NORFOLK GOVERNORS' NETWORK

As was highlighted by Mike Simm and Julie Westrop's presentation at the NGN Conference in June - governors now need to carefully consider what they do for the services they have historically received from their School Improvement Partners.

There are a number of services available for schools to choose from - including those from Norfolk County Council, independent Improvement Professionals and other private sector providers.  This gives governors lots of choice but when considering who to choose, it is worth looking at the original job spec for SIPs which described SIPs should

• act as a critical professional friend to the schools, helping their leadership to evaluate their schools' performance, identify priorities for improvement and plan effective change
• help build the schools' capacity to improve pupils' achievement and to realise other key outcomes for pupils that bear on achievement
• contribute to whole-school improvement in the schools, including effective contribution to the Every Child Matters outcomes
• provide challenge and support for the senior leadership team in the schools
• provide information to governing bodies on their schools' performance and development.

There is more detail in these two documents from Norfolk County Council:

• SIP job specification
• SIP person specification