After many months of hard work, we’re finally live! Our team of consultants work with Governors at over 1,400 schools and our aim is to share our experience and expertise with you through our new Better Governor website. If you are curious about us and want to know who we are and what we do, you can watch our short videos. Amanda Peck, an academy governor , and Steve Barker, our Head of Governance Consultancy, will introduce our vision for the Better Governor website and briefly talk through the resources that will be available to you. Why not let us know if there is a subject you would like to see featured and we’ll do our best to push it up our priority list.

Academies

If your school is an academy or considering becoming one, or part of a multi- academy trust, you can find key information here to support your governing body before, during and after conversion.

Identity verification for new chairs of Trust Boards
It is a requirement, of the DfE, that when a new chair of an academy trust board is elected they complete an Identity Verification Form in conjunction with their Disclosure and Barring Scheme application.

Consultant: Steve Barker August 2017
New Academies Financial Handbook 2017
The Education & Skills Funding Agency (EFSA) has published the 2017 Academies Financial Handbook. The new handbook contains updates on aspects of Governance and Financial Control.

Consultant: Steve Barker July 2017
Changes to Risk Protection Arrangements for 2016 explained
The Risk Protection Arrangement is an alternative to insurance for academy trusts. Under the scheme, the government covers losses which would otherwise be claimed through insurance providers. Read more here now...

Author: Ruth Murton September 2016
New Academies Financial Handbook September 2016
The new edition of the Academies Financial Handbook 2016 is just published - compliance is a statutory requirement in all academy trusts' funding agreements. Read more about this subject...

Author: Ruth Murton August 2016
Academy Budget Setting - what do governors need to consider?
Given the pressure on academy budgets there are a number of assumptions used in budgeting that governors need to be aware of and consider when approving their budgets.

Author: Ruth Murton June 2016
Changes to Risk Protection Arrangements (RPA) for Academies from September 2016
The Department for Education has published the outcome of its consultation on Risk Protection Arrangements for academies, which come into effect in September 2016

Consultant: Steve Barker May 2016
Admissions into Academies and Free Schools - what you need to know
This article summarises the rules underpinning admissions into Academies and Free Schools. It aims to raise governors' and clerk's awareness of the rules that their schools must follow.

Consultant: Steve Barker May 2016
Consultation on the proposed new 'schools national funding formula'
This article summarises the DfE consultation on the development of a new schools national funding formula.

Author: Ruth Murton March 2016
National Schools Commissioner speaks on future of MATs
This article explores what the new National Schools Commissioner said about Multi-Academy Trusts in a speech to ASCL conference on 5th March 2016.

Consultant: Steve Barker March 2016
The role of the Regional Schools Commissioners - what governors need to know
The Regional Schools Commissioner (RSC) role was established from September 2014 and is still developing. This article explores the existing roles of RSCs and the forthcoming changes to their responsibilities and powers....

Author: Ruth Murton February 2016

< PREVIOUS

1 2

NEXT >

JUST BREAKING

Exclusions from schools – new statutory guidance from September 2017

New statutory guidance, relating to pupil exclusions, has been published by the Department for Education (DfE). The guidance applies, from 1st September, to all maintained schools, Pupil Referral Units(PRUs) and Academies, and Free Schools in England. The guidance sets out what schools and PRUs must do to comply with the law. Governors and clerks should be aware that the statutory framework relating to pupil exclusions has not changed. The DfE make clear that the guidance aims to ‘provide greater confidence to head teachers on their use of exclusion and to provide greater clarity to independent review panels and governing boards on their consideration of exclusion decisions.’

Every governor should know

Better Governor content relates to schools in England.