All school governors and academy trustees must have safeguarding and child protection training, including online safety training.
The DfE Governance Guides also recommend that induction training is provided and at least one governor/trustee should complete cyber security training.
Safeguarding Training
The requirement to have safeguarding training comes from the statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE).
KCSIE says that the training should be “regularly updated”, which I imagine most schools will interpret as updated annually.
“Governing bodies and proprietors should ensure that all governors and trustees receive appropriate safeguarding and child protection (including online) training at induction.
“This training should equip them with the knowledge to provide strategic challenge to test and assure themselves that the safeguarding policies and procedures in place in schools and colleges are effective and support the delivery of a robust whole school approach to safeguarding.
“Their training should be regularly updated.”
Keeping Children Safe in Education
Your school may invite governors to attend the safeguarding training they give to staff members, although be aware that the governor role is different to staff roles so the training may not cover everything governors need to know.
Online courses such as Child Protection for School Governors from the NSPCC are also available.
Cyber Security Training
The DfE recommend in their Governance Guides that “at least one” governor or trustee should take cyber security training.
“Governing bodies need to understand the considerable damage cyber security attacks can cause to their schools. At least one governor should complete cyber security training.”
DfE Maintained Schools Governance Guide
“The board needs to understand the considerable damage cyber security attacks can cause to their trust. At least one trustee should complete the cyber security training.”
DfE Academy Trust Governance Guide
Induction Training
The DfE says that boards in both maintained schools and academies are responsible for providing induction training.
The quote below is from the Maintained Schools Governance Guide but the wording is very similar in the academy trust version.
“A governing body is responsible for…providing an induction for new governors, associate members and the governance professional and identifying specific training such as safeguarding, Prevent and how to keep pupils safe online.”
DfE Maintained Schools Governance Guide
I would not want to serve as a governor without induction training that explains the powers of governors and how they should be used. Governors have a wide range of responsibilities and poor governance can have a serious impact on the school.
Meetings can be difficult to understand at first, with lots of acronyms, jargon, policies and documents. Data sheets and budgets can be very difficult to understand when seen for the first time.
Induction training should cover:
- the statutory responsibilities of governors
- the difference between being “strategic” (the role of governors) and being “operational” (the role of the headteacher and staff)
- introduction to budgets
- how to use and interpret school performance data
- staffing issues
- safeguarding children (if not covered in a separate course)
- how to ask challenging questions and when to offer support
- how to conduct school visits and get to know your individual school
- how to make an impact as a governor.
Do governors need Prevent duty training?
A separate article looks at Prevent duty training for governors. My interpretation of Keeping Children Safe in Education is that all governors need Prevent training.
Does the clerk need safeguarding or Prevent training?
Keeping Children Safe In Education states that all staff should receive safeguarding training, so if the clerk is a member of staff they should receive at least basic training in this area.
“All staff should receive appropriate safeguarding and child protection training which is regularly updated.
“In addition, all staff should receive safeguarding and child protection updates (for example, via email, e-bulletins and staff meetings), as required, and at least annually, to provide them with relevant skills and knowledge to safeguard children effectively.”
Keeping Children Safe In Education
Must we keep a record of governor training?
There’s no legal requirement to keep a training record but it is recommended. The record lets you ensure new governors receive appropriate training and keep track of any gaps in the board’s expertise.
OFSTED may ask to see this record and it’s also useful if you are evaluating the effectiveness of the board.
Governor Training Record Template
A downloadable, editable Word form to keep a record of governor training is available on my templates and letters page.