What school governors in England and Wales have to know and do continues to change from year to year. This guide gives them in succinct form the information they need to function effectively throughout the 2007-8 school year. It provides a governor-centred view of topical issues, school priorities and changes in the law, and explains how they affect the governor's work. It also helps them plan successfully their own work for the year, and includes directories of further information.

A timely contribution to the debate on educational governance and equality, the World Yearbook of Education 2020 documents the significant changes that have occurred in the last 20 years reflecting a widespread shift from government to governance. Considering school context as well as specific school responses around the emergence of particular forms of governance, this book presents and contextualises a clear historical account of governance and accountability within schooling. Organised into three sections covering: Changing contexts of school governance; stakeholders and ‘responsibilisation’; and radical governance, carefully chosen contributors provide global insights from around the world. They consider educational outcomes and closing the inequality gap and they document radical forms of governance, at local level, which have sought to create more equitable governance, intelligent accountability and greater involvement of key stakeholders such as students. Providing a series of provocations and reminders of the possibilities that remain open to us, the World Yearbook of Education 2020 will be of interest to academics, professionals and policymakers in education and school governance, and any scholars who engage in historical studies of education and debates about educational governance and equality.

New primary leaders face significant challenges worldwide and this book brings together the range of those experiences and challenges for the first time. It includes interviews with primary school leaders in the early years of leadership in 12 different countries. Each chapter begins with an introduction to the principal and the local context before the principal's own description of her or his experience as a new leader. The leaders discuss how they prepared for principalship, their experiences after taking up the post, the extent to which the job meets with their expectations and their hopes and fears for the future. The final chapter provides a comparative overview, exploring new principals' perceptions of key influences on schools and their communities, their reactions to the multiple, heightened and often-conflicting expectations, pressures and challenges they encounter and the implications for principal preparation internationally. The voices of principals from around the world provide a vivid and authentic picture of new school leaders in different contexts at the beginning of the 21st century.

Each of the 20,000 schools in the UK has a governing body who are an integral part of the school's major decision making processes, the results of which directly affect our children. For this reason it is essential that governors make clear and informed decisions in order to implement the best educational framework for young people. This latest addition to the hugely successful 'Perfect Series', The Perfect (Ofted) School Governor written by a seasoned professional with 17 years' of head teacher experience, aims to be the most conclusive, easy-to-read, education jargon-busting and essential guide for teachers, governors (new and old) and school boards alike. It covers everything a governor needs to be the best that they can be, including the history of the education system in England, preparation for Ofsted inspections and their impact, leadership and governance, handling complaints, a checklist for effective governor meetings; guides to interpreting data correctly and much, much more!