Anyone a school parent governor and would like to tell me about it please?

[PaintBySticker]

I’m thinking of standing but haven’t made up my mind. I’ve asked to speak to one of the current governors but haven’t heard back yet.

I’m after honest opinions please:

Is it manageable (to do it properly) on top of doing an 0.8 FTE job and having 2 children?

What’s the regular time commitment in your experience? And if your school is OFSTED inspected (this one is due), what’s the expectation?

Do the governance responsibilities weigh on you?

What have you gained and learned?

Would you advise your best friend to go for it or warn them against?

Thank you :)

Is it possible to do it well whilst working full time? Ime, no. Schools will tell you the minimum number of meetings per term, which sounds quite manageable but you need to ask how they structure meetings, committees etc. We had 1 full governor body meeting per term but then each committee (we had 3) met twice per term. We were all then allocated 1 subject to be linked with and had to make contact regularly with the head of dept. There are also then pupil premium governor, SEND governor, safeguarding governor.

You will also need to commit to training on top of the meetings. Our FGB meetings were in the evening, as was training but all other meetings were early in the morning or straight after school.

Ofsted - is something akin to the Spanish Inquisition!!! Depending on how new you are when the inspection occurs you might not be expected to take part. If you do take part be prepared to answer questions in great detail. They want to see that you "know" your school - know the data, where improvements need to be made, what the school improvement plan is and where the school is in the implementation of it, how the school is closing the gaps... They can ask you anything.

The responsibilities weighed heavily on some of us.

I found it very rewarding. I learnt a lot. But it was incredibly hard work.

Before you decide definitely speak to a governor at the school. Ask them to be honest about the work load.

Unless you are in education it is a steep learning curve at the beginning but the more involved you can be the deeper the understanding. Good luck. Despite the hard work and stress sometimes I have enjoyed it all.

May be worth checking with your employer - my xh was a parent governor and his company actually had a clause around something like community work that he was entitled to I think 3 days a year off for, so could attend some daytime meetings. All GBs I have sat on were made up mostly of people who worked FT.

You have to be a 'critical friend' - you are there to ask the difficult questions when needed, being impartial at all times.

Thanks both.

I think I could do the critical friend part ok. I work in a job that requires that to an extent (not education though).

It’s the time commitment that concerns me most. That I either wouldn’t do a good job or I’d stress myself out / be worn down.

I think maybe now’s not the right time but then I wonder when that would be.

I work full time as do most of the governors in our body, I'm in one sub committee. Many employers have a public duties policy, they're required to let you have reasonable time off and the nice ones pay! Mine pays.

My dh is a parent governor at dcs Primary. He works full time as well as having his own business and manages to attend the majority of the meetings. They usually start after school so around 3:30pm for a couple of hours, he has an understanding boss so usually leaves work early and makes up the time by taking half hour lunches.
He also attends the year 6 leavers concert and photographs that for the school. (His own business is wedding photography)

He did also attend the last ofsted inspection and was grilled by the inspectors, they talked a lot about statistics and luckily my dh is good with those.
He has also has done a sickness disciplinary, but that is only once in the 6+ years he has been a governor.

I looked into being a governor and the governing clerk suggested I attend an evening at a local secondary school to find out more about it. They were hosting an evening from a variety of governors who talked about their experiences. I came away realising it wasn't for me and now volunteer on a committee more in line with my skillset

Honestly I'd say it depends on your job, I was a governor for a few years then changed jobs to one with more housr a longer commute and found that I wasn't able to get to any of the afternoon subcommittee meetings. My employer doesn't give time off for school governors and tbh I'd have ended up having to ask for half day 6 times a year plus time to do school visits and meet with staff for the specific responsibility I had so I had to resign.

While I was a governor the school had 3 ofsted visits as there'd been some problems before I started and they'd had a new head and senior staff, I wasn't directly involved but those who were said it was quite nerve wracking and a lot was expected of essentially lay volunteers

This is very interesting. I was also thinking about doing this once my youngest is at school. But I am a teacher myself so no idea how it would fit in.

It really depends on the individual schools and how they structure meetings, committees etc. Primary is also less demanding than secondary ime.

If you are interested then definitely speak to the school to find out exactly what they expect.