Improving School Governance: How better governors make better schools - Softcover

Gann, Nigel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1138832855 ISBN 13: 9781138832855

Publisher: Routledge, 2015

Synopsis

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

About this title

Review

"This essential guide tackles all aspects of the work governors undertake and, although perhaps not a book for new governors, who are already inundated with information, it will be of great value to experienced governors looking for practical guidelines, clearly presented." - Sarah Brew, Parents in Touch

"Governors will find the book very useful in understanding the difference between being a friend of the school and being a governor of the school. This book is a very welcome addition to the board bookshelf." - Naureen Khalid, Schools Week

"As someone interested in the history of state education the book provides me with a valuable overview of the development of governance: a neglected area of research and scholarship." - Colin Richards, Forum

"The meat of the book lies in reminding us of the strategic importance of governance to improve standards in schools within the structure of redefined roles [...] Understanding data is imperative but does not give the whole picture, while monitoring, visiting and knowing the school can verify, interpret and explain statistics. Gann lays great emphasis on strategic governance and offers suggestions and models to achieve this."  -Sylvia Bosworth, Governing Matters

About the Author

Nigel Gann is an independent education consultant working with school governors and headteachers and has been involved in managing and governing schools for more than thirty years. He has written, spoken and trained on school leadership for the Department for Education, Ofsted, the British Council, BBC TV and Radio, the National College for Teaching and Leadership, the Universities of Leicester and Southampton, CfBT Education Trust, the National Governors’ Association, Governors Wales, Worklife Support, most of the local authorities in England and Wales, and in Russia, the Middle East and Cyprus. He has been a governor in eight schools, including spells as chair in three of them.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1138832855
• ISBN 13: 9781138832855
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 264