We don’t need an audit, we have the skills and are highly effective…. aren’t we?

At Inspire Governance Services we appreciate that every Governing Board is different, a group of individuals brought together with varied skills, ability, knowledge and experience.

As a governor, you want to do your best for your school/academy and therefore the Governing Board needs every governor to be effective in their role.

A skills audit helps the Governing Board to benchmark where they are, look at gaps in knowledge and experience for individuals or groups and focus training and development toward these areas for improvement.

Governors

• Identify training needs to better support the school/academy.
• Share their skills with others in a coaching or mentoring capacity.
• Be deployed to committees where their skills can be put to best use.
• Gain a confidence to contribute in meetings and bring support and challenge to the leaders.

Headteachers or Chief Executive Officers

• ​Plan training for individuals or groups of governors/trustees.
• Assign link governors/trustees to areas where they can provide support and challenge.
• Have the confidence your Governing Body, Local Governing Body/Academy Council or Board of Trustees/Directors is strong and ready for Ofsted.

Chair

• Begin to look at succession planning, up-skilling the Chair of tomorrow.
• Present Ofsted with a suite of governors/trustees who have undertaken targeted training and have in in depth understanding of the school/academy.

Recruitment

Nowadays many Governing Boards find it difficult to have a full quota of governors and often carry vacancies which they find harder and harder to fill.  In the past Governing Boards have recruited somewhat blindly, bringing on board additional governors/trustees who are available to commit time to meetings but who may have no key role to play, aligned to their skills.  Whilst commitment is an essential factor, shouldn’t Governing Boards also look for particular skill sets in their recruitment, as you would do when filling a staffing vacancy!

​The answer is yes, and with a skills audit, governors/trustees can focus recruitment towards skills gaps, for example if no governors have any experience in finance it would be sensible to seek a governor with a background in finance, financial management etc.

This is where the Governing Board Skills Audit from Inspire Governance Services can help to support you in filling vacancies, with the right people who posses the right skills to make a difference.