to contact Jackie Saddington – Head of School Governor Services at
You can also contact Amanda Price at Julie Farmer at for further information.
Richard Stanley
Deputy Director of Education
IMPORTANT DATES
Chairs’ Forum- Wednesday 15 November 2017 6.00pm - 8.00pmNEW DATE
Wednesday 4October 2017 6.30pm – 8.30pm -
Kensington Town Hall CANCELLED
NATIONAL FUNDING FORMULA AND PUPIL PREMIUM UPDATE
The Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening, has announced details of the new national funding formula for schools. Key points from the announcement are:
Funding will be distributed via local authorities for the next two years.
Secondary schools to receive a minimum of £4600 per pupil in 2018/19 and £4000 per pupil in 2019/20
Primary schools to receive £3300 per pupil in 2018/19 and £3500 in 2019/20.
Every school will see a minimum cash increase of 1% by 2019-2010
An increased emphasis in the formula on low prior attainment
Further information will be provided over the next few months through the School’s Forum and via briefings.
EXCLUSIONS – STATUTORY GUIDANCE
New Statutory guidance on exclusions has been released taking effect from 1 September 2017. The legislation governing the exclusion process remains unchanged. The statutory guidance has been updated in a small number of areas, to provide greater confidence to head teachers on their use of exclusion and to provide greater clarity to independent review panels and governing boards on their consideration of exclusion decisions.
Any pupil who was excluded before September 2017, and whose exclusion is still subject to review at this point, should be considered on the basis of the September 2012 guidance.
The new statutory guidance states the Governing Board can either:
Decline to reinstate the pupil or
Direct reinstatement of the pupil immediately or on a particular date
Permanent exclusion should only be used:
as a last resort
in response to a serious breach or persistent breaches of the school's behaviour policy; and where allowing the pupil to remain in school would seriously harm the education or welfare of the pupil or others in the school.
The decision to exclude a pupil must be lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair.
Schools have a statutory duty not to discriminate against pupils on the basis of protected characteristics, such as disability or race.
Schools should give particular consideration to the fair treatment of pupils from groups who are vulnerable to exclusion.
Disruptive behaviour can be an indication of unmet needs.
A fixed-period exclusion can also be given for parts of the school day.
Civil Standard of proof (on the balance of probabilities) means the headteacher should accept that something happened if it is more likely that it happened than it did not happen.
Annex B summarizes the requirements for headteachers.
If you have any queries regarding the statutory guidance or exclusion procedures please contact Paul Worts – The Senior Exclusions Officer at:
FINANCE UPDATE
Pupil Premium Grant (PPG)
The PPG per pupil for 2017 to 2018 is as follows:
Disadvantaged Pupils / Pupil Premium per pupilPupils in year groups reception to year 6 as recorded as Ever 6 FSM / £1,320
Pupils in years 7 to 11 recorded as Ever 6 FSM / £935
Looked after children (LAC) defined in Children Act 1989 as one who is in the care of, or provided with accommodation by, an English local authority / £1,900
Children who have ceased to be looked after by a local authority in England and Wales because of adoption, a special guardianship order, a child arrangement order or a residence order / £1,900
Service Children
Pupils in year groups reception to year 11 recorded as Ever 6 service child, or in receipt of child pension from the Ministry of Defence / £300
The pupil premium grant for 2017 to 2018 will include pupils recorded in the January 2017 school census who are known to have been eligible for free school meals (FSM) since May 2011, as well as those first known to be eligible at January 2017.
Children adopted from care or who have left care
The pupil premium grant for 2017 to 2018 will include pupils recorded in the January 2017 school census and alternative provision census who were looked after by an English or Welsh local authority immediately before being adopted, or who left local authority care on a special guardianship order or child arrangements order (previously known as a residence order). These are collectively referred to as post-LAC in these conditions of grant.
Ever 6 service child
For the purposes of these grant conditions, ever 6 service child means a pupil recorded in the January 2017 school census who was eligible for the service child premium since the January 2012 census as well as those recorded as a service child for the first time on the January 2017 school census.
Further information can be found at:
It is recommended that all Chairs of Governors check that their schools are meeting this statutory duty and that the governing body receive evidence of impact.
Primary School sports funding
Schools have the discretion to spend this money as they see appropriate but it must be used for sport. There will be tougher assessment via Ofsted to ensure the funding is bringing the maximum benefit for all pupils. Governors are expected to know how much funding the school received, what the money is used for and evaluate its sustainable impact.
The current rate of funding is: £16000 for all primary schools with 17 or more pupils with an additional £10 per pupil.
