What’s on the Agenda?
Sample Governing Body Agenda
Items for discussion at Governing Body meetings
The following items should appear as agenda items in the meetings of your Governing Body. There is a statutory responsibility to include items that are underlined, while the remaining items are included as suggested agenda items. Inclusion of these items will help to ensure that your Governing Body is operating effectively and within the prescribed statutory framework.
The bullet points are suggested actions for the governing body to consider.
IMPORTANT: The prevailing local authority, local Safeguarding Board, and current national policies should inform the consideration of these suggested items. This information is correct at a single point in time and further advice and support may be needed to ensure that these continue to be relevant.
Sample Agendas:
- Autumn Term
- Spring Term
- Summer Term
SAMPLE GOVERNING BODY AGENDA – AUTUMN TERM
Day to day procedures
1. Apologies
- Record apologies for absence, as well as any absences where apologies have not been submitted or are not accepted.
2. Declaration of interest
- Declaration of interests should be included as a standing item on the Governing Body (and any committee) agenda.
- Register of pecuniary interests to be reviewed annually and kept on record.
3. Election of Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson
- To elect a Chair and Vice-Chair of the Governing Body for (if that term of office has ended)
- To inform Governor Support of the election results along with the full membership of the Governing Body.
4. Appointment of a Governing Body Clerk
- To appoint, or reaffirm the appointment of, a clerk to the Governing Body.
5. Minutes of the last meeting and matters arising
- Governors should receive the minutes of the previous meeting seven days before the date of the upcoming meeting.
- When the minutes have been agreed as an accurate record of the meeting, they should be signed by the Chair.
- Chair should give governors the chance to raise any issues or ask any questions relating to the minutes of the previous meeting.
Governing Body Review
6. Membership of Governing Body
- Clerk to Governing Body should inform the Chair of any vacancies or upcoming term of office end dates.
- Agree the membership of the governing body and each of its committees
- Review and agree the terms of reference for the governing body and each committee
- Appoint any associate members to its committees and decide if associate members will have voting rights
- Ensure that all relevant decisions are recorded in the minutes
- Governing bodies are requested to consider allocating specific responsibilities to individual governors.
- Clerk to inform Governor Support Service of any changes to Governing Body membership, or any LA governor vacancies
7. Review and re-adoption of a ‘code of conduct’ for the Governing Body
- To either review and reaffirm their existing code of conduct
- Or to adopt a model code of conduct
8. Agree the dates for full Governing Body and Committee meetings for the current academic year
9. Governor training
- It is important that your Governing Body regularly evaluates its strengths and identifies areas for development. Training can then be booked to ensure that your Governing Body continues to provide effective support, challenge and strategic direction to the school
School Improvement – Monitoring and Reporting
10. Head teacher’s report
- Head teacher to provide governors with accurate and timely information enabling them to make informed decisions about the strategic direction of the school.
11. Committee reports
- Committees must report on their work to the full Governing Body.
12. SIP report: Standards monitoring and school improvement planning
- Governors should review the last SIP report and should consider how the school is using its resources to meet the agreed targets.
- Ensure that the Governing Body is clear about the focus of each visit and the reports that will follow.
- Ensure that all governors understand the targets and how they are set.
- To establish a volunteer from the Governing Body to attend the autumn term SIP visit.
13. Analyse performance of previous year (SATS, national tests, pupil tracked data and school self evaluation)
- Full Governing Body or committee to analyse school performance of previous year and identify areas of learning where increased support is needed.
- Headteacher to lead this exercise as a formal session.
14. Analyse attendance data for 2008-09, including whole-school attendance data and DCSF data on persistent absence.
- Full Governing Body or committee to analyse last year’s attendance data and persistent absence data.
15. Safeguarding and Single Central Record
Financial Management
16. Completion of Register of Pecuniary/Business Interests
- Governors to complete a declaration of pecuniary interests
- Governing Body to maintain an up to date register of interests that is available for inspection
17. Receive Period 6 Quarterly Monitoring Report on income and expenditure (available in October)
- Chair to receive and sign Period 6 Quarterly Monitoring Report (and Period 3, if not already done).
- Report to be shared with the whole Governing Body
Personnel
18. Review headteacher performance
- A panel of two or three governors must meet with the School Improvement Partner to set performance targets for the head. This must be completed before the end of December. The panel must inform the full Governing Body that this has been done but the agreed targets are not shared with them.
19. Ensure that teacher performance at the school is managed and reviewed.
- Ensure performance management and professional development for teachers in your school has been reviewed, usually by the head teacher and the leadership team. This must be done by the end of October.
SAMPLE GOVERNING BODY AGENDA SPRING TERM
Day to day procedures
1. Apologies
- Record apologies for absence, as well as any absences where apologies have not been submitted or are not accepted.
2. Declaration of interest
- Declaration of interests should be included as a standing item on the Governing Body (and any committee) agenda.
- Register of pecuniary interests to be reviewed annually and kept on record.
3. Minutes of the last meeting and matters arising
- Governors should receive the minutes of the previous meeting seven days before the date of the upcoming meeting.
- Ask the GB for agreement regarding “accuracy” on each page.
- When the minutes have been agreed as an accurate record of the meeting, they should be signed by the Chair.
- Having gone through the minues for accuracy, the Chair can then simply ask if there are any issues or questions relating to the minutes of the previous meeting.
Governing Body Review
4. Membership of Governing Body
- Clerk to Governing Body should inform the Chair of any vacancies or upcoming Term of Office end dates.
- Clerk to inform Governor Support Service of any changes to Governing Body membership, or any LA governor vacancies.
- Any changes to committee membership should be agreed and recorded.
5. Governor training
- It is important that your Governing Body regularly evaluates its strengths and identifies areas for development. Training can then be booked to ensure that your Governing Body continues to provide effective support, challenge and strategic direction to the school School Improvement – Monitoring and Reporting
7. Head teacher’s report
- Head teacher to provide governors with accurate and timely information enabling them to make informed decisions about the strategic direction of the school.
8. Committee reports
- Committees must report on their work to the full Governing Body.
- However, this can be done by simply circulating in advance a brief summative report and asking for questions
- Alternatively, a representative of the Committee can be asked to summarise, or ‘lead’ on their particular activity area
9. Policy Review
- Governing body to undertake a planned, rolling programme of policy reviews.
10. School Improvement Partner report
- Governors should review the last SIP report and should consider how the school is using its resources to meet the agreed targets.
11. Attendance
- The Governing Body should consider having a named governor with special responsibility for attendance. (S)he can then report any issues for discussion regarding attendance levels, overall absence rates and the level of persistent absence in school.
- Similarly, (s)he can monitor the progress the school is making towards the agreed attendance target.
12. Safeguarding
- The Governing Body should ensure that the Headteacher and at least one governor has completed Safer Recruitment Training.
- The Governing Body should appoint a named governor with special responsibility for safeguarding. Governors are encouraged to attend safeguarding training.
- The Governing Body should be aware of the designated staff member for safeguarding/child protection, and should ensure that they and other school staff have attended relevant training, updated when necessary.
- The Governing Body should review and ratify the school’s safeguarding policy on an annual basis (or more regularly in the case of any changes). Chairs will be alerted if a new version of the model policy is produced by the Local Authority.
- The Governing Body should consider appointing a named governor for Health and Safety, if it does not already have one. This can be integrated into the same role as named governor for safeguarding, and part of this role is to check for any risks or potential risks relating to the school site.
- The Governing Body should be familiar with the new Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) and how it affects recruitment in school the School Business Manager or Clerk to the Governors should be delegated to inform the GB of developments in the field.
13. Looked After Children (LAC)
- The Governing Body should consider having a named governor with special responsibility for children in care.
- Governors should appoint a designated teacher, adhering to relevant Regulations, and monitor the work of this person appropriately.
- The Governing Body should be aware of the number of children in care enrolled at school.
Financial Management
14. Finance:
- Approve Period 9 report on income and expenditure
- Approve Period 12 report on income and expenditure (if available in time for the spring term meeting)
- 2010/11 Budget Planning
- Period 9 and 12 (Year End) income and expenditure reports should be approved by the Governing Body and signed by the Chair (if Period 12 report is available in time for the spring term meeting). When considering these, governors should receive a cost centre summary, cash flow statement and income/expenditure report.
- Governors should have an opportunity to ask questions about all financial reports.
- Governors should consider whether there is a projected surplus or deficit in the budget, and what action, if any, should be taken to adjust this.
- The linking of ‘Value for Money’ (VfM) to an Inspection Grade is a new development which may limit category attainment. The School Business Manager/Financial Manager should report to the Board regarding this activity.
SAMPLE GOVERNING BODY AGENDA – SUMMER TERM
Day to day procedures
1. Apologies
- Record apologies for absence, as well as any absences where apologies have not been submitted or are not accepted.
2. Declaration of interest
- Declaration of interests should be included as a standing item on the Governing Body (and any committee) agenda.
- Register of pecuniary interests to be reviewed annually and kept on record.
3. Minutes of the last meeting and matters arising
- Governors should receive the minutes of the previous meeting seven days before the date of the upcoming meeting.
- When the minutes have been agreed as an accurate record of the meeting, they should be signed by the Chair.
- Chair should give governors the chance to raise any issues or ask any questions relating to the minutes of the previous meeting.
Governing Body Review
4. Membership of Governing Body
- Clerk to Governing Body should inform the Chair of any vacancies or upcoming Term of Office end dates.
- Clerk to inform Governor Support Service of any changes to Governing Body membership, or any LA governor vacancies.
- Any changes to committee membership should be agreed and recorded.
5. Governor training
- It is important that your Governing Body regularly evaluates its strengths and identifies areas for development. Training can then be booked to ensure that your Governing Body continues to provide effective support, challenge and strategic direction to the school
School Improvement – Monitoring and Reporting
7. Head teacher’s report
- Head teacher to provide governors with accurate and timely information enabling them to make informed decisions about the strategic direction of the school.
8. Committee reports
- Committees must report on their work to the full Governing Body.
9. School Improvement Partner report
- Governors should review the last SIP report and should consider how the school is using its resources to meet the agreed targets.
10. Safeguarding and the Single Central Record
- · The governing body should ensure that the school has a regularly maintained Single Central Record.
- · The full governing, or a committee, should monitor attendance and persistent absence levels on a half termly basis.
11. SEN report – review the effectiveness of the SEN provision in this school
- Governors should regularly be updated on the school’s provision for pupils with SEN and the effectiveness of this provision in raising standards among SEN pupils.
- The SENCO could be invited to present an annual report to the governing body.
- The governing body should consider having a named governor with special responsibility for SEN and should consider attending SEN training for governors (see item 5: Governor Training).
12. Exclusions – review the number of exclusions over the year.
- Governors are asked to monitor the overall number of exclusions, both fixed term and permanent, and, crucially, what measures the school is taking to reduce these numbers.
- A panel of governors should have been identified to hear any appeals against exclusions decisions. Members of an appeals panel should make every effort to attend an exclusions training session.
13. Approve School Profile
- The governing body should have the opportunity to be involved in the development of the School Profile and must approve the final version before it is made available to parents.
Personnel
14. Review head teacher performance
- Head teacher performance management panel to meet with head teacher to review progress against performance objectives.
- Representative of panel of governors will verbally inform the governing body that the review has taken place, but will not share the targets.
15. Approve school staffing structure and review staff attendance
- Governors should review and approve the staffing structure.
- Governors should review staff attendance.
Finance
16. Approve budget spending plan by 31st May (if not already agreed) and continue monitoring of this year’s spend.
- The governing body must approve the budget spending plan for 2009-10 by 31st May (if not already agreed).
- An end of year Cost Centre Summary should be provided for governors.
- Governors should have an opportunity to ask questions about all financial reports.
