Governor Support

Together For Children provides a comprehensive support service to schools, which includes advice and guidance and continuing professional development service for schools and academies. The service provisions available includes a governor clerking service and training and development opportunities. Our Governance Professionals and trainers offer a dedicated and experienced specialist support, and we provide a high-quality professional service that can cater for schools and academies in and beyond the City of Sunderland.

We acknowledge the financial pressures facing everyone during this time. Schools in particular are facing significant challenges and the pressure on the budget is high. With this in mind, we have reviewed Service Level Agreements to ensure that the revised SLA cost is competitive and that the service provides value for money.

Governor Clerking Service

Our Governor Support to Schools Service provides a comprehensive support service with friendly, professional and knowledgeable staff with an understanding of best practice and with many years' experience of working with school governors. The service is offered to Governing Boards, Governing Board committees, academy trusts and multi-academy trusts (MATs). We can advise on Governing Board constitution, schools and academies' governance procedures, Headteacher / Principal salary range, governance collaboration and related aspects of education law among many other things. The service also includes many administrative functions such as recording governor attendance, DBS checks and governor election packs all adhering to UK GDPR.

The pace of change in governance and Ofsted requirements has meant that both schools and Governance Professionals need to ensure that good governance is in place and that governors are equipped to carry out their role effectively. Our service has aspirations that all Governing and Trust Boards are at least good in their Ofsted inspection.

For more information or to request our Service Level Agreement (SLA), please contact: zena.wilkinson@togetherforchildren.org.uk

Governor training and development

The School Improvement Service supports schools in the drive to ensure the leadership and management is of a good or outstanding standard. This is crucial to the ambition for excellent outcomes for Children in Sunderland. We deliver a high-quality training programme to support governors in fulfilling their core functions of strategic leadership, ensuring accountability on performance and financial probity in line with the increasing demands from Ofsted. Our training will offer advice and best practice guidance on governance in relation to an efficient and effective organisation and will be undertaken by skilled and knowledgeable trainers.

The Governor Training SLA detail for the academic year 2023 / 2024 as well as all governor training can be found on the Traded Services website.

All governor Continuing Professional Development (CPD) continues to be delivered virtually and Julie Harrison will send a Teams link prior to the date of training. We kindly ask that these links are not shared.

Please contact Julie Harrison, Professional Development Officer if you have any queries: Email: Julie.harrison@togetherforchildren.org.uk Mob: 07557039214

Apply to be a school governor

Governors have a vital role to play as the link between schools and the local community.

The role of a school governor is to contribute to the work of a Governing Board in raising standards and maximising outcomes for all pupils. This involves providing a strategic view for the school, acting as a critical friend and ensuring accountability.

Vacancies for elected governors are dealt with by the school when a vacancy occurs. The relevant Diocese oversees the arrangements for the appointment of Foundation Governors in faith schools. Please speak to the relevant school about these types of vacancies. A list of all the schools in Sunderland can be downloaded in the Sunderland Schools Directory below. Please note the information in the Sunderland Schools Directory may be subject to change but is correct at the time of publication. If you have any issues, please contact: governor@togetherforchildren.org.uk

For Co-opted or Local Authority Governorships, applications from all sections of the community are welcomed and will be considered.

If you would like to be considered as a governor of a school in Sunderland, or for more information, please contact: governor@togetherforchildren.org.uk