Teachers / parents what do you think of school governors?

[Goodgriefisitginfizzoclock]

Inspired by another thread I’m going to ask - what do teachers/parents think of school governors?
Do you see a value in their work? I’ve been a governor for 10 years in a secondary school. I have loved, for the most part everything I’ve done but I do wonder if teachers/parents see the value.
Setting the strategic direction and ethos of the school, holding the school and HT to account,supporting the school in difficult decisions,convening panels for complaints,exclusions etc or are we just considered a pita? Thoughts welcome

All the governors I have met have been ‘yes’ people (that’s six different school)

You’ll find links to them on your schools website.

Funniest thing I have read in ages. Sorry.

Ratatouille76
I think those professionals would be good but alas with no pay i suspect they would be hard to attract in sufficient numbers. We have 10 governors that are not staff of the school, so just in one school that’s a lot of people to attract.

MsRabbitRoc
Wow that’s a poor statistic

MsRabbitRoc
I said they ‘may’. Clearly not in the six schools you’ve experienced.
Ours has and I seem to remember they had hard copy in foyer at primary not that I ever read it !

There is so much variation, I guess.

I am chair, in a primary school, and what used to be called 'local authority' governor.

As a qualified accountant, I also work with the HT on the budget etc - which of course is going in the wrong direction.

Others are experienced in marketing, we have a GP and also HR specialist.

Not an academy.

We never discuss individual children or teachers. The HT runs the school.

I said they ‘may’.

I was quoting another poster who did not say ‘may’

maxbabi
That is sad, hope the union helped you. That’s a really high proportion of parents imo. You need a balance of staff, teaching and support staff

We never discuss individual children or teachers. The HT runs the school.

And there lies a problem.

MsRabbitRocks
Apologies

Off to bed,
Thanks for all the contributions

They have absolutely zero understanding or interest in knowing, never mind caring about the effects of their decisions upon the largely female support staff, who are paid poorly even before you allow for the minimum 20% reduction in respect of term time only contracts. Need to save a few quid? Oh dear, can't possibly say no to refurbishing the HT/SLT block when there was nothing wrong with it, just get rid of a couple of women.

Overspend massively? Get rid of a bunch of women. Maybe one man, just to make sure they can argue it isn't sex discrimination.

They also seem unable to detect bullshit if it comes wrapped in an expensive suit.

The Govs who told me that they were all useless, felt they were the only ones who would challenge the HT, the others nodded smiled and agreed with the HT. Boards can be incredibly dysfunctional - not just school boards - strong and weak personalities can cause real problems. Mind you I also know another couple of Govs, who think it works really well - one TA - no one at school talks to her much any more - she’s viewed with suspicion - she has a lot of respect the HT - who does an amazing job in tough circumstances, The other a parent - ex chair but feeling disillused by the Sats impact on education.
I expect everything hangs around that one person the HT if they are open minded, happy to be challenged...I expect that makes all the difference to the contribution felt.

I’m a secondary teacher and a primary governor. We have been a bit rubbish in the past and not been challenging enough but we have some great people now and are driving up standards. My biggest concern is teacher workload and budget as primary seems worse than secondary.

Ratatouille76
I think those professionals would be good but alas with no pay i suspect they would be hard to attract in sufficient numbers. We have 10 governors that are not staff of the school, so just in one school that’s a lot of people to attract.

That is extremely patronising and utter rubbish. I'm a social worker on a reasonably decent wage thanks very much.

I’m a Governor. The scope of the experience across our board is incredibly varied. I think we’re lucky to have a fantastic HT who runs the school very well so we don’t have to deal with problems except extremely rarely. The degree to which we can/will get involved varies though, everyone is busy and it is a volunteer role (albeit a big one with proper responsibility).

Our CoG recently asked someone to step down as it was clear they couldn’t meet the time commitments and it’s better to have someone who can add value. Until you’ve done it I don’t think you can properly appreciate what a commitment and responsibility it is - done properly, it isn’t a prestige position but unfortunately it can attract people who want just that as it has status.

My main task at the moment is to try and raise additional funding for the school from local businesses. That’s the sort of value the governing body adds. The staff do not have time to do those sorts of vital roles.

@msrabbitrocks - you will generally find that governing bodies are fairly explicitly told not to discuss individual children or teachers - it is not part of the role of the general board meetings.

We look at groups of children (eg SEN boys compared to the general cohort), or in larger schools you could look at Yr 4 as a whole etc.

However, if there is a specific issue concerning a child, or a teacher, that could be discussed by the safeguarding governor and the HT or deputy.

I’ve been a staff Governor in a secondary school and a community governor in a primary school.

As a teacher all my career, I feel that Iknow something about education, but I felt in the primary school, that there were decisions made, with which I disagreed and so did other governors, but we were overruled by the rest.

I had wanted to make a difference, but felt impotent to do so and resigned in the end. I don’t think that the governing body was particularly effective and lacked strategic challenge.

Ratatouille76
I meant governors receive no pay

Yes obviously. did anyone think that they did??

I have read the Governing Handbook and it does not state anywhere that individual staff/pupils may not be discussed. In fact, they are compelled to when dealing with complaints.

Taken from the Governing Handbook:

Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the effective and efficient performance management of staff
How can this be done without discussing if roles are actually effective?

mechanisms for enabling the board to listen, understand and respond to the voices of parents/carers, pupils, staff, local communities and employers;
So are you saying when parents, pupils and staff contact the governing body, this shouldn’t be discussed?

plans to ensure that key duties are undertaken effectively across the organisation such as safeguarding, inclusion, special education needs and disability (SEND), and monitoring and oversight of the impact of pupil premium and other targeted funding streams;
How do they discuss if key duties are undertaken effectively without talking about who is carrying out the key duty? If they are checking if key duties are being carried out effectively, this should refer to the effectiveness of the outcomes by the staff member.

However, since the board is responsible in law for the school(s), it may need to intervene in operational matters if a circumstance arises where, because of the actions or inactions of executive leaders, the school may be in breach of a duty. Having advised the board, executive leaders must comply with any reasonable direction given by it.
So they can intervene in operational matters and look at the effectiveness of the senior leadership team. My point was that largely, when I have either been a staff governor or spoken to my elected staff governor, the governing body have been too trusting of what the headteacher tells them and in turn, fail to ask the probing questions beyond what the staff governors ask (who can’t be at every meeting, such as when financial decisions are being made, they cannot vote as a conflict of interest), as laid out in the governing handbook.