Summary

The first part briefly discusses what is meant by governance and why good governance is important. The second part outlines ten good practices for developing good governance in schools.

Update

Following further feedback and amendments from many people, this guide was last updated on 29 August 2010. We also invite you to provide your feedback about this latest draft.

During 2010, the guide will be illustrated via video interviews with parents, teachers, principals, students and education support personnel together with links to local school initiatives.

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank the many principals, teachers, parents, students and community members together with personnel in Victoria's DEECD for commenting on earlier drafts of this section. DEECD has provided wonderful support for this project. As well, we wish to thank the State Services Authority for their tremendous advice.  

Introduction

Decades of research and practice in schools make it clear that:

• Where parents, teachers, students and community members continue to learn from each other and really work together, the gains in student achievement can be significant
• The school-family-community partnership is among the most powerful improvement levers that a school has access to.

The research also suggests that these partnerships need to be much stronger - if partnerships are to become a source of major gains in student engagement and achievement.

As school councils are the focus of shared decision-making in a school, good governance is the foundation for building stronger partnerships. But it is also an ideal which is not easy to achieve.

Few education systems are close to this ideal. For one thing, there have not always been sufficient and sustained resources and support for schools to develop the very best governance. 

Nonetheless, during discussions with many principals and school councils, a shared view was that there was a need for key indicators of good governance in schools - which could be used to assess the strengths and weaknesses of current practice.

What is good governance?

The Australian National Audit Office defines governance as:

"… the set of responsibilities and practices, policies and procedures, exercised by an agency’s executive, to provide strategic direction, ensure objectives are achieved, manage risks and use resources responsibly and with accountability".

Governance includes more than the institutions of governing such as a board. It also encompasses the strength of the partnerships within an organisation or community and between stakeholders.

This gets to the heart of what is termed 'good governance'. A good governing body is built around strong partnerships and broad, grass-roots participation in its on-going work and development of:

• Accountability and conformance, i.e., how an organisation's governing body assesses how well the organisation performs effectively, efficiently and ethically in the best interests of all stakeholders and in accordance with the requirements of the law, regulations, probity, accountability and openness
• Leadership and performance, i.e., how an organisation's governing body sets the broad direction and vision for the organisation, develops plans, policies and strategies focused on improving outcomes and performance and helps to build strong and productive partnerships between all stakeholders.

Why is good governance important?

The mix of accountability and conformance and leadership and performance is obviously integral to a school's success.

Indeed, the development of good governance, as the basis of strong school-family-community partnerships, may emerge as the single most important factor in enabling significant improvements in learning outcomes and life opportunities for all students.

For a school council's work to, over time, have a major impact on student achievement, two things will need to continue to evolve:

1. Good school governance practices (as developed by many schools and informed by research) should be integrated within a holistic framework and widely communicated
2. Adequate resources and support for high quality training and professional development and for building school-family-community partnerships and networks of school councils.

Making time for good governance

Good governance is obviously a demanding and time-consuming endeavour. Time that some may feel they do not have to give, especially in the absence of adequate resources and support.

As well, because some boards have to meet monthly, this can create a burdensome meeting 'treadmill' for management. Best practice boards may meet less often for longer periods.

One way to address this with school councils (which must meet at least eight times per year) is to organise every second meeting as a more policy-focused forum. This is discussed below.

Many people may also make the time to contribute to a council if they: (a) believe that their efforts can make a real difference in a school and (b) feel that a council is actually governing, not engaging in trivial matters or failing to act as a unified team.

Greater awareness of specific good governance practices, as developed by so many school councils and boards, can obviously promote this commitment. It can also assist a school council, that may have become bogged down in bureaucracy, trivia, micro-management, rubber stamping or petty politics, to move forward.

Ten Good Practices

Based on the good practices of many school councils, research findings, the Department's school council guidelines and Making the Partnership Work as well as public sector governance guidelines, ten draft features of good governance are as follows:

1. The common interest and core business
2. Clarity about objectives and functions
3. Planning, policy making and reporting
4. Personal capabilities and conduct
5. Induction and professional learning
6. Conversations and consensus building
7. Effective and policy-focused meetings
8. Partnerships, participation and inclusion
9. Communication and information sharing
10. Evaluation and improvement.

