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School Governors

  • To view Governors and Committees CLICK HERE
  • To view the Annual Governors Statement CLICK HERE
  • To view the Code of Conduct CLICK HERE
  • To view the Attendance Record CLICK HERE
  • To view the Record of Finance Interest CLICK HERE
  • To view the Committee Structure and Terms of Reference CLICK HERE
  • To view the Declaration of Pecuniary and Business Interests CLICK HERE

What is the job of a school governor?

School governors are one of the country's largest voluntary groups with around 345,000 school governors contributing to strategic development and raising standards of achievement at over 30,000 schools.

School governors are members of their school's governing body which is a "corporate body". A corporate body has a legal identity that is separate from its members and as a result, individual governors are generally protected from personal liability as a result of the governing body's decisions and actions, provided they act honestly, reasonably and in good faith.

Individual governors have no power or right to act on behalf of the governing body except where the whole governing body has delegated a specific function to that individual or where regulations specify that a function is to be exercised in a particular way.

School governors are drawn from different parts of the community, such as parents, the Staff, the Local Education Authority, the Community and other groups. This helps to ensure that the governing body has sufficient diversity of views and experience but does not mean that governors of a particular category "represent" that group on the governing body. For example, Parent Governors do not act as a representative of the parents at the school and do not report back to them.

Responsibilities

The governing body has a range of duties and powers and a general responsibility for the conduct of the school with a view to promoting high standards of educational achievement including setting targets for pupil achievement, managing the school's finances, making sure the curriculum is balanced and broadly based, appointing staff and reviewing staff performance and pay and many more.

The governing body has considerable discretion as to how to discharge its responsibilities but is required to constitute itself in line with the regulations and to appoint a chair and vice chair. The governing body may delegate certain of its responsibilities to certain governors or committees of governors, although in general, it is not compelled to do so.

Roles and Actions

There are a range of roles and actions that the governing body or individual governors need to consider:

Constitution of the Governing Body

The governing body must be constituted in line with the School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2003. These regulations cover the number and type (category) of governors that make up the governing body. Terms of Reference of the Governing Body. Follow the link to GovernorNet 'The Roles of the Governing Body and Headteacher' for details.

Categories of Governors

Depending on the category (Community, Foundation, Voluntary Controlled, Voluntary Aided) of the school, the governing body will be made up of different numbers and categories of governors. In brief, there are the following categories of school governor:

  • Parent governors - selected by election (or appointment if insufficient people stand for election) and drawn from parents and carers of children at the school.
  • Staff governors - selected by election from teaching and support staff paid to work at the school
  • Community governors - appointed by the governing body to represent community interests
  • LEA governors - appointed by the LEA
  • Foundation governors (not community schools) - appointed by the school's founding body, church or other organisation named in the school's instrument of government
  • Partnership governors (foundation schools only) - replace Foundation governors if the school does not have a founding body
  • Sponsor governors - discretionary category appointed by the governing body from individuals who have made significant (financial) contributions to the school
  • Associate members (not governors) - appointed by the governing body to attend committee meetings and/or full governing body meetings due to their particular skills or experience

Governor Recruitment and Selection

  • Electing Parent and Staff Governors
  • Help Schools Help Children - How to become a school governor and the School Governor recruitment toolkit - a variety of resources to help with promoting governance and recruiting governors is available on the Governornet site.

Roles of Governors

The governing body must appoint a chair and vice-chair and may wish to make a number of other specific appointments to lead on certain aspects of the school. Follow the links in Background Reading on Governornet to:

  • Chair of Governors and Vice-Chair of Governors
  • Specific Roles within the governing body - Link, SEN, Literacy, Numeracy and other specific subject governors

Committees of the Governing Body

The governing body can delegate certain of its responsibilities to committees or individual governors.

Click Here to see the Annual Governance Statement - Autumn 2019 - Summer 2020

www.governornet.co.uk