Understanding and Effectively Managing School Governance Obligations and Challenges for School Boards/Councils and School Leaders – On Demand Modules
| Format | Eight On-Demand Modules |
| Duration | Duration times of modules vary from 1-1.5 hours (see below) |
| Pricing | $1595 12 Month Subscription up to 20 Users Price includes gst. |
| Sector | Non-State Schools - for Board/Council Members & School Leaders |
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Program
Module 1: Understanding What School Leaders Are Facing this Year – Exploring Key Issues for Board Members to Optimise Their Role and Support the School
Chairpersons:
Nikki Kirkup, Principal, The Knox School
Wendy Lewis OAM, Board Chair, The Knox School
Understanding current legal issues faced by school executives provides invaluable background and context for Boards to optimise their role, including recruiting and working effectively with the Principal. This session provides insight for Board members into key pressures, legal risks and compliance issues being navigated by school executives, helping equip Board members to effectively fulfill their role.
- Student issues:
- Bullying, including cyber bullying
- Student discipline, including breach of school values
- Student crime, including sexualised behaviours between students
- Student disability and discrimination laws
- Student mental health and wellbeing
- Child protection
- Parent issues:
- “Difficult” and vexatious parents, including parents approaching the Board directly
- Separated parents
- Staff Issues:
- Psychosocial hazards laws
- Ill and injured staff
- Performance management
- Professional boundaries
- Media reporting and social media
Presenter:
Ben Tallboys, Principal, Russell Kennedy; Legal Counsel, Association of Heads of Independent Schools Australia
Module Duration: 1 hour 40 mins
Module 2: Understanding the Funding, Legal and Regulatory Framework and Your Rights and Obligations as a Board/Council Member
Chairperson:
Leonie Keaney, Board Chair, Catholic College Sale; Board member, Whitefriars College; Executive Director, Good Samaritan Education; Former Principal, Presentation College, Windsor
Governance Models/Structures in Schools
- Exploring different governance models/entity structures and charters in schools
Funding Framework and Resulting Responsibilities
- Understanding the Federal Funding Agreement and other sources of school funding
- Examining the responsibilities of the Board/Council member arising from funding frameworks
Navigating Legal Rights and Obligations
- Outlining the source of legal obligations affecting schools and school board/council members, including Constitution, statutory duties, fiduciary duties and legislation specific to schools, including child protection legislation
- Outlining the role and notable powers of education regulators
- Understanding common law, statutory and fiduciary duties, how they apply and exceptions
- Examining your duties to understand different aspects of school activities and financial issues, despite being appointed based on a particular skill set
- Exploring Board/Council rights and responsibilities in practice:
- outlining the responsibility for governance/strategy versus management/operational
- risk management – what risks in schools should you be dealing with? What are key areas you should ask questions about?
- to what extent should you be familiar with school policies?
Presenter:
Biljana Apostolova, Partner, Gadens
Module Duration: 1 hour 9 mins
Module 3: Navigating Board Versus Executive Responsibility in Practice and Learning from Case Studies
Chairpersons:
Natalie Charles, Principal, St Catherine’s School, Toorak
Nina Kirby Aberdeen, Chair, School Council, St Catherine’s School, Toorak
- Governance and the executive in a school – understanding the respective roles and potential grey areas in delineation
- Exploring the particular role of the Board/Council Chair
- Board committees and sub-committees:
- examining the role and accountability of a committee or sub-committee
- establishing and optimising a committee or sub-committee
- School executive who are also Board members or Secretary – examining and navigating governance challenges
- Communications with the Board:
- examining what information should be provided to the Board, including tips in drafting Board papers
- setting the nature and frequency of communications and reporting
- Implementing policies and processes to manage the boundaries between Board and Executive responsibility
- Learning from case studies, including:
- staff or parents approaching the Board directly with complaints or concerns about school management
- learning from cases, including of Board/Executive conflict
Presenter:
Steven Troeth, Partner, Gadens
Module Duration: 1 hour 10 mins
Module 4: Identifying and Managing Your Obligations Regarding Conflict of Interest, Related Party Transactions and Navigating Not for Profit Requirements
Chairpersons:
Gerard Foley, Principal, Ivanhoe Grammar School, VIC
Daniel Proietto, Board Chair, Ivanhoe Grammar School, VIC; Chief Executive Partner, Lander & Rogers Lawyers
- Examining the scope of obligations of Board/Council members regarding conflict of interest and related party transactions, including defining the “close associate”
- Examining the grey areas of conflict of interest including:
- related party contracts, transactions or jobs
- “sponsorships” and donations
- perceived versus actual conflict – understanding when you should take steps to deal with potential issues
- Exploring options for managing and documenting potential conflicts
- Analysing the not-for-profit requirements and how these affect school structures and relationships with related parties
- Learning from case studies and examples
Presenter:
Jonathan Teh, Principal, Russell Kennedy
Module Duration: 1 hour 15 mins
Module 5: Examining the Board’s Role Regarding Students and Meeting Your Child Protection Obligations as a Board Member
Chairpersons:
Stuart Marquardt, Principal, Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School
Bill Adler, Chair of School Council, Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School
- Determining the Board’s role when it comes to students
- Exploring how student matters can become governance issues, including student discipline matters
- Identifying lessons for Boards when receiving complaints from parents
- Exploring the expectations of the Board in:
- knowing and reviewing school child protection policies or relevant codes of conduct
- implementing and managing child protection strategies with school management
- dealing with particular incidents, including between students
- Examining what information a Board/Council member should have to effectively address child protection in their school