Together, they can comprise a self-assessment and improvement tool for a council or board. Each is discussed below.

1. The Common interest and CORE Business

The common interest is composed of interests widely shared by members of a community. It would benefit the community as a whole and be supported by most community members, if they can find it. ... The continuing task of governance - in any community that respects equal rights for all - is finding common ground on policies that advance the common interest. Ronald D. Brunner

Good school governance involves two closely related challenges:

1. Advancing the common interest, i.e., finding common ground on policies and plans that advance the interests of all students
2. Focusing on a school's core business, i.e., the key issues to do with improving education and student learning outcomes.

As a school council is a corporate body, the decisions made by the council are those of a whole team rather than of an individual, a group or committee or any one section of the school community.

All sections of the community - parents, teachers and students - contribute views to discussions about a school's core business (high quality education and the best interests of all students) and thereby assist the council to come to an informed decision.

A council welcomes diverse views and strives to build unity in the midst of this diversity, culminating in a shared vision and strategic plan. As well, as diverse views are really valued, the risk of factionalism (a net cost to the community as a whole) is reduced.

The essence of a good school council is thus twofold: a process of advancing the common interest and ensuring that all members are focused on the school's core business. To do this, the best councils translate the common interest into truly shared goals to improve the educational experience and learning outcomes for all.

The principal helps to ensure that the council is focused on its core strategic business and is thus developing as a real team by:

• Providing the school council with timely advice about key educational and other matters (via the principal's report and educational focus items on the meeting agenda)
• Reporting to the school council on the school’s performance against its strategic and implementation plans.

Likewise, the school council president does this by:

• Ensuring council stays sharply focused on key issues to do with improving education and student learning outcomes
• Making sure that meetings stay on track – keeping to both the subject (sticking to the agenda) and time allocated.

School council members may discuss: how do we add real value, over time, to policies and plans to improve learning outcomes?Thus, during a two-year period, some councils will hold a forum in which teachers, parents and students, together with other community members, collaboratively explore key questions such as:

• What educational challenges are we trying to address?
• What kind of education system are we trying to co-create?
• What can we all do to further improve learning outcomes?
• What can we all do about reducing the achievement gap?
• How can we further build school-family-community links?

2. clarity about Objectives and functions

The objectives of a governing body should, of course, be clear and understood by all council members. A council’s objectives are to:

• Assist in the efficient governance of the school
• Ensure that its decisions affecting students of the school are made having regard, as a primary consideration, to the best interests of the students
• Enhance the educational opportunities of the students of the school
• Ensure the school and the council comply with any requirements of the Education Act, the regulations, a Ministerial Order or a direction, guideline or policy issued under this Act.

With enhancing the educational opportunities of students, for example, school councils put aside time to 'drill down' into this objective - to agree as to what it means and how their planning, policy and partnership work may best enhance such opportunities.

School councils also make sure that their functions and powers are thought through carefully and the basis of their practice. Among a school council’s functions are:

• Establishing the broad direction and vision of the school
• Developing, reviewing and updating policies of the school
• Informing itself of, and taking into account, any views of the school community for the purpose of making decisions in regard to the school and its students
• Ensuring that an annual report relating to financial activities and the school plan is published and made available to the school community
• Stimulating interest in the school and the wider community.

Discussion of functions and powers obviously ensures that all council members are 'reading from the same page'.

For example, school council members discuss what does it really mean to establish the broad direction and vision of the school and how a vision really connects with practice on a day-to-day basis.

3. Planning, POLICy making and reporting

In the Department's Making the Partnership Work, it is stated that:

• A school council is accountable to the Minister in respect of the performance by the council of its functions
• As the governing body, a school council plays an important role in accountability and improvement processes
• This role involves active participation in planning, review and monitoring of school performance
• An effective school has a council that engages in analysis, discussion and debate about performance as a normal part of its business
• A school council endorses the key school planning, evaluation and reporting documents.

A school council should look up at what is possible to achieve over time in the community, not down into daily operations.

Strategic planning

If worked on properly, a school's strategic planning can:

• Separate the important from the urgent
• Develop ideas for realistic, incremental improvement but that are also bold in the commitment to real change over time
• Build unity of purpose between the principal, staff and school council and establish priorities around truly shared goals.

