0191 228 4090 admin@neat.org.uk
Governors Away Day

NEAT Academy Trust’s Governance Away Day: Strengthening Collaboration and Encouraging Volunteering in Schools

Governance volunteers from across NEAT Academy Trust came to share and collaborate on plans for the year ahead. Representing the trust’s seven schools and the trust Board of Directors, over 70 volunteers met with school leaders to plan governance activities to address school and trust priorities. With a focus on building upon the strong foundations to increase attendance and improve outcomes, volunteers discussed actions they would carry out during the year to support and critically evaluate school policies and procedures and provide assurance on progress towards priorities. This included planning of stakeholder engagement, including pupil, parent and staff voice activities. 

 

In opening the day, Dr Anne McNall, Chair of the NEAT Academy Trust Board, highlighted that in a context of reduced volunteer numbers across the country, NEAT was continuing to encourage new volunteers, formally welcoming 21 new volunteers since last year’s Governance Away Day. Volunteers collaborated in groups with those across the trust to explore trust priorities before focusing on school and Board priorities for the year ahead. 

In reflecting on the day, Debi Bailey, NEAT Academy Trust Chief Executive Officer remarked:

Our annual governance conference is genuinely one of my highlights of the year. It provides an invaluable opportunity to bring our governance volunteers together with our leaders from across the trust to review progress towards our collective vision and to identify strategic priorities for the coming year. Attendance at the conference is always strong and this year was no exception with over 70 of our directors and governors attending. 

Dr Anne McNall, our trust board Chair,  opened the day by taking the opportunity to remind us of the real value in the governance role and thanked our volunteers for their ongoing commitment to making a difference in our communities. We know that nationally the numbers of people volunteering has declined significantly and we are very fortunate that governance across our organisation is very strong. 

There are a range of governance volunteer opportunities across the trust to support education in our schools. NEAT’s volunteers find it a rewarding role, being involved in shaping school development and supporting school leaders, with volunteer development including the annual Governance Away Day and a programme of CPD. To find out more about how to get involved, governance@neatat.org.uk

To find out more about the Role of a Governer whatch the video below and also visit NGA.org.uk

#volunteer #collaboration #NEAT