National Governance Conference for schools and trusts

Event date

12/07/2024

Time

10:00 - 16:00

Location

Birmingham Conference and Events Centre, B5 4EW

Join NGA for the highlight of our annual events calendar. This is your opportunity to join us in-person, as this event brings together trustees, governors and governance professionals from across England for a jam-packed day of sharing the latest governance ideas and best practice.

Delegates will choose a bespoke trust or school governance programme, spending the day with colleagues governing or working in similar circumstances to their own. Attendees will hear from keynote speakers who are setting the education policy agenda, and take part in a series of interactive workshops, focusing on specific governance hot topics.

Each delegate will have an opportunity to hear from 3 keynote speakers, join 2 workshops bespoke to your school or trust setting, and to learn the insights from NGA's leadership.

We are delighted to share the below programme with you (please note that timings of keynotes, workshops, and refreshments breaks are subject to change at this stage, and the final programme will be confirmed approximately 1 week before the event):

09.15	Registration, refreshments & exhibition (local associations network is taking place during the registration slot)
10.00	Conference opens with welcome from Alastair Cowen, NGA’s Co-chair & We are proud to be working in association with the British Heart Foundation (BHF). The BHF will share the lifesaving difference your school could make by registering your defibrillator(s) on The Circuit.
10.10	Keynote speaker– Sinead Mc Brearty from Education Support (CONFIRMED) Incl 10-15 mins questions
10.55	5 mins break to allow for movement between rooms
11.00	Workshops x 4 (single schools audience) Safeguarding Governing Effectively (inc. board reporting) Parental Engagement		MATs strand: Introductions from Mark Blois, Browne Jacobson, sponsor of the MAT strand of the conference followed by a joint keynote session to address the MAT audience - Matt Crawford, CEO of Embark Federation and Sarah Armitage, a chair of trustees, Embark Federation
11.50	Refreshments
12.10	Emma Balchin, NGA's Co-chief executive will address the audience on nurturing good governance	Workshops x 4 (MAT audience) Safeguarding Governing Effectively (inc. board reporting) Parental Engagement The governors’ role in curriculum development, Paul Hammond, Chair of Governors, Chiltern Academy Paul Hammond is the founding Chair of Governors of Chiltern Academy in Luton, a high-performing free secondary school which opened in 2018 as part of the Chiltern Learning Trust. In his presentation Paul will describe how governors contributed to the development of the school’s curriculum prior to opening and in the years leading up to its first exams. Paul will also draw upon his experience of opening Oasis Academy Enfield in 2007 as deputy - a school he went onto lead from 2010 to 2014.
13.00	Lunch
14.00	Workshops x5 Local governance within a MAT People Strategy for trust AI/EdTech Developing Leaders Handling complaints
14.50	Refreshment break
15.05	LG clerks, chairs and trustees certificate presentation
15.15	Emma Knights: Power of Governance (incl 10 mins Q&A)
15.55	Closing speech by Lawayne Jefferson, NGA’s Co-chair
16.00	Conference closes

This is bound to be a fantastic day, but do not take only our word for it – see for yourself what your colleagues have said about our previous in-person conferences:

My first time at NGA Conference and wow! What a day, so much useful information, set out clearly with inspiration speakers. I went away with 3 things I want to focus on. Thank you :-) roll on next year!
I went home buzzing with knowledge that I wanted to share with our other governors and school leaders. I also felt more empowered within my own role.
I thoroughly enjoyed being part of a well organised and conscientiously put together event with NGA; we have only been involved with NGA for a short while in my own MAT but we have found them to be a community of committed professionals who truly care about their work, and this was an infectious feeling throughout.