A school's strategic plan is the basis for teachers, parents and students and community groups working together - a point around which a whole school community can focus and unite.

In this regard, the goals in a school's strategic plan and the school's leadership structure may ideally be aligned.

A school council seeks to consult with the school's community. One way that schools do this is to have a clear time line for developing the plan publicised at the beginning of the year to ensure that council and community members as well as sub-committees have an opportunity to provide serious input.

This can culminate in a clear, coherent plan for the future that includes truly shared school-family-community goals.

Some schools publicly display their shared vision and goals in understandable, explicit terms to their communities in a variety of ways (e.g., on their websites and posters on classroom walls).

Policy making

All school council members should obviously seek to focus their limited time and energy on being strategic and setting policy.

Good policies complement a plan. Policies let everyone know what the whole school community approach to certain matters will be and ensure that there are uniformity and consistency in decisions and in how the school operates.

Schools seek to have a small number of specific policies that actually affect school practice rather than a large number of policies, some of which may be largely irrelevant or of little use.

A school council may schedule all policies for review on a regular basis. Ideally, parents and students should be informed of which policies are to be reviewed each year, the process to be undertaken, how parents and students can be involved and any agreed changes at the end of the review process.

The Department has a useful framework for developing policies.

Financial reporting

A school council 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.
  

It is the financial plan that makes sure that the school's resources (people, programs, services and equipment) support the educational goals and priorities. It shows how the school will make the most efficient and effective use of these resources to produce the results aimed for in the strategic plan.

Good financial practice obviously means managing finances so that the budget and the school’s strategic plan (ideally with major goals focused on the future of education) are closely aligned.

The Department also has a very useful internal financial control checklist which a school can use to make sure that it does not expose itself to financial risk. A school's treasurer and finance committee should be familiar with it.

Annual report

It is obviously good practice for an annual report to be data-rich, objective, both celebratory and critical and a basis for in-depth discussion within a school council.

If it is simply signed-off with minimal discussion, it is a missed opportunity for carefully reflecting on what has been achieved, what has not worked and what may need to be rethought.

4. Personal Capabilities and CONDUCT

A council’s effectiveness depends to a large extent, of course, on the capabilities of its members. A good council will have a mix of people who possess (and are also provided with support and professional learning to develop) the following kinds of capabilities:

• Collaboration and trust. Everyone obviously needs to work on their ability to team up and build trusting relationships. This includes putting people at ease. Council members should be able to work with people of diverse backgrounds (culture, ethnicity, gender, age, social class and educational background)
• Strategic thinking. This means envisioning what the school's future can be and how the work of the council can help achieve that vision. A council member seeks to understand the ‘big picture’ for the school and its wider community and continues to develop the ability to foreground longer-term, strategic issues
• Focusing on the things that matter. For example, council members may seek to keep council meetings focused on the school's strategic goals. This means constantly asking: “Is what we are discussing or doing - or how the meeting agenda is organised - helping us to move toward our goals?”
• Questioning. A council member leads the way by asking searching questions: “What will we really achieve by doing this?" and "Is this the best course of action?" All council members should, of course, strongly encourage opportunities to discuss the pros and cons of a proposed policy or action
• Listening so that others will talk and talking so that others will listen. Both are obviously always a 'work in progress'. The chairperson of a meeting should, of course, have an open mind in all discussions and a willingness to listen to - and learn from - sometimes intensely different viewpoints
• Financial literacy. A council member should be able to answer the following: "I know and understand the formal financial responsibilities of our council" and "I understand and carefully consider the financial reports provided at monthly meetings".

There is obviously no reason to expect that all council members will inherently possess all of these capabilities, which makes proper induction and training all the more important. This, in turn, raises the question of adequate resources for induction and training.

Code of conduct

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

School councils should 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).

A director and member of a board of a Victorian public entity, including a school council, must:

• Act with honesty and integrity, e.g., by being open and transparent in one's dealings, using power responsibly and not placing oneself in a position of conflict of interest
• Act in good faith in the best interests of the public entity
• Act fairly and impartially, i.e., avoiding bias, discrimination, caprice or self-interest and demonstrating respect for others by acting in a professional and courteous manner
• Use information and their position appropriately
• Act in a financially responsible manner, i.e., understanding financial reports, audit reports and other financial material that comes before the board and actively inquiring into this material
• Exercise due care, diligence and skill, e.g., seeking all relevant information, making reasonable enquiries and understanding the financial, strategic and other implications of decisions
• Comply with the establishing legislation or its equivalent
• Demonstrate leadership and stewardship, i.e., promoting and supporting the application of the Victorian public sector values and acting in accordance with the Directors’ Code.

