Post on 19-Mar-2020
eastsussex.gov.uk
Children’s Services
Standards & Learning Effectiveness Service
East Sussex Governor & Clerking Service
East Sussex Governor and Clerking Service – Governors Online - Guidance
Date modified: August 2018 1
Clerks guide to Governors Online:
What guide needs to cover: This guide will aid clerks in familiarising themselves with Governor Online. It contains step by step
instructions to enable clerks to complete tasks and update information in Governors Online.
About Governors Online
Information for Governors and Clerks will be updated here. Governors and Clerks can also access current news, reports and updated
information will all appear on the news feed.
Additional functionality is available with Governors Online to allow the management of Committees and Meetings. Committees and
Meetings can be set up by Clerks or a Governor Administrator. Attendees’ registers and documents can be attached to meetings,
and Governors and Clerks can also access the committees and meetings they are joined to in their profile areas.
What are my responsibilities as a Clerk?
The Clerks role is to keep the Local Authority advised of any changes to the Governing Body. Governors Online will replace all
former processes of advising Governor and Clerking Services of changes to the Governing Body. All new governor appointments,
resignations, appointments to key positions (e.g. Chair and Vice Chair of Governors, Link Governors) will be advised via the
database. In addition Clerks will be able to manage their governing body, if they choose to, via the Manage Meetings options (some
Clerk will be currently doing this in Office 365 and there is no directive to change this).
Governors Online also has the ability to produce various reports which can be used to fulfil the requirements placed on Governing
Bodies to publish on the schools website.
Governors have also been booking training through the portal since January. As a Clerk you are the CPD lead and responsible for
authorising any training booked by Governors. This will continue.
Information for Governors and Clerks will be updated here – E.g. current news, updated information will all appear on the news feed.
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Contents Accessing Governors Online .............................................................................................................................................................4
Admin Menu ......................................................................................................................................................................................5
Manage the Governing Body ............................................................................................................................................................6
Adding a new Governor ....................................................................................................................................................................8
Manage Governors ......................................................................................................................................................................... 14
Add New Term of Office .............................................................................................................................................................. 16
Adding a resignation .................................................................................................................................................................... 19
Appointing and resigning governor positions ............................................................................................................................... 20
Manage Governors Personal Information .................................................................................................................................... 23
Unauthorised Governors .............................................................................................................................................................. 24
Manage Meetings ........................................................................................................................................................................... 26
Add Committee ............................................................................................................................................................................ 26
Add Meeting ................................................................................................................................................................................ 28
Adding meetings for the whole Governing body .......................................................................................................................... 29
Additional functionality ................................................................................................................................................................. 30
Attach Document ......................................................................................................................................................................... 32
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Email Attendees ........................................................................................................................................................................... 32
Print Register ............................................................................................................................................................................... 33
Generate Reports ........................................................................................................................................................................... 34
Reports ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 35
Clerk Audit Log ............................................................................................................................................................................... 36
Uploading Documents ..................................................................................................................................................................... 37
My Profile and Bookings Menu ....................................................................................................................................................... 39
Useful Links .................................................................................................................................................................................... 41
Managing Governor Training Requests ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 42
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Accessing Governors Online
Access is via the East Sussex County Council Learning Portal - https://www.eastsussexlearning.org.uk/cpd/portal.asp
Click on the link “Governor and Clerking Service” - https://governors.eastsussexlearning.org.uk/cpd/default.asp?home=1
1) Enter your User name and password that was supplied to you for the East Sussex Learning Portal training platform.
2) If you clerk for multiple schools - Select the establishment from the list of schools when prompted.
3) The Welcome Screen (above) will reappear with an Admin tab in the top right hand corner of the navigation bar.
Click on the bar and the following screen will appear:
Click here
to Log In
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Admin Menu
From this screen you are able to do the following:
Manage Governing Bodies – from the Governing Body tab
Add new Governors
Manage Governors
Manage Meetings
Generate Reports
Upload Documents
Clerk Audit Log
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Manage the Governing Body
This will take you to a page with the overview of the Governing Body and will include details of the following:
Clerks with multiple locations will need to select the Governing Body they wish to view – Select Search and then the Governing Body
selected will appear in a box below. You then need to click ‘View Details’ and the following information will appear:
o Governing Body Information, including Name of school, Date of Instrument of Government, Ofsted Information, School phase,
Governor Types and names of Governors in these positions, Governor Positions (Eg Chair and Vice Chair of Governors,
Safeguarding Governors), Governor Vacancies.
