I have been a governor at an infants' school in my ward for a year now and take every opportunity to improve my knowledge and usefulness by attending seminars and conferences. This week I attended a conference in Basingstoke entitled Leadership and Governance: Making an Impact. Our speaker, Liz Cross, was brilliant--funny, informative and entertaining--and led some very lively discussions among a truly diverse audience.
The role of governor is critical to the success of a school and richly rewarding, but many of us shared similar frustrations surrounding the volume and repetition of documentation created, the shortcomings of Ofsted inspections and the challenge of freeing teachers to teach and inspire. In the current climate, finance is also something foremost in our minds. And the issue of becoming academies must be considered too. Quite apart from the inspirational speakers that Hampshire County Council provides for such events, there is enormous value in networking with other governors and, in my case, shamelessly stealing their ideas. One way or another, this conference provided solutions to many of the problems governors typically confront.
Some of the issues that I found particularly valuable related to redressing the balance so that we don't lose sight of the children among all our legal responsibilities, strategies to optimise assets, both human and financial, ensuring succession as parent-governors move on, and generally involving parents as fully as possible. One idea I found especially compelling was to encourage teachers to take risk, which seems to fly in the face of prevailing health and safety concerns, but possible if risk is properly managed.
In spite of the perception of education being in a straight-jacket, there is a degree of flexibility and I came away from the conference with renewed enthusiasm and passion for my role as a school governor.
Sunday 10 July 2011
Friday 1 July 2011
Parity for Disability
I am a trustee of Parity for Disability, a wonderful charity who provide services to young adults with multiple disabilities and their families. Parity runs day centres at both their headquarters in Whetstone Road, Farnborough, and at St Martin's Church Hall in Camberley, where one-to-one support allows students to achieve their full potential. I love visiting because the peals of laughter attest to the enormous fun everyone's having; I always come away feeling better.
These are exciting times for parity because we are hoping to raise sufficient funds for a purpose-built day centre on land provided by Rushmoor Borough Council beside Farnborough Football Club. This is vital for improving much-needed services. Neither of our day centres is satisfactory, though the staff do a fantastic job in spite of their shortcomings. The Camberley centre, for instance, is in a shared hall, which means that equipment has to be stored away every afternoon and brought out again each morning, a great waste of time and energy. In addition, the new centre will include a water therapy suite, so that students will no longer have to travel to Guildford for this incredibly therapeutic treatment.
Parity needs £150,000 per year just to sustain current services, so raising the money to build the new centre is a huge challenge. Fund-raising activities take place throughout the year, and we look to the community to support us in these. Perhaps you've read about the sponsored bike-ride from Camberley to Lulworth Cove in the local press and would like to take part in that. If so, do get in touch with Parity. Alternatively, perhaps your company would like to adopt Parity as your charity for a year and think up fund-raising activities of your own. Have fun and contribute to the community at the same time.
If you would like more information, to visit, to receive Parity's newsletters, and especially if you have ideas about achieving our new day centre, please contact Alison Cooper: alison@parityfordisability.org.uk
Tel/Fax: 01252 375581
These are exciting times for parity because we are hoping to raise sufficient funds for a purpose-built day centre on land provided by Rushmoor Borough Council beside Farnborough Football Club. This is vital for improving much-needed services. Neither of our day centres is satisfactory, though the staff do a fantastic job in spite of their shortcomings. The Camberley centre, for instance, is in a shared hall, which means that equipment has to be stored away every afternoon and brought out again each morning, a great waste of time and energy. In addition, the new centre will include a water therapy suite, so that students will no longer have to travel to Guildford for this incredibly therapeutic treatment.
Parity needs £150,000 per year just to sustain current services, so raising the money to build the new centre is a huge challenge. Fund-raising activities take place throughout the year, and we look to the community to support us in these. Perhaps you've read about the sponsored bike-ride from Camberley to Lulworth Cove in the local press and would like to take part in that. If so, do get in touch with Parity. Alternatively, perhaps your company would like to adopt Parity as your charity for a year and think up fund-raising activities of your own. Have fun and contribute to the community at the same time.
If you would like more information, to visit, to receive Parity's newsletters, and especially if you have ideas about achieving our new day centre, please contact Alison Cooper: alison@parityfordisability.org.uk
Tel/Fax: 01252 375581
My Blog and Me
I was elected as a Conservative councillor for St John's Ward, Rushmoor Borough Council, in 2010. As a councillor, I sit on the Borough Services and Leisure and Youth Policy and Review Panels. Any views I express in this blog will be my own and may not reflect the views of the Conservative Group. But my primary aim is not to discuss my political views so much as the various community activities with which I'm involved.
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