Would I enjoy being a governor?

[Undecidedthiswinter]

There’s a currency at my DS’s school. I’m a fairly corporate person, and think I could bring a bit of “business strategy “ if that makes sense.

it does seem to be a lot of extra work though!

It’s a lot of reading policies, reports and being a ‘critical friend’ by asking questions and holding the school accountable for the strategy and vision the governing body set. If you like sitting in meetings, looking at data and asking questions, you’ll enjoy it.

DH did it. He worked like a dog - at times it seemed like about 20 hours a week. Most weeks it was at least 10 hours. That may have been the role he was in. He seemed to have to read endless complex government reports on safeguarding and other key issues, which were updated before they got implemented. Do you have time?

I do it - is it "enjoyable"?
Not most of the time but some things like doing Y11 Mock Interviews or getting invited to Prize Night are nice
Sitting on PX Panels is pretty awful but I do it because someone has to and I have no DC at the school so its better that I do
It takes a bit of time and your corporate strategy ideas may not be exactly welcomed with open arms but its really rewarding

It's honestly a lot more work and responsibility than people realise. It's not just meetings, it's coming in for monitoring meetings and if anything like SIAMS or Ofsted are due it's been available at a drop of a hat. If there's a complaint, pay review, head teacher performance review or even a short time without a head teacher then you have to put a lot of hours in. You are also constantly asked to be a volunteer for everything and anything.

Well I made it very clear that since I’m client facing, I have some flexibility but I genuinely don’t own my diary unless I’m given enough notice.

I do love meetings, data, and arguing.

i was one and hated it so i left after 18 months and people were like "why would you resign??????????????" and i said i hated it and it was boring and sycophantic and the head was a liar and the meetings used to be on a wednesday evening and i always hoped i'd be home in time for the apprentice and i never was (this was before recording the tv popped up)

I found it really rewarding and my strategy/business management background was appreciated.

@Undecidedthiswinter Firstly - being a governor requires very little “business strategy”. Unless it’s a private school of course. What a governor does has little to do with business. The finance committee is the nearest you will get and you will find the vast majority of the budget is staffing costs. Over which Governor has no say. You are there for strategic decisions, not operation of the school.

Some governors posting here are a bit out of date. The critical friend label went out about 10 years ago. It’s a board of governors recruited for their skills. It should not be a random group of people. If it’s a good governing body, they should identify the skill profile they actually would like. This might be finance but could be Sen for example.

The role of a governor carries a training commitment. Therefore you need to know about legislation but also data interpretation (school improvement and dc progress) , Ofsted inspections, school budgets, appointing SLT, etc etc. The main thing for governors is to ensure the improvement plan is having an effect by monitoring data and evidence. The governors should not just accept what they are told.

Most schools meet as a full GB once a term but the committees will be more often. However, you are not operationally running the school. The head is.

If a parent governor knows a dc who is permanently excluded, they should not sit on any PX committee. The members of this should be flexible for this reason.

Expect to see a termly very detailed heads report and you will monitor by making visits. So expect some reading but it’s not 20 hours a week. (Go and do training to get up to speed! Learn from experts). That’s a governor trying to run the school. Neither should you be roped into fund raising or baking cakes or listening to reading. Your role is strategic. It’s not an extra pair of hands.

I find that “strategic thinking” is similar regardless of context.

My day job is basically turning data into actionable insights, so from what you’ve said does sound down my street.

I hate red tape, but I don’t know if that’s part of it or not.

I did ask if they’re recruiting someone in particular and she just said “anybody”.

Course you would mate it's all apples n pears ain't it

It definitely doesn't take this amount of time to be a governor. I've been a governor and have also worked in schools and it really doesn't take anywhere near that amount of time to be a governor, even as chair of govs.

I was a primary governor for a term of four years, and chaired one committee.

It is rewarding but it is hard work. It can also be frustrating.

As it’s voluntary, there is nothing to make governors turn up, and many don’t, which makes everyone else work harder.

In addition, you actually have a lot of responsibility but very little power (except in extremis). It is hard to be a ‘critical friend’ and watch mistakes being made.

I am pleased that I did it, but I was also pleased when my term was up.

I’m a Chair of Governors and this post pretty much nails it.

@Newbutoldfather that’s why the critical friend term has gone. It’s not possible. Mistakes in operation of the school are on the head. You set direction and plan strategically. Governors need to be robust and do set performance targets for the head. Make them count. However Governors can only do this if they understand the school and what the data tells them.

It’s a huge responsibility because it’s strategic, not operational. Ig governors are saying that they go to a full governing body meeting and a couple of committee meetings a term, that’s not what I would call an effective governing body.

