The Board’s Duties
‘Responsible persons’ accept a vast range of duties and obligations when they accept their roles. If boards are to function effectively, all ‘responsible persons’ must understand the breadth and depth of their duties, as well as their legal duty to fulfil them to the best of their ability. Duties fall into two broad categories; fiduciary and non-fiduciary duties. This four hour course helps ‘responsible persons’ understand and implement their duties of governance within the framework and requirements of the NESA Requirements for Proper Governance.
Content covered includes duties of care, loyalty and obedience, related parties transactions, fiduciary duties compliance (legal, financial, program oversight and risk management), and non-fiduciary duties compliance (board policies, school policies, environmental sustainability, school reputation, demographics and change leadership). Understandings of ‘best practices’ for each theme are developed through specially designed self-evaluations.
This course is designed to help ‘responsible persons’ [as defined under Section 47(1)(b) of the Education Act in New South Wales] understand and implement their fiduciary and non-fiduciary duties in ways that comply with the NESA requirements upon school boards. Specifically, the course is designed to provide in-depth knowledge and practical application of ways in which ‘responsible persons’ can work together to enhance fulfilment of their duties to ensure (a) effective implementation of established principles of ‘best practice’ in school governance and (b) compliance with relevant NESA requirements in the area of fiduciary and non-fiduciary duties. Furthermore, the course provides opportunities through discussion and problem-solving for ‘responsible persons’ to build unity of understanding, a common purpose, and a commitment to implementing ‘best practices’ for effective school governance in a strategic manner that enhances the school’s outcomes. While the emphasis of the course is addressing ongoing professional learning needs, it is also highly suitable as a component of the induction of new ‘responsible persons’.
Four hours, usually one morning or one afternoon or one evening.
Face-to-face workshop with all the ‘responsible persons’ in one group, usually delivered at the school or at another suitable venue organised by the school.
The difference between fiduciary and non-fiduciary duties.
Duty of Care.
Duty of Loyalty.
Duty of Obedience.
Related parties transactions.
Evidence of compliance with NESA section 3.9.3.3.
Fiduciary duties compliance.
Non-fiduciary duties compliance.
Best Practice self-evaluations of each theme throughout the course
This course covers the following governance requirements as outlined in the Registered and Accredited Individual Non-government Schools (NSW) Manual (September 2019):
3.9.3.1-A; 3.9.3.1-B; 3.9.3.1-F; 3.9.3.1-G; 3.9.3.2; 3.9.3.3; 3.9.3.6; 3.9.4.
Upon successful completion of the course, a signed certificate is issued to the school stating the name of the course, the content covered, the duration of the course, the venue, and the names of those persons who attended. Upon request, schools may instead request an individual certificate for each attendee. Participating schools also receive a password-protected PDF copy of the presentation slides used during the workshop for the use of attendees.
We are a NESA approved and accredited training provider of courses relating to proper governance in non-government schools.
D2015/35965 – D2019/8657 – D2019/23247 - – D2019/134103
