Hello and welcome to the Spring 2021 issue of GoverNews. Happy New Year.
I am sure, like the rest of the team, you are saddened that we are still going through this very difficult time. After the most recent lockdown was announced on Monday 4th January, it was clear that our meetings must and will stay in a virtual format for a while longer. The NGA’s position is that governing boards should continue to meet and govern remotely in order to support the considerable efforts that schools are making to maintain effective control measures and remain open amid the rise in daily cases and confirmed local outbreaks and we agree with this wholeheartedly.
Meetings
Over the Christmas break, the Governor Support Team, like many other NCC employees, moved from Google back to Microsoft and therefore our meetings will now be held in Microsoft Teams. I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the Team to thank you all for trying so hard to get to grips with Google Meet very quickly and with tremendous success.
Since March 2020, the Governor Support Team has held over 400 virtual meetings with our Governing Boards.
We are confident that the move to Microsoft Teams will be just as successful and the instructions on how to join a Teams meeting are here .
Prevent Training for Governors
There will be online Prevent training for all governors available during the week commencing January 25th. To find out more information and to book a place click here.
Governor Facebook Group
We are about to launch our Facebook group for Governors of NCC schools. The aim of the group is to have a place for you all to share practice and ideas, engage with other governors and ask questions in a safe forum. The school support team run and monitor this group and are always on hand to help. We will also use this group to notify you about training, governance publications, education news and communications from NCC. To join us please search for ‘Northumberland School Governors Network’ or click here.
Your School Support Officers continue to work from home, keeping safe and working hard to support you with anything you may need. We have a new member of the team Louise Gilmour who has settled in very well and is looking forward to working with some of you going forward.
Some more useful links for you to follow at this time are:
- DfE Updates on School Governance
- Advice and Guidance from the National Governance Association
- Northumberland Education Coronavirus Updates
Best wishes and stay safe,
Vicki Evans (Acting Governor Support Manager)