The National Governors’ Association represents school governors in England; there are over 300,000 governors, the largest volunteer group in the UK. Follow the links to the right for more information about the NGA Board and NGA head office.
The NGA is an independent charity that aims to support and promote good governance in our schools; we do this through lobbying, via a range of contacts with ministers, policy makers and education organisations. We also run national conferences, and a number of regional events.
We produce a magazine ‘Governing Matters’ which is sent direct to members homes, with additional copies sent to schools and local authorities. We also produce papers and publications offering information and guidance to governors.
In addition the NGA represents the governor perspective in a variety of settings inside and outside government. A full listing of our representative work can be found here
Governance
School governors provide strategic leadership and accountability in schools. Governors appoint head teachers and other staff. In some schools the site is owned by the governing body. It is governors who hold the main responsibility for finance in schools, and it is governors who work with the head teacher to make the tough decisions about balancing resources.
Governors have in the past been well supported by local authorities in making these decisions, and some local councils still offer an excellent service. But the government has increasingly transferred the key decisions to individual schools, and current policy looks like accelerating that process.
The NGA is a member organisation, with a volunteer board drawn from governors from all over England. From its offices in Birmingham a small professional staff manage the organisation and co-ordinate the services to members.
The NGA is chaired by Stephen Adamson; Stephen was elected Chair of NGA in December 201, prior to that he was vice chair (2006-8, 2009-11), and chair of Policy Committee 2008–11. He is currently chair of governors of a primary school in Norwich, and chair of the Norfolk Governors’ Network. Previous governor offices include being chair of a rural primary school and of a large urban secondary school. Before starting his own publishing company in the mid-1990s Stephen held senior management posts in various mainstream publishing companies. He has written frequently on governance both in book form and for specialist periodicals.
NGA chief executive Emma Knights was joint chief executive of the Day Care Trust before joining the NGA in January 2010.
The NGA Articles of Association can be viewed here
The NGA Memorandum of Association can be viewed here
The NGA Rules and Standing Orders can be viewed here
The most recent NGA audited accounts (for the financial year 1 April 2010-31 March 2011) can be viewed here
The NGA Annual Report (Nov 09-October 10) can be downloaded here
The Report of the 2010 Annual and the draft minutes from the AGM 2010 can be found via the attached link - Conference and AGM 2010