Outstanding Governor Awards 2020 Nominations Open

Previous winners - nominate this years
Picture of 2019 winners & runners-up.
2019 winners & runners-up pictured with Michael Taylor (HASG chair), Terry Douris (HCC Executive Member, Education) & Andrew de Csilléry (Managing Director HfL).

Hertfordshire Outstanding Governor Awards 2020 Nominations Open

The HASG are pleased to announce that nominations have opened for the School Governor Awards 2020. We aim to celebrate outstanding and distinguished service by school governors and trustees in Hertfordshire. The winners of these awards will be announced Continue reading “Outstanding Governor Awards 2020 Nominations Open”

Outstanding Governor Awards 2019 Nominations Open

2018 Outstanding Governors
2018 Outstanding Governors
2018 Award Winners with HASG Chair, Michael Taylor (right) and Andrew de Csillary (left)

Hertfordshire Outstanding Governor Awards 2019 Nominations Open

The HASG are pleased to announce that nominations have opened for the School Governor Awards 2019. We aim to celebrate outstanding and distinguished service by school governors and trustees in Hertfordshire. The winners of these awards will be announced  Continue reading “Outstanding Governor Awards 2019 Nominations Open”

Outstanding Governors 2017

Outstanding Governors 2017

Outstanding Governors 2017
Left to right: Gary Griffiths, Geoff Strack, Jonathan Ellam, Andrew Gunning, Ros Jacklin, Rodney Tucker

The HASG are proud to reveal the Winners of this Year’s Awards which were presented at the Hertfordshire Governors Annual conference on Saturday 11th November at Robertson House Stevenage.

This year the judging panel agreed to seven finalists, one more than originally expected.  The winners are: Continue reading “Outstanding Governors 2017”

School Governor Awards 2016

Left to Right: Cllr David Williams, Claire Barnard(Winner), Ian Hankin(Winner), Nicky Clarke(Winner), Marueen Bruce (Winner), Mike Scandrett(Chair HASG), Jan Paine (M.D. HfL)
2015 Winners Left to Right: Cllr David Williams, Claire Barnard(Winner), Ian Hankin(Winner), Nicky Clarke(Winner), Maureen Bruce (Winner), Mike Scandrett (Chair HASG), Jan Paine (MD HfL)

HASG School Governor Awards 2016

Nominations Open – Winners’ School Prizes Now £1000

The HASG are pleased to announce that nominations have opened for the School Governor Awards 2016. We aim to celebrate outstanding and distinguished service by school governors in Hertfordshire. The winners of these awards will be announced at the Hertfordshire Governors’ Annual Conference in November 2016. This year the executive committee has decided to increase the value of the winners prizes to £1,000.

About the Awards

This is an award for an individual school governor’s work, service or commitment.  The nomination statement will need to make clear the specific role that was played by the nominated governor.

You may wish e.g. to nominate the governor who:

  • regularly goes above and beyond a school governor’s typical commitment,
  • has successfully dealt with a crisis or has been recently successful with a specific project or initiative, which was driven by the individual governor,
  • has contributed to improvement in the schools sector – for example, by supporting other governing bodies to improve.

These are only examples and should not be considered as entry categories – other ways of outstanding or distinguished service will be equally worthy of consideration.

Awards & Prizes

  • Prizes of £1,000 will be awarded to the schools of the two winning governors.
  • Prizes of £250 will be awarded to the schools of the runners-up.
  • Each winning governor will be awarded a £50 prize
  • All nominators will be put into a prize draw and three will be drawn at random and be awarded a £25 prize.

The nomination form is downloadable from here:

Nominations close: Friday 27th May 2016

 

 

Outstanding Governors 2015

Outstanding Governors 2015

Left to Right: Cllr David Williams, Claire Barnard(Winner), Ian Hankin(Winner), Nicky Clarke(Winner), Marueen Bruce (Winner), Mike Scandrett(Chair HASG), Jan Paine (M.D. HfL)
Left to Right: Cllr David Williams, Claire Barnard (Winner), Ian Hankin (Winner), Nicky Clarke (Winner), Maureen Bruce (Winner), Mike Scandrett (Chair HASG), Jan Paine (M.D. HfL)

The outstanding work of school governors in Hertfordshire has been recognised again in 2015 Outstanding School Governors Awards. The awards are run by Hertfordshire Association of School Governors (HASG) and the UK’s largest, not-for-profit School Company, Herts for Learning, The awards ceremony took place on Saturday 14th November at Hertfordshire Development Centre in Stevenage and formed part of the Hertfordshire Governors Annual Conference. The Awards were presented by Councillor David Williams, cabinet member for education at Herts County Council.

The awards were established last year to publicly recognise, not only the contribution of individual school governors, but to celebrate the dedication and commitment of all governors in Hertfordshire’s 500+ schools. Schools across the county were asked to nominate governors who they believe have really made a difference and helped to improve the educational outcomes of children in their school.  Many nominations were received and reviewed by an independent panel of judges and from these; a short-list of 10 governors was drawn up. The judges visited all the nominees’ schools to gather more information. After further review 4 winners and 2 runners up were selected. Each winner attracted a prize for their school(s) of £500 and a £50 individual prize.

The four Outstanding Governor of the Year Awards went to:

Claire Barnard
Claire Barnard
St Albans Girls’ School
Maureen Bruce
Maureen Bruce
St.Mary’s Church of England
High School, Cheshunt
Nicky Clarke
Nicky Clarke
The Barclay School / Almond Hill Junior School, Stevenage
Ian Hankin
Ian Hankin
William Ransom Primary School, Hitchin

The two runners up were:

Margaret Birleson
Margaret Birleson
Ludwick Nursery School, Welwyn Garden City
Wendy Smith
Wendy Smith
Roger De Clare First School & Nursery, Puckeridge

 The other finalists were:

  • Sarah Murdoch Hillshott Infant School and Nursery, Letchworth Garden City
  • Robin Osterley Hunsdon JMI,  Hunsdon
  • Chris Partridge Parmiter’s School, Garston,
  • Sarah Starr             Wheatfields Infants and Nursery School, St Albans

 

What made the difference?

