Share in:

Why are schools in the UK run by school governors? This unit will examine how the role has developed and the main tasks and responsibilities that exist today. We will also look at the need for self-evaluation and how the setting of a clear strategic direction can help governors achieve the required targets.

Share in:

How does the board of governors of a school work? This unit looks at the roles of Chair of Governors, Vice-chair and Clerk to the board and examines how the workload can be shared between the members. The governing body should focus on the quality and delivery of education provided by the school, not on daily management.

Share in:

School governors need the skills to develop working relationships with the school community. This unit will help you to understand what each stakeholder within the community needs, from headteacher to pupils and parents. Effective interaction between all parties can prevent problems from arising.

Share in:

School governors do not work in isolation. This unit will help you to understand how planning for school improvement must take into account the wider education system including government initiatives and the LEA education development plan. You will learn to use techniques such at SWOT and STEEPE to assist in the process of forming a plan fo

Share in:

Target setting for pupil attainment is seen as being a means of raising standards in schools through placing pupil achievement at the core of school planning. This unit will help governors of primary schools ensure that appropriate targets are set and provide guidance on assessing the data that needs to be evaluated to come to such decision

Share in:

Target setting for pupil attainment is seen as being a means of raising standards in schools through placing pupil achievement at the core of school planning. This unit will help governors of secondary schools ensure that appropriate targets are set and provide guidance on assessing the data that needs to be evaluated to come to such decisi

Share in:

School governors need to be involved in the monitoring and evaluation of primary schools. But what areas should you be monitoring and how can you ensure that monitoring is effective. This unit will help you assess these matters and also look at the kind of evidence you should be sourcing, and how that evidence should be evaluated.

Share in:

School governors need to be involved in the monitoring and evaluation of secondary schools. But what areas should you be monitoring and how can you ensure that monitoring is effective. This unit will help you assess these matters and also look at the kind of evidence you should be sourcing, and how that evidence should be evaluated.

Share in:

School governors are responsible for establishing the performance management policy of the school and for reviewing the performance of the headteacher. This unit will guide you through these processes, including the appeals procedure should the headteacher have any concerns. You will also learn the importance of linking performance review t

Share in:

This unit is an early study for people wishing to become a secondary teacher using the Open University's highly flexible route for graduates – known as the flexible PGCE. This unit, which considers the general professional standards and skills of a teacher whatever their secondary subject specialism, is studied following a brief two-week placement in school and prior to a much longer series of full-time school experiences.

Share in:

What value does art have in the school curriculum? This unit, primarily aimed at colleagues teaching art in schools, explores the justification for including art in the school curriculum together with some of the current criticisms commonly heard.

Share in:

Successful transitions – whether from lower secondary to upper secondary; at age 16; into work-based training or university; or into work at any age – are life-enhancing for individuals and crucial to our future social and economic well-being. They are also an indicator of a good school. Careers education and guidance (CEG) is therefore at the heart of a school's personal development programme and all teachers have a role in securing successful transitions for their students.

Share in:

The issue of ‘citizenship, work and the economy’ is often neglected in everyday discussions of citizenship. But a moment's reflection should demonstrate how important it is. The vast majority of us will spend the bulk of our adult lives working in some context or another, and our engagement with economic activity more generally is obvious (and not just as consumers). Many young people are also intimately tied up with work. School children often have part-time evening, weekend or holiday jobs of their own. They are all likely to spend some time on work-experience programmes. Their parents will normally have to engage with work to support their families. But do they know much about their rights and responsibilities at work? This unit explores aspects of work, including child labour and its relationship to citizenship for those teaching this subject in secondary schools.

Share in:

This unit explores school geography, focusing upon how geography is currently being taught and understood. While studying this unit you will read about the significance of geography as a subject, looking at differing views as to exactly which disciplines make up geography. The unit also includes a lesson plan and a look at definitions of geography as a medium of education.

Share in:

As adults we sometimes struggle to justify our feelings about particular books, but children are quite clear about what they like and don't like. It is possible to get children to discuss why they liked or did not like particular books and to encourage them to think more deeply about the books they read. This unit offers ideas and activities to engage pupils in discussing books. It is aimed at librarians, teaching assistants and other adults working with pupils in school libraries.

Share in:

There is an ongoing ‘revolution’ in the running of state schools and this is making the position of the school business manager both significant and necessary. Government thinking, together with profound changes in society generally, will affect every institution both in terms of pedagogy and the physical environment, particularly technology and levels of security employed. This unit will look at how you – an existing or aspiring business manager – can work effectively to support school activities and stakeholders, and in particular how you can support and manage aspects of the change agenda in your school to improve teaching and learning outcomes.