The traded School Governance Advisory Service provides professional governance expertise, quality support, guidance and development opportunities to:

• Assist headteachers and governors of schools in ensuring their governance arrangements are effective and compliant with statutory regulations
• Strengthen strategic leadership and management roles
• Support high quality clerking practices that will enable effective governance.

This is delivered through a service level agreement with one governing body and includes:

1. Termly support for the headteacher, chair and clerk to governors to include:

• Suggested draft agenda and supporting papers providing legal and procedural advice
• Clerk’s draft agenda minuting template
• Chair's and clerk's termly agenda briefing
• Clerk’s practical training session

2. School improvement governance: consultancy for the headteacher, chair and clerk to strengthen leadership and management roles to focus on developing and enabling the effectiveness of the governing body. This includes consideration of effective governance in practice and statutory requirements.

3. School improvement clerking: A one to one meeting with an experienced service clerk to governors, providing advice and support on developing practice and competencies, with email and phone line mentoring.

4. Telephone and email advice and support on a wide range of matters affecting school governance, to include legal and procedural matters and effective working practices.

5. Written advice, guidance and access to documents on the Shropshire Learning Gateway providing a range of information guidance.

6. Online training, information and development: online distance learning to help support and develop the work of your governing body, subscription via the National Governors Association.

7. Training and development: a diverse and relevant range of opportunities are available to help governors effectively fulfil their roles and responsibilities and engage in key areas of school improvement and strategic management, found and booked on the University Centre Shrewsbury’s CPD Portal. These include governor courses which can also be delivered in school, whole governing body school-based training and reviews of governance. 

8. Supporting your governance review: governors do not need to wait for an Ofsted inspection recommendation to seek a review of governance. Any school can arrange a review of governance at any time in order to improve the effectiveness of the work of the governing body.

For further enquiries about courses and training, please contact the University Centre Shrewsbury CPD via cpd@chester.ac.uk

9. Service level agreement: the annual service level agreement explained details.