There will be endless emails, reports, visits to school. You’ll have responsibility for monitoring a subject area and that will require focused meetings with the staff. There will be lots of data processing, setting targets, attending all kinds of events etc.

If you haven’t lived a head teacher who doesn’t respond well to challenge, it’s tricky. Ofsted will grill relentlessly too.

If you have a head teacher who doesn’t respond well to challenge- that should read.

Is it a secondary or a primary school? You'll find the role is quite different in a small primary than in a big secondary. The key responsibilites of course, remain the same but I'm a CofG at a small primary school and we are all very much part of the school

We meet every half term so 6 FGB meetings a year and then termly committee meetings. We all have governor roles - so someone takes responsibility for Maths, someone for English, More Able, SEN, Health and Safety etc. I'm the Safeguarding governor

We all come into school once every half term to observe our area of responsibility and then produce written reports which form a part of the monitoring requirement written in our Governor Development plan

We do go into school to help out with school fayres, attend special collective worship services, watch the nativity etc but we are a small school so all the staff and children know us. We don't interfere in the running of the school but we are very much a part of the school community. We were praised in our latest Ofsted report. It's things like that that make the role worthwhile - sometimes it is quite stressful!

It's also different if the school is part of a MAT or is a faith school etc.

MAT schools will have a MAT governing body as well as individual school bodies. So lots of financial stuff will be dealt with by the MAT body, for example.

For a church school, they have additional inspections and also governors may be expected to be at services throughout the year and things like that.

I've been a teacher governor and have just started as a parent governor. I'm also on the PTA and governors don't get involved with the fund raising the PTA does.

How would you know if there were mistakes if you are not challenging as a critical friend? I know the term is considered outdated by people who wilt in horror at the idea of something with the word ‘critical’ in it, but the accountability role of trustees or governors is still there, and the skill of doing that in a measured, supportive way is what the term ‘critical friend’ perfectly describes.

It’s so much more than that, if you want it to
be. I think with governor roles, the more you do, the more enjoyable it is!

I served a term as a governor and got involved in various panels, link visits, head teacher appointment, pay and PEX panels, large procurement activities (catering contract etc).

It’s a primary community (not religious) school if that helps.

Personally,

I don’t think governors should be setting school strategy; that is the head’s role.

The governors scrutinise the head’s business plan and make sure that it is line with the school’s vision and it is achievable within the schools budget. They can certainly ask for it to be revised if not.

The best comparison in business is a non executive director or chair.

In reality, especially in smaller schools, this role is flexible. Our chair probably did work at least 10 hours a week, actually working in the school and mentoring the head. But, if you have a strong head. that is unnecessary.

There is a lot of data, much of it in a standard form and ‘rag’ rated against benchmarks.

However, when I was a governor (I was a full governor, not a parent governor, thanks to experience in both education and finance), I did realise that, when my children were at the school, a lot of problems could be hidden within great-looking data. After they left, I lost a lot of that insight.

It is definitely an interesting role, especially if you have relevant experience. As someone who has worked in two fields, I can tell you that, although education has commonalities with business, you can’t manage it in the same way.

I'm not sure you’d need your business strategy skills. You need dedication and commitment. There’s some training and a lot of policies to read. Visits to the school during the day are required to carry out monitoring.
I've been one for 5 years, I find it interesting and enjoy being in a school environment.

@ScreamingabdabzThe term critical friend was used by the government donkeys years ago. Critical and friend are not accurate for modern governing boards. This is because, despite what has been said, the governors have a strategic role. It is not a critical role. They should expect, and receive, high quality data and reports from the head. It’s not their job to criticise. It is their job to use data to drive policy and improvement. The operation of that on a day to day basis is the responsibility of the head.

Friend - yes you might be but that can mean you lose sight of your role as having strategic vision and holding the head to account. All governing boards should have a professional relationship with the head and each other.

I’ve no idea what governors do who spend 10 hours a week being a governor. I’ve been a governor of 3 schools, and a trainer, snd it doesn’t need this input when you know what you are doing. If you know nothing, getting up to speed can take some time. You will (should) get detailed reports from the head and these days I don’t see how data hides anything. Only unwillingness or inability to believe what’s in front of you is a real barrier to improvement. Benchmarking, target setting and other mechanisms drive improvement but governors have to know the data is reliable but training helps with this.

I would attend a meeting to observe before making a decision. I have sat on excellent governing bodies, with skilled fellow governors who understood what their role was (and what it was not) and where the meetings were focussed and effective. I have also sat on governing bodies that were the opposite. I would not waste my time on the latter again.

your legal obligations will differ depending on whether your school is a community school, part of a MAT or a SAT. Worth checking beforehand so you know what you are getting into.