Governance Risk and Support Assessment

The Barnsley Alliance has developed a Risk Assessment process related to schools, which determines whether, based on performance data and meeting with heads and governors, a school is ‘red, amber or green’. This then relates to the support a school is offered through The Alliance Board. The RAG criteria have been discussed at various meetings and this year, there has been great clarity about the process in both primary and secondary phases. The Alliance wants to develop that process, however, to take into consideration other factors, such as finance, SEND issues etc and one of the key areas to consider in developing a risk matrix must be the impact of governance.

To this end, members of the Alliance Board have worked with the Barnsley Governors Association to develop a Risk and Support Assessment that focuses on the effectiveness of governance and identifies any support governors may need. The flowchart shows the proposed process and may also be downloaded from the attachment below.

As an important preliminary stage of the Risk and Support Assessment all Head teachers and Chairs are to be invited to complete the “Twenty key questions for a school governing board to ask itself” (see attachment below).

The intention is to consider the responses to these questions alongside pupil outcomes and other information in August 2016.