The Governing Body and RAISEonline: Annual Analysis and Delegation of Tasks to Committees

Explanatory Note

1The diagram is no more than a schematic illustration of the possible scheduling of the use of Unvalidated and Validated RAISEonline data by a school involving its Governing Body. One size does not fit all.

2However, the role of holding the school to account applies to every Governing Body in England. Therefore, it is important for a school to bring together the actions of the Headteacher/SLT and the Governing Body in a coordinated manner to maximise the use of available performance data (see Christine Gilbert reference in RAISEonline materials).

3The analysis of performance data is not solely a task for the management team of the school i.e. the Headteacher and school management staff. It should involve the Governing Body.

4Governing Body involvement is typically set out in the Terms of Reference for its chosen committees. Where the delegated tasking is located is for the Governing Body to decide. However, the characteristics of outstanding Governing Body support for a school in terms of performance monitoring and analysis will include:

  1. Timely planning of governor involvement in performance analysis using an annual planner;
  2. Preparation in the summer term for receipt of the Unvalidated RAISEonline data typically sent to the school in September;
  3. Immediate action, preferably involving key governors and school managers, on receipt of the Unvalidated RAISEonline data to produce a digest of issues and key performance findings to be reported to the full Governing Body meeting in the autumn term. These issues and findings are generally set within the Head teacher Report or a supplementary report to the Governing Body.
  4. Effective management of governance rotates the involvement of governors each year to build and develop the experience, skills and involvement of individual governors in the accountability process.
  5. Coordination and triangulation of data to maximise the use of evidence to explain school performance. Other sources of data may include the school’s own evaluation and assessment, Family Fischer Trust, Ofsted/DfE Dashboards, for example.
  6. Engagement by governors in the accountability process, including knowing useful questions to ask about school improvement and performance data (see RAISEonline 2014 materials for advice).

5In essence, the diagram is a tool to support the explanation of another dimension of governor involvement in the accountability process in a school. The aim being to encourage governors to participate, raise their awareness of their role and enact the role within a coordinated and managed Governing Body approach.

Note:

An importantteaching pointis for trainers to inform governors that Unvalidated RAISEonline is typically 95%+ accurate and so the school and Governing Body should get on with the analysis as soon as it arrives. Some schools/GBs think they should wait until the Validated data arrives in December (KS2) and January (KS4). Also, that if there are any queries or challenges that the school raises with the DfE about its Unvalidated RAISEonline data, whilst they will know what those queries are, in some schools the outcome of the query or challenge to the DfE can result in being below or above the floor. This final position will then need to be reported to the GB in the spring.

Kim Garcia

Lead Consultant (RAISEonline)

Eastern Leadership Centre

January 2014