Ok, so here I am considering putting my self forward for one of the three school governor posts my children's school is advertising, am I mad?

[LauraNorder]

I know I will be expected to attend 6 governing body meetings a year and that i will probably have to be on a sub committee and that would have meetings of it's own. But what else is involved?

[spanieleyes]

We like our governors to turn up for school events, so sports days,school fetes and fairs, church services ( we are a church school) end of term assemblies and weekly assemblies usually on a "rota" basis with one or two per event. One or two are also always around at Parents evenings in case any parents want to have a word.Each governor has a class attached to them which they visit on a regular basis-my class governor is a farmer so he comes in and works with the children managing the school vegetable garden, one is a member of the School Council. Oh and they all come to Christmas dinner which the yr 6's cook for the whole school!

[inveteratenamechanger]

There is a lot of reading of official docs etc. and you will probably be required to attend training in the evening or at the weekend.

When I was a governor, we had to be a member of 2 sub-committees.

If the school needs a new head, or there is anything like a new build or the possibility of becoming an academy there will be LOT of extra meetings.

You will probably also be required to sit on appointment panels.

Not trying to put you off - it is really interesting and you learn a lot. But it is a LOT of work.

[LauraNorder]

Thank you, still considering! I haven't been a parent at the school for long. We moved to the area last Xmas but we are staying here so I will be involved with the school for some years now. (Also have an 18 month old DD).

Is it a bit early? Should I wait a while? DH thinks I would really enjoy it. There is a contact on the information sheet, I think I will call him and have a chat about what is expected of him. I would hate to volunteer and then find out I couldn't commit.

[admission]

Have a chat to this contact and if you have not been put off, then I would say 110% go for it. It is very rewarding (mainly) and you do learn an awful lot about how schools really operate - not just the teaching side of it.

You need to check out when the meetings are - some schools they are during the day, others in the evening, as this will need to be sorted out with DH for baby-sitting duties!

[LauraNorder]

what is expected of me not him

I have been wondering about going back to work but think DD is a little bit young - I wonder if this might bridge the gap, commitment, stimulation without being a part job IYSWIM.

[PositiveAttitude]

I found it very interesting and also very good for getting the brain going after not working for a while after having the DCs. I was governor at the local primary and I am now governor at the local Specialist Education Unit. It also opened other doors for me with the LEA and I have done lots of diverse things stemming from this.

Go for it, but I have to admit that the first year I felt very much like a fish out of water, so dont expect to slot straight in and know everything - but you will do!!

[purpleturtle]

DH became a governor very soon after our DC started at this school. It's been a great way for us to get to know people. I don't think being a relative newcomer should put you off.

(In addition to newbuild, academy, etc. I can also reliably inform you that going into special measures generates a huge number of extra meetings. Try not to let that happen!)

[DreamTeamGirl]

I have applied too
There are, I think, 4 people for 2 places so we will have to see what happens, but I think it will be really worthwhile

[LauraNorder]

Oooh good luck dreamteam girl. I have until the 17th to write and submit my application with my 50 worded personal statement

[nlondondad]

I strongly encourage you to go for it.

Frankly, if it turns out to be too much for you you can always resign. Which is what I told myself twelve years ago.

Do expect to find the first year largely unintelligible.

Also use all the training opportunities you get.

[LauraNorder]

12 years! That's pretty impressive. They have said you do a term of 4 years, not sure if I will be able to extend if I love it that much

[retiredgoth2]

... I was press-ganged into becoming a parent governor of my twins' tiny rural school within a few montages of moving here.

I'd like to think this is because I am plainly a hugely respected community pillar thingy.

...however I think it is more to do with there being no one else to ask who hasn't already done their stint...

And with a 28 pupil school,the main task is stopping the LEA from closing it....

[retiredgoth2]

'montages'????

Months.

Must find way of turning off auto correct worst on iPad...

[DreamTeamGirl]

Thanks Lauranoder
I ahve already done by personal statement, although they didnt mention a word limit and I think I am probably a little over 50 words. I am quietly please with it tho.

Nice to hear form people like nlondondad or retiredgoth who have done it too

Also positiveattitude. Waves to POA

[LauraNorder]

You have my virtual vote Dreamgirl

I have decided to go for it!

