Governance Professional Programme

Make a difference, our awareness of difference has been heightened in recent months and discussed in the media, our homes and in early years settings. Inclusion is at the heart of early years practice and this course aims to empower you to be responsive to making sure children learn to celebrate difference in our settings and communities. The webinar provides insight into the child's world by celebrating difference and valuing diversity in our early years settings. The session aims to challenge attitudes and explore practical strategies to make sure every setting provides a completely inclusive experience for all children and their families.

This course supports Early Years managers in understanding the current Ofsted inspection framework. Using the Ofsted documentation it explores the main elements of the inspection process and provides you with the opportunity to reflect on your current practice and provision in preparation for inspection.

Have you ever watched in awe and wonder at the intensity of communication between a baby and its primary care giver? Early experiences shape babies' development and the importance of attachment cannot be underestimated. This workshop will provide you with opportunities to explore and understand the importance of brain development, how to support physical, communication and language development as well as how to create an appropriate environment for babies and under two’s.

A two-session course for all beginner-teachers of phonics who need to know the basics.

Are you sure that the phonics teaching of all your practitioners is as good as it ought to be? Do you have anyone new to supporting or teaching phonics, whether teaching assistant or class teacher? Do some of your practitioners lack the subject knowledge required to teach phonics well? This comprehensive and thorough E-learning module will be indispensable to your training needs, regardless of which systematic, synthetic phonics programme your school is using. Step by step, delegates will learn a wide range of phonics knowledge, terminology, skills and understanding which are necessary to ensure sound, confident teaching for all children across the school.

During the course delegates will explore, Key areas of legislation and guidance for a complaints policy, An overview of school complaints procedures/policies, The clerk as the contact point for the complainant and the committee, The legal rights and duties of all involved in the complaint process, Organising the panel meeting, Preparing and distributing the panel pack, Managing the panel meeting, advising, documenting and circulating the minutes of the meeting, Notifying all parties of the outcome.

Designated Safeguarding Lead Person Training This course is the first level training for staff in schools and colleges who are new to the role of Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL). It will help delegates meet their statutory responsibilities including those identified in ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ and ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’. The course uses a variety of scenarios and discussions to help delegates put learning into practice and is delivered by experienced trainers who have a sound knowledge of social work and school practice.

This course is designed to further develop the skills, knowledge and confidence of early years practitioners undertaking the role of the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo). The role of SENCo is central to implementing an inclusive setting ethos and is not without its challenges. This course explores some of the many additional responsibilities, tasks and knowledge required to ensure that evidence-based practice informs effective decision making. Together we will draw on our collective expertise, experiences and problem-solving skills to explore the key issues that impact on your day to day support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Questioning is one of the most important skills that those working with students need to develop. Far more than just an ability to ask questions, effective questioning is about understanding what type of question to ask at a given time for maximum impact. This session develops an understanding of the importance of questioning, examines some theoretical ideas around the topic, and looks at a wide range of different questioning exercises that can be employed with students.

The board’s first core function is about strategic leadership. This involves setting the organisation’s overall strategic framework, including its vision and strategic priorities. It also includes responsibility for setting and modelling its culture, values, and ethos. This course will explore governing boards’ role in shaping the vision and strategic priorities for their schools in collaboration with senior leaders.

This inspiring and informative half day training combines information on current research and practical ideas to broaden your understanding of the ways young children can be motivated to become competent writers.

This is a three-part course, consisting of two 1,1 sessions (2 hours each) and an observation of the chair in action at board meeting. Through the three sessions, we will cover, How the chair is key to successful and strategic effective governance. The chairs’ role in ensuring the board fulfils the three core functions. An observation to see the chair in action with feedback to support practice and board development. How developing professional working relationships based on trust contributes to school improvement and better outcomes for pupils.

Attending this induction training will allow you to fully appreciate the role and responsibilities and understand how to engage with your governing body to make a positive difference from the outset You will also benefit from the opportunity to network with governors from other schools and academies.

Are you looking for training to gain a deeper insight into children’s progression in mathematics? This half day training will help you explore exciting and innovative ways to teach mathematical concepts whilst making mathematical learning meaningful across the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum.

This teaching assistant course will consolidate and upskill TAs in their roles as practitioners. You may have new teaching assistants or TAs that would benefit from consolidating their knowledge or upskilling them by undertaking this comprehensive e-learning module. This course will increase confidence for TAs working in any year group/s across the school. Find out what you didn’t know and be the best practitioner you can possibly be. Topics are covered in bite size sections so there are opportunities to reflect on your own practice.

Are you confident and secure in how you will provide a well-balanced curriculum that will support all of your children in the early years? This three-hour virtual workshop will help you enhance the quality of your teaching by exploring the concept of planning a responsive and enriched curriculum centred around moments led by children. Delegates must have sight of the Development Matters-Non statutory curriculum guidance for the early years foundation stage September 2020.

Effective meetings ensures that governing boards are able to evidence the 3 core roles and compliance elements are being met as stated in the Governance Handbook . A board understanding how they can contribute to this aim will ensure that the time allocated to governance is efficient and effective. The ‘Running an effective Meeting’ course will, Explore the key features of an effective meeting, Explore the role of a Chair within a meeting, Consider key relationships on the board, Consider the importance of succession planning, Look at some meetings scenarios This course is suitable for any governor interested in learning more about effective meetings.

If accountability is to be robust and the vision for the school is to be realised, Boards need to know their school. Those responsible for governance should see for themselves whether (or not) the school is implementing agreed policies and improvement plans, and how they are working in practice and/or, what needs to happen to put things back on track.

Governing bodies are encouraged to have a Training & Development Governor whose role is to help identify and support appropriate development. This role will assist the Governing Body to evidence the effectiveness of Governors in discharging their core statutory functions and how committed they are to their own development as governors to improve their performance. The Governor Competency Framework sets out that Governors should have the knowledge to recognise their own strengths and areas for development and seeks support and training to improve knowledge and skills where necessary. Course aims, Define the role within the governing body, Explore how the Code of Conduct can be used to support development, Explore how to assess training needs, Know how the T & D governor can impact on the effectiveness of the governing body.