This week I report on the closure of the Inspiring Governance service in September with the withdrawal of DfE funding, the expansion of Ofsted’s Big Listen consultation with the opening of the children’s Big Listen survey and DfE’s publication of its evaluation of the first year findings of its attendance mentor intervention programme.

No government funding for governance
DfE funding of the Inspiring Governance school governor recruitment service will come to an end on 30 September after 8 years. From October this could be the first time in 25 years that there is no funded support for schools to recruit diverse, skilled governors from business. It only leaves Governors for Schools, an independent charity, as an avenue for Trusts and Governing bodies to use to recruit governors. The Co-Chief Executives of the National Governance Association have written an open letter to the Secretary of State for Education, to highlight the removal of the final piece of DfE governance funding.

Ofsted opens children’s ‘Big Listen’ survey
Ofsted has now extended its ‘Big Listen’ consultation to hear directly from children. The consultation, which aligns with the main ‘Big Listen’ consultation, asks a series of short questions for children to anonymously answer about how Ofsted should inspect schools.

Publication of the Evaluation of the attendance mentors pilot
The DfE has released its report on the first-year findings of the three-year attendance mentor intervention. The pilot aimed to test and evidence effective practice for improving school attendance through individual support and targeted family engagement.