Start of the Summer Term
and Feedback from the Conference
Dear Colleagues/Governors,Start of the Summer Term
Welcome back to the Summer Term: SATS and elections, what more could we ask for? Maybe a resolution to the National (Fairer) Funding Formula would be welcome, and school funding in general, but i’m afraid that must wait until after the General Election now.
Firstly, a big thank you to all of you who made the Stockport Governor Conference the best ever. Over 140 of you converged on Marple and the feedback, which you can see on our website (-click here-) was overwhelmingly positive. One area that we can improve is to improve the description of the workshop contents, so that is already on the list for next year.
As usual, the support of the LA was vital to the success of the conference and the presentations are all now on GovernorHub.
As referred to above, the results of the second stage of the consultation on the NFF have now been delayed until after the election. Regardless of this, all schools are facing challenging times financially and making better use of the available money we have is going to be a key theme for some time. As well as the support from the LA, there is a lot of information out there. The DfE have produced resource packs and NGA have recently announced training workshops. As we revealed at the Conference, we have been working on putting together a workshop on Financial Efficiency and we are now pleased to announce that it will take place at Priestnall School on Wednesday July 5th. It will run in conjunction with the GOVAS AGM, which will be as brief as ever, and is provisionally scheduled for 6-9pm. We were keen to have the workshop led by a practitioner skilled in presenting, so we have been working with the National Association of School Business Managers and one of their trainers, Dawn Boyes, who is a School Business Manager, will be delivering the workshop.
We will inform you as soon as this event is open for registration, but please make a note in your diaries.
Enjoy the term!
Stu Foster
Chair, GOVAS
Become a GOVAS Management Committee Member - we are a happy and contented bunch, but we could do with a few more friends. We meet three, or four, times a year, usually at the Town Hall. Our main visible event is the conference, but we also meet with council officers once a term and represent governors on a number of committees and we are looking to establish workshops/seminars to complement the LA training programme. To join the management committee, you do not need to have been a governor for over ten years, have a beard, or wear sandals. You do not need to be a Chair of governors, or even aspire to be. We just want governors who are prepared to give up a bit more of their time; to provide a fresh outlook; and to be able to speak up for governors within and outside of Stockport. Please contact us through admin@govas.org.uk
