Joshua Mangas

Lancashire Governor Development Lead | Founder of @GAFSchools. Governance Operating System for UK schools and academy trusts.

Practitioner. Developer.

[Joshua Mangas @JoshuaMangas]

The dopamine hit I get from a @bot reset is off the scale.

[Joshua Mangas @JoshuaMangas]

Anyone with an Android phone fancy helping me out? I need six more testers to install and try my netball app.

I made it for my wife because I'm proper romantic like that.

It's been on Apple for a while and people seem to like it, so I'm putting it on the Google Store too, but I need registered testers to get it on there and its a blocker.

You don't need to play or umpire netball. Just sign up as a tester on the site and I'll send the instructions.

Thanks

https://t.co/sSX2ZAOps2

[Joshua Mangas @JoshuaMangas]

This is a school I’ve been supporting. Over a thousand pupils.

Their governors had never seen the attendance trajectory laid out like this. Like most boards, they lived report to report, without zooming out.

Attendance up just over 2 percentage points in four years. Persistent absence down nearly 10. That is school leadership, and the board should know what changed and celebrate it

Too much governor training stays technical and misses the simple questions. Are things going up or down. What did we do. How do we know it’s working, if not, what are we doing about it.

This picture usually sits inside the IDSR. Most governors never see it. Oversight that recognises the work school leaders are doing gets lost.

I built this free school checker so anyone can put in a URN and look at the key measures over five years. I needed it. It didn’t exist. Trust me, you need it to.

https://t.co/szSMsNOt7L

#SchoolGovernance #MATs #Governance

[Joshua Mangas @JoshuaMangas]

Questions I’d want on the table this term:

1. Is the allergy safety policy on the website, and when will the board next review it?

2. Does our uniform stay within the branded-item cap, and are the policy and second-hand arrangements on the website?

3. Have governors and staff read KCSIE 2026, and have we checked regular parent volunteers who teach, train, instruct or supervise children?

4. Does filtering and monitoring cover staff and pupil AI tools, including deepfakes?

5. What does our self-evaluation look like against the new Ofsted report card, especially inclusion?

6. Have Universal Credit families been told they may now get free school meals, are newly eligible pupils actually eating, and are they coded targeted or expanded?

7. When was the last annual safeguarding audit submitted, and is the action plan on this term’s agenda?

8. Has someone checked the single central record this term, and are the headteacher appraisal dates in the diary?

10. What’s the three-year pupil number forecast, and what does that do to next year’s budget?

11. Are we preparing for Martyn’s Law, knowing it is on the statute book but not yet in force?

[Joshua Mangas @JoshuaMangas]

Ofsted’s updated inspection materials apply this month. Report cards rather than a single word, and inclusion as its own evaluation area: disadvantaged pupils, SEND, children known to social care, and others facing barriers.

Worth the board knowing what the school is using as its self-evaluation against that.

https://t.co/TpptGPTqhK

[Joshua Mangas @JoshuaMangas]

The annual safeguarding audit happens this term. The DSL usually fills in the form. The board should not leave it there.

A named safeguarding governor should be in the conversation while it’s being completed. The completed audit and action plan then come to the board. Governors scrutinise it, agree the actions, and check they get done. That’s the annual review the law is asking for.

The chair’s job is to make sure it isn’t treated as DSL admin that never reaches governors. Ask: when was the last one submitted, what’s still open on the action plan, and is it on this term’s agenda.

Martyn’s Law is on the statute book. Not yet in force. Schools should still be preparing.

[Joshua Mangas @JoshuaMangas]

KCSIE 2026 is in force.

Two for the first agenda. Regular parent volunteers who teach, train, instruct or supervise children are in regulated activity, so they need the right DBS and barred-list checks. The old supervised volunteer exemption has gone.

Generative AI, including deepfakes, now sits in the guidance. Filtering and monitoring has to cover staff and pupil AI tools.

https://t.co/1IxXusojtI

[Joshua Mangas @JoshuaMangas]

Separate from allergy: branded uniform cap, also now in force.

Schools may not require more than 3 compulsory branded items (4 at secondary, if one is a tie). Uniform policy and second-hand arrangements must be on the website. This is board-owned. Treat it as its own check.

https://t.co/u739R4p2Lg

[Joshua Mangas @JoshuaMangas]

September’s started. If you chair a school, a few things actually changed this week.

Here's all the things you might want on your radar for September. 🧵1/9

[Joshua Mangas @JoshuaMangas]

@NGAMedia has a webinar on Tue 8 Sep, 12:30, if that’s useful.
https://t.co/rt0N1FOp4l

[Joshua Mangas @JoshuaMangas]

Allergy safety policy is now a legal must.

The board has to have one, review it at least annually, and publish it on the website. Immediate job: is it actually on the site?

https://t.co/LgoseniR1O

[Joshua Mangas @JoshuaMangas]

I built exactly this inside the SGAF membership portal for governors and leaders.

Benchmarking and context is such an important aspect of governance. Understanding if an issue is a local, regional or national one directs the challenge in the appropriate direction.

[Ofsted @Ofstednews]

🆕 FAQ update: similar schools data

Our inspectors now use data to compare schools in the most similar contexts.

The data helps them do more to highlight achievement in schools working in challenging circumstances.

Bookmark the FAQs now ⬇️
https://t.co/40bXLmvfyG

[Joshua Mangas @JoshuaMangas]

@vicgoddard You’re welcome.

[Joshua Mangas @JoshuaMangas]

I built this so boards aren't working off last year's PDF.

Most of the knowledge platforms you're paying for are full of stale content.

Free, and it self audits and updates when the guidance does.

[School Governance Assurance Framework @GAFSchools]

Free, live, UK school governance intelligence for governors and trustee.

Continuously updated, structured for practical decision-making and grounded in current guidance & policy.

https://t.co/5Ept8VMYnv

[Joshua Mangas @JoshuaMangas]

@tombennett71 It’s simpler than that, it’s sleep deprivation.

[Joshua Mangas @JoshuaMangas]

@IamAroke The OG AI.

[Joshua Mangas @JoshuaMangas]

Finally got my access back, must have needed Elon’s approval.

Note to self. Next time I get a new phone, migrate the authenticate app.