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GovernorHub is getting a mini makeover
We’ve been working under the bonnet to strengthen our foundations for a while and it’s soon time to make changes to the pages that you will see.
Don’t panic though… the changes are small and, most importantly, Ortoo the Owl is staying 😌
Find out what’s ahead and why this all leads to better ‘Governor-Hubbing’ in the future.
GovernorHub General Manager Ellie Cheshire explains more about our plans.
The background...
We now support two out of every three schools in England, which is great. Those of you who know us will know that we’re a team that’s genuinely passionate about effective governance and supporting schools.
An example of how much we’ve grown is how many documents we now store - at the last check it was 10 million! That’s quite a leap from 1.9 million just a few years ago. We’ve had to make sure GovernorHub is up to the job of managing this load - especially as we’re always looking to improve and add new features.
Next Generation GovernorHub
Over the last 18 months, our engineers have built a new version of GovernorHub from the ground up using cutting-edge technology - a kind of ‘super-charged’ version of GovernorHub. This new technology provides bigger, sturdier foundations for us.
You might remember last April, we had a short period of downtime on GovernorHub during a busy period which was very unusual for us. Ever since, we’ve been future-proofing the site so it’s even more robust.
Our engineers have replicated every last detail of GovernorHub on new foundations with the aim of retiring old GovernorHub and moving over to the new site securely.
We’re going to release Next Generation GovernorHub very shortly and ask some of you to test it for us, starting with our clerks feedback group. We know clerks will do a great job of finding anything that’s not working as it should and letting us know. When we’re absolutely sure the site is working perfectly, we’ll move things over.
What’s going to change?
The new site isn’t very different from the old site. However, we are moving what we call ‘the washing line’ at the top of the page - that’s where you find all of your boards and groups.
Some of our clerks and busiest users can struggle with the washing line at the moment as there’s not much space and not all of their groups can be displayed on it which can be quite frustrating for them.
The washing line also takes up a fair bit of space which can be a problem if you’re looking at the site on a small laptop screen.
So we’ve taken the bold move of removing the washing line from the top of the screen and using a left-hand sidebar instead. I realise that’s not as interesting as we can’t call it a washing line but it’s actually going to be much more practical as it allows us to give you more space and will hopefully make navigating around the site much easier.
Over time, we’ll be able to add lots of new features as well that we wouldn’t have been able to do previously.
New features coming in 2024/25
One of the first things that we will be adding is a ‘super search’ function. At the moment, if you’ve got GovernorHub Knowledge and you’re looking for some expert guidance, advice or training you have to click on to the blue K icon on the washing line and go to a separate site.
Our super search function will allow you to ask the question you want to ask from within GovernorHub - surfacing the answer for you right where you’re working.
We’re also releasing a new self-efficacy tool for boards. It has some of the functionality of a Skills Audit but much, much more too and will help boards to understand where and how they can be more effective.
Ortoo the Owl
It’s important to point out that Ortoo the Owl will be staying! It’s just that his perch is moving a little.
As I’ve mentioned, we’ll be doing some user testing of the new site over the coming weeks, especially during the school summer holidays when it’s quieter. Once we’re ready - we’ll make the move to the new site.
As always, feedback is really important to us so if you’re testing the new site, please drop us a line in the chat if there’s anything you want to mention. Our intention is that Next Generation GovernorHub will feel just as good if not better than the GovernorHub you’re used to.
Feedback
Thanks to everyone who has engaged and commented on our article and for the many feature requests - much appreciated.
As always, we have noted all of the suggestions and will keep track them.
We are always working to improve GovernorHub and Next Generation GovernorHub is part of this process.
Please put any future suggestions to us at [email protected] or use the help chat icon on the website.
Thank you for your continued support 
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Comments
Dave Rice 10 Jul 2024, 08:19 (10 months ago)
Happy to hear about the expanded "washing line" function. I currently clerk one school 'too many' and it can be frustrating. (Relatively trivial given that a few years ago there was no GovernorHub!)