Schools’ Financial Value Standard (SFVS)
The SFVS is a self-evaluation activity of 25 questions. The review must be undertaken annually with a signed copy sent to the LA’s finance department by March 2018.
The Directed Revisions 2012 to the Schemes for Financing Schools make it a mandatory requirement for all local authority maintained schools to complete the SFVS assessment form on an annual basis and submit a signed copy (by the Chair of Governors or management committee) to their authority.
EDUBASE/GET INFORMATION ABOUT SCHOOLS (GIAS)
The Department for Education has developed a replacement for EduBase, to be
known asGetInformation about Schools (GIAS). Get Information about Schools swit
went live on 18th September. As of 1stSeptember 2016, it has been a statutory
obligation for all schools, maintainedand academy, to register the details of all their
governors on Edubase, theDofE’s register of educational establishments in England and and Wales. However, even a year after this became a statutory requirement for all
governing boards, compliancewas poor. Please note that it is the responsibility of the
governing board to ensure that this statutory obligation is complied with, although
the actual inputting of the data will be delegated to the schools/trusts administrative
team. The information to be disclosed will need to include, name, appointment
date, the appointing body and for maintained schools whether the governor is the
Chair of governors or a member of the governing body, and for academies, whether
they are a trust member, trustee, the chair of trustees or a governor on a local
governing body. This information will be fully accessible by the public.
Information that will also need to be supplied, but not made available to the
public, will include each governor’s postcode, their date of birth, any previous
names, their nationality, and the chair’s email address. Multi-Academy Trusts
must also provide details of their local governing body members on GIAS.
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND ASSOCIATED APPRAISAL ARRANGEMENTS
All LA maintained schools need to have in place a Pay Policy to reflect the performance pay system in the latest School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document 2017. A model pay policy and model appraisal policy is available for schools. Trade Unions were consulted.
Governing Boards will need to:
i)Review, update and approve a new pay and appraisal policy, as necessary, ensuring appropriate staff consultation where needed if the LA modelpolicies are not used.
ii)designate a pay committee and pay appeals committee
iii)receive a report on the 2016-2017 Performance Management outcomes and impact and a summary of 2017 – 2018 objectives and training and development needs.
These policies can be found at:
CODE OF CONDUCT
The National Governors Association (NGA) has updated their code of conduct. This has been widely consulted on and we would recommend governors consider this and adapt it for each schools’ specific circumstances.
OFSTED
Common Inspection Framework
Ofsted are consulting on future changes to short inspections. The consultation
is published alongside Ofsted’s response to the summer consultation on short inspections, which proposed changes to make the conversion process more manageable.
The consultation asks for views on 3 changes to the short inspection process:
- inspectors will continue to convert short inspections, within 48 hours, where there are serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the standard of education. Parents need to know as soon as possible if the quality of education at a school has declined to inadequate
- when inspectors are not confident that a school is still good but the standard of education remains acceptable, and there are no concerns about safeguarding or behaviour, the inspection will not convert. Instead, Ofsted will publish a letter setting out the school’s strengths and areas for improvement. A section 5 inspection will then take place at a later date, typically within 1 to 2 years. This will give the school time to address any weaknesses and seek support from appropriate bodies. In the meantime, the school’s overall effectiveness judgement of good will stand
- when inspectors have reason to believe that a school may be improving to outstanding, Ofsted will publish a letter setting out the school’s strengths and priorities for further improvement, and confirming that it is still good. A section 5 inspection will then be carried out later, typically within one to two years. This will give the school time to consolidate its strong practice. However, requests for early inspections will be considered.
Early Years
Find out what inspectors look at when inspecting schools with two-year-olds in their new video from Lee Owsten, Ofsted's Specialist Adviser for early education.
ACADEMIES FINANCIAL HANDBOOK
A new Academies Financial Handbook came into force from 1 September 2017. The main changes from the previous edition include:
- Anemphasis that decisions about levels of executive pay must follow a robust evidence-based process
- A reminder that the ‘7 principles of public life’ apply to everyone holding public office, including those in trusts
- Additional information about improving financial efficiency
- An emphasis that a trust’s record of key individuals on GIAS must be kept up to date
- Updated references to the submission of budget information to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), to reflect changes in reporting requirements
- An explanation that repercussive, novel or contentious transactions require approval from the ESFA
- Updates to reflect the introduction of an academies’ sector annual report and accounts
SCHOOL TEACHERS PAY AND CONDITIONS DOCUMENT 2017 (STPCD)
The 2017 School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) applies from 1 September 2017.
