Committee report calls for better training and communication in bid to drive up standards for school governors

A report carried out by a cross-party group of AMs into the role of governors in Welsh schools has identified a range of concerns and offered a number of recommendations to the Welsh government.

Better training and communication were among the recommendations of the Enterprise and Learning Committee, which carried out the report.

The committee agreed that an effective governing body can shape the direction of a school and that, in the vast majority of cases in Wales, school governors are effective and efficient.  

However, they were concerned that communication with governors needs to be improved to ensure that all 23,000 of them are fully aware of their roles and responsibilities.

“This report identifies that in the vast majority of cases, school governors are fulfilling their duties effectively. The challenge now is to address the minority of schools that aren’t,” said Chair of the Enterprise and Learning Committee, Gareth Jones AM.

“The real test of the effectiveness of school governors will be a nation-wide and long-term improvement in the performance of pupils, and we recommend that the Welsh government should scrutinise that relationship to ensure a strong correlation between good governance and educational attainment.”

The committee suggested that the Welsh government should consider options with potential partners for delivering a governor training programme.

They also suggested that the Welsh government proceed with piloting a ‘quality mark’ system; enabling governors to look at their strengths and weaknesses and identify areas for improvement.  

The importance of training head teachers on working with governors was also highlighted and the committee proposed that training for head teachers should be considered within the National Professional Headship Qualification (NPHQ).

Other recommendations in the report were:

• The varying levels of support available for governors across Wales.

• Current vacancy levels and the reasons for this.  

The Role of School Governors Report