297: How to recruit school governors and trustees with National Governance Association
New research from the National Governance Association has found that vacancies for school governors and trustees are at their highest since 2016. 67 per cent of governing boards reported at least one vacancy and of these, 38 per cent reported two or more vacancies. The results are part of the NGA’s 2022 annual governance survey which also found that, post pandemic, 63 per cent of respondents reported issues with recruitment compared to 55 per cent in 2019.
Governing boards are responsible for the strategic direction of a school or trust and their decisions impact hundreds, if not thousands of pupils. With the typical board consisting of nine or ten governors or trustees, the high vacancy rate means some boards may struggle to drive improvement and provide sufficient scrutiny and financial oversight.
Overall, the NGA estimates there are currently more than 20,000 vacancies.
The research also found that the number of governors and trustees under 40 was just 6 per cent – the lowest on record since 2015. Half of governors and trustees are over 60 years (51 per cent) but just 1 per cent were under 30. Schools and trusts benefit hugely from the experience of older governors and trustees, but without younger volunteers also joining boards, they are missing the input of those who have recently experienced school.
Anju Dhir, who became a school governor in her mid-thirties, believes governors need to be more visible to young people: “There are more governors 80 years and over than under 30. The issue is that young people simply don’t know what we do – or that we even exist. This is a huge waste of human capital, for both schools and our young people. Becoming a governor is an incredible way to develop your career and can start from as young as 18 – how many young people normally get to join the board? For governing boards having someone who has recently experienced our education system is invaluable. Governing has helped me to develop in my career, as well as being a satisfying way to give back to my local community.”
To help with governor and trustee recruitment the NGA has launched a new film demystifying governance and encouraging people to find out more about how they can help the schools in their community. It’s part of the NGA’s Visible Governance initiative to make governance more visible in society.
Emma Knights, CEO of the National Governance Association said: “School and trust governance needs to be recognised and celebrated for its positive role in ensuring pupils and staff can flourish. Huge thanks are owed to all those committed volunteers carrying out this role with such care and reflection without a song and a dance. These findings make for sobering reading: schools need more good people and we need to get the message out far and wide to engage the thousands we need to fill governance roles. This is why we have launched a new film today explaining what school governors and trustees do and their role in helping our schools to succeed.”
Website
https://www.nga.org.uk/News/Campaigns/Role-of-governors-and-trustees.aspx
Social Media Information
@NGAmedia
#VisibleGovernance
https://www.linkedin.com/company/national-governance-association/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anju-dhir
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The National Association for Primary Education speaks for young children and all who live and work with them. Get a FREE e-copy of their professional journal at nape.org.uk/journal
296: Custom Learning Solutions with Julia Phelan
Julia is the co-founder of To Eleven. She has a Ph.D in Education from UCLA and spent much of her career as a research and learning scientist at UCLA as well as consulting and advising for school districts, philanthropic organizations, academic publishing, ed tech, corporate training, and government agencies.
Julia co-founded To Eleven to utilize knowledge of how learning works to shape the design and development of meaningful and engaging learning experiences for learners of all ages.
‘We are a learning science company bringing over 35 years of extensive experience in education, including curriculum design, courseware development, large-scale research and evaluation projects, assessment writing and validation, research design and consulting. We have produced educational products for myriad types of learners and contexts, including K-16, vocational and technical education, corporate training and talent development.’
Website
Social Media Information
www.linkedin.com/in/juliacphelan/
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The National Association for Primary Education speaks for young children and all who live and work with them. Get a FREE e-copy of their professional journal at nape.org.uk/journal
295: Texthelp with Joni Degner
Founded in 1996, the Texthelp Group is a global technology company helping people all over the world to understand and to be understood. It has led the way in creating innovative technology for the education and workplace sectors for the last three decades.
Texthelp believes in a world where difference, disability or language are no longer barriers. It is focused on helping all people learn, understand, and communicate through the use of digital education and accessibility tools.
With over 50 million users worldwide, the Texthelp suite of products includes Read&Write, Equatio®, WriQ®, OrbitNote®, ReachDeck® and FluencyTutor® which work alongside existing platforms such as Microsoft Office and G-suite, enabling them to be integrated quickly into any classroom or workplace with ease.
In 2021, Texthelp acquired the Lingit Group, Wizkids and Don Johnston Inc. By combining capabilities and knowledge across the group, Texthelp can now provide a whole suite of literacy and numeracy support to a greater number of end-users across more geographies.
Website
Social Media Information
twitter.com/texthelp
Resources Mentioned
#UDLCHAT
www.novakeducation.com/udl-now
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The National Association for Primary Education speaks for young children and all who live and work with them. Get a FREE e-copy of their professional journal at nape.org.uk/journal
294: Technology that supports autism and IDD care delivery at home, school, and work with CentralReach
CentralReach – Our mission is to provide the leading software and services platform to help children and adults diagnosed with autism and related IDDs – and those who serve them – unlock potential, achieve better outcomes, and live more independent lives.
Chris Sullens is the Chief Executive Officer of CentralReach and is leading the company in its mission to provide an end-to-end platform of software and services that enable Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) clinicians and educators to produce superior client outcomes for people with autism and related disorders. Chris Sullens brings decades of experience to the company and has a proven track record of building strong company cultures and taking customer-centric technology companies, like CentralReach, to the next level. Since he joined, CentralReach has won 20+ awards including Deloitte Technology Fast 500, NJBIZ Fast 50, Silver Stevie for Most Innovative Company of the Year, NJBIZ Best Places to Work, and Best in Biz Company of the Year – demonstrating the positive effects of the investments the company is making in its people, process, systems and client satisfaction initiatives.
Joanne Hill Powell,Ph.D., BCBA-D – LiftEd by CentralReach, Director of Special Education Strategy & Business Development
LiftEd equips classroom educators, school-based clinicians, administrators and parents with evidence-based data collection, instructional planning, progress reporting, and family engagement cloud software tools that help students with learning disabilities achieve success in the classroom, and in life.
Website
Social Media Information
www.linkedin.com/company/centralreach/
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The National Association for Primary Education speaks for young children and all who live and work with them. Get a FREE e-copy of their professional journal at nape.org.uk/journal
293: How to utilise your alumni with Future First
Future First are the UK education charity helping young people in state schools and colleges broaden their horizons by connecting them with former pupils. Their mission is to see every state school and college supported by a thriving and engaged alumni community, which improves students’ motivation, confidence and life chances.
Future First provides schools and colleges with the technology, tools and support needed to mobilise their past pupil networks. Alumni can support the whole school community and delivery of school improvement plans, including meeting Gatsby Benchmarks, Baker Clause and PHSE goals.
For too many young people, their start in life is limiting their future. They do not have access to relatable role models to help them understand what they can achieve, nor the networks, knowledge and tools to help them to get there.
Alumni can act as relatable role models, showing students a world beyond their current experience and expectations: a future that could be theirs.
Hear more from Programme Innovations Director – Leon Ward
Website
Social Media Information
@futurefirstorg
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The National Association for Primary Education speaks for young children and all who live and work with them. Get a FREE e-copy of their professional journal at nape.org.uk/journal