Governor Visit Guidelines - Bexley College

BEXLEY COLLEGE:
GUIDANCE ON GOVERNORS’ VISITS
The purposes of Governors’ visits to curriculum areas and other School activities are for
Governors:
• To inform Governors of the working of the College, in particular to understand how learning
takes place
• To learn about the College curriculum offer;
• To learn about the experiences of students in the College;
• To fulfil their strategic responsibilities with regard to quality issues;
• To raise the profile of the Corporation with Staff and Students of the College.
Frequency of visits:
• Governors should conduct at least an annual visit and the Clerk will make available an annual
report on governor visits for consideration at the summer meeting of the Curriculum & Quality
Committee.
• It is expected that governors will be allocated to a new curriculum area each year in order to
gain a broad experience on the College’s curriculum offer.
The types of activities most frequently engaged in are:
• Tour of facilities;
• Meetings with staff (perhaps during course team meetings) to discuss key issues;
• Discussions with staff and students to aid understanding of the curriculum, the student
experience, and the College’s progress towards achieving its strategic objectives;
• Attendance at Open Days, student shows and exhibitions.
• Review progress against Quality Improvement Action Plan and the area Action Plan.
The visits specifically do not include:
• observation of teaching, learning or tutorials;
• reports on any individual member of staff or student;
• consideration of staff grievances or complaints.
The Curriculum Area Leader should provide the following documents in advance of each visit
to a curriculum area:
• Curriculum Area Management Structure & staffing Chart
• Curriculum area’s QIAP and action plan
• Course portfolio, highlighting the area to be visited
• Prospectus, highlighting the area to be visited
• List of classes to be visited (if any) on the day of the visit
• College Information Service (CIS) final outcomes report (recruitment, retention and
achievement)
• CIS student destinations report
The following is a list of topics intended to act as an aide memoire for the types of areas of
quality which Governors may find useful to explore with staff and students in informal
discussion:
• Course performance
• Quality Assurance systems eg course audit, student questionnaires
• Equipment/ materials
• Student Welfare and Student Services support
• Libraries, Study Centres & ILT Centres
• Catering, Cleaning, Facilities
• Links with industry
• Links with the community
• Student careers
Brief written reports from Governors on their visit should be made available to the Clerk who
will make available an annual summary report to be considered at the summer meeting of the
Curriculum & Quality Committee.

GOVERNORS’ VISIT REPORT FORM
Name of Governor
Curriculum Area Visited
College Centre
Curriculum Area Contact
Date of Visit
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