- Examining lessons from the frontlines in ensuring a child safety culture
Presenter:
Ben Tallboys, Principal, Russell Kennedy; Legal Counsel, Association of Heads of Independent Schools Australia
Module Duration: 1 hour 34 mins
Module 6: Data Risk, Governance and AI: Examining the Responsibilities of the Board
Chairpersons:
Dr Adrian Camm, Principal and CEO, Westbourne Grammar School
Ilija Grgic, Board Chair, Westbourne Grammar School
- Exploring key challenges and risks with data management in schools, including the ongoing evolution of AI
- Outlining evolving legal frameworks, including
- changing privacy obligations
- cyber-security and data breaches
- evolving laws, guidelines and practices regarding AI
- Navigating the role, risks and obligations of the Board member:
- understanding the role of the Board in managing data and AI issues
- examining the Board’s role in managing significant school data breaches
- exploring what information you should require from the school
- implementing a “wholistic” governance approach to data, technology and AI
Presenters:
Jonathan Teh, Principal, Russell Kennedy
Gina Tresidder, Principal, Russell Kennedy
Module Duration: 1 hour 34mins
Module 7: Understanding and Managing Reputation Risk in Schools
Chairperson:
Phillip Heath AM, Head, Barker College
- Outlining how reputation issues can arise in schools requiring Board/Council action
- Exploring the role of school values in managing or enhancing reputation
- Understanding the media “cycle”, including online media and how this informs assessment of potential reputation risk and response
- Exploring how reputational risks emerge, even where the school may not have failed in its legal duties or obligations
- Managing journalists and their requests for information
- Exploring strategies to influence or control the narrative to optimise accurate reporting or “turn a story around”
- Learning from recent case studies – what responses have worked well and what not so well
Presenter:
Tracey Cain, Chief Executive Officer, H/Advisors
Module Duration: 1 hour 10 mins
Module 8: Whistleblower Laws: Understanding and Managing Your Obligations as a Board Member and Learning from Examples and Scenarios
Chairperson:
Mark Staker, Principal, Pembroke School, SA
- Understanding what disclosures require your action under the whistleblower requirements – defining a qualifying disclosure, including:
- who is an eligible whistleblower
- who is an eligible recipient
- defining a disclosable matter
- understanding the requirements to have reasonable grounds to suspect that the information concerns a disclosable matter.
- Outlining protections afforded to the whistleblower
- Examining steps and considerations once a disclosure is made, including conducting an investigation, reporting any misconduct, dealing with the whistleblower and potential victimisation
- Learning from examples and scenarios in a school context
Presenter:
Erin McCarthy, Partner, Piper Alderman; Deputy Chair, St Michael’s College; Former Board Member, Suneden Specialist School
Module Duration: 1 hour 28 mins
Presenters / panelists include:
Nikki Kirkup is the Principal of The Knox School in Melbourne; an ELC – Year 12 co-educational independent school in Melbourne’s South-Eastern suburbs. With over 20 years of experience, Nikki, originally from the UK, has amassed a wealth of experience in the field of education having held significant leadership roles in schools in Switzerland, the UK and Australia.
Ben Tallboys provides sector-specific, practical legal solutions to schools across Australia. Ben is a passionate and effective advocate for principals dealing with complex matters relating to parents, staff and students, as well as their own employment.
Biljana Apostolova has extensive experience in advising schools on a range of structuring, taxation and contractual matters, fundraising, corporate governance and compliance and government funding
Natalie Charles is Principal St Catherine’s School. Natalie was previously Principal of Mentone Girls’ Grammar, spending the last five years leading a culture of excellence, focusing on educational research, staff development, student empowerment and innovation. Prior to leading Mentone Girls’ Grammar, Natalie held positions of Head of Senior School at Carey Baptist Grammar School, and Director of Staff at Melbourne Grammar School. She was also the Head of Melbourne Grammar’s Indigenous Program for more than ten years and currently sits as a member of the Melbourne Grammar School Council.
Steven Troeth has extensive experience in the education sector, including acting for independent and Catholic schools. He advises on employment, student and parent issues, including staff and teacher disputes, discrimination, bullying, cyber and social media issues, enterprise agreements and contractual disputes.
Jonathan Teh is an experienced corporate and commercial lawyer who predominantly acts for health and large not-for-profit organisations. In particular, he assists Primary Health Networks to commission health services (eg headspace), community health services, public hospitals, medical colleges/societies and disability organisations with the NDIS rollout. Jonathan has degrees in Law and Engineering, and a Graduate Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
Gina Tresidder has a wealth of experience advising on all aspects of IP, including trade marks, designs, copyright, confidential information, domain names and consumer protection matters. Gina also has significant technical expertise in structuring a range of software and technology agreements for both acquirers and suppliers of IT services and products and has a keen interest in, and advises on, Australia's evolving privacy and data protection landscape.
Phillip Heath AM has been Headmaster of St Andrew’s Cathedral School, Sydney, Principal of Radford College ACT in 2009. He was made a Fellow of the ACT Branch ACEL in 2011 and in 2018 was awarded as a Member in the general division of the Order of Australia for his service to education and his commitment to creating greater opportunities for Indigenous students. Mr Heath was appointed as the Head of Barker College in 2014.
Tracey Cain’s specialty is communications strategy development and advisory roles with Boards and CEOs – applying 30 years of experience in a range of media and communications roles. Her expertise is in reputation risk and reputation management, particularly in the education and training, legal and litigation, not-for-profit and social policy sectors.
Erin McCarthy has over fifteen years’ experience in providing advice to employers and employer associations on all aspects of occupational health and safety, employment and industrial relations law as well as delivering essential information seminars and training workshops on key employment issues.