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A cure for the summertime blues
Big PicnicGovernors, eh? One minute we're painted as little more than well-meaning dolers out of sherry and cake at the school fête. The next we're dangerous subversives, bent on re-enacting the siege...
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The Vision Thing
Before I say anything else I should congratulate students on their exam results and thank staff for all the hard work they put in during the course of the previous academic year. Welcome to new...
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Education for life
Right then, devoted readers. You no doubt will have spent so long poring over our shiny brand new Statement of Vision and Values that every last syllable has been indelibly printed the bits of your...
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Blog Exclusive: The Parent Governor Interview
We currently have two Parent Governor vacancies on the Board of Governors. In this interview I chat to current Parent Governor Joanne Russell about the challenges and rewards of governance. GD: Hi...
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Governance is a 'thinking not doing role': discuss
School governance is a strategic rather than operational task. Governors don't run the school. They tell the school where to run and make sure it’s on track to get there. To help safeguard the...
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Governor Visit Days
Last Wednesday governors conducted their first Visit Day of the academic year. Each governor is allocated a 'link' either to a subject or department of the school. Governors appreciated having an...
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Fire and Skill
What was I saying now? Got distracted for a minute. More like three months to be exact [since the last post]. But a lack of activity on the blog front doesn't mean stuff hasn't been happening in...
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The end of the beginning
"Good things come to those who wait", my mum used to tell me. I was never quite convinced by that particular piece of maternal wisdom. Like "cleanliness is next to godliness", it didn't seem always to...
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Jenny Clements (1940-2015) - A Tribute
We were very sad to hear of the death of Jenny Clements last Friday. She was a great servant to the Matravers Board of Governors. She was Vice Chair of the Board and Chair of our Every Child Matters...
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Parent Power (Home-School Agreement consultation)
At Matravers we believe that it is our role to educate children with their parents rather than for their parents. Our Home-School Agreement (HSA) acknowledges the importance of parent power in...
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Open Evening
Last Thursday was our Open Evening. The event was designed to showcase the school to parents and their children. Especially children who are considering continuing their educational journey at...
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Building Better Boards: An Opportunity for Education
Published by Wild SearchThis report seeks to assess the state of school governance today and makes proposals that are intended to enable governors to respond to the challenges presented by a rapidly...
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Governing Matters: Fire and Skill
An article on Matravers governance featured in the National Governors' Association'sGoverning Matters magazine, January/February 2016. In it I explained how our school went from ‘requires improvement’...
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A new vision for Matravers School
At a recent meeting of the full governing board we adopted a new Vision Statement that sets out our highly aspirational vision for the school. You will notice that student outcomes in terms of...
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Governance: A Guide for the Perplexed
Anyone interested in becoming a governor at Matravers will be issued a copy of our Guide to the Perplexed, which serves as a introduction to the work of the Board of Governors. Perplexed about the role...
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Improving School Governance by Nigel Gann
Improving School Governance: How better governors make better schools,by Nigel Gann, Routledge, 2016 second edition, 249pp. The recently published white Ppaper, Educational Excellence Everywhere landed...
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The Chair's Handbook NGA Guide
The Chair's Handbook: A guide for chairs of school governing boards,Gillian Allcroft & Emma Knighs, National Governors' Association, 5th Edition, 2016, 72ppI didn't especially want to be Chair...
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Governor Situations Vacant
Governors. What are they for, exactly?For starters, we set the vision of the school. A vision may be defined as 'a clear mental picture of what could be, fired by the conviction that it should be.'...
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Effective School Governance by Mark A'Bear
Directory of Social Change, 2016, 174pp Very few people know exactly what they are letting themselves in for when they join a school governing board. I certainly didn't. Whatever your preconceptions...
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Governor Visit Day: Term 4
It was a case of 'back to school' for the governors last Tuesday for one of our twice-yearly Visit Days. While we access a wealth of data and information about the school in our governor meetings,...
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"For things to remain the same, everything must change"
I was interested to see an article in a recent edition of the White Horse News on the discovery of the grave of John Matravers. When he died in 1753, Matravers left £1000 in his will to set up an...
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Governor response to Ofsted Part I: On data
We were judged Requires Improvement by Ofsted. I was a member of the group of governors that met with the Lead Inspector. It was a fair cop. We were an RI school and couldn’t quibble with the...
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Governor response to Ofsted Part II: On governance
I did not expect to have to write a public response to Ofsted following their visit in October 2018. We had no reason for serious disagreement with the outcome of previous inspections. Including when...
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Matravers School - Governor Vacancy
"The Governing Body presented as active, sophisticated and engaged. Its grasp of statutory activities was very good, and it was evident that there was expertise and commitment. There was both...
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Leaving the Chair
On the side of the road that wends its way from Westbury to West Lavington stands an old milestone in the village of Edington. Blink and you'll miss it. The black words on the white metal plate read,...
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