It sets out the following pay uplifts:
- 2% uplift to the minimum and maximum values of the main pay range
- 1% uplift to the minimum and maximum values of the upper pay range, unqualified teacher pay range, leading practitioner pay range, leadership group pay range, and all the headteacher group pay ranges
- 1% uplift to the minimum and maximum values of the teaching and learning responsibility (TLR) and special educational needs (SEN) allowance ranges
If you have any queries about the STPCD or options please contact the HR Schools Manager Dave Rogers at:
AUDIT UPDATE
The Audit Unit have advised that budgets must be scrutinized by the Finance Committee, or committee responsible for approving budgets, and approved by the Full Governing Board in maintained schools.Details of the requirements by audit have been sent to all Chairs of Governors and Headteachers.
The information has also been sent to Academy Chairs and Principals as this outlines a lot of good practice that they may find useful.
APPOINTING ASSOCIATE MEMBERS TO COMMITTEES/PANELS
In maintained schools’ the governing board can appoint associate members to serve on its committees/panels. It is up to the governing board to determine whether, or not, associate members can be appointed to a committee or panel, and whether they will be given voting rights. There is nothing in regulations to prevent associate members from being appointed to committees or panels. They may sit on as many committees as the governing board wishes.The governing board should ensure that associate members have relevant skills and experience to bring to the committee or panel they are appointed to.
Governors should make sure there is a robust rationale behind the composition of all panels and the procedures adopted by the governing board, to ensure appeals are not made against poor process.
Associate members are not governors and they are not recorded in the instrument of government. However, theycan attend full governing board meetings but may be excluded from any part of a meeting where the business being considered concerns a member of school staff or an individual pupil. They do not have a vote at full governing board meetings.
Associate members can act as chairs of governing board committees.However, they cannot cast a second, deciding vote where a committee vote is equally split.
The governing board must ensure that the clerk clearly minutes the appointment of an associate member, listing the committees/panels they are appointed to, when this is to take effect, for how long their term of office will last and whether they have voting rights. The governing board must ensure their standing orders and terms of reference reflect the appointments.
APPOINTING NON-TRUSTEES TO COMMITTEES/PANELS
IN ACADEMIES
Article 101 in the current model articles of association say the membership of any committee of the trustees may include persons who are not trustees, provided that a majority of members of any such committee shall be trustees. No vote on any matter shall be taken at a meeting of a committee of the trustees unless the majority of members of the committee present are trustees.
Articles of association may differ between academies and therefore it is important that the Articles of Association for the Trust/Academy are checked before appointing non-trustees to committees/panels.
The DfE's model articles of association can be downloaded via the following link.
GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION (GDPR)
From 25th May 2018, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force which will have an impact on every UK organization that processes the personal data of EU residents, including schools which process staff and student data. It will replace the Directive on Data Protection that is currently in place in the UK.
UK organisations handling personal data will still need to comply with the GDPR, regardless of the Brexit process. Not only will the GDPR come into force before the UK leaves the EU but the UK government and the Information Commissioner have confirmed that the Regulation will continue to apply post Brexit.
Many of the GDPR’s main concepts and principles are much the same as those in the current Data Protection Act, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) states that if organisations are complying properly with the current law then most of an organisations approach to compliance will remain valid under the GDPD and can be the starting point to build from. However, there are new elements and significant enhancements, so organisations will have to do some things for the first time and some things differently.
The ICO has issued a checklist of twelve steps that organisations can start to take to ensure they are ready to comply with the new GDPR in May 2018.
It is important that governors and staff are aware that the law is changing to the GDPR, appreciating the impact this is likely to have and identify areas that could cause compliance problems under the GDPR. It would be useful to start looking at your school’s/organisations risk register.
The following links give a full explanation.
Further briefings and training will be provided over the next few months.
GOVERNOR TRAINING PROGRAMME AND WHOLE GOVERNING BOARD TRAINING
The training programme for 2017-2018 has been circulated to Chairs, Headteachers and clerks for distribution to all governors. The following training courses are scheduled for the autumn term. We are also further developing whole governing board training. If your governing board are interested in bespoke whole governing board training or joint training with another school’s governors, we are happy to discuss your requirements. Additionally,if there are any areas of governance you feel you would like to see covered in training courses please do let us know.
CLERKS AND MINUTES
Governors should ensure that their minutes record both support and challenge as Ofsted will scrutinise the governing body minutes to ensure governors are holding the Headteacher, and SLT, to account. Governors should also ensure that they record clearly in their minutes appointments of governors, specifically the name of the governor, term of office and type of position, i.e co-opted. It is also important that decisions are clearly minuted as this may become particularly important in cases where governing boards are challenged on decisions.
We hope you have found this newsletter helpful. If you have any queries about any of the items shown, or any other school governance issues, please do not hesitate to contact us. We can be contacted as below. You can also access resources via the following link: