Camden Learning held its fifth annual Governor conference last weekend with a thought-provoking keynote on pupil disadvantage from Marc Rowland and workshops on the themes of Governor diversity, headteacher well-being, the digital strategy, and attendance. Camden is blessed with governing boards made up of impressive expertise. However, the majority are non-educationalists, and it was interesting to hear their reflections on the importance of the use of plain English and avoidance of acronyms. There are so many in education that often we don’t even realise that we are using them.

As volunteers, Governors have a tricky job balancing strategic accountability with a degree of operational support. Alongside good relationships based on trust, the eight elements of effective governance set out by the NGA include being confident to have challenging conversations and committed to ask challenging questions. This is not something that everyone, particularly newer governors feel comfortable with, and it is another potential barrier to having greater diversity in membership. Often boards have one or two prominent voices, and creating opportunities for others to speak and share expertise is achieved through having considered agendas, active link Governor roles, clear reporting, alongside effective Chairing. This is where school leadership can make a real difference in how they report. Schools benefit enormously from an effective board with a truly democratic voice, but school Governors are only as good as the information they have at their disposal.

From September, alongside our existing Governor professional development programme, Camden Learning will also be running sessions for new and aspiring Chairs, and a young governors programme.  We hope that you can encourage your governors to attend our training, and our regular Governor forums. The better informed they are, the better they can support you.

The May half term has arrived, I hope that you have plans to rest and recuperate. As the end of the academic year approaches no doubt you have been reorganising and recruiting. Camden Learning also is undergoing. some changes. Andy George our Director of Learning is planning to return to headship at the end of the year, and our new Director of Finance and Operations will be starting in September. More news on this, and school leadership changes later in the term. In the meantime, enjoy the break!

Stephen Hall

Chief Executive Officer, Camden Learning