Thinking of becoming a school governor

[JamTartLover]

Hi all,

I am new to Mumsnet and I am hoping I am using the right thread for this topic!

This is the backstory. I don't feel as though I am reaching my full potential at work (doing a more junior job than I expected to be doing due to staff shortages, e.g. working on day to day admin rather than overseeing processes) and there isn't much I can do about that other than resign and find a new job but the jobs I have seen that are more senior require experience that I don't think I will get in my current role.

Anyway, I was thinking of becoming a school governor to build on my knowledge, skills and experience so I can apply for more senior roles.

Has anyone got any experience of being a school governor? Could you please advise on anything useful that can be added to my application to make me stand out?

I'm not sure being a school governor will give you exactly what you're looking for although it can be fascinating.
Some schools are desperate for governors and some hold interviews etc. They often do skills audits to identify what areas they're boards aren't as strong in and look to fill those.
Ability to read a balance sheet
Ability to interpret data
Confidence to ask questions
Passionate about education
Committed to inclusion and diversity
The National Governance Association is very useful source of info.

If you have the ability to attend meetings at 4pm, go for it. This is why most school governors are retired or SAHP.

I was a governor for 22 years and the meetings were always in the evening, You need to be aware that there are many meetings - the whole governing body at least once a term and then smaller teams such as staffing, finance, curriculum. You would also be expected to attend functions and to link with a curriculum subject. Schools do now often advertise for people with certain areas of expertise. The quality of the meetings depends very much on the quality of the Chair.

I was a school Governor and none of our meetings were at 4pm. To be honest, it was a much bigger commitment than I was told it would be and I was put under a lot of pressure to volunteer to be Chair as the current chair was desperate to stand down. It was interesting and enjoyable, but ultimately, IMO, the more you gave, the more they wanted, so I'd definitely advise very firm boundaries.

You seem to be approaching this from the motivation of wanting to re-ignite your stalled career.

That’s not the way to approach this at all.

Becoming a school governor needs a selfless person and the commitment in time and mental energy is not really compatible with professional ambitions.

Thanks for the responses! Very insightful.

Will have a think about whether to pursue this or not

Our meetings always at 7pm but depending on roles that you might want to undertake you do need to be free during the day ie interviewing. Im not doing it to enhance cv but could see how it could. Im passionate about education for all (my children didnt attend the school i am involved with but they do now)

Its really worthwhile and scholls need people with a range of skills (i feel i could talk about heating and ventilation units for hours lol) and perspectives

Good luck

I am a clerk to governors in several schools, among other things. Most of my meetings start at 6.00 pm. 2 out of 11 governors are retired, the rest work.

Re number of meetings at the moment in my schools it's one of two models - the first involves 6 meetings of the full governing board per year. That is offset by governors being actively involved in monitoring activities and reporting efficiently, in some respects replacing committees.
The others have full board meetings 4 times a year. They also have 3 committees, each meeting 3 times a year. Governors are hardly ever on more than one committee.
I won't clerk for a school that starts meetings later than 6.30 pm!
I find that governors tend to not have too much trouble attending meetings. It's even easier now because the government and NGA advice is to meet virtually. What they struggle with is doing the training they need - induction and other basic training and then keeping themselves current. Logging in to Trust or Local Authority briefings, that sort of thing.
Then there is the requirement for governors to monitor the school at a strategic level. That means for example that Health and Safety doesn't mean walking round the school noting loose carpet. Governors should be monitoring that proper processes are in place and effective. Probably 80% of the governors I work with need prodding to do their monitoring, even though they have a timetable updated every September. Then they struggle to get their written monitoring report done, and over to me in time to be included in meeting papers. I tell them if they don't provide the report they might as well not bother... I think these two areas - training and monitoring - are where governors regularly fall down.

Really it's quite a job for volunteers, I wouldn't do it. But people do find it very rewarding and it can't do any harm on a CV.

@Whichcatthatcat

If you have the ability to attend meetings at 4pm, go for it. This is why most school governors are retired or SAHP.

That's not true. I've been a governor at three different schools and the meetings took place on an evening and the vast majority of the governing body worked.... You need to be able to visit the school occasionally during day though, maybe 3/4 times a year depending on your specific role.

I meant to say - for example in one school 2 out of 11 governors are retired... In my experience most governors work.

