This week I highlight a free webinar looking at governance hot topics this term, the announcement of the closure of the ESFA and a new DfE technology service for schools.

Free Governors for Schools webinar
On Thursday 26 September from 8-9am Governors for Schools, in conjunction with Better Governor, is offering a free webinar on Governance hot topics for this term.

It aims to get governors up-to-speed on the new government’s education priorities, school teachers’ pay award, new attendance regulations, the recently announced Curriculum and Assessment Review, and the changes announced by Ofsted relating to inspections in schools. Clearly any new announcements in education between now and then might necessitate some changes to the topics.

You can use this link to register for the webinar on the Governors for Schools website.

Closure of the ESFA
The Education and Skills Funding Agency is set to be closed next March as part of the latest changes to the academies system being rolled out by the new Labour government. It’s been announced that the move will happen in two stages. The ESFA’s Schools Financial Support and Oversight (SFSO) teams will transfer to the Regions Group from 1 October, in time to support the launch of Regional Improvement Teams by January 2025 and the funding and assurance functions will be fully centralised by the end of March.

DfE releases new technology service
The DfE has released a new service on how to ‘Plan technology for your school’, which aims to show schools how they can plan and use digital technology to improve pupils’ outcomes, save money and reduce workload. Using the service requires schools to answer questions about their technology and leadership, which then generates recommendations to support the school.