Tell me about becoming a governor

[Schooladviceplease2015]

I think I'd like to be one.

Our school has just gone RI and it just shouldn't have.

I say our school - it's a school we are actually now in two minds as to whether to send DD there. She's due to start Sept and has been to the nursery,

I'm so annoyed but want to channel that into something powerful.

I'm sure the PTA will grateful to have you on the team. We find ours struggles for people actually being prepared to get stuck in and help at events. They have great ideas, but then struggle to man them. You sound like that is just up your street.
Just a word of warning PTAs are mainly fund raising bodies, they have no say in the running of a school like the governing body do. There is no input on teaching and learning, premises, finances, staffing, etc. so don't go in expecting to do anything but fund raise by running summer fairs, children's discos, etc.

I think you should find out more. You should be able to contact th e chair of the governor's via the school and I think it would be worth meeting up with him/her. Find out whether there are any vacancies / when the next are likely to come up. Parent governor roles are usually voted for, but not always strongly contested. The chair of governors will be able to tell you what skills they currently need on the governing body and you can discuss whether you think your skills are a good fit. Chairs now have to actively seek out skills that are lacking so if you are a fit he/she may be desperate to have you. I have been a governor for a while, in a school with challenges. Honestly it is tremendously hard work, more than I bargained for. It can feel very frustrating at times. I probably have 3-4 hrs governing stuff each week on average (including meetings, reviewing data and other paperwork, training, dealing with things like staffing issues) and I get collared in the playground at least twice a week for people to have a moan (despite the fact that I always explain that governors aren't the right people to moan to most of the time).

Being as enthusiastic as you sound would be a good asset. I also choose to volunteer in school once a fortnight so I get two different viewpoints on the school. You will learn about the good and the bad of the school, which as a parent can be difficult, and you have to remain objective and avoid bringing your own personal experience as a parent into things - much.

The pta and governing body are two very different things and one is not really a good way about finding out about the other. However, if the pta needs bodies, which many do, then you could be doing a great thing by joining.

There is no way near 3-4hrs of work a week for governors at my school - you would need to speak to the chair to find out what is the case at your school.

Most governors are not in school on a weekly basis, so the example above is more work than average. My commitment is full GB and Committee meetings, each term, monitoring the progress of children in maths through regular termly meetings, monitoring the progress of part of our improvement plan, and also our "closing the gap" pupil premium data. All of this goes on to inform the improvement plan for the future. Where are we successful and where do we need to improve? We also are updating the Self Evaluation of our own work and doing a 5 year development plan. We have regular updates on the quality of teaching, progress of children and all the elements in the school improvement plan. Not to mention finance, policy reviews (Behaviour, Performance Management and many more) HR, premises, SEND, and much more. We do learning walks in school and training to get up to speed with our skills. Since January I have done Understanding Data, Ofsted Inspection, the new Primary Curriculum, Monitoring Teaching and Learning and a whole day on Finance. I did not do the full induction programme because I have been an officer of the LA and a governor previously so I knew quite a lot already.

Generally, schools do need enthusiastic governors. People with time are also valued as well as those with ready made skills. Training is very good and a great interest in the school is a big bonus. Don't assume, OP, that the school and governors are not addressing this issue or that new staff are not up to speed. It can often be a whole mix of things that are wrong. The school cannot have good systems for monitoring progress or it would have known there was a problem and dealt with it. Let the new Head settle in and see how it goes. By all means go for it but as a Governor you work with others and you have to rely on the professional judgement of the Head because you cannot go into classrooms and monitor teaching! You can however expect robust data and an honest appraisal of the school's weaknesses, including teaching, and how they will be addressed. Don't go in as an angry parent - work with them for improvement and it will come.

What an absolute wealth of info MN is.

I feel that I have interesting skills. Don't want to out myself. That sounds weird - I'm not a celeb or anything.

I also feel through near obsessive research I know what the basic broad-brush issues are...it's not a good school but it has every reason to be.

BUT I do need to be less 'raaaaaaah' as clearly the issues are being dealt with robustly and I have no clue really at all about schools - but this whole experience has piqued my interest.

I don't want people to dislike me though...

I'm going to take advice and watchfully wait, whilst trying to get more involved in school life generally.

Thank you.