Anyone a school Governor?

[Codandchips]

Thought we could Share experiences here.

I am a parent governor of a brand new primary. (18 months old). There are currently 150 odd on roll and the number will increase to 240.

we wre OFSTED ed after a year and it was fantastic....Phew all round. However as you can imagine a new school involves a lot of policy writing and a steep leanrning curve!

[Codandchips]

Did you appoint him/her?

[Codandchips]

that will be a laugh

[debster]

I am a recently elected parent governor for my son's primary school (only been in post since November). Although not much of an election - 3 vacancies and 3 nominations!

I've only been to one full meeting so far and have volunteered to be on the staffing and finance cttee so have a couple of budget meetings coming up - oh joy.

I am very new to it all and am hoping to attend the new Governor's induction training soon. Hopefully this will give me some idea of what I'm supposed to be doing.

I wasn't very impressed with the Chair. At the meeting he didn't ask the other Governors to introduce themselves. At the end of the meeting one of the other Governors mentioned she thought it would have been a nice thing to have done and he replied that he didn't think it was worth it as we wouldn't remember anyone anyway. Thanks - it would have been nice to have been asked and I do have some intelligence and I even know how to write as well. As you can gather he didn't make a very good impression on me but as it was my first meeting I didn't want to make a fuss. Unfortunately he is also on the same cttee as I'm going to be on so that should be fun.

It would be good to hear others' experiences.

[soyabean]

Hi I'm a parent gov at my childrens primary school. Have been doing it for nearly 4 years. I enjoy it but am in two minds about whether to stand again as it is time consuming and meetings are inconveniently timed for me (6.30 pm and dh works evenings). But I think it tends to take a year or 2 before you feel confident about speaking up, then just as your time is nearly up you are really involved and feel that you are making a proper contribution...We have just had a 'mixed' Ofsted.

[eemie]

What a coincidence - I was thinking about starting a similar thread. I'm looking for information about how the governors of other schools go about fundraising.

For those of you who are parents/parent governors in voluntary aided schools - how do you raise the governors' 10% contribution to buildings maintenance and capital projects?

Our school simply charges it to the parents and I'm curious to know if this practice is common and what the alternatives are.

In law, as we are a church school, it is the responsibility of the PCC - but what happens in parishes where the PCC has no money?

I'll be interested to hear others' experiences

[soyabean]

Not a church school so I dont know anything about that.

[SueW]

I'm not sure if this is the kind of fundraising you are looking for but I came across this website at work recently (I work for a Council for Voluntary Services so come across lots of funding info).

You set up your webshop with them and encourage parents who buy online to link through the website, then you are paid commission on their purchases. I was gutted to discover it after I'd spent £300+ at amazon.

It includes high street names e.g. M&S and online populars like amazon. It costs the parents no more than usual but you would get a chunk of their cash and they could contribute without feeling it!

[capecod]

OUr meetings start at 7 30 and must end by 9 30 - funny how things whizz along by 9 pm- our Chairs are both (or have been)fantastic luckily and make an effort to include everyone.
recently as part of the Heads review and development we have decided that meeitngs of various committees thst include her (most of them) will only take place on a tue or Wed so theat she has some time to callher own.

Ithink 6 30 is decidedly Un family friendly..I would complain.

Have you all a governors visits policy?. We have one and this was praised highly by Ofsted, recommend you all getting one if you are bout to be inspected. We have to go in twice a year and fill ina form before and after that are shared at the fGB meeitngs.

How do you all find you local governor support - we think that it could be alot more hands on - eg how to deal with maternity pay and so on

[Circe]

I too am a governor of DD1's primary school (an LEA governor, not that it makes any practical difference to what I do). I agree that it gets easier to speak up after a little while. The training offered by our LEA is really good, if you can get to it - it has sometimes meant I have to taking a day off work, which isn't great, especially when combined with school visits, etc.

On the fundraising side of things, our PTA is fantastic and raises a lot of money from all sorts of activities. The school is only just over 2 years old, and I think the fact that everyone wanted to get it off to a good start helped.

We have a policy for governors' visits, (I do science, and had a really enjoyable morning at the school a couple of terms ago), which I think I could probably dig out if it would be helpful, capecod? It's mostly just common sense and courtesy, but helpful if (like me) you've had nothing to do with schools since you left school yourself, so you're not familiar with how things work. I'm also a Responsible Officer (inappropriate name, if ever there was one) - overseeing compliance with financial procedures. I have a feeling my LEA is the only one that has taken up this idea so far.

Timing of governors' meetings is potentially a bit of a difficult point. Most of the governors are also teachers, with a few parent governors and three of us who work full time in business/industry, etc. There has been a suggestion that meetings should take place at e.g. 4pm instead of 7.30pm, in the interests of maintaining the teachers' work-life balance. Of course, I think their work-life balance is very important and I support making it easier for them to maintain a balance, but if meetings are moved, it will effectively force me to resign - I already take 4 half days a year out of my holiday to do the science/responsible officer visits - I'd have to take another 6 half days a year for the committee meetings and full governing body meetings if they were to move away from the evening slot. It seems a shame, as there was a lot of encourangement by the LEA for people from business and industry to apply for governors' posts.

[capecod]

thanks circe - we have apolicy i was just suggesting others got one!

[sinclair]

I am a parent governor of DD's nursery school, as of last autumn, and the thing we are struggling with is the devolution (word?) of the school's financial management to the actual school. It feels as if this is going to be a lot of extra work for the school secretary, and I wondered if any Primary governors who have lived through the process have any advice? We are even thinking of recruiting extra admin help to bridge the gap, which kind of defeats the purpose.

