Good Governance

Ten Indicators for School Councils and Boards

Indicator

What it involves

1. Clear objectives

The objectives of a governing body should, of course, be crystal clear and shared by all council members. The governing body is thus focused on the school's educational core business.

For example, among the objectives of school councils defined in Victoria's Education and Training Reform Act 2006 is that of enhancing the educational opportunities of students.

School councils put aside time to 'drill down' into this objective - to agree as to what it means in practice and how their planning, policy and partnership work may best enhance such opportunities.

Thus, they may specify their role in promoting opportunities for all students to become successful learners, confident and creative individuals and active and informed citizens (as per the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians).

2. Well-specified functions and powers

School councils make sure that their functions and powers, detailed in the Department's Making the Partnership Work, are thought through and the basis of their practice.

Careful discussion of these functions and powers ensures that all council or board members are 'reading from the same page'.

3. Planning, reporting and accountability

• Analysing key issues and challenges
• Developing broad agreement among all of the school's stakeholders about the vision, goals and strategies that are most likely to improve learning outcomes for all students.

The resulting strategic plan is the basis for teachers, parents and students - and community groups - really working together. As a good practice, some schools develop their leadership structure and sub-committees around a small number of goals in their plan.

A school council also ensures that:

• An annual budget is prepared and subsequently that a statement of receipts and expenditure is prepared
• Proper accounts and records of financial operations and the financial position and operation of the council are kept
• An internal control system is maintained and monitored to ensure operational efficiency and adherence to statewide requirements.

Likewise, a school council strives to establish over time the highest standards of reporting and accountability for:

• The strategic plan
• School budget/finance
• School performance.

4. Values and behaviour

A school council promotes broad agreement about values (as reflected, for example, in a shared code of conduct) and demonstrate these values through standards of behaviour.

School councils also ensure that all members have a copy of (and have read) the Director's Code of Conduct (as issued by the Victorian Public Sector Standards Commissioner).

5. School community conversations

It is a key role of a council to faciliate school community conversations about the future of education (and educational policies such as the Blueprint for Education and Early Childhood Development and models such as e5) and about how all stakeholders can work together to improve learning outcomes.

Such conversations involving stakeholders and enabling mutual learning complement the professional knowledge, skills, experience and leadership of the principal and teachers.

Good facilitation is the key to a successful school community conversation.

Schools often use an experienced, independent facilitator who can promote conversation and deep consensus.

A tangible result of a school community conversation may be a shared, school community-wide understanding and policy framework for 21st century learning.

6. Decision making and standing orders

A council makes sure that decisions are based on proper meeting procedures and high-quality information and advice, informed by well-functioning sub-committees.

This includes making sure that council meetings are run in a productive and efficient manner with standing orders (see the Department's sample set of standing orders) and ground rules.

There also needs to be a carefully prepared agenda and papers that are sent at least five working days before a meeting.

7. Partnerships, participation and inclusion

It is obviously imperative to build strong teams, sub-committees and partnerships, that serve to promote mutual learning and joint work among all stakeholders, within and external to the school.

Partnerships that school councils consider include, for example, home-family links, a P-12 cluster of primary and secondary schools, links with workplaces and a school as a community hub.

Some schools develop a family-school-community partnerships policy. It may become a core guiding idea that influences all of a school's decisions, actions and practice.

Schools also encourage and support community members with different social and cultural backgrounds and expertise to participate in the work of the council and its sub-committees.

To focus efforts on inclusion, a school council may want to develop a cultural and social inclusion policy and plan. (For more information, see this section on the website).

8. Information and communication

• The school has a plan for content-rich, two-way communication between the school and families
• All stakeholders have ready access to meeting minutes, school policies and the strategic plan
• There is high-quality, two-way communication between the governing body and stakeholders.
   

9. Capacity building

• Proper induction and opportunities for professional learning
• Sharing ideas and practices with other councils/boards.

In this way, stakeholders (including parents and students of diverse backgrounds) can competently participate in shared decision making as enfranchised and informed decision makers.

10. Evaluation and improvement

Good governance is ultimately realised through evaluating the performance of the governing body and identifying opportunities for improvement in governance.

These indicators can be used each year to reflect on a council's performance as a governing body.