governor seminars

The Department of Education, with assistance from the Regional Training Unit, provided a series of Information Seminars for school governors in late January and early February 2012.

Their purpose was to provide an opportunity for Chairpersons of Boards of Governors to hear directly from senior officials in the Department about the importance attached to the role of school governor and to promoting strong and effective school governance.

Governors were briefed on the financial context within which the education service is now operating and the continuing priority attached to raising education standards and reducing educational underachievement.

There were three presentations at each seminar:

Budget presentation by John McGrath / Trevor Connolly budget_presentation.ppt 388 KB
Standards presentation by Katrina Godfrey / Chris Hughes putting_pupils_first_presentation.ppt 353 KB
Education and Training Inspectorate presentation by Noelle Buick / Paul McAlister / David Beck / Faustina Graham education_and_training_inspectorate.ppt 1025 KB

Main Issues/Questions Raised

Below is a summary of the main issues discussed during the question and answer sessions at the 10 governor seminars.

1. The economic situation presents major challenges for the education service.

The Department (DE) agrees that these are unprecedented times and a major challenge. The Assembly Executive has lost £4 billion to the National Exchequer. Reductions in our regional expenditure on education have been taken forward at a quicker speed in education than other public services. The Minister’s policy is to be open about the rationale for the DE Savings Delivery Plan and to be open to ideas for other possible actions.

Schools were notified in November 2011 of the additional £40 million to the Aggregated Schools Budget (ASB). However, the Minister recognised the continuing difficulties for schools in managing their budgets and met the First and deputy First Minister and the Minister of Finance in January about this. The outcome was another additional allocation of £120 million for education.

The DE letter of 16 January 2012 to schools sets out the revised budgetary position. This is probably as much as the political process can achieve given the reduction in the overall NI block grant. Schools should prepare their 3 year budget plans on the basis of this information. Regretfully we can’t give a guarantee that there will not be any significant reductions in the future

2. Is it true that only the £30million for 2012/13 is guaranteed out of the additional £120million for all of the next 3 financial years?

An additional £30 million has been allocated to the ASB in 2012/13 and it was also agreed that an additional £15 million and £75 million would be factored in to the education budget for the succeeding 2 years. Clearly the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP) will wish to review the position for the purpose of confirming the source of the savings to be found to meet the additional allocations to education.

3. Will schools with budget surpluses be protected under ESA?

Yes. The problem last year was that the Chancellor of the Exchequer did not make the surpluses available to us. This issue has been resolved but schools need to provide better information about the amounts that they need to draw down.

4. What are the implications for schools with budget deficits?

The rules on LMS apply; approximately 800 schools have surpluses and 400 have deficits. There will be a strong emphasis on deficit reductions. Where a deficit is more than 5% the school and the Funding Authority must agree a 3 year plan to pay it back. If you don’t have a deficit, don’t start to run one up now. There are hard times ahead.

5. Schools are not in a position to make significant savings given that 80% costs are staff related.

The Minister has allocated funding from within the existing education budget over the next 3 financial years (2012/13 – 2014/15) to provide a voluntary severance scheme. This cost will be off set by the long term savings achieved in staff reductions in the first few years. Like all parts of the public service, schools have to live within their budgets.

6. To what extent have the ELBs and DE made savings?

£30 million savings have been made by the education and library boards (ELBs) on administration costs in 2011/12. When the Education and Skills Authority (ESA) comes into being £45 million savings will have been achieved. By 2014/15 DE will have made savings of over £4m in staff costs on an opening budget of £32m. The Minister’s view on cost reductions is that the pain must be shared by all organisations.

7. Are there plans to reduce home to school transport costs?

The amount spent on home toschool transport has already been reduced following a series of efficiency measures introduced by education and library boards in this financial year2011/12. Additionalcost reductionswill be made in future years as Boards implement the school transportefficiency recommendations published recently in the Department of Finance and Personnel’s Performance and Efficiency Delivery Unit (PEDU) report on the home to school transport scheme (available on the DE website). The existing eligibility criteriafor school transport remain in force. However,at adebate in the NIAssemblyin October 2011, the Ministergave a commitment to undertakea review of school transportand, depending on the outcome of the public consultation on the review and the subsequent consideration by the Assembly,there may bechanges introduced in the future. No date has been set yet for the commencement of the transport review.

8. Is DE sure that it has struck the right balance in distributing funds?

This is an important issue. Almost 60% of the total education budget goes directly to schools. When we add on the funds that go indirectly to schools through the ELBs and other services, the figure increases to over 90%. The Minister is committed to ensuring that as much funding as possible is delegated directly to schools.

9. Is the Common Funding Formula (CFF) fair to all school sectors and schools serving disadvantaged communities?

The variations in the Age Weighted Pupil (AWP) unit between primary and post primary schools are due to factors such as premises; targeting social need; small school support; free school meals etc. which impact on schools in different ways. The Minister has commissioned a review of the CFF. The purpose is to establish if the formula adequately meets the varying needs and circumstances of schools especially those schools serving very socially disadvantaged communities. This review will not increase the size of the total funds available to schools but may change the amount of the funds allocated to individual schools. It is proposed to have any changes implemented for the start of the 2014/15 financial year. The method of funding special schools will also be considered in the context of this review.

