Everything you need to support outstanding governance

Everyone at The National College is proud to announce the launch of our brand-new governance category.

Designed to help your governing body stay up to date with the latest policy changes and become the driving force for high education standards and positive pupil outcomes, our new category includes hundreds of governor training resources designed in line with the latest statutory guidance and best practice.

Find out why training is so important and how we can support your governors to deliver outstanding levels of governance.

Why is good governance important?

Governing board members are a vital part of the school’s leadership makeup.

Responsible for overseeing the most important strategic decisions, their role is to make sure their setting runs as efficiently and effectively as possible. Working alongside parents, staff and other senior leaders, it is their job to exercise responsible and forward-thinking budgeting decisions, improve outcomes, establish effective and trusted safeguarding measures and plan for the long-term future of their setting.

Of course, the impact of good governance may be experienced most keenly by senior leaders, such as headteachers. A knowledgeable governing board with the foresight and confidence afforded by having been regularly kept abreast of changes to the education landscape, is one of the most valuable tools a senior leader can have access to.

By being able to work cohesively with an informed and up-to-date governing board, leaders’ own performance may improve as they’re constructively challenged and otherwise supported in delivering a collectively agreed-upon vision for their school.

For this reason, it’s imperative that governors have access to trusted, expert-led CPD and resources. Given their overarching role, they must be kept in the loop with changes and developments, and provided with the knowledge and skills to respond appropriately to emerging trends and challenges for the good of staff and the pupils in their school

What statutory guidance should governors be aware of?

In order to be aware of their expectations, develop a strategic vision and effectively comply with their duties, governors must become familiar with government guidance and their statutory requirements.

The government’s governance handbook and competency framework provide guidance for governors, as well as laying out their duties and responsibilities. These documents are essential for new and experienced governors.

The competency framework is especially valuable highlighting the different responsibilities of governors and their chair, with important direction provided in areas such as risk management, effective use of data and driving educational improvement.

Due to the evolving nature of these documents, it’s not only important that governors receive regular training, but also that the chosen training provider responds quickly to updates in guidance. Other important documents that governors must be aware of include ‘Keeping children safe in education’, ‘Behaviour and discipline in schools: guide for governing bodies’ and the ‘Ofsted handbook and EIF’.

At The National College, our new governance category will be updated regularly with webinars, courses, resources and templates, all produced by experts with their finger on the pulse, helping you make sure that governors in your setting are informed and prepared.

What training should governors receive?

Due to the varied nature of the role of governor, there are many areas in which it is beneficial for governors to receive training. Moreover, given that they are expected to inform decision making on a wide range of issues and areas, it is also vital that governors are given more generalised training in delivering effective, strategic leadership.

Our new governance category caters to all areas of importance for new and experienced governors. From statutory guidance on safeguarding and negotiating academy conversion to whole-school mental health and understanding the pupil premium, our offer reflects how vital it is that governors have access to extensive and varied CPD programmes that promote excellence in all areas of governance.

In addition, we support training for the whole governing board, including specialist roles such as clerks and link governors in safeguarding, SEND, mental health and climate education.

What are some barriers to CPD for governors?

While it’s an established fact that regular access to high-quality and up-to-date CPD is essential for governors to stay compliant, respond to changes and fulfil their statutory duties, it’s not always easy in a practical or logistical sense to ensure that this happens.

Governors are not paid for the time they put into their governance work, and many have busy and varied professional lives with which to balance their roles.

This means that it can be difficult to coordinate and find time for governors to complete training through traditional methods, such as in-person events like seminars, talks and conferences. Not only can these time restraints mean that scheduling training is difficult, but it’s also harder to track progress. Furthermore, specialist roles within the governing board itself require specialist training.

Our platform removes all of that hassle. With everything provided to you in one place, on one platform, and all content accessible online and on-demand, you can share training and resources with your governors whenever you want which they can complete at a time that’s convenient for them. Fully flexible online training, insight and guidance from world-leading governance experts for the whole governing board – helping you support outstanding governance.