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GOVERNORS' NEWS
NASG (formerly NAGM) 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

CONTENTS PAGE

...will still wade in to ensure that the governor voice is heard. We'll do this even when that voice is unwelcome, if we think it will result in better decisions.

We've changed our name but our remit stays the same - to support, represent and campaign on behalf of governors. So we'll continue to be an active voice and we can also be a truly independent voice because we are fully funded by our members, and are therefore accountable only to you.

As governors we straddle two worlds. For many, our world of work is different from the education world - and this throws into sharp relief the oddities that are taken as the norm in the world of education. I am continually struck by the bizarre nature of some decisions which those more deeply involved see as completely normal.

1. NCSL - we have for a long time been pressing for governors to be part of the remit of the National College for School Leadership. That college is undergoing an external review of its remit so we have pressed again. The first response was that the purpose of the review was to give further focus to the work of the college. A good thing, I say - but the gist of the message from DfES was that including governors would move the college away from this sharper focus. But if the focus is on school leadership with its strategic and accountability functions, I just can't see how governors can be legitimately excluded. If we're not in there somewhere it will continue to be a leadership college which excludes the vast majority of those with a leadership function in our schools. I call that bizarre.

2. The Workload Agreement and workforce remodelling - we're finding that some schools which are committed to remodelling are finding the Agreement counter-productive. They want to give all their workforce a better deal but the conditions of the agreement are getting in the way (and this is quite apart from all the funding problems). The possible reason; it seems that there were no current practitioners in the original workload talks. Decisions made in a vacuum were rolled out to schools and have hit problems. We have argued that governors should have been included in the talks prior to the agreement. I now think that it would have helped if other practitioners had been there to augment the process: serving teachers, support staff and heads could have complemented the knowledge already available. The bizarre part is that it seems that the people who have to implement the agreement were not party to it - not even in an advisory capacity.

3. Choice in education - we have the Labour and Conservative parties slugging it out about who can offer more choice to parents. I go with Barry Schwartz, an American psychologist who says that politicians offer choice only because they can't deliver quality. It's a sop to the electorate and a sham. He goes on to question whether choice is actually good for people. His research team have found that increased choice often leads to decreased happiness and psychological well-being. They have identified several processes that explain why this is so. Greater choice:

Is that what we want for parents - added angst? And what will be the knock-on effects for schools? The dead hand of Downing Street (in the form of a Prime Minister who understands little about state education and, more worrying, his advisor who probably understands less), is orchestrating changes which will affect us all. And the main opposition party is doing no better. Because politicians don't understand the system they are meddling with there will be unintended consequences. For 'choice' read 'chaos'.

Lest we get depressed, let's lighten the tone. This is my last Front Page. My three year stint as Chair is nearly over. It has been great fun. No chance of being idle though; I will be editing Governors' News while Gillian writes up her thesis and I have three books to finish. These range from a personal development manual to recruitment and selection of school staff to jam making. Now there's a bizarre mix!

So, have fun and keep up your sense of the ridiculous. In a mad world, it's sometimes the only way to stay sane.

For many governors, 'Extended Schools' is a normal part of their school community - for others 'Extended Schools' is a new concept. In North Tyneside, Extended Schools is an extension of the work in parts of the borough where full service provision has already been very successful.

North Tyneside was invited to be a Pathfinder LEA for the extended schools initiative and in the following round of Government funding was given approval to nominate two extended schools. Two was unusual but because of the uniqueness of this initiative it was allowed. The funding was extended through the Behaviour Improvement Programme enabling the two schools to build on their already successful programme.

The two colleges involved are Norham Community Technology College and Churchill Community College in the south of the borough. Both colleges are working collaboratively to utilise their resources to the best effect for students and families and to provide services to support their communities. Norham has a history of lifelong learning and Churchill a history of sporting excellence and now, with the opportunity of collaborative working, they are able to work more closely together to share their expertise. Learning Mentors support young people and help them to overcome their barriers to learning.

