This year we added a new event to the OWN governance calendar. Trustees, governors and associates met together on 11 September for safeguarding training with Phil Nash from Cambridgeshire County Council in an informative and thought-provoking session incorporating discussions, mini-quizzes and "what-if" scenarios.

We also had a short session on cyber-security with OWN's IT manager, Adam Charlton, and an introduction to our new CEO, Lorraine Greco. While some governors and trustees were involved with Lorraine's interview panels, for many this was the first chance to meet her.

To round off the evening, governors broke into their individual Local Governance Committees for a first look at their School Improvement Plans and to discuss where governors need to focus their attention this year to support their school's improvement priorities. Trustees took this opportunity to disperse around the room and join different LGC groups for this discussion. All this, and cake too!

This term we wave goodbye to one of our founding trustees, Mark Woods, who, in addition to having previously been a governor at both Woodston and Nene Valley, is CEO of Meridian Trust and a bit of a football afficionado (well, if we are honest, a HUGE football afficionado). Mark has given freely of his time, experience and wisdom to OWN Trust and will be greatly missed. 

Governors will be making their Autumn visits to school over the next few weeks in advance of the round of Local Governance Committee meetings in November. 

We value highly the work undertaken by the governance volunteers at OWN Trust. They take on a variety of roles, including Local Governors, Trustees and Members.

If you or anyone you know is interested in developing their skills and supporting the schools by being a Governance volunteer, please do get in touch. You can find out more here: Governance Volunteering Roles.