The finalist merited their selection through glowing nominations, some key elements of which are given below:

  • Claire Barnard truly epitomises the critical friend. She a consummate professional and attends every governing body meeting with knowledge, challenge and enthusiasm.
  • Maureen Bruce leads our Governing body with dedication, commitment, tenacity and vision. She is devoted to the school and the progress of its young people.
  • Nicky Clarke launched the Stevenage Inspire Federation. She was relentless in promoting the positive benefits of federation to both schools.  She took the brunt of the workload upon herself. The enormous success of the federation, is very much down to her lead.
  • Ian Hankin has grit and determination, meticulous attention to detail, hard work, dedication and care for the staff and pupils. He deserves to be recognised as he really does go above and beyond the call of duty.
  • Margaret Birleson has driven the transformation of Ludwick from a standalone nursery school to a multifaceted early years centre. Whilst chair, the school has received 3 consecutive outstanding Ofsted reports.
  • Wendy Smith during her time as a governor has overseen the change of three Headteachers and been on hand to support when necessary. Wendy holds the school to account for the decisions that are made.
  • Sarah Murdoch has pushed the governing body to become more professional and strategic in its direction. She has organised a regular programme of governor events which has raised the profile of governors.
  • Robin Osterley leads by example. Meetings are run efficiently, with an emphasis on improving outcomes and opportunities for pupils. He is very supportive but is never afraid to act as “critical friend”. He deals with difficult situations.
  • Chris Partridge has contributed far and beyond what would normally be expected of a school governor, he led a full review of the composition and direction of the Governing Body. His knowledge of the ever-changing Governors’ Handbook has become legendary.
  • Sarah Starr chaired the “Impact on Learning” sub-committee addressing the substantial number of issues raised by Ofsted. She transformed the meeting template and working practice and was also the Governor link to several important JARV meetings.

The Hertfordshire Association of School Governors is an independent organisation that supports and informs school governors, to ensure their views are heard and to promote high standards in school governance.

Herts for Learning Ltd, is the UK’s largest School company.  Developed from Hertfordshire Local Authority’s education services, the company is 80% owned by schools (20% by Hertfordshire County Council), with 98% of Hertfordshire schools now owning a share of the company.  A not-for-profit organisation dedicated to raising standards and improving teaching and learning, Herts for Learning Ltd provides high quality teaching, learning, leadership and business support to schools and education settings in Hertfordshire and beyond.

All Change for The Exchange

Training Times relaunches as The ExchangeTraining Times Relaunches as The Exchange

Following feedback from schools last term, Training Times has been rebranded over the summer, and is now The Exchange.   The September/October edition of the paper is now in schools, with a spotlight on radicalisation, and September Ofsted changes alongside Hertfordshire schools’ and HfL news.

As you will notice, the paper is now slightly smaller, and has been redesigned by HfL’s graphic designer, Niall Hargrave. There are more news stories, more Hertfordshire schools’ stories, and you will now receive the paper folded to make it easier to handle in the staffroom.

The link to the online version can be found here:

This HfL monthly newspaper has something for governors and staff based in schools, whether looking for a little light reading on current educational news or for courses to further your professional development.

This edition also includes:

  • Hertfordshire’s success in Stonewall Equality Index 2015
  • the right to be forgotten!
  • Exchanging Excellence –  Closing the gap and a Hemel schools’ Transition project
  • HfL’S maths fluency project
  • top ideas for use in the classroom

… and much more!

Do you have something you want us to cover? Get in touch!

Please contact our editorial team with queries: theexchange@nullhertsforlearning.co.uk

If you or your chair of governors would like to receive extra copies for the governing body please get in touch. We welcome any feedback or content suggestions for future editions.

Training Times – July 2015

Front page of July 2015 edition of Training TimesTraining Times – July 2015

The July 2015 edition of Training Times is now in schools, with a spotlight on mental health, Exchanging Excellence and our Vulnerable Groups Achievement team alongside the usual HfL and schools’ news.

The link to the online version can be found here: http://bit.ly/TT-July15.

This edition includes:

  • mental health – the pressures facing young people:
    ‘Homework ban to save pupils from depression’, read one headline in The Times last month; ‘Give children a good start in life’, pleaded top national mental health organisations to the new government in the wake of the general election.
  • new Head of School Recruitment Services has now joined HfL:
    Justine Hammond joined HfL on 1st July.
  • Exchanging Excellence – an impressive journey from RI to outstanding at Brockswood:
    The school is one of the first in the country to move straight from RI to outstanding between only two inspections under the current framework.
  • HfL’s first Investor in Parents award winners, Newberries Primary:
    Anna Traxon, Headteacher, commented “We are delighted to have been awarded with Investor in Parents status and to be the first school in Hertfordshire to receive the accolade.”
  • National Conference for school business managers:
    Organised by HfL last month, this national conference on the topic of being creative and inspirational during times of challenge & change, had three keynote speakers and 12 workshops.

…and much more!

Changes ahead

Following feedback from the recent Training Times survey, we are currently reviewing and refreshing the format, content and name of this publication for September.

If your chair of governors would like to receive extra copies for the governing body please get in touch. We welcome any feedback or content suggestions for future editions. Please contact our Journalist Jessica Broadbent at jessica.broadbent@nullhertsforlearning.co.uk with your feedback or if you would like your school to be included.