Leaving governance out of school reform is a recipe for chaos

The schools bill, the creation of local school improvement teams and Ofsted reform are all welcome steps in the government’s necessary drive to look at accountability differently. So why does this week feel like the sector is at risk of tumbling towards implementation chaos, or even pre-implementation chaos?

The answer is simple: Whitehall is simply not doing enough to open up a real debate about what effective accountability means. As a result, fundamental questions remain not just unanswered, but unasked through this raft of proposals.

Amid the concern (verging on panic), a stark chasm remains unaddressed: the architects of school and trust life, who hold the reins of local accountability, have little to no voice compared with the architects of the system, who pull the levers of national accountability.

Yet it is they who will convert policy into practice. They will determine whether the government’s potentially transformative efforts succeed and last or whether they wither at the school gates.  

Time and time again, we’ve seen that starving reform of the nurturing power of governance leadership stifles it. Yet progress on engaging that vital constituency has been painfully slow. 

The paradox is striking. In any major bank, hospital, or FTSE 100 company, governance isn’t just respected but revered as the bedrock of organisational success. Governance training, support, development and understanding are all considered integral and uncompromisable.

These sectors grasp an underlying principle that continues to elude some corners of education: attempting to run a complex organisation without robust governance isn’t just risky; it’s self-destructive.

It’s not as if the stakes are any lower for us. Like them, we employ thousands, serve millions and spend billions. But on top of that, we are shaping future generations, responsible for their future prosperity and the nation’s. Indeed, those other sectors all depend on us too.

Yet school governance remains at best an afterthought or insurance policy. That’s just not good enough anymore, and we are on a mission to once and for all get the message ingrained that governing boards provide the most authentic form of accountability.

This is the most authentic form of accountability

Unlike the snapshot assessments of external inspections or desk-based exercises from the DfE, governing boards offer persistent, consistent oversight that deeply understands local context, incremental change and the evolving needs of their students and their communities.

The introduction of report cards and a new inspection framework have vast implications for school life. Their success will largely depend on how well governing boards understand and engage with them.

RISE teams will help to create a culture where schools and trusts use the new report cards to “self-identify the support they need”. But this can only work if governing boards are equipped to work with school leaders on effective identification.

Academy powers will change. Admissions too. The curriculum is set for reform. This is a radical programme, all of which hinges on governance and into which governance has had little input. And all of this as the NGA has already flagged deep concerns about governance workload, recruitment and retention.

But it’s not too late. Bridget Phillipson and her team can build the capacity and capability of boards to fulfil their enhanced role in this new landscape. They just have to invite them in.

At the very least, they should be consulted on implementation. After all, they will be accountable if any of these changes don’t work in their schools.   

Looking ahead, however, the challenges facing education demand more than that. We need new levels of respect for governance and stronger governance too.

Beyond political changes, societal ones are impacting our schools and communities in ways that require governors and trustees who are prepared and equipped to anticipate and respond to them.

We must shift the perception of governance from an add-on to a fundamental driver of educational excellence. This means early engagement, comprehensive training and genuine partnership with the governance community in policy development.

More than that, it means recognising that governing boards aren’t just implementation partners for government initiatives; they are ambitious leaders in their own right.