10. What funds have been allocated to school maintenance for this financial year?

Maintenance is included in the £385 million allocated to ELBs in 2011/12. The latest ELB plans suggest approximately £10 million of this funding will be spent on maintenance. An additional £19.8 million of funding earmarked specifically for maintenance was allocated in year. £10 million of this was secured on foot of a bid submitted in the October monitoring round from DE to DFP and agreed by the Executive. In totality ELB plans suggest £29.8 million will be spent on school maintenance in the 2011/12 financial year.

11. How do the reductions in the education budget affect capital new build?

The capital budget is some £656 million less over the current budget period than expected. The Minister’s view is that we need to find lower cost solutions and to make better use of the existing school estate. However, we recognise the constraints on the capital build programme and the need for funds for new schools and extensions. The Minister for Finance has made a statement saying that both recurrent and capital expenditure is under review. There is a budget review process but it will be 6 to 9 months before we know the outcome.

12. Is a redundancy effective only where there is a reduction in staff?

Yes. Employing Authorities have to achieve and manage reductions in running costs and to sign off a cost assurance statement verifying a reduction in full time equivalent staff numbers. This is the main mechanism to enable the education service to live within its decreasing budget allocations for the incoming years. While the additional funding of £120 million made available to education has helped to alleviate the financial pressures, we remain in a very tight financial position.

13. Is it right that teachers are entitled to annual pay increments? We could be rewarding poor performance when we need to use resources wisely.

Yes. Teachers’ pay is aligned to the position in England and Wales and, whilst there is a 2 year pay freeze for cost of living increases, teachers are contractually entitled to incremental progression, subject to satisfactory performance. For school leaders this is at the discretion of the Board of Governors taking into account Departmental determinations and any guidance issued by the employing authority. The BoG, in consultation with the Principal, can consider the quality of teaching and agree actions to raise standards.

14. Is DE going to set up more effective measures to address ineffective teacher performance?

Yes. The Teachers’ Negotiating Committee established a Working Group to review the current procedures for dealing with unsatisfactory teaching. The Working Group is nearing completion of a Procedure for Supporting Effective Leadership in schools. Once the procedure for Principals is agreed the Working Group will develop similar robust procedures for vice-principals and classroom teachers.

15. Are there plans to train Principals in management skills?

Yes. This will be considered in the context of the duty on the new Education and Skills Authority (ESA) to provide professional inservice training.

16. Has DE considered the effect of losing staff on school performance?

Yes. A high percentage of costs are staff related and there are difficult issues to address. Some schools may not be able to balance their finances. In this event the Minister will look at changing the pattern of school provision.

17. How important is leadership in improving standards?

The Chief Inspector’s report shows that leadership needed to improve in a quarter of our schools. There is a wide variation in the quality of education provided by schools serving similar communities. It is the quality of the school leadership that makes the difference. Excellent teaching thrives best in a supportive environment, where there are high expectations for all pupils and strong community support.

18. Should time limits be set for improving school performance as in the case in business and industry?

A school with a less than satisfactory inspection report enters the Every School a Good School (ESaGS) Formal Intervention Programme (FIP). The FIP already contains time limits, and of the 33 schools to enter the FIP, 16 have been re-inspected, of which 12 have improved and exited the FIP.

19. Are schools serving disadvantaged communities given adequate support?

There are wide variations in the outcomes for pupils from similar types of schools serving communities with similar levels of disadvantage, so we also need to make sure the best use is being made of existing funding. More funding to address disadvantage can make a difference in a school with a high concentration of disadvantaged pupils, that is already well led and where the teaching is good, but it does not improve standards for a school not already succeeding in these ways.

20. The pupil teacher ratio plays an important role in achieving good results. If staff is cut, it will affect education standards.

Local and international evidence all indicates that, apart from the earliest years, there is little or no correlation between class size and pupil performance. It is the quality of teaching that determines the quality of the outcomes.

21. Where is there information about international pupil attainment levels?

There are the reports of the International OECD (PISA) study of the performance of 15 year old pupils in reading, maths and science. Northern Ireland’s overall scores in literacy and numeracy in these studies are average, and we have a long body of underachievement. While there is no significant performance difference between Northern Ireland and England or south of Ireland in literacy or numeracy, when examined in relation to the OECD averages, England performs at the OECD average for both literacy and numeracy while the south of Ireland performs at the OECD average for literacy but below the OECD average for numeracy.