5. Induction and professional learning

It is obviously important to build the capacity, over time, of the school council to be effective through:

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

A council should ensure that all new members are given adequate support, documentation, mentoring, respect and feedback. An induction package may include all or most of the following:

• Vision statement
• Constituting order
• Standing orders
• Strategic plan
• Policy manual
• Minutes of meetings for the past year
• Annual report
• Financial report
• Current year budget
• E-mail addresses and telephone numbers of members
• A list of sub-committees (including their terms of reference, chairs and members)
• School brochures
• The State Services Authority Director's Code of Conduct
• A copy of VICCSO's What is Good Governance?

A mentor may be available to answer questions a new council member has outside of council meetings and act as a sounding board for ideas or issues the new member may want to test before raising in a full meeting.

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

Professional learning

If the quality of governance practices in all schools is to be continually improved, there must obviously be the requisite investment in the on-learning learning of school council members.

One-off training workshops, especially if unconnected to in-depth analysis of the specific issues and challenges in a particular school or region, can provide very useful first steps but on their own may do little to really improve governance practices.

Effective professional learning for school councils is that which is:

• Focused on how a council can impact on student achievement
• Embedded in the development of good governance practices
• A source of challenging ideas about key educational issues
• Tailored to meet the specific circumstances of the school
• Sustained over a period of time, including via on-line learning.

6. conversations and CONSENSUS BUILDING

It is a key role of a school council to facilitate 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.

What is a 'powerful' conversation? Schools organise workshops and forums in which teachers, parents and students are involved in exploring key questions - prompting many ideas and insights which a leadership team, education sub-committee and school council can build into a shared framework for powerful learning.

A powerful conversation can open up new possibilities for practice. It may help a school and its community to:

• Build trust and respect in the face of different views
• Listen deeply to understand what others really care about
• Address tough dilemmas and competing priorities
• Think strategically while operating practically.

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.

The challenge always is to optimise the opportunity for diversity in opinion and yet assimilate the variety of views into one voice while not quashing dissent to create a fake consensus.

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

In this regard, in partnership with schools and DEECD, VICCSO is creating practical, state-of-the-art tools to support face-to-face and on-line conversations in school communities. This is a major project which will link with the Department's e5 model.

The tools may assist schools with developing shared views about 21st century education, tackling hot topics and promoting respectful dialogue among teachers, parents and students.

Ground rules for conversations

A school may set ground rules for its meetings and conversations.

Ground rules are of tremendous importance – and yet are often overlooked as a tool. Devoting an hour to working on ground rules can save countless hours in the future.

It is also important to refer to them regularly. Some schools print them on a poster that is taped to the wall so they are visible at every meeting. Ground rules can be added to your standing orders.

The following ground rules are a mix of the ground rules used by several schools. They are relevant to all small group, committee or school council meetings as well as larger community forums.

Sample ground rules

We encourage:

• Everyone to propose matters that may be placed on the agenda that is distributed prior to the meeting
• Everyone to express their views at the meeting
• Making an effort to listen carefully and to understand each other’s views
• Using body language to show warmth and acceptance and to encourage others to relax and respond in kind
• Questioning
• Mutual learning
• Thinking about what’s best for the community as a whole and not just any one part of it.

We understand that:

• Disagreement and robust debate are opportunities to learn more about an issue and to, ultimately, make a wiser group decision.

We avoid:

• Talking over the top of people
• Not saying anything (e.g., the problem of conflict avoidance)
• Being aggressive or rude
• Taking ‘cheap shots’
• Factions, stacking meetings, hidden agendas and undermining
• Rubber stamping
• Non-collaborative body language (e.g., people rolling their eyes when another person is speaking).

We use:

• Non-threatening ways to enforce these rules such as the whole group playing a lighthearted role in addressing violations.

Building consensus and resolving conflict

If a council or a committee cannot vote unanimously, the chairperson will often encourage members to delay the decision for further consideration. If need be, with major issues, a facilitator may be called in to assist - in order to reach a unanimous vote.

