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GOVERNORS' NEWS
NASG members receive the in-house journal, "Governors' News", five times a year. As well as the latest news and reviews on the latest developments across the profession, every issue contains special features designed to help support you in your professional capacity

GOVERNORS' NEWS - June 2003

CONTENTS PAGE

A VIEW FROM THE (ACTING) CHAIR
TAKING MINUTES OR SPENDING HOURS

The price of a good clerk, like a virtuous woman, is far above rubies. Metaphorically, of course - fortunately some schools show that good clerking can be bought - for the worth of a good clerk to a governing body is inestimable That is certainly the conclusion to be drawn from NAGM's first national clerking award (see page 6 for a full report).

The work of governing bodies has not escaped the irresistible drive throughout education towards greater complexity. The now generally derided 'one size fits all' philosophy at least had one advantage: it made for an easier life for both the tailors and retailers of the educational outfit. But with the mushrooming of different types of school, of different things that schools can do, and of the many responsibilities that governors have, multi-skilling is required at all levels of education. The de-regulation of governing bodies increases, not decreases, the complexity. Pessimists call it entropy.

The glue that holds...

In order to cope efficiently with all this, governing bodies need good clerks. The days when clerking consisted of an alert member of the governing body taking minutes have long since passed. To function well now you need someone who can not only be relied on to handle this part of the work well, but who can grasp the intricacies of procedures, who knows all the rules and regulations, who chases up individuals on the jobs they have volunteered to do, who understands the way schools are financed (surely on its own worth a PhD), whose knowledge of the law extends both through and well beyond the education acts, and who keeps themselves up to date with the flow of government initiatives. In short, in the words used to describe one of the finalists in the Award, 'the glue that holds the governing body together'.

An impossible combination? Well, apparently not. The award produced scores of clerks who had these qualities, and presumably there are many more out there. Finding ten regional winners from the quality field entered was hard enough, but picking the winner proved to be an agonisingly difficult task. We had to look far beyond the expected, beyond the very good, and even past the excellent to find the exceptional.

Nevertheless, we were still dealing with a minority. Most clerks do not operate at the level of those who were nominated for our award. The research on which the National Training Programme for Clerks is being based identified three levels of clerking service provided across the country: Level 1 being basic and Level 3 de-luxe. It is indicative of where the bulk of clerks group in this spectrum that the new national training is aimed at providing a level 2 service.

Cinderella role

This is not to decry clerks at all; it's a question of what they are paid to do. I have never come across a governing body that did not think that its clerk was providing a very good service for the money paid. But the problem is that often that money only covers turning out five or six times a year to take notes in meetings, and sometimes scarcely even than. Clerking will remain the Cinderella of the education service until governing bodies in general acquire the means or the will, or both, to pay for the kind of service that they need.

One thing that all the judges of the Award agreed on was that the evidence showed that good clerks enable governing bodies to do their jobs well. And other evidence shows that where you have effective schools you find effective governing bodies. The government has recognised the need to provide teachers with skilled and professional support staff, whether it is in the classroom, the office or the corridor. Governing bodies need this level of professional support too, so that what is currently seen as the exceptional becomes accepted as the norm.

Stephen Adamson

Jane Phillips, NAGM Chair, is in France for six months. Stephen Adamson, Vice-chair, is Acting Chair for this period.

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REMODELLING THE SCHOOL WORKFORCE

The national agreement on workforce reform in schools is of direct concern to school governors. MARTIN ROGERS, co-ordinator of The Education Network, explains the current situation, and tells us what we can expect in the coming months.

In the past few months, the Government has been actively pursuing its plans for remodelling the school workforce. In the few days prior to writing this article, during the Easter teacher union conferences, the full scale of immediate budget problems facing many schools, and the scale of opposition to those plans from the NUT - the largest teachers' union - has occupied the headlines. So it is quite clear that governors, for whom this will be a major issue in the coming months, are going to face some difficult decisions.

The opening paragraph of the national agreement on workforce reform signed on 15 January 2003 says: This document represents an historic National Agreement between Government, employers, and school workforce unions to help schools, teachers and support staff meet the challenges that lie ahead. It promises joint action, designed to help every school across the country to raise standards and tackle workload issues. Action will take place across England and Wales and will take account of the different circumstances from school to school.

The agreement repeats the Government's manifesto pledge of an extra 10,000 teachers during this Parliament, and estimates that schools will be able to appoint at least 50,000 extra support staff of all types during the same period. An appendix spells out the additional resources being made available until 2005-06 to meet the costs - but major problems have plainly arisen in the first year, which remain unresolved at the time of writing. However, the first year coincided with an unprecedented number of changes in funding: the teachers' annual pay award (including arrangements covering threshold and leadership scales); the additional National Insurance contributions and increased pension contributions; and new bases for distributing government funds between LEAs, for distributing funds between LEAs and schools and for distributing funds between schools within LEAs. It is, perhaps, hardly surprising that this has not gone entirely smoothly - but that does not mean that it will not be sorted out (a lot of energy is certainly going into doing so), nor that the remodelling agenda is fundamentally threatened.

The stance of the NUT, the only workforce union which did not sign the agreement, may prove to be more problematic - especially in schools with high levels of membership amongst their teachers. And, of course, it is worth noting that the governor associations are not signatories to the agreement.