Many meetings - most often evening. Also need occasional time off work in daytime for visits in school hours. You'll need to input into reports, attend training etc. It's insightful but needs dedication

@Whichcatthatcat

If you have the ability to attend meetings at 4pm, go for it. This is why most school governors are retired or SAHP.

What a strange post. I am a school governor and know governors at quite a few other schools. All of our regular meetings are in the evenings, although we do sometimes need to be available in the day for interviews, any disciplinary hearings etc, monitoring visits and so on. It is well understood that not everyone can be available for these whenever.

On our governing board, we only have one person who is retired and no SAHPs. All of the others are in quite demanding professional roles which they juggle alongside their governor responsibilities.

It is quite a big commitment tbh. There is a lot to do, but it can also be very interesting and very rewarding. As long as you have some relevant skills that you can offer and you are genuinely committed to supporting the school and the education of the children, I think it would be OK to do it as a kind of development opportunity. I think one of our governors originally signed up for that reason - she is very keen, willing to volunteer for stuff, and she has certainly been an asset to the school.

I'm a (parent) governor for exactly the same reason - I wanted to expand my professional experience as well as supporting my local school. Our meetings are generally mornings which is good because we get to see the school operating, and my work gives me the time to attend. I'm pretty new to it, but I find it incredibly interesting. It probably depends on the school - we're part of an academy trust so I think it may be a bit less onerous - it certainly seems to be compared to other governors I know!

It seems the school where I was a governor was unusual in having early meetings.
The reasoning was that the head and staff governors had to attend, and so did any teachers who were giving reports. And they had been working all day so it wasn't fair to ask them to stay in the evenings.

Our team had 1 self employed person, 1 part time person, 1 full time person, but who was very senior in thier organisation and could work flexi hours, 2 teacher governors, and all the rest were retired.

I'm a governor at my sons school and I'm 29 years old. I became one at 28. I was the youngest Govenor anyone had seen. I am a parent governor.
It requires some interesting and helpful training to begin with and then you are able to help with the board in a practical way. We do meet at 4 but we can meet later in theory. It just seems to be a time we meet. The meetings were all held virtually last year which was helpful.
I've found it to be an enriching experience and I feel like I am giving something back to my son by engaging in his education.

There is no harm in seeing it as an asset for your career. I am a stay at home mom but it would no doubt provide lots of experience in things like policy which could give some advantage for work.

Pretending to have totally altruistic reasons to do it is nonsense. A lot of people are involved because it helps their grand child's school, helps their child's school, has potential to improve the area where you live, you get access to some brilliant training, meet interesting people. It's not all about the goodness of your heart.

I'm proud of myself for doing it. I felt out of my depth to start with but feel equal now. Its just hard whilst being pregnant and sick but the board have been understanding of me missing the last meeting and not writing a report.

Hope this helps

The Governor role will also vary as to whether it is a state maintained school or part of an Academy chain.

However, you need to be committed not just so you can put something in your CV

I’m VC of a Governing body. Meetings are either 8.30am, 4.30 pm or 5pm. The working governors struggle to attend. As a SAHM I echo what a pp said re pressure to do more. I am getting pressure to step up to Chair - I am not doing it. We get governors easily - they just don’t stay due to time commitments. Much more intense role than I had thought and after 5 years I’ve had enough tbh. I think it would help with additional skills for career development but it is a very hard way to do it.

As well as adding to your own personal skill set, what are your main reasons for becoming a school governor?

You need to be able to explain what you will be able to bring to the school, and why you want to do the role. What areas of expertise or which skill set can you offer the school, and how could that balance with the existing governing body?

At my school most meetings are in the evening, though there are several each year. They are usually in person though covid has changed this at my school - mostly online right now, but planning to,return to in person when they can. However, you will probably have some during school hours, or,just after school finishes - ones where a member of staff is reporting back the governing body, for example.

Our governors also have class and/or subject links and are expected to visit school once a term to meet the class and/or staff member to talk about the area, or to generally be present in the classroom and see what goes on.

The governors are also invited to things like the school plays or bigger school functions and there is an expectation they will attend.

Depending on your governor role you may be asked to attend staff interviews, which will be in school hours and can take up the best part of a day or two.

The reasoning was that the head and staff governors had to attend, and so did any teachers who were giving reports. And they had been working all day so it wasn't fair to ask them to stay in the evenings.

