I need some advice from experienced Primary School Governors please.

[Millymollymama]

My school is losing governors! Within the last 18 months we recruited people to join the Governing Body who have specific skills, as we are now expected to do. However, they have all found they are lacking in sufficient time to be effective Governors and one by one they are leaving, giving no notice. We now have 4 vacancies. The Local Authority has left their Governor vacancy unfilled for over 18 months! The parent Governor vacancy had one applicant last time and now this person has left. Lots of the Governors are employed in senior roles or run their own businesses, so they have the skills but no time.

We are just about to start a rapid and, hopefully, effective recruitment drive from within the local community. Does anyone have any tips for recruiting people who have the right skills and might actually stay for a while? Have you gone to the Chamber of Commerce, the U3A or other associations to try and find the right people? We think an Ofsted inspection might be on the horizon and our progress and results are good and very much improved.

I know that 'skill set' is a key driver but, I know of no school that has a 'waiting' list of Governors to be where you could run a 'selection' as I have seen suggested.

Could I suggest that you go for people interested in good education provision in their community, with time to get to know the school - that means time in the day, and then add in the training that will fill any shortage in skills.

We approach (as a Church school) the PCC for the church, Parish Councils and one to one chats - ask around and see if some names are suggested.

Good Luck.

I agree with JWIM that there is a need to balance skills with time and capacity to do the job. It sounds like you could do with a few retired people who may have more capacity. Governor training should be on offer so that the background can be picked up.

A selection - gosh that would be a novelty! Even the parents are too busy! It has been me, as a lone voice, calling for people with more time! It was getting pretty obvious people were struggling with commuting, self-employment and high flying jobs, not to mention family time! The others felt skills, ready made, and people like them was the best way forward and wanted to follow the new formula for school governing bodies. Several people kept putting forward more high flying executives to join us. It did not happen, so back to square one. I am more "old school". I like a good mix of people. We all have something to give and older people should be included. Recently retired ones would be brilliant. We have excellent training available - if the new governors have time! I think we will try the Parish magazine and local shop noticeboard. I was wondering about the local U3A too.

1. The Local Authority has left their Governor vacancy unfilled for over 18 months

If this is the case then that's appalling. You should inform the majority party in your local council straight away and get them to do something.

1. Approach the local Lions Group, the local Round Table Group, the local Chamber of Commerce, the local U3A group.

1. Register with SGOSS – Governors for Schools

We are the school governor recruitment experts and our vision is for every school in England to have a diverse and effective governing body driving school improvement.

1. Approach your local MP's office, they are bound to have lots of contacts.

1. Inform 'Governor Services' at your local Authority. Sometimes they have 'Waiting Governors'.

1. Inform other local schools (not just Primary), sometime they have 'Waiting Governors'.

1. Inform all parents again.

Good Luck.

1. Yes it is the case. Long gone are the days when the ruling Conservatives took this seriously. They will go on the grammar school governing bodies themselves but can't find any mates to go on the primary GBs. A very long standing problem going back years. The LA says we should find our own suitable person and the LA will appoint them!

1. and 5. Done.

1. "Waiting governors" seems not to be the case around here.

1. Will be done by Head immediately. Parents must wonder why they are being asked again so soon!

Thanks for suggestion at 2 and 4. We might ask our local secondary school to see if they have a "spare" governor. However they were RI recently, so probably all hands to the pump there.

Our GB is only 12 so carrying 4 vacancies will give us real problems in getting the work done.

OK, LA governor - find someone in the local community who is willing and then get the clerk to email the LA and ask them to nominate that individual.

Parent governor - approach suitable candidates. Build a relationship, invite them to visit a meeting. Then advertise it. Either they'll get it or someone else will.

Consider approaching another local school and asking to form a reciprocal relationship for times when you hit crisis. A GB of 8 could be completely tainted very quickly if a disciplinary situation arose.

Look at the workload for governors. Are you doing too much? Are you doing things for the sake of doing them? Are you making good use of committees? If people are finding it all too much, could you move to board-style governance, where you all deal with all matters at the FGB meeting?

The term ‘Waiting Governor’ was coined by me.

I was thinking of any other school when:-
a) four (say) parents apply for two ‘parent governor’ vacancies and an election has to be held
b) when someone wants to join a Governing Body and there are no vacancies
c) a current Governor reaches their ‘end of term’ and steps down to let others join but still wants to help
or d) those that the Local Authority know about who are suitable to be Govs.

