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Tell me about being a parent governor

5 replies

mantaray · 03/02/2010 13:54

Is anyone a parent governor at their child's school?
How much work is involved?
What are you responsible for?
What exactly do you have to do?

A spot is coming up at my DD's new school, I feel it might be a good way to get involved with the school and the community.

Any words of wisdom or caution?

Many thanks.

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Openbook · 03/02/2010 16:01

Governing bodies really vary a lot. Some are just rubber stamps for the head and meetings are a tedious wade through the local authority agenda, others can involve real discussion of important issues for your school. They are not a place to go if you have an agenda of your own - I was a teacher gov for many years and saw several single issue parents come and go, achieving nothing. It can involve a programme of termly meetings plus additional commitee meetings and courses. It should give you a chance to get to know the head and teachers better and to understand the inner workings of the school, but that is not guaranteed if your head keeps you at arms length. Ask previous govs to try and get a flavour. If you give it a try and it's not for you , you can just resign of course. It can vary a lot depending on what is going on - special measures, notice to improve, rebuilds etc can be quite stressful!!!!!

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dozydrawers · 03/02/2010 16:23

My DH has been a parent governor for almost a year and a half. Initially he had to attend three 'being a governor' evening courses organised by the LEA and since then has been on several more day courses relevant to his areas of responsibility (currently most of the curriculum, G&T policy, child protection policy, health and safety ....!) He goes to approximately four evening meetings per term and goes in to school during the day every few weeks for meetings with the head and to observe lessons etc. He became the chair of one of the committees a couple of months ago, which has increased his workload quite a bit.

I think you need to be prepared to give up quite a bit of time and to be available during school time as well as in the evening, but if you can manage that it is well worth doing and very rewarding. From my point of view, there haven't been any negatives and it is something I would like to do at some point.

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DanFmDorking · 03/02/2010 18:23

It does vary from school to school. The main thing is ?time and commitment?. You should think of the Governor meetings as meetings that you MUST attend and arrange your social life around them. You should attend the training sessions that your Local Authority provides. I understand that School Governors are the biggest volunteer organisation in the UK. We estimate that it takes up about 35hrs per year although, of course, it depends on how involved you want to be.

I hope you don't mind but I've found some notes that I will paste below:-

Being a Governor can be extremely rewarding and interesting but for most people there is a steep learning curve before they feel that they are doing something worthwhile. As the Governing Body operates at a mainly strategic level there is a fair amount of paperwork that comes our way that at times can seem daunting.

The Role of a School Governor

Improving the Quality of Education and Standards of Achievement

To Provide a Strategic View
The governing body has important powers and duties but limited time and resources. So it should focus on where it can add most value - that is, helping to decide the school's strategy for improvement so that pupils learn most effectively and achieve the highest standards.

The governing body should help to set, and keep under review, the broad framework within which the Headteacher and staff should run the school. In all its work, the governing body should focus on the key issues of raising standards of achievement, establishing high expectations and promoting effective teaching and learning.

To Act as a ?Critical Friend?
The governing body provides the Headteacher and staff with support, advice and information, drawing on its members' knowledge and experience. In these ways the governing body acts as a critical friend to the school.

Critical in the sense of its responsibility for monitoring and evaluating the schools' effectiveness, asking challenging questions, and pressing for improvement.

A friend because it exists to promote the interests of the school.

To Ensure Accountability
The governing body is responsible for ensuring good quality education in the school. The Headteacher and staff report to the governing body on the schools' performance. It is not the role of the governors simply to rubber-stamp every decision of the Principal.

The governing body has a right to discuss, question and refine proposals - while always respecting the professional roles of the Headteacher and other staff, and their responsibility for the management of the school. In its turn the governing body answers for its actions, above all to parents and the wider local community for the schools' overall performance.

Steering Role
Agreeing the aims of the school; setting a policy on the curriculum, including any requirements for special education needs; setting budgets and approving school development plans; responding to inspection reports and publishing a post-inspection action plan.

  1. Contribute to the review and approval of school policies.
  2. Contribute to school planning processes.
  3. Contribute to setting the school budget.


Executive Role
Taking direct responsibility for recruitment of senior staff and some disciplinary matters, while recognising the Headteacher's responsibility for managing the school; contributing to the admission policy and appeals system.

  1. Contribute to decisions on appointment of staff.
  2. Contribute to decision making on the school's pay and employment policies and procedures.
  3. Contribute to decision making on the school's admission and exclusion policies and procedures.


Supporting Role
Supporting and advising the Headteacher, for example by giving financial management advice.

Supporting Subject coordinators through being a subject governor.

  1. Provide the school with support, advice and information.
  2. Contribute knowledge, skills and expertise to the governing body.
  3. Promote the interests of the school and its pupils.


Monitoring Role
Making sure that the school adheres to its policies, budgets and plans; keeping informed about the quality and standards of education in the school, including pupil achievement.

  1. Contribute to monitoring the school development plan and policies.
  2. Contribute to monitoring the school budget.
  3. Contribute to monitoring quality of learning.
  4. Contribute to monitoring pupils' overall achievement.


Accounting to Parents
Making sure that parents are kept informed about what is happening in the school and that their views are taken into account.

  1. Prepare the preparation of the School's Annual report to Parents
  2. Demonstrate the governing body's accountability.
  3. Contribute to the integrity of school governance.
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Openbook · 03/02/2010 20:03

Notes above are all well and good but in some cases "contribute to ..." looks more like "nod through.....". It really does depend on the head and then on the chair.

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mantaray · 03/02/2010 20:15

Excellent, thank you for all the replies.

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