3. Statutory responsibilitiesIn broad terms, the statutory responsibilities that support the main objective of raising standards in the school cover the following areas:agreeing the aims of the school and ensuring that supporting policies are in place;ethos and discipline;the provision of an appropriate curriculum;staffing and related pay issues;managing the budget;setting targets for pupil achievement;reporting assessments and results;appointing the headteacher and deputy headteacher;ensuring that a performance management policy is established in the school and keeping this under review;responding to inspection.For further explanation on these responsibilities, click on the link below and read the summary from Sallis (2000).The role of the governors in the school: specificsInspection now assesses the effectiveness of the governing body, and the process looks more closely at how it fulfils statutory responsibilities.The governing body may be deemed unsatisfactory if a single responsibility included on Form S.3, Governors' audit of statutory requirements, is not fully in place. Look more closely at Form S.3 in Activity 3.Click onthe link below to open Form S.3Form S.3Activity 3As part of a self-evaluative process, it might be helpful for your governing body to consider reviewing its compliance with Form S.3, the Governors' audit of statutory requirements, which must be completed and returned to the Registered Inspector prior to an inspection starting.It would be helpful for you to familiarise yourself with the form and its contents. You can do this by clicking on the link above.4. Strategic management’It must be accepted that governors share in every aspect of the strategic management of the school.‘(Sallis, 2000)If strategic direction is about setting aims and targets, devising plans and policies, and taking decisions that will raise standards, then strategic management is concerned with ensuring that all the necessary elements are in place in order that success can be achieved.Strategic management involves a period of reflection and evaluation of the school's current status, combined with forward thinking about future education initiatives and projections relating to the potential budget and pupil numbers. What should emerge are plans that clearly link:the demands of the school and its community;the aims, values and culture of the school;the available resources, whether financial, human or material.The governing body may want to give some thought to how plans are devised.Is the budget the driving force?A much better way of planning is to put pupils' needs foremost, with the desired curriculum at the centre of planning. What should then follow is consideration of how this will be staffed and resourced materially, weighing possible alternatives against the available finance. By planning in this way, governors can be reasonably sure that they are focusing on standards rather than funding.Once the framework is decided, the governors' strategic role becomes one of monitoring to ensure that plans have been implemented and are making satisfactory progress. This needs to be followed by evaluation against the agreed success criteria. Lay governors should not worry about working in isolation; they work in partnership with the school leader – the headteacher.It is also important that governors recognise that it is not their job to undertake tasks in the operational management of the school. The headteacher manages the school on a daily basis, working within the strategic framework that the governing body has, in partnership with him/her, set in place.Now try Activity 4.Activity 4How do you know if your governing body is appropriately involved in the strategic management of the school?Look at the agendas and minutes for the last few governors' meetings.Working with colleagues, you could make a list of the information you think you need in order to be able to make strategic decisions.Does this match what you actually currently receive?Are there any areas where you would like further information?Where does the information come from?Is the headteacher the main source, or can you access data about your school from elsewhere, such as electronically via your LEA's website?ConclusionThis free course provided an introduction to studying Education, Childhood & Youth qualifications. It took you through a series of exercises designed to develop your approach to study and learning at a distance and helped to improve your confidence as an independent learner.Keep on learningStudy another free courseThere are more than 800 courses on OpenLearn for you to choose from on a range of subjects. Find out more about all our free courses.Take your studies furtherFind out more about studying with The Open University by visiting our online prospectus. If you are new to university study, you may be interested in our Access Courses or Certificates.What’s new from OpenLearn?Sign up to our newsletter or view a sample.For reference, full URLs to pages listed above:OpenLearn – www.open.edu/openlearn/free-coursesVisiting our online prospectus – www.open.ac.uk/coursesAccess Courses – www.open.ac.uk/courses/do-it/accessCertificates – www.open.ac.uk/courses/certificates-heNewsletter – www.open.edu/openlearn/about-openlearn/subscribe-the-openlearn-newsletterOFSTED Handbook for Inspecting Secondary Schools (HMI 1360) (2003), London.Martin, J. and Holt, A. (2002) Joined-up Governance, Ely, Adamson Books.Sallis, J. (2000) Basics for School Governors, Stafford, Network Educational Press Ltd.Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 LicenceCourse image: Alan Levine in Flickr made available under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Licence.Sue Platt has been a school governor for 21 years, at both primary and secondary phase schools, and currently chairs her local secondary school governing body. She holds the Diploma in Management Studies (Education).Sue is a Development Officer in the Norfolk Governor Support Service, part of the Norfolk Education Advisory Services. She works with colleagues to devise and deliver training courses for Norfolk's 7000 school governors. Within the team, Sue's areas of in-depth knowledge include personnel issues (including performance management and pay), use of data to aid school improvement, behaviour management and pupil exclusions.Text: Martin, J. and Holt, A. (2002) Joined up Governance: Making Sense of the Role of the School Governor, Adamson Publishing Ltd.Text: DfES (2003) ‘The Big Picture’, National Programme for New Governors, DfES. Crown copyright material is reproduced under Class Licence Number C01W0000065 with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for ScotlandEvery effort has been made to contact copyright owners. If any have been inadvertently overlooked, the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangements at the first opportunity.Don't miss out:If reading this text has inspired you to learn more, you may be interested in joining the millions of people who discover our free learning resources and qualifications by visiting The Open University - www.open.edu/openlearn/free-coursesDiscussion2017061600