VIEWS & OPINION


Strengthening school performance through good governance


Comment by LOUISE COOPER, chief executive of SGOSS - Governors for Schools


Good and easily accessible training for new governors is critical. With schools investing a great deal of effort into attracting skilled new governors, it is crucial to ensure they have a speedy and effective induction and can hit the ground running. But that’s not always as easy as it sounds. Not only do volunteers


start their governor journey at different times of the academic year, but they all have varying commitments in terms of their own work and family. All these factors can make attending training courses a particular challenge. On top of this, research carried out by SGOSS - Governors for


Schools found that of all the governors that resign, 73 per cent do so within their first year. That points to an issue around effective, best quality induction. So we’ve worked with Lloyds Banking Group and The Key for


School Governors to create a free, accessible online training module, which launched in March and is aimed at governors at the start of their journey. This interactive module, ‘School Governor Induction’ is available on any device, at any time – and only takes one hour to complete - a real win for any busy school governor. It provides a great grounding - all the information a governor needs to get off to a flying start is presented in a highly engaging, interactive format. A high-quality induction will help to ground new governors, giving


them a full overview of the role and showing what effective governance looks like, so they can apply their skills and make an impact from day one. The earlier new governors understand strategy, risks and


accountability in a school setting, and the quicker they learn about the school, the more head teachers and their teams can expect from their ‘critical friend’ - the governing body. SGOSS has an unmatched record of 18 years experience in placing


talented business executives into school governing roles. Building on consistent year on year growth, SGOSS helped 2,047 schools by finding them 2,800 governors in the last year alone. Our aim now is to continue that work by more than doubling the


number of placements made each year and supporting governors to become effective as quickly as possible. To enable this, we are improving our service by providing governors with access to knowledge and support, as well as this new e-training. The governors recruited by SGOSS bring the skills and experience


they develop in the business world to support schools, helping them to manage the challenges of prioritising within tighter budgets, hiring and retaining talented teachers, and managing the transition process as schools move to academy status. Typically, the specific skills that a school looks for include finance,


legal, HR, or IT skills. According to findings from The Key’s last annual survey, more than a third of governors believe that having a broader set of skills would do most to improve their board’s impact. Furthermore, 25 per cent think higher quality induction training would make a difference. This completely new approach to governor training will give those


starting out the much-needed support they need to use their business experience to maximum effect in this rewarding and important role.


April 2017


Talking to children about terrorism


Comment by MARK BENTLEY, London Grid for Learning


The sad events which unfolded in Westminster in March caused many adults to be concerned about their safety, and the in-depth reporting of the terror attack made it highly likely that children would see, hear or read some age- inappropriate news. How can schools support children as they process information that adults struggle with?


All news isn’t always good news Arguments about what children should or should not know about, and what they should be protected from hearing, are important and always worthy of further consideration. Most people would agree that there should be some limits to children’s exposure to bad news, at least in terms of language used and details given. However, in today’s online world, that isn’t always possible. So what can we do to help?


“I’m scared” Pretending that nothing has happened is often no longer an option, and parents and teachers will often need to provide support to process something that is incomprehensible. Written shortly after the 2016 attack on a Christmas Market in Berlin, this excellent article (https://socialworktutor.com/talking-to-children-about-terrorism/) from Social Work Tutor gives advice for those working with young people. Be honest in answering the questions you are asked; explain that anxiety and worry are normal emotions; reassure your pupils and let them know that they are safe; frame answers to their questions based on their prior knowledge; and don’t go into too much detail.


Don’t keep it secret But how will we know that those in our care are worrying about something if they don’t tell us, and we don’t know that they know? This might be the case if they saw something online, for example. There are no easy answers, but the same principles apply to encouraging them to speak about bullying, child sexual exploitation, inappropriate imagery and most other online-safety issues. We need to be constantly developing an atmosphere where it is safe to talk about what you have done, seen or heard online without risk of being told off or worse: having your devices taken away from you! Only then can we help young people to open up when they need to.


Foundation for openness If we have laid those foundations carefully, then we can use the time after a terrorist attack or death of a teacher or pupil to talk in more general terms about our fears and worries, or about what we see online, without asking leading questions that might prompt worries that weren’t already there. There will be times where you will want to look at our Counter-Extremism resource (for staff or secondary students). But in a situation like this, a more appropriate approach might be to revisit the Trust Me resource on critical thinking online, generating general discussion on the things that we see online. Or talk about Fake News and how we react to exaggeration or scaremongering.


Resilience We can’t wrap children and young people in cotton wool, and life rarely follows the PSHE scheme of work or age-appropriate milestones, but if we keep our eyes and ears open and work on those safe places to be open and honest, we will have made a good start.


FURTHER READING uhttps://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/your-feelings/anxiety-stress- panic/worries-about-the-world/#Extremismterrorismandradicalisation- Worriesabouttheworld_ipnav27362


uhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-39369319 uhttp://adolescentresilience.lgfl.net uhttp://www.parents.com/parenting/better-parenting/advice/how-to- talk-to-kids-about-terrorism/


www.education-today.co.uk 19


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