Community has never been more important. The past few months have been a challenge for us all. Every one of us has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, and while things are starting to return to some form of normality, schools are yet to face some of their biggest…
Like many universities, the majority of Durham’s staff is now working from home. We have been forced to postpone or cancel our upcoming events for our School Governor Network. To enable our governors to keep in touch, and keep the network alive, we have created a Microsoft Teams space…
Amanda Timcke is a commercial property solicitor at Birketts, Ipswich. “I became a governor of a primary school in Suffolk in 2012 following a campaign to recruit governors by Suffolk County Council. However, even with my education and law interest, it took me a full academic year to understand…
Sally Barrett volunteers as a governor in Wythenshawe, South Manchester. “I recently retired from teaching after 33 years and during my time in education had various roles – working my way up to headteacher. I had experience of being a staff governor and also as the headteacher on the governing…
Fridolin Wild is a senior research fellow at Oxford Brookes University. He has been a governor at Oxford Spires Academy for six months. Why did you decide to become a school governor? I work at Oxford Brooks and I received an email from the university about becoming…
Yvonne Barker-Layton is a MAT trustee at Educate Together Academy Trust in Bath. “We all know how schools are struggling with funding and managing tight budgets. But most people don’t do anything to help, often because they don’t know how. My son’s school had a new headteacher…
We spoke to Jag, a governor at a school in Solihull, to find out more about why he decided to volunteer his time and skills as a school governor. If you’d like to give back to your local community and develop your own skills at the same time, governance could…
Langford Primary School is in a deprived area of London, sandwiched between very affluent areas. Five years ago, the school was Inadequate. At the end of last year, Ofsted visited and judged the school Outstanding. We asked Chair of Governors, Dominic McGonigal, to give us the inside story. How…
Preparing for a visit from Ofsted can feel daunting, but we’ve outlined our top tips for keeping calm and having a smooth inspection to help you on your way. Unfortunately, there isn’t a secret recipe to an Outstanding Ofsted rating, but these tips can help to mentally prepare you for…