22. How do we assess and improve our own school performance?

Look carefully at the annual DE circular on school performance which is marked ‘Governor awareness essential’. It will help you to categorise the performance of your school in comparison with others. The school’s ICT co-ordinator should be able to provide associated information from the C2k (Schools Information Management System – SIMS system. The Principal can provide advice regarding raising standards. There is clear evidence that most teachers are motivated to improve their effectiveness when they are asked about their support needs and that support is provided. If you find that your school is below average or even in the bottom quartile e.g. in relation to GCSE results, it does not necessarily mean that your school is underperforming, but we would urge you to find out more, discuss the issue with your principal, and consider the diversity of the information available to you.

23. Governors have no inspection role in a school and do not have the professional skills to make decisions on school performance.

The BoG is not required to undertake a school inspection type role but should ensure that the Principal provides reports on school performance and supports her or his assessments with written evidence. There is a variety of skills on the BoG and there is a lot of information available in schools on performance. The Chair and the Principal should have an informed discussion about how best to initiate actions to improve school performance using the governor skills available and drawing on the professional expertise of the teaching staff.

24. What are the criteria and time frame for closing unsustainable schools?

The Sustainable Schools policy document sets out the criteria. Stage one is the viability audits commissioned from the ELBs and the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS). The audits have assessed the quality of education, the sustainable enrolment pattern and the level of financial stress (ie 5%, 25%, 50% deficit position) associated with each school and this information will assist better strategic planning of education provision on an area basis. This exercise was not for the purpose of identifying a list of school closures. Where a school is identified as not reaching an acceptable level in terms of education quality, enrolment and financial viability, it is the responsibility of the school managing authorities to take appropriate action to protect the educational well being of the pupils enrolled. The outcomes may be different for each school depending on their circumstances. Any changes to the education provision will continue to be determined through the publication of a Development Proposal.

25. Is this fair to small rural schools where standards and pupil behaviour are far above those of urban schools.

Small rural schools may have these advantages but some struggle to meet the broader education needs of their pupils. The Sustainable Schools Policy recognises the rural nature of Northern Ireland and the criteria take account of that. We have too many small schools, not all of which are in rural areas. The transition to a network of viable and sustainable schools delivering high quality education will be a managed process which will re-shape, where necessary, the provision in an area. This does not mean the wholesale closure of small schools.

26. Is there a recommended enrolment number for post primary and primary schools?

The Sustainable School Policy recommends a minimum enrolment number for primary schools (105 pupils in rural areas and 140 pupils in urban areas) and 500 pupils in years 8-12 and 100 for sixth form for post-primary schools. These are minimum and not optimum numbers and some schools will have to grow to be able to deliver cost effective high quality education provision - especially at sixth form level.

27. I have a problem with the Inspectorate. As a governor, I have had to rebuild teachers’ confidence after the inspection experience.

The school inspectors have all been inspected themselves and understand your concerns. We try to make the inspection processes stress free through the pre inspection meeting, the provision of advice, the opportunities to raise questions and the oral feedback. However, we are interested in hearing from you about what more we can do to reduce anxiety or stress.

28. When and how does the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) intervene to address poor performance in schools?

The ETI inspects about 10% of schools each year and is targeting schools that are more likely to have unsatisfactory performance. Every school has a District Inspector (DI) who is the reporting inspector for the school during an inspection. The DI visits all the schools in their geographical area every year and knows which ones are at risk of under performing.

29. How do we call in ETI support?

Write to the ETI to ask for the teachers’ work in a school to be inspected, tell the teachers and provide evidence of the support arranged for the teachers.

30. Does the ETI have a timescale for the review of the procedures relating to the inspection of governance?

The ETI has already initiated work on the review of the inspection process and is involving its lay assessors in its proposals before piloting the revised process in selected schools in the third term of the current school year.

31. If you value governors, why is it that some schools have been left without their full quota of governors?

DE governor appointments to voluntary grammar schools and grant maintained integrated schools are made by the Minister and are classified as public appointments. The appointments process has now been agreed with the Commissioner for Public Appointments and the Minister. The Minister has to have an element of choice and has to take account of the need to widen the pool of applicants to be representative of the general population. We have recently received additional applications through a re-advertising campaign and the process for making appointments is advancing.

When the ESA is established, it will assume responsibility for these appointments and the process will be slightly different.

32. Governors have been very well supported by the ELBs. There is more expected of us now. How will Governors be supported under ESA?

We accept that the role of governors will be more difficult than it has been in the past.

Training and development is important in that it can help governors develop the skills required to manage the business of a school and make it more effective in terms of the quality of education that is provided for its pupils. DE will liaise with ESA with the aim of developing improved training programmes for Chairs and governors, within the resources available for education.

It is anticipated that a wider variety of learning approaches will be used with an emphasis on the practical application of the knowledge and skills required to be an effective governor. We acknowledge that it is sometimes difficult for governors to take time off to attend training courses. In order to make training modules more flexible and accessible, it is hoped that on-line training packages will be made available in the not too distant future.

The Department will hold further information seminars to provide an opportunity for Chairs of Boards of Governors to hear directly from the Department about the importance we attach to your role as a school governor and to promoting strong and effective school governance.