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o From this screen you check the information held about a Governor by clicking on their name - this will bring up contact details,
terms of office, governor type etc.
o You are also able to obtain information about Governor Positions
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Adding a new Governor
**DO NOT USE THE BACKSPACE BUTTON ON YOUR PC WHEN AMENDING DATES THIS TAKES YOU BACK TO THE PREVIOUS
SCREEN. WHERE DATES ARE REQUIRED USE THE CALENDAR ICON**
If you need to add an associate member, you will need to advise Governor & Clerking Services in order that your Instrument of
Government can be amended. Please email governors@eastsussex.gov.uk
Adding a New Governor consists of two steps –
1) Add details personal to the Governor and
2) Details in relation to a term of office/position/school.
Stage 1 To Add a Governor select Add Governor from the Admin option or you can select Add. When creating new Governors, the
Clerk needs to declare they have received two forms. These can be found on Czone here. Once both check boxes are ticked, the Next button
will appear. You will not be able to proceed unless you confirm both forms have been completed.
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If you have entered a Governor who is already at a school you are clerking at, this will be flagged
If no user is found for the name entered you will see the following screen and need to select Add
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Enter the following personal details (any information marked * is required):
Title
Name
Email Address *
User Name– You will generate this. The suggested format is FirstnameSurname1. You need to untick the passwork box for the
system to automatically send out a password. Once your governor is approved, an email detailing their user name and a link to
the password reset will automatically be generated and sent.
Home Address and Postcode
Home / work / Mobile telephone numbers
Communication Preference
Dietary Requirements / Other special requirements
Governance Start Date
Has Governor completed induction training *
Has Governor completed DBS * - If you answer Yes it will ask for the date
Stage 2 Add term of Office - Name / Email Address / Notes – should be prefixed from stage 1.
Governing Body * - Selected from drop down list
Email Address for this term – This is for Governors who may hold multiple governor positions. In such instances the system will automatically default to the email address which was entered in Stage 1 – User details. You must add at this point the school specific email address for the governor if different as this will ensure that information and data for this school is sent to the correct email address. This is important to ensure that GDPR requirements are met with regards to transmission of personal or sensitive data relating specifically to the school. If there is no specific email address entered at this point it will use the account email address as a default.
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Eligibility Form completed * - a date box will be displayed to choose completion date.
List 99 Check – If your school undertakes List 99 Checks for Governors check Yes if this has been completed. If your school doesn’t check No
Term of Office – Select Date from from the calendar icon. This will automatically populate the end date for 4 years.
Leaving Reason – Leave blank Select
Governor Category * – to be selected from options. If you have no vacancies according to your Instrument of Government the only option will
be an associate member. You MUST resign any governors before you add their replacements. Any Ex-officio appointments – E.g.
Headteacher – will have 25 year tenure.
Positions
All governors must have the position of Governor added, that matches their tenure. You will need to select this from the drop down box.
For governors that have additional positions, such as Chair, Vice Chair, SLG or TLG, you will also need to add this position.
School specific email address
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– Select from drop down box – this will display any vacant positions within the GB. You MUST resign any governor from a position before
adding their replacement. The From and To dates will depend on the arrangements within your GB. For example if you Chair of Governors
is elected annually at the first meeting, the end date may be the day before this meeting or the end of the academic year. Governors can have
more than one position – E.g. Vice Chair and Safeguarding Link Governor – You need to click Add position to add an extra position.
Once the information is entered and the ‘Save’ button is pressed the appointment / reappointment will be sent to The Governor and Clerking
Service for approval. Once Governor and Clerking Services have approved a governor, the following will happen:
If they are a new governor they will receive 2 emails – 1 from Governor and Clerking Service and one from LMS confirming User Name and Password.
Reappointed Governors will receive an email confirming their reappointment.
Clerks are able to check whether a Governor has been authorised by searching the governor via the Manage Governors option.
If Governor and Clerking Services ‘Decline’ a governor it will be for the following reasons:
Appointing a Local Authority Governor who’s nomination has not been approved by the panel
If the appointing authority (E.g. Foundation) have not approved the appointment
If there is a duplicate governor created – Sometimes a difference in the name (e.g. Jonathan / Jon) has not been picked up by the system / Clerk.
An email will be sent to the Clerk to explain why.
Clerks will be able to search on the ‘Manage Governors’ page for ‘Declined’ Governors for their Governing Bodies. This will allow the Clerk to make amendments to any record that has been declined. Once an amendment has been made, the Clerk will click ‘Save’, and a new email will be sent to the Governor and Clerking Services Team to inform them that changes have been made. The status will be changed from ‘Declined’ to ‘Un-approved’.
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Manage Governors
This tab allows you to manage individual Governors details – Eg personal details, contact details, terms of office, positions and resignations. In
the first instance to perform any of these tasks you have to firstly locate the governor. The following screen will appear:
Key in the first name
and surname of
governor. Clerks at
multiple schools
select school also.