As well as the curriculum sharing, the Extended Schools programme has enabled the colleges to work with a variety of services to the community:

A police officer (this helps the young people and community to see the police as a source of help and someone to whom they are free to talk)
A health clinic where young people can access information and support
A Relate Counsellor
An Education Welfare Officer who works with families to address barriers to attending school
Parenting Groups to work with parents and help them support their children's learning
Nutrition specialist to work with young people and encourage cooking
A Connexions worker.

These groups have come together to work with Norham and Churchill following a programme of multi-agency development days led by the LEA. The partners included representatives from the Police, NHS, Health Care Trusts, Social Services and the voluntary sector. The core purpose of the events, six days in all, was to develop a common language and vision for all partners with the aim that all these services would be working towards enabling young people to address their barriers to learning and develop their potential. Working with families was a major element to the success of the programme.

The success of the extended school programme is evident in the outcomes so far. Attendance has significantly increased and the involvement of the Learning Mentors has meant that many young people have successfully addressed the issues that had been impacting on their school work. Sometimes, simple solutions can make a big difference. An example of this is the young girl who was struggling to complete her homework. She knew her teachers would not be happy with her and so she stayed away from school. Her Learning Mentor discovered that the reason she was unable to get on with her homework at home was because of the family situation - young siblings, no space to work or concentrate and the need to help care for her brothers and sisters at the end of the school day. The Learning Mentor arranged for time at the end of the school day for this student to do her homework before she went home. As a result, she has never missed another day from school. Other examples may be more complex but the networks are now in place to support any situation.

The next steps are to expand the multi-agency teams into the primary schools, renovate a council house to provide an outreach centre, set up a pupil referral panel to share information. In addition the changing of the time of the school day is currently going through consultation and it is hoped that this will extend the learning opportunities for students.

From a governance perspective there are issues that need to be addressed. When two schools are working collaboratively, arrangements do need to be in place so that accountability is ensured. The regulations that apply are The School Governance (Collaboration) (England) Regulations 2003 and Financing of Maintained Schools (England) Regulations 2002.

Clear management arrangements are required specifically in relation to staffing, finance, premises and insurance/liability. In particular, financial management should be carefully addressed with a specific business plan outlining sources of income and expenditure. It is important to note that under the Financing of Maintained Schools (England) Regulations 2002, the school's delegated budget should not be used to support extended schools programmes. This can become quite blurred where staffing and premises are concerned, so it is vital that the arrangements are in place and recorded as such. Schools should consult with their LEA from the outset to ensure that they are clear about their responsibilities and the requirements of the LEA in relation to this area. A number of Local Authority officers are involved in supporting the programme in North Tyneside including the BIP Manager, LEAs Planning Officer, the LA Valuation Service, Legal Services, Personnel Services, Finance Services as well as the Extended Schools Manager and Governor Services.

For the extended schools programme in Norham and Churchill a joint committee consisting of the Headteachers and three governors from each school provides both colleges with a structure and an accountability route to their Governing Bodies. Terms of reference for the committee have been established outlining their core responsibilities and meeting arrangements.

Schools are at the heart of their community and as such can provide an enormous network of support to their students and families. It is well worth while - the important thing is that the Governing Body is fully aware of the implications and has the arrangements in place to ensure its success.

Who will be involved?
How ambitious do we want to be?
Who is accountable?
What structures will be required?
Is there a need to establish a company or charity?
Is there a business plan?
What implications are there fore Public Liability/Staffing/Finance etc.?
Who carries the risk?
Does the governing body fully understand the implications of the scheme?
Do we have clear terms of reference?
What are the current letting polices?
Are we clear about health and safety requirements?
Is there an issue re transfer of control?

'The school hall is buzzing: Years 1 to 5 sit chattering excitedly with their toes nudging against each others' backs, the staff are craning their necks from their perches amongst the children. Standing in the centre of the hall, and the focus of this buzzing excitement, is Year 6.

