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We are here to support all surrey Governors, trustees and directors in Surrey schools in achieving their aims to ensure that every child in Surrey receives the best possible education.

We are all volunteer Governors who seek to provide all Governors with the information support and experience need to fulfil the role.

We keep in regular contact with each other and with the many agencies local and national who are influential or facilitators in education and publish on our website and via email and on other media relevant and important information for Governors in Surrey.

You are welcome to join us with several advantageous ways to become members of the SGA.

All members have free access to our conferences and benefit from free access to other information and events.For futher information see our membership page or email admin@surreygovernance.org.uk



Orbis Internal Audit COVID 19 Fraud Briefing

Many staff may now be working from home which may mean it is more difficult to maintain segregation of duties and get appropriate authorisation for transactions. This is the perfect environment for fraudsters to operate so please be vigilant. Staff may feel isolated and be pressured into making decisions they wouldn’t normally make. Any changes to processes during this time should be documented and designed to minimise risk of fraud and financial loss. Evidence of authorisation by email rather than a wet signature is acceptable under current circumstances but the email must be retained and filed with other supporting documents for the transaction. The school must also protect any personal or sensitive information and bear this in mind when considering using personal laptops or emails.

Encourage and implement enhanced checking of invoices and other requests for payment to ensure they are legitimate, and any communication is from the person or organisation it is claimed to be from. We have seen examples of spoofed emails purporting to be from suppliers or staff (particularly head teachers) that are very convincing. The fraudster may increase pressure on staff by claiming that payment is needed urgently.

Remind staff to be very careful regarding new or urgent requests and changes to payment details. Staff should contact suppliers and staff by telephone using contact details on the school’s directory and used previously to confirm that requests are legitimate. If they are unable to independently verify that the request is legitimate, bank detail changes should not be made, and payment should be suspended.

If your school receives suspected fraudulent requests or becomes a victim of fraud, please report this to Internal Audit by emailing Internal.audit@surreycc.gov.uk.


Take a Break To Reflect

By Geoffrey Hackett

Having faced so much change that has been forced upon us all by the events surrounding the challenges in fighting the coronavirus pandemic might, I suggest we pause over a coffee and think...Read more

From the Governors Handbook
The Purpose of Governance

1. The purpose of governance is to provide confi- dent, strategic leadership and to create robust ac- countability, oversight and assurance for education- al and financial performance.

2. All boards, no matter what type of schools or how many schools they govern, have three core functions:

Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;

Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the performance manage- ment of staff; and

Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent.

From the Competency Handbook

All those elected or appointed to boards should fulfil their duties in line with the seven principles of public life (the Nolan principles). They should also be mindful of their responsibilities under equality legislation, recognising and encouraging diversity and inclusion. They should under- stand the impact of effective governance on the quality of education and on outcomes for all children and young people. In addition, all those involved in governance should be:

Committed

Devoting the required time and energy to the role and ambitious to achieve best possible outcomes for young people. Prepared to give time, skills and knowledge to developing themselves and others in order to create highly effective governance.

Challenging

Providing appropriate challenge to the status quo, not taking information or data at face value and always driv- ing for improvement.

Collaborative

Prepared to listen to and work in partnership with others and understanding the importance of building strong working relationships within the board and with execu- tive leaders, staff, parents and carers, pupils/students, the local community and employers.

Critical

Understanding the value of critical friendship which ena- bles both challenge and support, and self-reflective, pursing learning and development opportunities to im- prove their own and whole board effectiveness.

Creative

Able to challenge conventional wisdom and be open- minded about new approaches to problem-solving; rec- ognising the value of innovation and creative thinking to organisational development and success.

Moss Lane School Needs You!

Are you interested in becoming a school governor at our lovely primary school in the heart of Godalming? The school Moss Lane School has two classes in each of our three years (Reception, Yr 1 and Yr2) so has up to 180 children at the school. The staff, governors and headteacher are committed to creating an environment that will ensure that children progress academically, socially and personally to reach their full potential. We value the support and co-operation of parents and view the education of each child as a partnership between the school and home. At the heart of our approach is a passion to make Moss Lane School a happy, safe and inclusive community where expectations are high and where everyone is cared for and valued. Across the school staff, governors and PTA (parents’ association) we are keen to promote independent, enthusiastic, confident and successful learners, as acknowledged in our Ofsted Report (February 2018)You can find out more about the school on our website
https://www.moss-lane.surrey.sch.uk/web

The Governing Body monitors teaching and learning, achievement, finances, staffing, premises and safety to ensure that everything within the school creates an environment where the children in our care can achieve the best possible education. We meet seven times a year between September and July, usually in the early evenings. We also carry out focused visits to the school to learn more about what the school is doing and what we can do to support and challenge in our roles as governors. At the moment due to Covid 19 our meetings are virtual and our visits to the school are suspended.

We currently have two governor vacancies (these are not parent governor positions) and if you are interested in being a governor please contact our Chair of Governors, Adam Boshoff at aboshoff@moss-lane.surrey.sch.uk for an informal chat about the positions.

SKILLED GOVERNORS NEEDED TO DELIVER EVEN GREATER IMPACT IN SURREY SCHOOLS



Cognus, in partnership with SAfE and Surrey County Council, are pleased to have launched a new Local Leaders of Governance (LLG) programme this summer. This is to replace the Additional Skills Governors’ programme that has operated in Surrey for many years.

We have been inviting applications from highly skilled and experienced governors who are willing to use their knowledge and expertise to help other local school governing bodies. Specifically, to provide strategic support and mentoring to Surrey schools that need to improve current practice and/or increase future capacity to ensure high quality governance across the county.

Skills and Experience Required Governors applying to join the LLG Programme will normally have had a minimum of 3 years’ experience of school governance, two of which will (ideally) have been in the capacity of Chair of the Full Governing Body, Vice Chair and/or Chair of a Committee, in a school graded by Ofsted as good or outstanding. They should also have a record of accomplishment, significantly improving the governance and performance of school governing bodies as well as be able to evidence strong governance practice and impact in their previous roles.

For more information about the programme, Role Description and Application Form, please visit: https://cognus.org.uk/our-services/surreygovernor-service/local-leaders-of-governanceprogramme/

The Governing Body at Fetcham Village Infant School has two Co-opted governor vacancies.

The board would be particularly interested to hear from anyone who would be interested in taking on the Health and Safety governor role.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Caroline Smith
Clerk

School Lane • Fetcham • Surrey • KT22 9JU Telephone: 01372 373502
Email: info@fetcham.surrey.sch.uk
Website: www.fetcham.surrey.sch.uk