Communication! parents and governors

[djesand]

Do other schools organise regular meetings between parents and governors? At my D's school there is no such forum and consequently a lot of unanswered questions among parents. How does your school do it? Very, very grateful for your feedback.

When I was a governor at DS's primary school we always used to be available at parents evening. We used to have a rota so that there were always at least two of us and we'd have some sort of display to encourage discussion - SATs results, plans for new building etc. It seemed to work quite well.

A similar thing happens at the DC's secondary school - a governor (with a big badge on!) is always at parents evening, options evening, open evening etc etc

We have a termly parents' forum which is chaired by the Head but often attended by governors too. It's a chance to have a say, good and bad, about various issues at the school.

At our school there is a comments box with a photo board of all the governors near it. Also coffee mornings which governors attend after family assemblies. Governors are encouraged to attend events eg plays, concerts and be visible in that way. Communication despite this is still an ongoing issue.

Governors are not the mouthpiece for parents. A parent governor is a "representative parent" not a "parent representative".

I'm a parent governor. We recently made a presentation to 'Parent Voice' a group set up for parents to learn more and get more involved in the school (at their request). We are also available at parents' evenings, but rarely get asked anything! Generally questions from parents are adressed by the management team of the school, and only major issues reach the governing body.

Parents here are welcome at the first half of Governors meetings.

If parents have questions, they can raise them with the school directly - what do the parents want to know that only the Governors can answer?

Hmm, I am a newish chair of governors at an infants school. The school used to hold very poorly attended parent-governor meetings, so they have now gone. I am trying another tack at this which is going to be a governor newsletter - the first one will be an introductory one, and then we are going to try and gather some feedback.

I think we could do with raising awareness among parents of the issues the school is facing, so it doesn't come as so much of a surprise when some tough decisions start having to be made. It would also be useful to get some more input of general views/issues among parents, but that does depend on people engaging...

There used to be a requirement for a Governors Report to Parents, which consisted of a report and a meeting, however parents rarely attended unless there was a problem!

We use a number of methods to engage with our parents/carers as many have EAL and thus just a written survey would not give us a good idea of how our parents feel. So we use the following:

• Survey
• Ad hoc meetings in playground with staff and governors (HT is in playground every morning)
• Monthly coffee mornings run by Parent Governors
• Formal class meetings one to one meetings and group meetings to discuss curriculum changes and policies
• Website for written questions
• Pictures and e-mail address for all governors is on website and on a notice board in the school entrance

We then take up under AOB any concerns that our PGs might pick up on the playground.

Thanks great replies, every comment has been helpful. I understand now that governors used to attend parent evenings but these have been phased out due to lack of attendance. That was more than 3 years ago - perhaps it is time for another attempt.

PatriciaHolm, where this all started was knowing who is responsible for maintaining the school website, it is out of date and needs some changes. I think now that I should start with the Head, I haven't done that yet but will.

LatteLady, thanks for your suggestions for getting the communication going between governors and parents, we have a fairly new board who should be open to suggestions.