Yeah, our head and staff governors obviously attend, as well as other members of staff who need to present etc. They just stay late in order to do it. Yes, they have been working all day, but so have all of the governors, so tbh, we all just get on with it!

Governing boards require a lot of professional skills these days, so it is not really practical to hold meetings at times which might exclude the people most likely to have those skills. I think the school staff just accept the occasional evenings as part of the job, like many senior staff in charities who have to attend evening trustee meetings.

@EssexGurl

I’m VC of a Governing body. Meetings are either 8.30am, 4.30 pm or 5pm. The working governors struggle to attend. As a SAHM I echo what a pp said re pressure to do more. I am getting pressure to step up to Chair - I am not doing it. We get governors easily - they just don’t stay due to time commitments. Much more intense role than I had thought and after 5 years I’ve had enough tbh. I think it would help with additional skills for career development but it is a very hard way to do it.

Sounds like you need clearer communication up front about the time commitment involved. A high turnover of governors can't be good for the school - I think it generally takes at least a year before governors know enough to start contributing in any meaningful way!

I do agree that it's time consuming, and that there is always pressure to take on more, but our board has excellent retention rates because we ensure that people have a clear idea of what they're signing up for!

Hi all, really interesting responses. Thanks for taking the time to respond!

Apologies, my OP seemed very focused on getting more skills (which is one of the reasons) but I have also been thinking of volunteering opportunities that are available in the evenings (I work from home and finish work at 4pm) as most of the volunteer roles I've seen are during the day. Because I work from home, I thought it may be nice to get to know those in my local community (new to the area) and thought volunteering in a school might help with that.

Also, I value education and I am passionate about all children having access to good education.

I don't have children yet, so I do have some free time to help and support a local school.

Many meetings are in the evening, but monitoring visits near to take place during the day, as thats when the appropriate staff are there.

Interviewing is during the day too. I found some of the training on the council website problematic to access and some was time expensive.

Governing bodies are looking for specific skills these days, such as IT expertise, financial expertise, marketing expertise, management expertise and background in education.

I was pressured to attend all the daytime events in school- of which there are many. I felt that there was an imbalance in the expectation. I also felt that the main purpose of being a governor- the strategic monitoring of the school- was hard to follow through. I didn’t think there was sufficient accountability.

Not something I’d do again.

I looked into doing this as live opposite a school and not a parent but with lots time on my hands. However they only interested in those with least 3 sets letters after their names. Unless you have a fantastic name to drop or super skills or work contacts didn’t want to know.

@Akire

I looked into doing this as live opposite a school and not a parent but with lots time on my hands. However they only interested in those with least 3 sets letters after their names. Unless you have a fantastic name to drop or super skills or work contacts didn’t want to know.

I think that's over stating it a bit, but it's certainly true that governing bodies are typically looking for people with relevant professional skills. This is because of the nature of the role - it is quite demanding and you need to know what you're doing.

I'm a governor at my DC's primary school and have been for 6 years. Before this and pre kids, I was a governor for a few years at another primary. I do it because I believe it's important to give back to your community if you can, I value education and I find it interesting.

In career terms, I work in a large organisation in a middle management position. Being a governor is like being a non-exec director, so it does give me a completely different view to an organisation and a focus on the strategic rather than operational. On the flipside, I bring my professional expertise from work to the governing board. As a board we are keen to have wide skillsets and varied perspectives on the board - ranging from HR, law, communications to other types of educational professional through to personal experience like being the parent of a child with SEND.

Our meetings are either before school or 6pm, but I do end up with monitoring visits or other daytime commitments about 2 days a year. My old employer supported this with days off, but now I just take holiday. There is a legal requirement for an employer to allow reasonable unpaid leave to conduct governor work, but I've never tried to sort that out.

I probably have about 10 meetings a year, but unevenly spread and there's usually a fair bit of reading to do before them. We do most of our training online with NGA, which you can do when suits you.

Some schools are desperate for more governors and struggle to recruit enough bums on seats, others can be picky and only select the great and good. We really struggle to find non-parent governors, so you have that as an advantage. It's good to have a mix. Parents do have more insight into the experience of being a parent/child at the school, but it's really hard to be objective as you see the school through the lense of your own child/family.

I've never been expected to attend daytime events (assemblies or similar).