Conflict is obviously a natural part of life. It can be a positive force. It can also have an ugly side. Left uncontrolled, it can divert energy from the group, destroy morale and create suspicion and distrust. In extreme cases, unchecked conflict can destroy an organisation.

If a serious conflict does emerge, it is best to seek an alternative to 'fight' or 'flight'. The first approach assumes that the combatants need to fight it out so that operations can eventually get back to normal. The second seeks to avoid the problem.

Both approaches tend to backfire. There is a better alternative - conflict resolution. Conflict resolution helps people deal with their differences in ways that are neither adversarial nor confrontational. Some conflicts may require third-party mediation.

The Department has useful guidelines, tools and resources for preventing and dealing with conflict.

7. Effective AND Policy-focused meetings

A school 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 (no longer than 2.5 hours) with standing orders (see the Department's sample standing orders).

A council carefully develops its standing orders according to its school values and shared understanding of good governance.

Standing orders are an essential part of the induction process for new council members. Every council member should have a copy in a folder that also includes minutes and other documents.

There also needs to be a carefully prepared agenda and papers should be sent at least five working days before a meeting to ensure that everyone has a chance to think about issues before the meeting and to propose agenda items.

The Department has a useful agenda and minutes template to help structure meetings and minute taking.

Each agenda item may relate to a council-approved policy. By matching all or most agenda items with policies, a council can make sure that its work relates completely to approved policies.

This can also assist a council to stay focused on its more strategic role and to monitor how agreed council policies are, in fact, influencing school decisions, action and practice.

Another way to promote this is to have a policy focus item on every second meeting agenda - as a key issue (e.g., a school's technology plan) to be discussed and agreed on, ideally following previous in-depth consideration by the relevant sub-committee.

In the course of a year, there may be three or so such policy-focused forums, thus alternating largely procedural meetings with brainstorming and analysing key issues. There may still be normal school council business, but time would be put aside for the forum.

Competent chairing of meetings

It is obviously the primary responsibility of the school council president to ensure that each meeting is efficient and effective and helps to cultivate a real sense of community. The president should:

• Set the agenda with the principal (at least five working days before the meeting) taking into account other members' suggestions and issues arising from the previous meeting
• Stay on time with the agenda and keep the meeting moving along and focus discussion on the topic at hand
• Stick to standing orders and uphold ground rules for meetings
• Support a culture of teamwork, mutual respect and frank and open discussion, strongly encouraging everyone to have a say
• Avoid expressing bias (always using a neutral tone of voice and displaying collaborative body language)
• Ensure that decisions are properly understood and well recorded. If necessary, the president will repeat the decision for the minute taker and ensure that all members agree with the wording. As well, he or she will ensure that differing viewpoints are accurately recorded in the minutes
• Clear the minutes within one week of the meeting.

A president may also ensure that there is external professional assessment of the council's performance at least once every two years as well as ensure that there are other interim evaluations.

Sub-committees

Sub-committees are the backbone of an effective governing board.

Sub-committees have clear purposes and terms of reference and procedures for agendas, minutes and reporting to the council and make recommendations for the full school council to consider.

The purposes and terms of reference of sub-committees are decided by council. The terms of reference should directly relate to key policy issues and school council policy development.

The Department has a useful sub-committee reports template. It is obviously important to have a proper structure for such reports.

Schools find that 'less is more' - it's obviously better to have a small number of well-functioning teams than lots of committees, some of which may be 'going through the motions'.

Sub-committees should determine their meeting frequency. They do not necessarily need to meet monthly.

Some sub-committees may only meet 3-4 times a year - if focused on policy development and planning for the future.

The principal, staff and school council may from time to time review the numbers and types of school committees and identify:

• Problems such as an unclear purpose or a lack of strategic focus on the future
• Duplication, i.e., a school may have school council and staff committees that operate separately and yet cover similar issues (e.g., an education committee and a curriculum committee)
• Positive opportunities for building teacher-parent-student synergy in real teams.
  

Such teams are not just focused on internal school matters but may address broader issues that are of importance both to the school and to groups (e.g., a sporting club) within the community.

