NEWS
Local school celebrates Chinese New Year showcasing former hotel that will become part of the campus
Survey reveals pandemic’s impact on governance in run-up to national school governor celebration event
The enormous contribution made to schools by an army of more than 300,000 volunteers will be highlighted and celebrated in the inaugural National School Governors’ Awareness Day on 22 February. National School Governors’ Awareness Day will showcase a variety
Fairview International School, Bridge of Allan, offered the local community the opportunity to learn about the transformation project of the old historic Royal Hotel that is currently taking place. The event formed part of the school’s Chinese New Year celebrations, including a performance by Yee’s Hung Ga Kung Fu Association, as well as a performance from local legend, Max the Piper. The event offered the first chance to get an update of future
plans, ahead of the official opening of the building. Max the Piper, a member of the world champion Juvenile Pipe Band, started proceedings before Yee’s Hung Ga Kung Fu Association performed a dance as part of the school’s Chinese New Year celebrations as the day welcomed the Year of the Tiger. After the performances guests were able to go into the building and see a collection of old photographs of the historic building in its past life, as well as see the plans for what is to come. The former hotel is an iconic building within Bridge of Allan,
and following the purchase of the building in June 2021, Fairview International School, Bridge of Allan, started the project to restore and transform the building to its past glory whilst adapting the facility to become part of the school’s campus. The transformed building is the vision of John McHarg, from
JMC Architecture, who has designed the layout of the building to be repurposed for school use whilst paying homage to the building’s history. The project is being managed by Bridge of Allan based Project Manager, Scott Ambercrombie, as the former hotel becomes part of the extended school’s campus, with boarding facilities, additional learning spaces and spaces for community use. The first phase of the transformation project, which started
onsite in the Summer of 2021, is set to be completed in late Spring 2022, with key work including essential grounds maintenance, the development of the community areas, development of the living areas and the opening of the pastoral and study spaces.
uwww.fairviewinternational.uk 8
www.education-today.co.uk
of governor perspectives on the role, support professional development of existing governors and provide a forum for governors to come together and discuss key themes and challenges in governance in 2022. Many of the issues that will be discussed during the event have
been highlighted in a survey by event organisers Strictly Education. Governors and trustees from around the country were invited to
share their views on the challenges and opportunities they have experienced since the pandemic. Asked to select statements that closely reflected their views of
governance during covid, more than 80% of respondents agreed that the virtual meetings, that have become the only way of meeting during the pandemic, had worked well. There were some caveats: while a quarter of those surveyed said
that attendance had improved during the pandemic, most likely because of the shift to online meetings, for some governors technology had been a challenge, and some complained that participation had not been as good as during virtual meetings. Just 18% of those surveyed said the pandemic had had a negative
impact on the effectiveness of governance in their school - 63% said that it had been unaffected and 19% said that it had actually improved. Most governors agreed that the pandemic had actually made it
easier for them to attend training; 60% of respondents agreed with the statement that it had made attending training easier. 32% had attended 3-5 hours of training since September 2021, with 22% attending 6-8 hours of training. More than 90% of the 212 governors and trustees surveyed said
that staff wellbeing and workload was an issue in their schools. A similar number (87%) agreed that governing bodies could have a positive impact on this issue by focusing on the issue more, making it a recurring meeting agenda item. Making an effort to express thanks to staff for their hard work through thank you’s and simple gestures such as cakes was another popular choice, along with auditing their school in this area.
u
https://schoolgovernorsday.co.uk February 2022
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
