National Governors' Association
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The National Governance Association (NGA), founded as the National Governors' Association, is a representative body for
school governor In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, school governors are the overseers of a school. In state schools, they have three main functions: *Giving the school a clear vision, ethos and strategic direction *Holding the headteacher to account for th ...
s and
trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...
s of state-funded schools in
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. It was formed in February 2006 via the merger of two predecessor organisations: the National Governors’ Council (NGC) and the National Association of School Governors (NASG). It has its headquarters in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
. The National Governors' Council was founded in 1994, on the initiative of
Jack Morrish John Edwin Morrish (23 September 1915 – 7 March 2003) was a British trade unionist and politician. Born in London, Morrish attended school in Hampstead, then found work with the Post Office A post office is a public facility and a reta ...
.


Purpose

The NGA works for school governors, trustees and clerks by: * Representing and supporting governors, trustees and clerks in maintained schools and academies * Providing information, advice, guidance, research and training * Working closely with, and lobbying, UK government and educational bodies * Supporting local governor associations and governing bodies * Producing high quality guidance and information * Organising regional events and national conferences


Membership

School governors, trustees and clerks can join the NGA as individuals or join up their governing boards as 'standard' or 'gold' members.
Local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...
, education organisations and education businesses can support the work of the NGA as corporate members and local governor associations can also become members of NGA.


Services

GOLDline: NGA runs a confidential telephone advice line for its Gold members for legal and general advice Training and Consultancy: the NGA offers a consultancy and training service which is open to all governing boards in England


Policies

The NGA promotes the work of governors and trustees at the national level. The NGA works closely with and lobbies government and the major educational bodies to ensure that the views of governors are fully represented in the national arena. In 2014 NGA produced a manifesto calling for: # School governance to be given greater prominence in central and local government policy making # Induction training to be provided free of charge for all new school governors and trustees # The government to provide financial incentives to encourage effective collaboration and to schools wishing to join together in LA Maintained federations as well as Multi Academy Trusts # School funding to be distributed fairly with three-year indicative budgets introduced for capital and revenue funding and for the level of school funding to be increased # The supply of high quality headteachers and teachers to be taken seriously and for the government to take action to prevent serious staffing shortages # The promotion of professional governing board clerks # A reduction in the number of new initiatives from central government and a period of relative stability to allow schools to continue to improve # More flexibility from employers to give their staff time off to govern


Local associations

Local Associations are volunteer local bodies; they are link between a school governing body and its local authority. A strong local association can make an enormous difference to governing body effectiveness. Some local associations have thousands of members, organise meetings and conferences and have their own websites. Others are small local groups. Many local authorities facilitate the formation of local governor associations, some go further and provide resources and clerking support. The NGA supports local associations with information, and acts as an information conduit to central government, to make sure the local voice is heard. The NGA can offer assistance to support a local association if problems arise with the local authority.


Publications

Welcome to Governance: a guide for newly appointed school governors The Chair's Handbook: a guide for chairs of governing boards


See also

*
School governor In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, school governors are the overseers of a school. In state schools, they have three main functions: *Giving the school a clear vision, ethos and strategic direction *Holding the headteacher to account for th ...


References


External links


Official website
{{Authority control Education in the United Kingdom