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WELCOME TO DUDLEY ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNING BODIES
Who are DAGB?
Origins
The Dudley Association of Governing Bodies (DAGB) was created in
1994 in the same year that the (then) National Governors’ Council
(NGC) was set up.
It started with a small group of highly committed school governors
within the Borough who wanted to have a local measure of control
in the running of the Borough’s schools and in shaping the
education of children in those schools.
Then, as now, there was no interest in party politics (as such)
and, despite changes in the control of the local Council and,
indeed, of the National Government, since the time of DAGB’s
creation, the Association remains strictly non-party political and
non-sectarian.
When first set up, DAGB did receive a measure of tangible support
from the Local Authority for which we were indeed very grateful.
However the Association is now totally independent of the
Authority. This does ensure that, although our wish is to support
both the Council and its Officers in the Directorate of Childrens’
Services, we can, if and when necessary, express the corporate
views of governors within the Borough so as to challenge actions
where governors believe that those actions are not in the best
interests of local children and their families.
Members of the Executive regularly meet with local Members of
Parliament for the exchange of views on both the local and the
national educational scene. We have even met with the (then)
Education Minister at Westminster to campaign for better funding
for Education within the Borough from the national ‘pot’.
Significantly we are members of the National Governors’
Association (NGA) – the successor to the NGC – and attend meetings
with them both in the Midlands and at National level. These
activities help to provide us with support and a better level of
knowledge, at the same time as allowing us to give support to
others.
Significantly, within the Borough, the Director of Childrens’
Services recognises DAGB as the sole channel of communication both
to and from governing bodies at the corporate level.
Functions
The Association has a number of functions:-
• To enable Dudley Governors to share good practice, exchange
ideas and to provide mutual support.
• To represent governing bodies on relevant Forums locally and (as
appropriate) Nationally.
• To support the provision of local and accountable services to
educational establishments within the Borough in order to maintain
(and enhance) the quality and equality of educational opportunity
for all.
• To ensure that a dialogue exists with the Directorate of
Childrens’ Services on matters affecting Dudley educational
establishments.
• To develop collaboration between educational establishments in
response to educational circumstances.
• To participate in the activities of the National Governors
Association both locally and at the national level
Composition of the Executive
At the Annual General Meeting of the Association, held at the end
of the academic year, usually in July, a new Executive is elected
to serve for the following twelve months. There are four
appointments to be made from each of the five Borough Townships
and the constitution requires that (insofar as it be possible)
there should be at least one representative from each Township
from the Primary sector, at least one from Secondary and at least
one from Special.
From their number the Executive elect the officers for the coming
year. A complete list of the current Executive is to be found on
this website under the reference The Executive (DAGB Profiles)
Membership of the Association
Membership of the Association is open to the Governing Bodies of
all educational establishments within the Borough of Dudley, upon
payment of an annual subscription, currently set at £37. Currently
in excess of 95% of the Governing Bodies within the Authority
choose to join. There is no facility for other than corporate
membership.
Representing Governors in Dudley
DAGB is responsible for the appointment of governors onto most of
the Committees and other representative bodies in the field of
Childrens’ Services. The article “Representing You – But Where and
How” in the section of this website devoted to Articles (Previous
Articles) gives a fairly extensive overview of the provision.
Meetings of the Association
The Association holds a termly meeting (the so-called Area
Meeting) to which all governors of member Governing Bodies are
cordially invited. The venue for this meeting is deliberately
moved around the Borough in an attempt to encourage as many
governors as possible to attend. The topic chosen reflects an
issue of current importance to as many governing bodies as
possible.
Additionally, meetings are held with the Director of Childrens’
Services and Assistant Directors, at Saltwells, on a termly basis,
one for Chairs/Vice-Chairs (or their nominees) of schools in the
Primary Sector and one for those in the Secondary Sector. Those
attending are encouraged to ask any questions they wish of members
of the Directorate – where circumstances make it difficult to
provide full responses (and this has only happened rarely) then
the Directorate undertake to provide a written response for
subsequent circulation.
Other meetings are held from time to time – and full (current)
details can be found on the section headed Our Schedule (DAGB
Calendar) elsewhere on this website.
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