A specialist writing service for schools that want their governance and self-evaluation to say what they mean — clearly, honestly, and to inspection standard.
What is it that's making you feel that way?
Governors come to their role with genuine commitment. They want to support the school, ask the right questions and make a real difference to the children in it. What they often lack is a clear sense of where to focus — which aspects of the school's work are their responsibility to scrutinise, what evidence they should be looking for, and how their role as a link governor connects to the bigger picture of how the school is developing.
When an Ofsted inspector meets a governing body, they are looking for evidence that governors understand the school's vision and own it; that they are holding leaders to account and can evidence that challenge; that they are listening to pupils, staff and parents; and that they are overseeing financial performance. These are the four statutory core functions of governance, and inspectors assess them directly.
Governors are doing this work. Very few have a document that shows it — one that gives each governor a clear purpose, connects their work to the school's own priorities and development plans, and organises everything under the four core functions in a way that makes sense to the people using it and to anyone scrutinising it from the outside. When that structure exists, link governor visits have a clear purpose, committees know what they are responsible for, and governors stop attending meetings and start doing governance.
That is what a governor strategy is for. And it is, in most schools, the document that doesn't exist.
The same gap exists in self-evaluation. Headteachers know their schools. What most lack is the time and capacity to turn that knowledge into inspection-standard narrative — the result is a self-evaluation that either doesn't reflect what's happening or glosses over weaknesses an inspector will find in the first hour.
A headteacher who wants their governors to support them well needs to give them something to work with. This is that something.
Good governance is strategic, not operational. Governors do not run a school; they assure themselves that it is being run well. Getting that right in writing is harder than it looks — the evidence has to be real, the questions sharp, and the structure has to hold up to scrutiny from someone who reads governance documents for a living.
When Ofsted inspected my school, the lead inspector described our governor strategy as an outstanding document. I think it worked because it did the work for her — everything she needed was already there, structured, evidenced and clear.
The strategy provides the key focus areas from which governors can begin to formulate effective questions and plan their monitoring activity. It covers every area of governance so that nothing falls through the gaps, and works alongside all governor activity — FGB meetings, committee meetings and link governor visits — with a simple referencing system that records where challenge and assurance have taken place. Straightforward to maintain and not time-consuming.
Governors can see at a glance where they have gained assurance and where they still need to focus. That overview is useful in meetings, not just at inspection — it gives the full governing body a clear picture of their collective impact and where their attention needs to go next.
For Ofsted, the document does something specific: it signposts the inspector directly to the evidence of governors' work. The minutes exist; this document makes them findable and meaningful.
I build governor strategies in two ways. The Framework gives any school the complete governance architecture — statutory duties, Ofsted evaluation mapping, the four-column assurance structure — ready to contextualise. The Bespoke service goes further: your school's vision, ethos and development priorities are at the forefront, and the document is built around who you are and where you are going.
Built from your school's own documents — vision, ethos, strategic priorities and link governor structure. I map your school against every Ofsted evaluation area, identify the statutory and compliance assurance lines your governors need to hold, and assign appropriate strategic leads. You receive a complete four-column working document: assurance lines, strategic leads, an evidence column to populate through the year, and a next steps column. Gaps and risks are identified. Delivered in Word, ready to adopt, adjust and use.
The complete governance architecture, ready to contextualise. All four NGA core functions covered. Every Ofsted evaluation area mapped. All statutory and compliance assurance lines pre-populated. Suggested link governor roles for the chair to adjust. The four-column structure in place and ready to use. The chair adds the school's own strategic priorities. Everything else is already done. Purchase, download and complete.
A governor strategy shows inspectors that governance is sound. A self-evaluation shows them that leadership knows the school. Together they set the tone for everything that follows on inspection.
A well-written self-evaluation is not a polished account of how well things are going. It is an accurate, evidenced narrative that includes the difficult parts, names the gaps and shows what is being done about them. An inspector reading it should feel they are looking at a school that knows itself.
A full working self-evaluation built from your school's own evidence — structured around Ofsted's up to nine evaluation areas, referenced throughout and honest about where the picture is strong and where it is not. Includes diagnostic commentary on where evidence is thin and what would strengthen the document before inspection. Plus a one-page summary SEF: the clean, concise version you hand to the lead inspector on day one. Delivered in Word.
Contact me to discuss.
Cross-referencing of your key policies to identify contradictions, gaps and inconsistencies. A summary report of what needs updating and why. Schools are often unaware how far their policy landscape has drifted — inspectors aren't.
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A new policy written from scratch, coherent with your existing documentation, school vision and current statutory guidance. Properly yours — not a downloaded template with your logo on it.
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I am a serving headteacher with twenty years of teaching and leadership experience, an NPQH and a Master's in Education. Ofsted has commended both the quality of teaching in my school and the governor strategy I built for it.
AI is used to support the synthesis of documentation and to help produce a well-organised, useable document. I work in partnership with AI and apply professional judgement throughout — AI alone cannot produce a document of this rigour. Every document is built for the school it serves.
No site visits, no consultancy days and no lengthy calls. You send your documents, I ask a small number of focused questions where the paperwork leaves gaps, and you receive a professional document built from your school's own evidence.
Email to enquire about availability and timescales. I will send a brief document checklist setting out what I need and what I will deliver back.
For a governor strategy: vision or strategy document, link governor structure and school development plan. For a self-evaluation: previous Ofsted report, data summaries, attendance and exclusions data, CPD records, FGB minutes and school development plan. Everything by email.
Fifty percent deposit by bank transfer. Work begins on receipt.
I may come back with a small number of questions about context the documents don't cover. This is usually brief.
A full draft with diagnostic commentary — an honest account of where evidence is strong, where it is thin and what would address the gaps before inspection.
Address what you can, gather what is missing and send me what has changed.
Final version delivered in Word. Balance paid on delivery.
Beyond the governor strategy, I can build other strategic documents that will work for you and with you. A self-evaluation built around your Ofsted areas for improvement and IDSR data. An SDP grounded in your school's context and priorities. Policy documents cross-referenced to ensure they are coherent, joined-up and inspection-ready.
If you have a document need that isn't covered above, I would be glad to have a conversation about it. Every school is different and most of the most useful work I do starts with a conversation rather than a fixed brief.
Email to enquire about availability and what you are looking for. I will come back to you promptly.
All work is carried out remotely. Documents accepted by email. Invoices issued by email. Payment by bank transfer.