Also, on the meetings, we have our committee meetings first thing, at 8. Sounds awful I know but keeps things short and sharp, cuts down on the windbagging, as we all have to get off to work before 9.

[toot]

Im an LEA gov of my DS V.A primary. <br /> <br /> I took the job in Dec but there where no meetings on the calender until late feb. No one from the school made any moves towards me so a few weeks before the meeting I asked the school sec (also clerk to govs) for a stack of documents that I thought may be useful eg School deveploment plan, staffing structure, budget etc. I made an appointment with the head and asked her about anything I didnt understand.

Our full board meets on an ad hoc basis and there is only one ctte (finance). The Finance ctte meets for 1 hour just before the full board meeting (also for 1 hour).

At the meeting I did get a lovely introduction from the chair and I introduced myself to everyone.

I am in serious confusion about what the hell my job is! (I am not on the finance ctte).

There is no chance of LEA training as we have opted out and I have to wait till next Nov before our local church cluster group offer their new gov training.

Before children I was a secondary teacher and the whole thing seems a little odd to me. Can any of you tell me if any of this normal?

[Coddy]

hmm think meetings should be every half term really...

we must have record - we have to appoint 3 teaching staff and 3 tas in may - all those bloody interviews - we ar having a Chinese at out short listing meeting!

[Coddy]

ps sinclair what do you dowith your kids at 8 am?

I am suprised Toot that you only have one committee - what about Premises, staffing - or is there a steering type group..

yuou also should be given AMentor governor anda linked area. WHen was your last inspection?

[debster]

Toots - I'm sure in the guidelines it says that schools should be having full meetings at least every term, if not as Coddy says every half term. You should have received a Governor's Support pack which contains a load of information about what Governors are supposed to do. Mine came from the Governors' Support Service at the Local Authority - maybe you have similar where you are?

At my school we have a number of committees ranging from curriculum, staffing & finance, buildings, SEN and numerous other ones that I can't remember.

Here is a website that you might find helpful.

Governor site

Hope this helps.

[debster]

Sorry rogue 's' there Toot

[toot]

I did expect a mentor governor but non has been offered. The material sent by the LEA consists of 2 A4 sheets and a list of training dates. I cant go on these because, as I say ,we have opted out.I asked about other cttes and was told they form as and when needed according to need. <br /> <br /> Our last inspection was 3 yrs ago I think. The school did really well. We tend to come second/third in our LEA most years ( the school that tops the list also toped the list Nationally last year)and we have appeared in the Times best state school list for both the years that my son has attended. I dont doubt that the school knows what it is doing but as a parent and now a governor I feel a little outside the loop. <br /> <br /> Ive no idea what rights or responsibilities I have at the moment but will explore your linked site debster.

[Coddy]

yes agree on the stautaory requiremnts of meetings...

[moniker]

Hi. I 'm a governor at DS1s primary school and have been asked to set up a PTA. Has anyone got any ideas? The area is a SureStart one, not that many parents work and there isn't a lot of money in the area so it will be more about building relationships than fundraising for the school. I work for a charity and have some experience in working with groups of volunteers but as this will be with other local parents it will be quite different I think. I want to tread carefully as I don't want o p**s anyone off! Any thoughts would be gratefully appreciated. Moniker x

[discordia]

Hello. I'm not a Governor but I am the Clerk to the Governors at my kids' school. Therefore, I will not join in with this discussion, I'll just write down everything that happens and send you minutes.

[roisin]

PTA's can be really cliquey, and full of power-crazy people. Our recent PTA minutes had a note on the bottom saying matters discussed were confidential, and shouldn't be shared outside the meeting. But there was nothing particularly secret in there, and anyone had a right to be at the meeting, gggrrrr.....

Anyway - IMO a good model is that you have a committee, but all parents, grandparents, carers, etc. are automatically 'members' of the PTA, and expected to contribute and join in. Then everyone jointly owns the effort and the rewards of the PTA.

As a contrast - our PTA organises a big summer fair. Yes, the organisation lies heavily on the shoulders of a wee valiant band ... BUT all parents send in contributions to the fair, and most parents bring their kids along (and it's not most peoples' idea of fun) and spend loads of dosh ... But then the PTA (the brave few) claim the credit of raising all the money... Gggrrr.... Do you see what I'm getting at?

Anyway - I think a good way to do this, is to try and get a representative for each class in school. This way the parent will have links with other parents of that class, and can encourage them to take part. Then the responsibility for any events you organise is delegated to individual classes. E.g. at a summer fair each class does one of the tables. Or every month two classes run a cake stall. Or the autumn disco is staffed and supported by parents of yr 1 and 2. ... or whatever.

Sorry - got to go - more thoughts later.

We are in a SureStart area too - money is tight, but there's often people with plenty of time, which can be just as valuable to schools and PTAs.

[soyabean]

I think a class rep system is good too. We dont currently have it at our school but used to and I think it would bring in a wider group of parents, if you can get enough volunteers. Its a less onerous duty than being something official sounding like chair or treasurer or secretary.
I think their job would be to act as a link between teacher and parents about things like volunteering to help (not dealing with complaints or worries!), and also get parents involved with running stalls etc at fairrs. The 'job' could be shared if people work part time or whatever.
At our school all parents and teachers are reminded they are automaticaly members. Meetings are open to everyone and class reps would be expected to come to all or most meetings.