Governor training
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Key documents
Further information
Last updated 13 July 2006
Governor training, advice and support are available from Local Authorities (LAs), diocesan boards as well as some independent providers. The national governor organisations:
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National Governors' Association (NGA) and
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Information for School and College Governors (ISCG)
also provide information, advice and relevant
publications. Governor training is not compulsory but all governors are
strongly encouraged to take up available training, particularly induction
courses. Where governors do not take up training opportunities, they have often
acquired appropriate knowledge through work or experience to support their work
as school governors.
The DfES recommends that all governing bodies should have induction procedures in place for new members. This might include an induction pack of information about the school and its achievements. Some governing bodies also set up mentoring arrangements using experienced governors to support new governors. Most LAs produce induction material for new governors and run appropriate courses. The NGC's Trigger Pack (see the key documents section) provides information on the main issues governors need to know, including a useful glossary of terms and education acronyms.
Until the end of March 2006 the income that schools received was a combination
of central government grant and local government taxation. Since April 2006 the
vast majority of their income comes via central government grants paid to local
authorities: this means that there is no requirement on local authorities to
contribute to school funding from taxation, although they are free to do so if
they choose to. The main grant that LAs receive for schools is called the
Dedicated Schools Grant.
Schools also receive funding from Standards Fund
Grant. Some of the Standards Fund Grants are targeted at specific national
priorities. Allowing schools the freedom to spend their Standard Funds
allocations, more flexibility to meet local needs and priorities has been
widely welcomed by schools. Governing bodies should ensure that they make
a provision for their own training and support needs from their Standards Fund
Grant allocation.
Some LAs offer buy back subscription packages for governor training, as well as individually priced courses. Some also offer clerking services or regular briefing updates to independently appointed clerks. Some LAs use link governors to ensure that governors are made aware of available training opportunities. Link governors can play a useful role in developing governing body expertise through ensuring that there are sufficient numbers of trained governors to cover particular areas. They can also provide useful feedback to the LA on the suitability of courses being provided as well as help to identify training needs. Some governing bodies conduct an audit of members skills and expertise as a basis for identifying suitable training and sharing out responsibilities.
Following the Education Select Committees Report into the Role of School Governors the Department announced a National Strategy for Training and Support for governors. The Strategy was based on an agreed national framework to improve both the consistency and quality of governor information and training. This Strategy consists of three strands:
- The National Training Programme for New Governors, which was first issued to governor training providers in August 2001 and was most recently updated in November 2005. The DfES will increasingly expect all new governors to take up induction training and all schools to make this a priority when making decisions about training and budgets.
- The National Training Programme for Clerks to Governing Bodies which was updated and redistributed to all governor training providers in Local Education Authorities (LEAs) in England in November 2005 and is available to Diocesan Boards on request.
- The National Development Project for Chairs of Governing Bodies and Head Teachers was developed by a partnership led by the Eastern Leadership Centre and delivered to Department for Education and Skills (DfES). The project consists of two training programmes, Taking the Chair (designed for chairs and aspiring chairs of governing bodies) and Leading Together (for governors, heads and other school leaders). Both of these programmes were launched and delivered to all LAs in England during 2004.
Main text
Key documents
Further information
