Finance and education sectors join to develop school governance training

Lloyds Banking Group, The Key and SGOSS (Governors for Schools) have joined forces to launch a new e-learning module, School Governor Induction, after new findings highlight the need for more professional skills on school governing boards and higher quality, more accessible induction training.
 
The free module launches following the release of the DfE’s Competency Framework for Governance in January 2017 - which sets out the competencies needed to effectively govern schools and multi-academy trusts (MATs).
 
According to findings from The Key's annual survey of school governors, more than a third (34%) of governors believe that having a broader set of skills on their board would most improve its impact, and individuals with financial expertise are the most in demand. A quarter of governors also call for higher quality induction training with many finding current initial training difficult to access or out of sync with the school year.
 
The new School Governor Induction e-learning module addresses the need for more tailored governor training for professionals with busy schedules, and is a bid to improve retention rates among governors in their first year of the role. At just an hour long, the high-level online induction recognises and makes links between business skills and the role of school governor, and can be accessed anytime, anywhere and on any smart device.