Education Secretary issues call to arms for school governors
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Damian Hinds has called on leading employers to lend their business
expertise to support schools to improve education for every child.
This comes as Damian Hinds has joined with the Institute of
Directors to call on more than 30,000 leading British businesses to
encourage their employees to lend their expertise and commitment in
the running of schools and...Request free trial
Damian Hinds has called on leading employers to lend their business expertise to support schools to improve education for every child.
This comes as Damian Hinds has joined with the Institute of
Directors to call on more than 30,000 leading British
businesses to encourage their employees to lend their
expertise and commitment in the running of schools and
colleges.
There are around 250,000 experienced governors and trustees across the country – including many parents – selflessly providing their time, energy, and guidance to support schools to provide the very best education for children. The Education Secretary will announce that the budget for training and support for this “army of volunteers” will be doubled to £6 million up to 2021 to ensure more school leaders have access to popular training courses that build on their existing skills and will help raise education standards even further. He will also set out plans to bear down on Academy trusts that pay excessive salaries and hand out lucrative contracts to family and friends in a clampdown to make them more accountable for the money they spend. These announcements will build on the clear rules already in place to provide transparency over academy finances. The measures include:
Thanks to the hard work of teachers and the government’s reforms, there are now 1.9 million more children in good or outstanding schools than in 2010. Today’s commitments will raise the bar even further, strengthening the expertise within the systems that govern our schools and colleges. Education Secretary Damian Hinds is expected to say:
Stephen Martin, Director General of the Institute of Directors, said:
The role of a governor or trustee can involve developing a school strategy, making sure budgets are properly managed and holding headteachers to account for a school’s performance. These are important and respected roles in local communities and, according to the Institute of Directors, becoming a governor or academy trustee gives businesses first-hand involvement in their local community and provides valuable skills for employees. The Institute of Directors and some of Britain’s leading businesses like Rolls Royce and Lloyds Banking Group already recognise the leadership development benefits that the role brings to their employees. Many of Britain’s leading businesses are represented on academy boards through the government-funded Academy Ambassadors scheme, which has introduced more than 950 business professionals from companies such as BT, HSBC, Northern Powergrid, PwC and Slaughter & May to governing board roles since its launch in 2013. The joint letter from the Secretary of State and the Institute of Directors has been sent to IoD members and will look to build on these existing relationships between schools and businesses. To bear down on pay, in recent months Academies Minister Lord Agnew has been working with Eileen Milner, CEO of the Education and Skills Funding Agency, to challenge 117 academy trusts across the country paying a salary of more than £150,000 to ensure they are clear that pay must be justifiable and based on a transparent process. Following a series of correspondence and meetings with these trusts, so far 18 have confirmed they no longer pay a salary over £150,000, and many more have indicated they will work to revise high salaries and prevent unjustified salary inflation in the future. Education Secretary Damian Hinds will continue:
These announcements come as the NGA launches its campaign ‘Everyone on Board’ to increase the diversity on school boards, with a particular focus on younger and BAME governors who are currently under-represented. Emma Knights OBE, Chief Executive of the NGA said:
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