ABSTRACT

About the first edition:

"School governors will find this a sound and practical guide to the nature of their responsibilities and the process of managing their workload. It is well researched, based on vast experience, illustrated from the best practice, free from jargon – and always interesting." Joan Sallis.

Described by the National Association of Governors and Managers as "definitely a ‘must’ for your bookshelf"; reviewed in the Times Educational Supplement as an "essential guide to help governors".

This book is about governing schools – about how a governing board made up largely of ‘ordinary’ people with no professional educational experience, working in partnership with professional leaders, can help to make schools better. It is intended for governors in schools in England and Wales, in other parts of the world where lay people engage in school leadership, and for people who work with governors.

Improving School Governance examines:

  • How school governors got to be where they are today
  • How governing boards do their jobs
  • How individual governors can best contribute to their schools
  • Governors’ accountability
  • The nature of governors’ meetings
  • The rights that governors have
  • The relationships between governors and the headteacher
  • The role of governing boards in school inspection
  • Governors’ relationships with parents and the wider community
  • How to evaluate the performance and impact of governing boards
  • What the future might hold for state-funded schools and their governance
  • What national strategic issues will need to be addressed by governing boards in the next five to ten years

chapter |8 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|20 pages

People and their schools

How lay governors, after a long history, came to have an important role in school governance

chapter 2|23 pages

The revival of school governance

How governing schools came to make a meaningful contribution to school improvement

chapter 3|28 pages

The strategic governing board

How the governing board brings about school improvement

chapter 4|29 pages

The responsibilities, roles and rights of governors

In which we look at some ideas about governing

chapter 5|25 pages

Governance, leadership and management

Being an investigation of the relationships that governing boards have with their headteacher and staff

chapter 6|16 pages

School governance and school inspection

A consideration of the impact inspection has on school governance

chapter 7|18 pages

Schools, parents and the community

In which we consider the relationships of schools with parents and other local people

chapter 8|5 pages

Evaluating governance

How do we know how well we are governing the school?

chapter 9|16 pages

Schools in uncertain times

What the present looks like and what the future might hold; the state of the nation and its schooling

chapter 10|17 pages

The future of governing schools

Future proofing the school