“We recommend..[the development of] a single point of contact for the range of ‘advice line’ services they run. These services could be ‘re-launched’ and promoted widely as a national service of independent, expert advice.”
Select Committee on Education and Employment - The Role of School Governors, July 1999
The Select Committee Report proposed a rationalisation of the present system to produce one helpline into which all the governors’ umbrella bodies would have input.
For a number of years, National Association of Governors and Managers and National Governors Council (NGC) (now merged together as the National Governors' Association) had each been providing independent telephone support and advice for school governors. However, following the publication of the above report on the Role of School Governors, both organisations indicated a willingness to work with the then DfES to identify what skills and resources each had to offer and develop, on a partnership basis, more coherent support for school governors.
School governors are the largest volunteer workforce in the country, giving freely and generously of their time to help schools achieve the highest standards. People from all walks of life offer their services as governors.
Governing bodies bring together many stakeholders such as parents, school staff, Local Authority representatives, as well as representatives from business and the wider community. Whilst many are highly experienced in this role, it is also true that the responsibilities of governors are becoming greater.
Governors have a very important job and play a pivotal role in directing schools and accounting for their performance. They also play an essential part in helping to turn round schools in difficulties. As more and more school funding is being directly delegated to schools themselves, the role of the governing body as the corporate governance of schools is becoming more of a key part of the management of schools.
The two governors organisations, supported by the DfES, jointly approached Worklife Support in 2000 to manage a telephone support service for governors.
Worklife Support is a major player in the UK employment assistance sector and offers legal, employment and other assistance services of a specialist nature within the education sector, including the innovative Well-Being Programme.
Together these organisations were tasked to produce a high quality professional support service for school governors. By working together to pool their considerable experience, both operationally and intellectually, it was thought that the DfES could meet its objectives in providing the highest quality support for school governors. Bringing these organisations together, working towards the same goal, has been essential to the service’s success.
An Advisory Board was established, comprising members of NGA, representation from the DfES and a co-opted adviser from ISCG. This Board is responsible for the management of the service, ensuring appropriate dissemination of regular reports, annual evaluation and ongoing monitoring of the service.
This web site was established in May 2002 and work continues to develop the service to better serve school governors. 1 April 2003 saw the launch of e-mail access to the GovernorLine service.
The service was re-tendered at the end of 2003 and Worklife Support was awarded the contract to manage the service for a further three years, later renewed for a further two years up to the end of March 2009.
Worklife Support was also successful in the 2008 tender, being awarded the contract to supply GovernorLine for an initial three years from April 2009.
Other developments are covered in the What's New? page.
Call GovernorLine on 08000 722 181 or you can e-mail us from this site.