Sheila Malham 10 Jul 2024, 08:17 (10 months ago)
Hi, Thank you for the update.
Will we be able to edit posts to the Noticeboard without having to delete and rewrite a post?
Will we be able to 'Move' more than one documents at a time?
I look forward to the updates and am sure it won't be long before I'm used to them! I think I'll miss the washing line - but understand the frustration for others and the advantage of gaining space - which I like the sound of!
Many thanks,
Sheila Malham
Jean Watson 9 Jul 2024, 18:39 (10 months ago)
I would be interested in a demo when it is up and running
Austine Keane 9 Jul 2024, 18:34 (10 months ago)
Can you create a feature where you are able to edit posts on the noticeboard.
If I am having a policy approved and there have several comments been made where amendments need to be done - I have no way of replacing the old document with the new one. I would have to start a whole new post and so there would be no history of the comments made and would clog up my noticeboard - Its incredibly frustrating when you have a GB that is very thorough.
The GovernorHub Team 17 Jul 2024, 12:41 (10 months ago)
Hi Austine - We can see that this might be useful, however there is a reason we have not allowed this functionality. That's because messages would have already been emailed with the original message, if it's changed on the noticeboard then you don't know who's seen what and this could then lead to lots of issues.
Helen Matthews 9 Jul 2024, 17:27 (10 months ago)
Looking forward to seeing the changes
Isobel Fairburn 9 Jul 2024, 17:11 (10 months ago)
New website sounds exciting. Looking forward to it coming online.
Martin, J 9 Jul 2024, 15:55 (10 months ago)
Thanks for all the great information. Brilliant!
I would love to see a clear pro forma and sample year planners for the FGB to use, which details all the expectations that schools have to follow.
The same for a sample SEF and School Development/ improvement Plan - with recommendations of what should be included and how often it should be reviewed and scrutinised.
My main reasons in requesting these is I am very happy with what I get shown, but could be unaware of what could/ should be shared and when/ frequency. E.g. budget, safeguarding data, SEND reports etc
Thanks
Tracy Barton 9 Jul 2024, 15:55 (10 months ago)
I've never used my washing line for my schools as I have too many, however I have pinned certain other groups to it such as my admin team, clerk team, LA resources, NCOGS etc - if the washing line is going to be replaced by a side menu will it be possible for users to pin certain groups of their choice to the top of their list of groups?
Stephanie Field 9 Jul 2024, 14:42 (10 months ago)
Not super important, but would be good to be able to link our social media platforms instead of just 'x' - we don't use 'X' anymore.... :-)
The GovernorHub Team 17 Jul 2024, 16:06 (10 months ago)
Hi Stephanie - We'll look into this and see if we can do it.
Emma Lad 9 Jul 2024, 14:41 (10 months ago)
Make the training similar to declarations so that the governors can have a list of required training and can update when completed or it can be auto populated by HFL Ltd for example. Other training completed can sit separately underneath.
A report that is just governor roles, I complete this a thousand times as governors don't want the other information.
A way to send a message to chairs from different boards or safeguarding governors for example in one go.
A way to link the various Governor Hub accounts I have (I am up to five) so that they all appear together for me. Particularly with the multifactor authentication coming in.
Probably a long way off but a single report clerks can print that specify vacancies, dates of upcoming meetings, governors coming to an end, who hasn't completed declarations, training not yet completed and whether minutes from the last meeting were signed by Chairs or not. This could then be issued very quickly for all boards. When you have 30 boards it would be beneficial to print off in one go.
Thank you
The GovernorHub Team 17 Jul 2024, 12:56 (10 months ago)
Hi Emma - Making training similar to decs and confs is a really good point, this is definitely something for us to look at, as is a report that is just governor roles.
Please contact us through the little chat icon in the bottom right of your screen when you're logged in to you GovernorHub account and we can explain how to setup messaging to chairs from different boards and linking GovernorHub accounts.
Thanks for you're suggestion, we love this idea and one we will look at doing. 🦉
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