Support and training for governors

The Governor Support and Development Service in the Children and Young People's Services Directorate at Shirehall provides training, advice, information and resources in a number of ways, including:

• day-time telephone contact
• training courses - follow the link on this page to view the courses on offer
• regular termly meetings with chairs of governors and the Shropshire School Governors' Council (SSGC) link governors
• newsletters.

Many local companies encourage employees to become governors and allow time off with pay, although this is not a legal requirement. In any event, school governors are covered by the provisions of the Employee Protection Act which grants employees reasonable unpaid time off for public duties.

The Local Authority places great emphasis on the importance of governor training and with this in mind the Governor Support and Development Service facilitates training and development opportunities for all governors and encourages governing bodies to participate in learning activities. A full year's programme of courses is always on offer to help governors plan their participation in advance. Some of the courses have been offered to governors for many years and some are new. These respond to national and local initiatives, some examples are:

• the role of the link governor for gifted and talented pupils
• emotional health and well-being: the responsibility of the governing body for the conduct of the school and promoting pupils' well-being and community cohesion.

Training is offered in three models:

Central Programme - participation in any of the county-wide courses featured in the brochure.

Whole School Governing Body - this can be delivered at school to address the school's priorities, as well as help governors' to respond to national and local initiatives or government requirements.

Clustering - participation in school based training on a specific topic and clustering with schools in certain areas.

In addition the Diocese of Shrewsbury Education Service (Catholic) Schools, the Lichfield Diocese and the Hereford Diocesan Board of Education invite headteachers and governors to relevant courses. The Local Authority/Shropshire School Governor consultation and briefing meetings which are held termly provide a discussion forum on matters of mutual interest to both governors and the council.

Good governing bodies don't just happen! The identification and coordination of learning and development priorities for governors is important. For this reason each governing body is encouraged to appoint one of its members as a coordinator for governor training. A useful booklet outlining the role will be found on this page shortly. To help the coordinator keep a record of the training received by each governor, the Governor Support and Development Service has devised a form which can be accessed by selecting the attachment on this page.

Although governors have important responsibilities, they carry them as part of a team, not as individuals. Advice is always available. So if you would like to join the over 2,300 governors in Shropshire Council maintained schools and help shape the education of children, please get involved.

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