[LauraNorder]

Sorry Dreamteamgirl

[EvilTwins]

From a totally different perspective, can I urge you to think about why you think you'd make a good governor? Lots of posts on here are telling you about what you will get out of it, but what will the school get out of you? I'm afraid I'm a bit of an old cynic - I'm a teacher (secondary) and a lot of our governors (OK, ex-governors - we have an IEB since the governing body was dissolved at the end of the summer term) are (were) dreadful. Having attended a meeting as a head of department, to discuss prospective exam results, and instead been bombarded with questions from parent governors about homework (and had to be very diplomatic about the fact that homework is set and that maybe parents should take on some of the responsibility to ensure their DCs do it) I am very much of the opinion that governors need to be fairly knowledgable before they start, rather than seeing it as a "fantastic learning oportunity".
My Dad (retired teacher) was invited to join the governing bodies of two schools when he retired, and is, IMO (clearly) an excellent choice, as he has an awful lot of knowledge and experience. My BIL is also a governor, and is, IMO of the worst kind - no prior knowledge, but feels he has a right to say how his DD's school is run, takes everything the head there says as the absolute truth and is really doing no one any favours.

Go for it if you feel you can be of service, but please remember that that is what this is about - what you can offer, not what you can gain. If you just want to get to know people, join the PTA.

Sorry if that was a bit harsh, but I dislike the idea that joining the governing body of a school is a super social or learning oportunity. It's not. It's running a school.

[DreamTeamGirl]

Its an important point ET, and definitely food for thought

HOWEVER, how are you actually going to find multiple willing volunteer PARENT govenors who do have previous experience of how a school is run?
And also actually isnt the point that we are representing parents' views and not the school's views?

I have sat on lots and lots of committees and working groups and been involved professionally and personally with planning and implementing things, and my job is facilitation so I think I have good transferable skills, but do I know how a school works? No, I dont, but I am trying to learn.

Thanks for the virtual vote LauraNorder. Let me know when yours is and I will virtually vote for you too

[EvilTwins]

Then you sound like an excellent candidate. I agree - you do sound like you have very good transferable skills. You can look into various aspects of school management before you take up your post, to give you a head start.

IME and IMO, parents do sometimes stand because they have a personal axe to grind, or because they're the stick-their-nose-in types.

It sounds very much like you've given it careful consideration, so best of luck to you!

[LauraNorder]

I do take your points EvilTwin and while they were quite blunt I think they were also perfectly valid.

Like DreamTeamGirl I have not worked in a school before and so would not be able to offer any specific skills there but I am a nurse, I was ward manager and I then served as a Nursing Officer in the Royal Air Force so I would hope that somewhere in all of that I would be able to have some skills that maybe transferrable.

Again, as DreamTeamGirl has pointed out we are offering to be parent governors so we aren't there to represent the views of the parents? I could never offer the skill and experience someone like your father could offer but I do hope I could offer something

Got to go and reduce my personal statement to 50 words now - wish me luck

[DreamTeamGirl]

Thank you EvilTwin, I do hope so, and thank you for the good luck wishes

Hows the staement going Laura? Do you know how much oppostition you have?

[Dufy]

yep nuts!

[LauraNorder]

No idea how many people are interested. If 3 or less apply we will automatically become p governors and if not it will go to an election.

[nlondondad]

err Evil Twin does not appear to understand what school governing bodies do, and how they do it.

if the GB he has had experience of has been disolved due to special measures it seems likely that it did not understand its role either.

A GB is a collective body. It consists of a number of Governors. Some are elected by teachers at the school. Some are elected by parents. Some are appointed by the LEA. Some are coopted. The Head is also a Governor.

Thus a range of expertise is represented on the GB.

A GB full of education experts would NOT be a good GB.

Schools are neither run by parents, nor teachers, nor the LEA but by all working together. The GB is a strategic body
not concerned with the day to day running of the school.

That is why you do not need to be an expert on education to be a governor, but all GB's do need to have some Governor's with expertise.

I am not a school teacher; I have no training in education, but I would take it very amiss if a teacher on our GB was to tell me that my professional background in Organisational Psychology and Management, my work in project management and consumer advocacy, and my experience of having been a parent at the school (my children have moved on) was not relevant to the GB.

What is needed is a variety of Governors.

Finally, as the role time consuming and unpaid it is reasonable to suggest that it can be, and for me has been, very rewarding.