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The Governor will then appear in a box at the bottom of the screen, with the following options:
Add New Term of Office
View User Details
Edit User Details
Select
Search or
hit Enter
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Add New Term of Office – This tab is used for reappointment of governors.
Amending Governors Term of Office due to Reappointment
o Click Add new Term of Office and the following screen will appear:
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o Enter details of new term of office and catergory – The term of office will automatically default to the date you are entering the
information into Governors online. This can be overriden by selecting the Calendar icon and entering the start date. The end
date will then automatically be populated for 4 years. If reappointing a governor if you don’t start their next term of office from
the end of the previous one, then an error message will be generated due to a ‘Clash’ The term of office must also start the
day after the expiry of the old term of office otherwise you will not have a vacancy in the catergory.
o Eligability Form Completed – click complete to confirm the Governors has recompleted the Eligibility form
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o List 99 Check – If completed tick Yes
o The term of office will automatically default to the date you are entering the ifnormation into the database. This can be overriden by selecting the Calendar icon and entering the start date. The end date will then automatically be populated for 4 years. If reappointing a governor if you don’t start their next term of office from the end of the previous one, then an error message will be generated due to a ‘Clash’.
o Leaving reason – Leave blank ‘Select’
o Governor Type – Select from the dropdown options – Eg Associate, Co-opted etc. However, you do need to have a vacancy in the catergory you are adding the governor to. The term of office must also start the day after the expiry of the old term of office otherwise you will not have a vacancy in the catergory.
o Add position – If this Governor is one of the following – Chair/Vice Chair of Governors, Safeguarding Governor, Training Link Governor or Headteacher Ex Officio – then select the relevant position and add the dates. For example a Chair of Governors reappointed halfway through the year may continue as Chair until the next time the GB elects a Chair.
o Notes – add any notes that are relevant.
o Click ‘Save’ the following message will appear
o The Governor’s appointment is held in a pending state and an email is sent to the Governor and Clerking Services for approval. Once approved the Governor will show on the database.
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Adding a resignation
Find the Governor by using the Search option as above
Once located the following screen will appear
Click Edit and add
resignation date in
term of office end
box you want to
resign the Governor
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Appointing and resigning governor positions - Chair / Vice Chair of Governors, Safeguarding Link Governor, Training Link Governor
You must ensure that there is a position vacant before adding a new Position. To resign a position:
Find Governor in position currectly through search option and select the Edit Button
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The Governors information will appear. To end their position insert todays date into the to box and click save
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To enter a new position for a Governor, select the Governor and select the edit button as above
Click Save
Any changes to positions will also be approved by Governor and Clerking Service
Click Add
Position and
select position
from the drop
down box.
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Manage Governors Personal Information
Select Edit User Details
You can then update any of the contact information for the Governor.
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Unauthorised Governors
A comprehensive guide to self registration and the management of the process can be found here
As a Clerk you may from time to time notice the ‘Unauthorised Governor’ box on the ‘Manage Governor’ page. Click on this and it will show unauthorised
governors for your establishment.
This is where a governor has ‘Self Registered’ for an account. This could be as they are a new user / governor or alternatively because they are unaware
they already have an account. The following action needs to be taken:
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New Governors – You areable to confirm their term of office. Click on ‘Add Term of Office for the Link’ and you will be able to add the dates of term of
office, governor type and position. An account will then be generated for them once the information has been checked by Governor and Clerking Services.
Exisiting Governors – you can ‘Remove Link’. You will then need to contact the governor to advise them of their sign in information. This can be done by
selecting the governor from manage governors and locating their user name. At this point you can change their password. DO NOT SEND the User name
and password in the same email.
User Name
Tick Change Password and change to a
password containing 1 capital letter / 2
numbers
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Manage Meetings
This allows you to perform the following to manage the meetings of your Governing Body:
o Add Committees
o Add Meetings and Events – for the whole Governing Body and committees
o Manage Meetings and Events
o Print Meeting Registers
Select Manage Governing Body from the Admin menu. This will take you to a page with the overview of the Governing Body Clerks with multiple locations will need to select the Governing Body they wish to view – Select Search and then the Governing Body selected will appear in a box below. You then need to click ‘View Details’. From this screen you are able to perform the following tasks:
Add Committee – Select ‘Add a Committee’. A screen will appear allowing you to give the committee a name (Eg Resources) and add governors by clicking on the box next to their name.
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o Once your committees are set up you will see the following when accessing the information selecting the ‘Manage Committees’
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Add Meeting – To add a meeting, which will then appear in My Meetings in the My Profile and Bookings option from the Home page. This
will also appear in each Governor you have selected for the committee in their Profile and Bookings screen.
