So governors, what’s changed in a year?

Or what hasn’t for those working in schools? For those last six years, Tes and the National Governance Association have joined forces to take the temperature of governance of state schools across England and seek the opinions of those who volunteer to oversee pupils’ education and the expenditure of billions of pounds. We get a great response, and this year we want to top the best ever total, of 6,000 responses.

A year ago, those governing our schools, whether academies or not, were generally unhappy with the direction of government education policies, and funding was their biggest concern.

I will be surprised if this has been knocked off the top spot. Stories of increasing class sizes and a reduced curriculum offered at key stage 4 and 5 are becoming horribly familiar.

Being a school governor or academy trustee is often tricky, but during 2016/17 it hasn’t been for the faint-hearted. 

Last year, 26 per cent of the participants reported making redundancies - up from 15 per cent the year before - and just over a third reported difficulty finding quality candidates for headship. Governors almost always support a wide curriculum and some are increasingly worried that the range of arts activities, in particular, is being limited.

This is why it’s so important to have as many secondary school governors responding as possible: we want to know how much impact the new performance measures are having and which subjects are proving most difficult to recruit teachers for.

The numbers are in

This January, the DfE published a Competency Framework for those governing. At first glance it’s daunting, but it does emphasise the sheer scope and importance of the governance role.

Will it scare prospective volunteers off? Last year, over half of respondents reported difficulty in recruiting to their governing board, and 30 per cent had two or more vacancies.

The DfE has funded Inspiring Governance as a volunteer bank to help schools find candidates to interview; NGA provides free support and induction material, including e-learning modules, for those matched in this way - so please make use of it.  

As with charity trustees, a very low percentage (only one in ten) are aged under 40, and so NGA has been supporting some very enthusiastic younger governors with the Young Governors’ Network. BAME people make up only just over 5 per cent of survey respondents, so we will be actively encouraging BAME volunteers.

Half of those governing are in full-time work, with a quarter in part-time employment and a quarter not earning, mainly retired. Nine in ten of those employed governors are in professional or managerial roles, so have a lot to offer. Rather than a lack of skills, time can be the larger barrier to recruiting effective governors and trustees.

Last year, the survey was open during the time of the government’s proposal on universal academisation in the White Paper Education Excellence Everywhere, but ended after the change of plan on making this compulsory.

Respondents said in no uncertain terms that there was too much focus on academisation and structural solutions. I wonder whether this will have dissipated a little, now that we are back to the position of governing boards of better-performing schools making the decisions for their schools and communities.

However, last year it surprised me that the DfE’s removal of the proposal made practically no difference - the percentage with a positive view of the government’s policies only grew from 11.8 to 11.9 per cent at that point.

Seeing a fuller picture

Our surveys have shown a slowing down of academy conversions. 15 per cent of respondents in 2012 making the switch that year, but it went down to just 3 per cent in 2016. Last summer term, however, three-quarters of maintained governing bodies reported being in discussions about conversion, and 5.7 per cent had started the process to convert.

National figures, of course, don’t tell the whole story, as we all know the number of academies can be very different in different places. But what we know from this annual survey, that the DfE don’t record, is the reasons why people haven’t taken the plunge to academy status.

The top five given were: that there is no evidence for educational benefits for pupils, a concern that it would change the ethos of the school, valuing the support the local authority provided, already having strong links with other schools in the area and thinking they had sufficient autonomy. 

NGA has for a number of years - indeed, before it became fashionable - been putting the case for governing groups of schools, both federations and multi-academy trusts. 

The main advantages are being able to improve the offer for pupils, share expertise and practice at all levels and of all sorts across the group, improve CPD and provide greater promotional opportunities for staff. 

These arguments are clearly not winning the day with everyone. However, the autonomy argument that continues to be used by the DfE is deeply unhelpful and at times misleading: schools lose their autonomy when they join a MAT. 

This does not necessarily make it the wrong route to take, but those taking this crucial decision must understand the implications. This change to MAT status has heralded a revolution in school governance which still is not fully understood.

What’s more, it is difficult to get right: a case of ensuring the trust board can undertake its legal duties for all the pupils while understanding what those governing at academy level are saying about the community and school they know well. NGA is in the business of trying to share the learning of how to do this well, and this survey will help.

Fill out the survey here. Closing date is Monday 17 July: don’t forget to complete it and pass the survey link on to those who govern at other schools, too.

Emma Knights is chief executive of the National Governance Association

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