Is governance in decline ?

Is the writing on the wall ? A local governor support group has recently reported very low attendance at meetings and conferences. Is this something that is happening across the country ? Can the blame be laid on the academisation program ? Being a governor of an LA maintained school that joined a trust a year ago to become a LGB we find the CEO 'interfering' quite heavily in the way the school is run that becomes a fait complet for the head. Policies are slowly being MAT standardised and staff told to observe WAGOLLS in other academies.
So far there is no need for concern because staff morale seems high and the pupils are performing well but governance is certainly being marginalised.

 

I have experience of working in a school which changed from an LA primary to a MAT. When it was an LA school, the governors seemed to have a lot of clout over all sorts of issues. As soon as the school became a MAT, it was the directors of the MAT that decided everything and they managed the headteachers quite tightly.

I think I even read somewhere that MATs do not even need to have a board of governors at school level.

 

Correct

 

The whole point of a MAT is standardisation acrss schools ( the idea being that is to acheive high and consistent standards). There should still be a trust governing body which acts for all the schools but its size is limited and members controlled. It is up to the community to scutinise appointments and exercise their right to freedom of information requests regarding procurement . Companies House website can be very illuminating on the connections between private companies and the trust and governros of a MAT e.g Perry Schools under Liam Nolan .

 

Bad things happen when good people stand by and do nothing. Please dont stand by, I understand the all academies have policy but if there is no one to act as a foil to say hey this might not work here but what about then the system fails, the kids suffer. Governors i believe are essential to the process they know the individual school well, if people let this happen and dont say what is occuring then education will suffer. Your doing a good job but dont let them marginalise you.