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Adding meetings for the whole Governing body – E.g. FGB meetings, Whole GB Training or whole school events that Governors may be
invited to from the School Calendar (E.g. School Plays / Church Services)
Select ‘Add Meeting’ and the screen below will appear for you to populate with the meeting details (Date, Times, Venue,
Description/Aims)
The ‘Whole Governing Body’ tab is preselected – Check the details and click ‘Save’
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Adding Committee Meetings - You repeat this step to add Committee Meetings – Just select ‘Select Committees’ and place a tick in
the box for the relevant committee.
Additional functionality
Once you have added all your meetings, the Manage Meetings screen will show the meetings added
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You are then able to perform the following tasks by clicking on the relevent option tab:
o View – to view the meeting details
o Edit – to edit the details of the meeting (Eg date, time, venue)
o Attach a Document – a document that you have uploaded into the system folder can be added to the meeting for governors
information. This could include papers for the meeting such as agendas and supporting documentation.
o Email Attendees – You can email a message to your meeting attendees – for example to advise them the papers are
available / venue has changed etc
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Attach Document
o The following screen will appear. NOTE you will be required to upload documents to the folder prior to completing
this step. See Upload Documents.
Email Attendees – You can email a message to your meeting attendees – for example to advise them the papers are available / venue has
changed etc
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Print Register – You can print / download a register for governors to sign in and record attendance.
o Select Print Register and the register will appear based on the Committee set-up you have input. You can clickDownload
Register which will downlaod as an Excel document
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Generate Reports
Reports can be downloaded into Excel documents. There are a number of different reports you can access:
Overview:
This report will show you current governors in post and vacancies.
o Current Governors in post – see below. This could be used if you download report to be added to the schools website to
show current governors and details of appointment (Foundation Schools need to include the appointing authority – e.g.
Parish Council, Diocese etc). The downloaded report can be accessed via the Reports tab via the Admin menu. Select the
tab Excel Reports Downloads and you are able to download the report into Excel. You can then add an additional column if
required. Please take care to remove any Governor contact information.
o Vacancies:
This report will show current vacancies in the Governing Body and vacant positions. Again you can download report and follow the
instructions above.
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Reports
The following reports can be run and downloaded following the instructions above.
School Schedule – This gives you details of governors in post, contact details and appointment details. Removes the need to
maintain your own separate document.
Training History – Gives details of all training completed by Governors (past and present) and Whole GB training. Removes the
need to maintain your own separate document and update the Capacity Audit Tool on a regular basis.
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Clerk Audit Log
This records all of your activity. If you are unsure of whether you have entered a governor you can check via the log by searching between
certain dates. The report will look like this:
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Uploading Documents
Upload Documents into your preset system folders
o Select Upload Documents from Admin menu
o You will be directed to the next screen which will allow you to Browse the files on your PC.
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o Once you have selected the file, click Save
o You will then be able to access your documents to:
Manage Documents – To Edit, Delete, Replace or Download documents
Manage Meetings – To Attach a Document. Select the folder you want to view (School Name) and click Search. The
documents previously uploaded will be available to attach. You should select which documents you wish to upload by
clicking in the box next to the document and clicking Attach.
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My Profile and Bookings Menu
The menu can be accessed via the navigation bar.
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When selected the following tasks can be performed:
Change Password
Change Contact details for yourself
Course Alerts – Manage your preferences for keeping up to date with training information – E.g. Governors
Governors
o Committees – View Committees that are set up for your school(s)
o My Meetings – View list of meetings set up for your school(s)
o My GB’s – Takes you to the Overview of your Governing Body(ies)
o 3rd Party Preferences – To register if you are happy to be contacted by a 3rd party
My Learning Events
o E-Learning Courses
o Events – Any training events you are due to attend
o Cancel a Booking – to cancel attendance at a planned event (please refer to the training brochure for details of costs which
may be incurred)
o Saved Events
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Useful Links
Access to the following websites:
Czone
DfE
NGA
The Key
SGOSS
GEL
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Managing Governor Training Requests
The Clerk is automatically assigned as the CPD lead for any Governor Training. This is to avoid a school incurring costs for training booked
that has not been budgeted for, the process allows for a booking to be authorised by a “line manager or Continuing Professional Development
(CPD) lead”, prior to a booking confirmation being sent.
When a governor requests a booking they should pick the clerk as the “line manager” to enable an authorisation email to be sent.
Once a course is requested an email will be sent to the clerk with the details. The clerk is then required to respond appropriately to either
authorise or reject the request.
Once a response has been received the system will automatically book a place or reject the booking application and notify the governor by
email.
What if we have a new Governor?
You are required to notify the Governor and Clerking Service of all new governors as per the instructions in this guide. Once received a new
record will be created and the governor will receive a welcome email including a user name and password to access the system and book onto
training.