Home truths
Proprietorial schools face different challenges to charitable independent schools. New ongoing research reflects on the factors influencing their sustainability, by Bill Brown, Jake Anders and Matthew Adshead
The proprietorial sector of independent schools is one that is marked by sharp contrasts in performance. It is the intention of this enquiry to find out the potentially multiple causes of these sharp contrasts, test them and draw conclusions on how proprietorial schools can use these implications to ensure that they can be a school that thrives.
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Expert counsel
Governing bodies are vital to the effective management of a school, yet are not always used by proprietorial schools. Jake Anders, Matthew Adshead and Bill Brown advocate their introduction to those schools that lack them
Proprietorship of an independent school is a serious business. Getting it wrong has important, usually litigious, implications. It requires good governance compliance with employment, business, financial and educational criteria in all its facets: a daunting task for any proprietor or company not prepared to seek best advice in the areas affecting education, safeguarding children, and health and safety.
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Toeing the line
Compliance with regulations imposed by Government bodies is a thankless task. However, it is not only important for successful inspections, it also ensures the business success of your school, write Bill Brown and Jake Anders
A positive approach to compliance is important to helping your school achieve its academic and financial potential and seeing what steps are key to achieving successful compliance in all areas.
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Inner resources
Employment legislation changes on a frequent basis and covers a broad spectrum. Yet the most common areas of concern for schools are poor performance and flexible working requests. Anita Bird reports
The more laws, the less justice,” commented Cicero in Rome in 1BC, and many of us would echo that observation today. Employment law is no exception and the minefield of regulations and guidance seems to grow exponentially each year. During 2009, we saw new guidance on dispute resolution (disciplinaries and grievances), extended rights to request flexible working and an increase in statutory holiday entitlement; 2010 is no less busy with the extension to paternity leave and pay, a change from “sick note” to “fit note”, and a single Equality Act.
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The great outdoors
Outdoor education means getting wet, cold or scared and should be avoided, some think. For others, it means enjoying the wonders of the outdoors and the opportunities that can be found there. Dane Oliver is one of the latter
Since the early 1960s, when I started teaching, some recognised the value in taking children into the outdoors and offering opportunities for them to improve their understanding of themselves and their contribution to each other and the environment. Success was not just determined by scoring more goals or tries. Satisfaction could also be gained by coping in the wet, by helping to look after your friends and by doing something that you thought was beyond your abilities. It helped young people to realise that effort and determination were crucial factors in achieving success. Examples of this process are well documented in the accounts of the outward bound movement.
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Inspection matters
The start of this academic year sees the introduction of a new approach to inspection for the schools examined by the Independent Schools Inspectorate. Chief inspector Christine Ryan outlines the changes
Schools are already familiar with inspection and appreciate the necessary part it plays in ensuring that the education and welfare of children are properly addressed.
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Public benefit any clearer?
The issue of public benefit has been a sure way to grab the headlines and it is a topic which sparks debate for all of those involved in the independent education sector. Kristine Scott reports on the Charity Commission’s clarification
The recent announcement by the Charity Commission to give independent schools up to five years’ breathing space if they fail to meet the public benefit test hit the headlines, but what does it actually mean?
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Head first
Part of a governor’s duties involves performance management of the headteacher. Penny Chapman explains how to spot the early warning signs of a potentially underperforming head and advises how to tackle them
A key feature of a well-run school is a harmonious relationship between the governing body and the headteacher. In this, a school is no different to any charity or commercial organisation in which the governing body and chief executive work in partnership; each knowing their roles and responsibilities and respecting and supporting each other in the performance of them, which is critical to the success of the organisation.
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Advice to a new head
Once the recruitment process is over and your new head is just about to take up the post, what advice should you give them? By Dorothy Dalton
Make sure your personal ambitions are fully aligned with your governors’ and your ambitions for the school that you now lead.
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Mergers: how governors can help
How governors can help the school’s stakeholders during mergers and acquisitions. By Anthony Millard
Mergers, acquisitions and closures are becoming regular events in the independent education sector. At best, they are rational exercises performed by governors in the face of economic forces. At worst, they can be knee-jerk responses to schools’ dislocation from their markets. Change is, of course, a necessary function of renewal.
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Who governs the governors?
Governing bodies play an important part in the life of a school. An effective governing body usually entails an effective school. Andrew Maiden advises regular reviews of governance procedures to keep standards high
Many governing bodies work in isolation. It is important for schools to take the time to review the effectiveness of their governing body. After all, just because things have been done in a particular way at the school for years doesn’t necessarily mean that it represents good practice.
The body politic
In the first of a new series of articles on effective governance for independent schools, Nick Sladden begins by advising governing bodies to review their accountability arrangements to ensure they observe best practice
It is the responsibility of every school governing body to ensure that it is composed of an appropriate number of individuals with the effective breadth and depth of expertise. Having effective governance arrangements – due processes and procedures – has become increasingly important across public, private and voluntary sectors, including independent schools.
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Reviewing the board
Effective governance is achieved by reviewing the attributes of existing governors, writes Nick Sladden
The recent trend has been for governing bodies of schools to have fewer governors. As a result, it has now becoming even more crucial to ensure that all the required skills and experience are held within a board.
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Strengthening your governing body
How to recruit effective governors by Nick Sladden
Recruiting new governors is a proven method of correcting any known weaknesses in the expertise of the board as a whole and has the additional benefit of enhancing what is already there. Hiring new governors can be the result of a “skills audit” that would have identified the skills and experience required to bring the governing body to its full potential.
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All the talents
The board of any school should ensure that its governors can collectively provide the required skills and experience. Nick Sladden explains how to do this by interpreting the results of an inhouse skills audit
Using a skills audit to identify the existing attributes of governors is a good starting point to ensure the balance of talents a school’s board needs, as well as helping to identify any deficiencies. This skills audit process should use a questionnaire, with governors scoring their individual expertise against a predetermined list of skills. Usually, the scoring is on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is a “limited degree of expertise” and 5 is “expert”.
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Ghosts of the past
It is important to the school’s reputation and good governance that effective checks are made when appointing new governors. After all, you don’t want to discover an unpleasant truth when it’s too late, writes Nick Sladden
Finding suitable new governors who can bring additional skills and experience is not easy, but with a robust process it can also bring an improved breadth and depth of skills to the board. It is therefore possible to become a little complacent once that “wonderful” new person has been found and forget that inevitably there are administrative tasks that need to be completed to achieve sound governance.
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Making up the numbers
The governing body system usually consists of various sub-committees. Nick Sladden explains the need for periodic reviews of their structures
An independent school is likely to have a number of formally constituted committees that report directly to the main board of governors. These committees (sometimes referred to as “sub-committees”) necessarily include selected governors but sometimes, where appropriate, have additional staff, parent or expert representation. However, the committee structure that is in place may not always be appropriate to the needs of the school and its board of governors.
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Duty calls
This new question and answer series will serve to analyse and clarify critical governance issues for independent schools. In this edition, Keith Lickorish reviews how governing bodies can be more effective in their duties
Q: How can we recruit new governors with the drive and enthusiasm to help us face the challenges of the future?
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