The role of a governor
Who are governors?
A governing body is made up of people from different groups in the community, including parents, staff, the Council, local businesses, and also the head teacher. Schools with a religious character will have foundation governors.
A governor’s term of office usually lasts for four years. The size of the governing body varies from school to school and ranges from seven to 20 members.
What do governors do?
All governing bodies, whether in the maintained or academy sector,have three core functions:
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
- Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff
- Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
Time allotment
Governors act as a team but the amount of time that each of them can give to the role will vary, and may change over time. But if you are serious about helping your school to help children, then you do need to:
-
be willing to prepare for meetings - there can be a lot of papers to read.
-
attend meetings - the governing body must meet at least once a term, but you probably will be asked to serve on at least one committee. How often this meets will vary, but it is usually once or twice a term.
-
be able to get to meetings - these are often during the evening but may be earlier during the day time
-
participate - if you cannot prepare for, and attend, meetings you will not be able to help the school
-
visit the school when it is in operation.
Taking time off work
Employers are legally bound to give staff reasonable time off to carry out their duties as a governor. Some allow paid time off work.