Examples of school council sub-committees that may be high-level, whole school community teams that are sharply focused on policy development include:

• Education or teaching and learning
• Information and communication technology
• Health and well-being or health promotion
• Performing arts or sport and recreation
• Student leadership and participation
• A K-12 or 0-18 partnerships team
• Eco-learning/education for sustainability
• A facilities for new learning team.

Some schools have rebuilt their leadership structure around a small number of policy-focused sub-committees, providing a sharp (and shared staff and school community) focus on improvement.

8. 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.

Joint governance arrangements will also become more common as governments and school communities seek to address increasingly complex issues outside the control or influence of any one school.

With joint governance arrangements, it is important to work out the:

• Desired shared vision, goals, outcomes and timeframes
• Roles and responsibilities, including capacities to contribute
• Specifications of the projects, services and strategies
• Resources to be applied by the parties and budgetary issues
• Optimum mix of multi-school and single school governance.

Partnerships that school councils obviously consider as key policy and planning areas for discussing and progressing include:

• Strengthening family-school links
• A P-12 cluster of primary and secondary schools
• Links within a regional network
• Links with workplaces and sporting clubs
• 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.

Students can be co-opted as community members by school council. They are co-opted for two years and have full voting rights. It is good practice to have student members of council. This may be part of a council's student participation policy and strategy.

The best councils are those that are inclusive, comprising people from all walks of life and representing a wide variety of views and skills. Good councils reach out to people who may be co-opted as community members but also make sure that they remain strongly representative of their own local stakeholders.

Key questions are: does the school council membership profile reflect the school's demographics? Are the voices of different members of the school community (including students) really heard in decision-making? If not, what can be done to increase the inclusion and representation of under-represented groups?

To focus on inclusion, a council may want to develop a diversity strategy or a cultural and social inclusion policy and plan.

A way to build inclusion is to make sure that council meetings are open to the school community. Community members should be encouraged to attend (via publicising meetings and agenda items as well as including previous minutes in the school newsletter).

9. communication & information sharing

A school council may make sure that:

• The school has a policy and 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.

Open and transparent reporting and communication together with a high level of school community awareness of the work of a school council and its decisions are integral to good school governance.

It is good practice for school council meeting agendas, reports and minutes to be included in a school's newsletter and on its website. As well, upcoming council meeting dates should be published.

There may be e-mail access to council members as well as to policies. (For an example of this good governance practice, see the Fitzroy High School website).

The good practice mentioned above (about minutes, etc.) can be assisted by a policy and plan for better school communications.

The aim of this plan may be to improve a school's website and newsletter content and lay-out. It may include strategies for how best to distribute school council information such as minutes, etc.

Very useful, in this regard, is the Department's school communications toolkit, which provides a range of ideas.

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.

High-performing boards and councils tend to do more than an annual review to ensure ongoing improvement. Performance evaluation can be an ongoing process, not just an annual event.

Many school councils have an evaluation sheet at the end of every (or second) council meeting. It can be an easy way to gain quick feedback and encourage discussion and interaction between board members. It may require little time or effort to put in place.

GOOD GOVERNANCE AT ALL LEVELS

One thing that can be overlooked is this: good governance practices are as important at the regional network and statewide levels as at the local school council level.

Not only should all three levels be developed together, but people at all three levels should have opportunities to interact.

Why? Good governance at all levels is required to bring about improvements in learning outcomes. If the governance roles and responsibilities of any one of the three levels are underdeveloped, the system as a whole is weakened.

What is needed is strong, co-ordinated tri-level governance. This may have the following elements:

• Students and their needs and outcomes are the focus
• Making sure that all three levels promote subsidiarity - meaning that decisions should be made at the most appropriate level
• The sharing of data and information across all levels
• Building leadership capacity across all three levels
• Two way tri-level communication and consultation.

Subsidiarity is important within education departments, favouring the decentralisation of many powers (and the resources to go with them) from central to regional and local governing bodies.

Many major decisions about education and learning are often best taken by the people who work in schools in partnership with those affected by this work, including parents and students.

 CONCLUSION

Governance is pivotal in improving educational performance and outcomes for all. Good governance can be built in two ways:

1. Using key indicators of good governance to assess the strengths and weaknesses of current practice
2. Ensuring that governance practices are improved over time at all levels - local, regional and state-wide/national - and that there are adequate resources and support for achieving this.