Diocese of Nottingham Education Services Website

Please be sure to return any outstanding paperwork on the appointment or re-appointment of Foundation Governors to Janet Hornsby as soon as possible.  I am sure you will appreciate the need to ensure that this is sorted out so that your school has a full complement of governors ready to start the new academic year.  During the summer months, when staff are on holiday, schools are closed and potential governors are also away, it can be very difficult to chase outstanding forms.  Please help us by handling and completing paperwork by return of post.  Thank you.

Many of our current foundation governors term of office will come to an end at the end of this academic year.  It is important that schools are aware of what action to take now in order to ensure that they have the required number of governors in place for the start of the autumn term 2011.  Don't delay, start today!

ACTION NEEDED - NOW:
Review and assess the effectiveness of your governing body. Support this with some suitable training / development for your governors.
Find opportunities to publicise and promote the work of governors.
Identify which foundation governors complete their term of office on the 31 August 2011.
A list showing the number of governors your school should have can be found on the Diocesan Education Service website - remember a proportion of foundation governors must be parents of children at the school

There is no automatic right for any individual to be re-appointed once their term of office has come to an end. A person should not be recommended for the role of Foundation Governor if they are related to a member of staff at the school concerned.  If a person is employed at the school for more than 10 hours per week then they cannot be a Foundation Governor.

Discuss and identify ways for recruiting new foundation governors to fill existing and anticipated vacancies.  Consider appropriate representation, for example, from the parent body, from women and from ethnic minorities.
Before the end of term, you will receive a pro forma to complete.

BY THE END OF THIS TERM:
Contact the Diocesan Education Service.  Using the form provided, let us know the names of:
• Foundation governors whose term of office is coming to an end;
• New Foundation Governors being recommended to commence office from September 2011;
• Foundation governors being recommended for re-appointment.

DURING THE SUMMER TERM:
The Diocesan Education Service will complete the required administration.
All new foundation governors will be required to complete application forms, to complete a declaration that they are eligible and to undergo identity checks. They will then receive appointment certificates.
All re-appointed governors will need to complete a declaration that they are eligible to be governors. They will then receive confirmation of their re-appointment.
We will inform all Local Authorities, headteachers and clerks once new appointments are finalised.
All appointments are subject to List 99 checks which are conducted by Local Authorities (the school will need to arrange for this to be done in advance).

Attachments:

Foundation Governor Appointment Guidance	[Guidance for Clergy, Clerks and Headteachers]	140 Kb
F Gov Sept 2011 Appointment and Re-appointment Form	[Form for notifying resignations, and proposed appointments/reappointments of Foundation Governors Sept 2011]	47 Kb
Governor Numbers	[A summary of the number of governors each school should have]	190 Kb
Letter to Headteachers and Clergy	[Foundation governor appointments.]	76 Kb

In line with the statutory Admissions Code, all in year admissions will now be co-ordinated by your local authority. ‘In year admissions’ refer to casual admissions during the year (eg families moving into the area, children transferring from other schools). The procedures will vary from area to area but the basic principles apply to all our schools.

To summarise :

• Parents must now apply to the local authority and must have the opportunity to express school preferences on the common form
• Parents applying to our schools must also complete a supplementary form
• Local Authorities will contact schools to establish whether a place is available
• The Local Authority will then offer a place at the highest preference school where places are available

The Local Authority will issue the allocation letter on behalf of the governors

Whilst the local authority is now co-ordinating all admissions, this does not in any way affect the rights of our governing bodies. The governing body is the admissions authority. All decisions about admissions must be made by the full governing body or a committee, not by the headteacher or any other one person.

Inevitably there will be teething problems as the new procedures are bedded in, particularly as local authorities have not been allocated extra resources to manage the process.  Please contact us if you need any help or advice on these or any admission issues. You should also make sure that you are aware of local arrangements by confirming these with your local authority.

Most primary schools and some of our secondary schools name the local parish or parishes as their catchment areas in their admission policies. You must provide a map showing the parish boundary to avoid confusion for Catholic parents who apply to your school. Very occasionally, in appeals, a parent has claimed to be living in the parish and challenged the school on this.

Without the evidence of a map panel members will invariably find in favour of the parent in such cases. If you are uncertain of the parish boundaries, your parish priest should be the first point of contact. If the boundary cannot be determined locally, then the Building and Sites Commission at Willson House may be able to help, (contact details below).