So, what can governors expect in the coming months? The Government is consulting (until 7 May) on proposed changes to the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions document, revised regulations and guidance on the roles of teachers and support staff. There is a further consultation (until 7 July) on Higher Level Teaching Assistants. A number of changes are due to be implemented by 1 September 2003, including the transfer to appropriate support staff of 24 clerical and administrative tasks which teachers should not in future be routinely expected to undertake. Reviewing these tasks will be a priority: what is being done, by whom, whether it needs to be done (particularly in light of the attempts to reduce administrative burdens), or whether it could be done differently. Alternative arrangements will need to be made for such tasks which are currently performed by teachers, but this will not be possible simply by adding to the workload of existing support staff. Assistance in preparation for implementation of the agreement is coming from the Workforce Agreement Monitoring Group (WAGM), and funds are available from the Standards Fund to support this activity, including for training of key players; LEAs have a major part to play in supporting schools, and are expected to set up meetings of 'school leaders' (which should include governors), union representatives and others to take matters forward.

Whilst the outcome of consultation will need to be awaited, schools are advised to embark on the sharing of information between teachers and support staff, and consideration of the implications, especially the proposed changes to the teachers' contract which are due to be phased in between September 2003 and September 2005. The guidance highlights the changes due for implementation in 2003: the transfer of the 24 administrative tasks; the introduction of a reasonable work/life balance for heads and teachers; and the provision of a reasonable allocation of time during the normal school day to support those with leadership and management responsibilities. It may be necessary to consider the appointment of additional staff, whether new appointments might cover a number of facets of extended support staff roles set out in the agreement, and whether (especially for small schools) certain posts might be shared with neighbouring schools.

The process which has led to the present position has been lengthy, and there is a wealth of related documentation. Publication of the Government's proposals, which led to January's National Agreement, was the last major act of the former Secretary of State, Estelle Morris, on the eve of her resignation. Her successor, Charles Clarke, and Minister of State David Miliband are the Government's signatories to the agreement. They, and all those who work in and have responsibility for schools - including governors - will have a major task in the period ahead to turn the vision into reality. There will undoubtedly be much more to be said on this issue.

Further information, including much of the relevant documentation, can be found at www.teachernet.gov.uk/remodelling and (for Wales) at www.learning.wales.gov.uk/

The Education Network's policy briefings on the issue (nos. 38/02 and 17/03) may be found at www.ten.info

Also see the article by David Miliband on page 11, and articles in the April edition of Governors' News.

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REMODELLING THE WORKFORCE

We asked david miliband, the Minister of State with responsibility for school governance, to respond to the articles about workforce remodelling in June's Governors' News. This is what he said.

Every child deserves an equal chance - that's why we are all passionate about education. The Government wants schools to be inspiring and enjoyable. Governors have a vital role in helping young people fulfil their potential.

There is much to be proud of - Ofsted say we have the best generation of teachers ever. International studies applaud progress in primary education and the achievement of 15 year olds. But we know that when 50% of young people leave school without five good GCSEs there are still major challenges.

Teachers are the key - that's why the National Agreement on workforce reform signed in January was such a landmark. It paves the way for reduced workloads and frees teachers to focus on raising standards.

Under the plans, we are committed to 10,000 extra teachers this Parliament. But schools will deploy a wider range of adult expertise, from the learning mentor to the lab technician and language specialist. We anticipate around 50,000 more of these vital support staff. The Government is doing its part - the first changes to teachers' contracts take effect from this September and over the next couple of years. But schools need your support - as in any organisation, the senior management team must be behind reforms if they are to work.

We want to create a new cadre of support staff: highly skilled and trained teaching assistants who can help pupils, under the direction of qualified teachers. I am clear that teachers have everything to gain and nothing to fear.

I know that there have been concerns about the reform agenda, including in these pages. But I believe it offers a good deal not just for pupils and teachers - but for governors as well. So I want briefly to set out my position on some of these issues

Finally, I know funding is a big issue. The funding of schools is a shared responsibility of central and local Government. Nationally, the additional resources provided for education - £2.7 billion - more than match the very significant pressures on LEA and school spending in 2003-04. There is another £1.4 billion in 2004-05; and £2.1 billion on top of that in 2005-06. That makes a total cash increase of £6 billion over three years.

So that every LEA receives at least a minimum increase, each child now attracts the same level of basic funding Ð with a minimum of 3.2% increase per pupil for every LEA, plus money to pay for the increase in pensions costs and to take account of reductions in the Standards Fund. Most LEAs have received more than this. Generally, funding per pupil has increased by an average of £670 since 1997-98, and will have increased to an average of more than £3,800 by 2006.

But 2003-04 is a unique year, because of both the extent of changes in the system for funding schools, and one-off pressures relating to teachers' pensions and National Insurance. It is clear that there has been very real uncertainty over this yearÕs funding allocations. That is why the Secretary of State has exceptionally granted schools the flexibility to use their devolved formula capital funding for running costs this year, if that is necessary to avoid excessive instability.

We have always been clear that the funding for workforce remodelling will build up over the next three years as contractual change is phased in. The more difficult changes, most notably the introduction of time for PPA, will not come into force until September 2005. The immediate priority is to transfer the 24 administrative and clerical tasks from teachers. Many schools have already done this at relatively little cost.

Remodelling is not just about additionality - it is about how best to use existing resources too. Schools need to consider how to use all the skills within their workforce, and how to deploy them to allow a sharper focus on teaching and learning.

Governors will want to be involved in how these changes take effect in schools. I am convinced that this is a tremendous opportunity for the teaching profession. To realise the vision of more individualised teaching and learning we must embrace radical reform: different ways of managing the work of school, different ways of providing cover, different ways of delivering high quality teaching.

Thank you for your hard work. Generations of children will benefit from your commitment, imagination and contribution.

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