You recently published articles on governor training and its perceived quality. Coincidentally, the North West Group of Co-ordinators of Governor Services (NWCOGS) had recently addressed the same issue in a letter to the National Governors’ Council.

The letter read as follows:
“At a recent meeting of the North West Regional Group of Co-ordinators of Governor Services (NWCOGS) a discussion took place regarding the National COGS conference in October. A number of representatives from the North West attended Conference and were dismayed to hear the presentation by Chris Gale on behalf of National Governors Council. It gave the impression that nothing good or constructive is happening in Governor Training nationally.

“As the DFEE stated recently, it is known from OFSTED inspections of LEAs that there is an enormous amount of good practice in governor training. We feel it is time to put the record straight and publicise this fact, rather than repeatedly referring to ‘patchy training’, the origin of, or basis for which, is uncertain.

“We enclose a document entitled ‘Principles of good practice on the provision of Governor Training and Development’. This was constructed by NWCOGS and has been communicated to governors in the North West via newsletters and training packs. In some instances governors are invited to complete an evaluation form six months after their training to assess the impact which the training had on their governance role. We are also setting up self-evaulation groups of governor co-ordinators to monitor governor support. As you can see, there is a commitment in this region to take our role and responsibilities seriously. We therefore find it unfortunate when sweeping statements are made about what governors need in the way of support, we feel we are already identifying this. We would wish to follow up any issues regarding governor training provision in our area”.

As a regional group with a membership of 30 plus we know these views are representative of our members and we agree wholeheartedly with the views expressed by Phil Hand and David Marriott.

Anne Gilgrist Chair of NWCOGS
Knowsley Education Department
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