Anne, their visiting dance teacher takes the floor in front of them and explains to the school that this is not a performance, but a demonstration of some of the creative dance activity on which they have been working over the preceding nine weeks. Without fuss Anne asks the children to explain to the audience how they warm up.

Gradually, Year 6 assume a growing physical readiness, a focus on their moving-thinking selves for the next 45 minutes. A teaching assistant raises her eyebrows and says 'amazing', as Mary, a small strawberry blonde girl, calmly raises her hand and clearly demonstrates a leaning sequence with the accompanying description 'one side, then the other, then all the way round.' In week 1 of the dance project Mary had hovered on the edges of the activity and had been highlighted to Anne as being unlikely to contribute.

What follows is a guided tour of the three different dances on which the children have worked in pairs and groups during the term. As Anne and the children were deciding how to structure their sharing, Jools suggested that they give the audience the opportunity to learn one of their dances, so that they could know what it felt like doing the dance too, rather than just watching it. They decided together, that with 140 people in the school hall, they would need to do a sitting version of one of their dances. The children duly revised one of their dances being careful to keep the essence of the movement, but enabling it to be performed in a contained space.

Having worked on improvising in response to simple verbal descriptions, Anne and the children also felt that they were willing to take a risk, to show this too. As Mayu (a child who spent the first session trying to avoid moving away from standing upright and, who Anne had been told, rarely volunteered for anything in the classroom) commented, '(I'll) probably be a bit confident...I don't think I'm gonna be really shy in front of the audience. I think it's gonna be really fun.' They therefore create their final dance live, based on suggestions from the floor, demonstrating their newly identified ability, as Joe said after the event 'to think quickly...and just do it'. During the improvisation, Mayu is to be found as the only girl within an eight strong group of boys, performing 'explosion' by diving onto the floor.

There are still other aspects of the children's creative work that it is impossible for them to get across in this sharing, what the dance teacher referred to as the children going on 'a journey...when the dance begins to dance itself'. In the children's own words, they had been able to '(have) inspiration...for my movements...use my imagination' (Rachel), '(get ideas) from playing....(make decisions) because I could feel it' (Neil). Another dance teacher has described these creative moments as the children immersing themselves physically, imaginatively, and thoughtfully, allowing themselves to internalise ideas and translate them into their own communicative movements 'where their imagination, energy and ownership ignite'.

The headteacher, who sat in on a number of the sessions, also commented on the children's ability to share, negotiate and work together to create their dances. The children themselves explained: Rachel: 'It feels good because you can share your ideas, and you can share the way you feel about things. And because you work with your friends, they sort of- Neil: help you to do it, Rachel: yeah, ...because they are your friends, and they understand, and because you are friends you're sort of arguing over what movements you're going to put in'. Ollie also added that for him creating the dances had been about 'compromising', and Joe explained that his group had 'had our disagreements as every group would do' but they had overcome these to 'perfect' their group dance.'

This extract draws on a project brokered between a dance education organisation and an arts based mini-education action zone with a strong three-year working relationship, in which a specialist dance teacher worked with Year 6 pupils on a weekly basis during one spring term. It follows in the footsteps of Anna Craft's article in the February edition of Governors' News, in which she urged the readership that 'Resourcing creativity should form a priority for all schools'.

The extract shows that when carefully brokered and implemented, high quality dance in schools can not only provide a resource for creativity and aspects of personal and social development, but by involving children in moving, thinking, creating and performing through their own bodies, it can offer a unique way of seeing and communicating within the primary curriculum. Dance in education is still all too sporadic in both quality and quantity, despite the resurgence of recognition from the DfES, QCA and OFSTED of the value of the arts in education. However, with examples of practice such as the above becoming more, rather than less common, it can only be hoped that with support from all sides the tide continues to turn in the direction of dance in education.

Kerry Chappell
Kerry Chappell is currently carrying out her PhD at LABAN: investigating how selected specialist dance teachers identify and foster creativity with late primary age children. kerrychappell@btopenworld.com