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New government drive to improve standards of school governance School governors will in future only be appointed if they have the skills and experience to drive school improvement, under plans announced by the government. As part of the Department for Education’s commitment to a more professional standard of school governance, governing bodies will be expected to act more like corporate boards, and only appoint people with the skills to help their schools succeed. Lord Nash said: The best businesses have a skilful board of directors keeping them on the right path. I want to see the same approach in schools. Our proposals will ensure governing bodies in local-authority-run schools have the people they need to drive up standards. Currently, there is no requirement on governing bodies of local-authorityrun schools to prioritise the skills of a prospective governor. Academies and free schools are already free to appoint the best people for the role. New guidance also published today makes clear the vital role of governing bodies as non-executive strategic leaders, and sets out
Strict new guidelines say any sexual misconduct should lead to teachers being banned from teaching Any teacher who receives a criminal conviction or caution involving indecent images of children should be banned from teaching, say strict new guidelines. Changes to the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) ‘Teacher misconduct: the prohibition of teachers’ advice was published on 17 January 2014 by the Department for Education. The advice gives clear guidelines to the NCTL panels which consider cases of teacher misconduct. The panel’s recommendations are then referred to senior officials, who act on behalf of the Secretary of State, for a final decision. The changes published today make clear our expectation that any sexual misconduct - not just ‘serious sexual misconduct’ as set
their core functions clearly for the first time. Lord Nash added: School governors have an incredibly important role in setting high standards, holding headteachers to account and ensuring money is well spent. I want all governors to live up to these expectations. Stronger governing bodies will drive aspiration in schools and help young people get on in life. The government is working with organisations like the Confederation of British Industry, National Governors’ Association, the Education and Employers Taskforce and the school governor recruitment charity SGOSS to attract more high-calibre governors and encourage more employers to support their staff to volunteer. Emma Knights, Chief Executive of the National Governors’ Association, said: The National Governors’ Association wholeheartedly supports the government’s proposals to focus governing bodies on their strategic functions. Being a school governor is an important responsibility akin to being a non-executive director of a trust or company; indeed many of those governing in academies are now directors and trustees.
out previously - and any criminal conviction or caution involving indecent images of children should lead to prohibition. A Department for Education spokesperson said: Nothing is more important than ensuring children are protected when they are at school. We have already improved the system to make it tougher than ever before. This revised advice sets out our expectation any sexual misconduct and any criminal conviction or caution involving indecent images of children should lead to prohibition from teaching. High standards are expected of all teachers, and when making decisions panels should always take into account the need to maintain high levels of public confidence in the profession. The publication of the revised advice follows an 8-week public consultation launched in July last year. The results showed 86% of respondents agreed that the advice should be revised to toughen guidance on cases involving sexual
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Organisations with good governance do not fail, and we need to ensure that schools have the best governance possible. This starts with the recruitment of a good group of diverse people with the time, the necessary range of skills and experience and the commitment to improving the education of children and young people. The NGA looks forward to responding to the consultation. Chris James, Professor of Educational Leadership and Management at the University of Bath, said: This new advice and the proposals for regulatory reform are very welcome. All governing bodies will find them useful. They help to clarify the role and the responsibility and give guidance on how to improve governing body capability. Likening governing bodies’ role to that of a board of charity trustees or company directors is very helpful. This is a big step in the right direction for school governing. The Department provides funding to www. sgoss.org.uk, the governor recruitment charity, to work with employers to recruit highly skilled new governors and broker their placement in schools and academies that need their particular skills. SGOSS recruited over 3,200 governors in 2012 to 2013. The CBI published a report on school governance and leadership on 27 November 2013 promoting the benefits to schools, staff and business of firms supporting their employees to volunteer as governors.
misconduct, while 90% supported revisions to clarify that panels should give serious consideration to evidence that a teacher has committed activity involving indecent images of children. In June 2013, the Department for Education announced its intention to revise the ‘National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) teacher misconduct: the prohibition of teachers’ advice. Professional conduct panels act in a quasijudicial capacity and properly assess the facts of any case before them. The advice makes clear that each case will continue to be considered on its own merits. Each panel consists of at least 3 members, all of whom are recruited through a public appointments process. At least one panel member will be a teacher or someone who has been a teacher in the past 5 years. At least one panel member will not be from the teaching profession. The number of prohibition orders has risen since the abolition of the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) and the introduction of the NCTL.
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