These citizens can make a valuable contribution and could join your school GB.

We have not tried a. We do not get competition at our school and we only have one parent governor. One person applied last time who was previously co-opted! Just switched around. No-one else applied. I think we may be able to persuade someone to become a parent governor though this time as we have new parents. We are a 240 place school. We could find out if the other schools have more people wanting to be governors than vacancies. I doubt it though.

The LA have consistently told us they know of no-one (at all) and this has been an ongoing problem for 18 months. They have no enquiries in our area at all and some of us know the LA officers well enough to know this is true. The people who step down really do not want to continue. The job is pretty demanding these days and people have had enough! We are also in an area of the country where there are lots of dual income families and people commuting to London. They have so little time. Our PTA struggles too. I would love one of their excellent parents to join us.

The previous Chairman got totally bogged down with skill sets. He was in recruitment! Very few people come ready made. Thanks for all the ideas, everyone. Happy governing!

Crikey, well, er, you seem to be trying everything, I’m sorry you have this predicament.

Forgive me if you’ve already seen these but -

1. Suffolk have a recruitment toolkit
2. Inspiring Governors

... and here

1. The Key Support
2. Recruiting tips from Essex

Finally, being desperate, are you within commuting distance from Dorking?

I found the Suffolk info yesterday! Have not had time to look at Essex and other info but I will. We have lots of governor vacancies in our LA and in both my former schools (where I was a governor) it was a major headache! Training people was a constant treadmill and there is a lot more to do now. We knew that before the latest resignations that the GB would probably be RI if we did not shape up. I cannot help but feel people have bailed out rather than engage with the work we need to do. We have also found that people with a certain skill, only really engage with that skill. As a result a significant number of other important monitoring and development roles get left to a very small number of governors, hence we cannot get the work done and think we are RI!

Most companies are big on "citizenship" these days. I'd try aproaching several big local employers and ask if any of their employees would volunteer. Where I work, it gets you extra points come performance review time.

Does the LA have to provide someone is that just an ideal as you need someone to liaise with the LA. Most governing bodies of academies are so separate I am not aware of an LA person per-se but someone may have a liaison remit.

I work on a volunteer committee, not Governors, you never get responses to adverts you have to physically approach people you think are a good match, explain the role warts and all, give them time to think and then get some responses.

Also ask those who left their reasons. I have seen some mass leaves be down to one voice being a PITA and whilst I am not suggesting this is the case for the team you are in it is good to rule it out as otherwise the retention issue is going to remain all the time that person is causing others to leave. It is usually diplomatic to say they leave for pressure of work but if they want to they will find the time, if it is all unpleasant then they will find excuses not to.

Amazed. I would love to be a governed at my DCs schools. I think I would be a great candidate. However there are some seriously over invested parents near me. The same group who run the PTA seem to also be governors. When a vacancy arises they are indundated and it goes to a vote! The school gate mums vote for each other so I wouldn't stand a chance.

Lagoona, if you're interested in being a governor contact your local authority. Schools have to have community governors and you would probably be welcomed.

I wonder if you're trying to do to much and it's putting people off? Our last OFSTED was outstanding across the board and the time commitment from governors isn't huge. We have FGB and 2 committees that meet termly. Then governors take on link roles for specific areas. We don't do formal monitoring visits.

Lagoons, good on you and as a volunteer who also works FT I always encourage others but do be careful and go in with eyes full open. As a trustee of a charity for example there are liabilities and there are for Governors too. Sorry if you are already aware but others reading this thread may not be. It is very very different from PTA. This isn't intended to put people off but some only seem to discover this once in role and then run a mile. Corporate manslaughter liability is an extreme example but is a real consideration.

We have had a very reluctant Chairman who runs a business. The Chairman has a child at the school and was the parents governor - just re-elected. Within 3 months has resigned. The GB is honestly friendly and there have been no personality problems. We all seem decent people and I have only been on it for less than a year. I am an experienced Governor and I can pick up "vibes" of discontent pretty well. I honestly believe our resignations are due to pressure of work.

However, we also know we have fallen behind on what we need to do (we have just, belately, done our SEF) because some Governors have little time and work was not completed. We know perfectly well we are currently letting the school down and the GB's performance would be RI if Ofsted turned up tomorrow! Therefore we need to get on with things! We will now, subject to election, have an experienced and willing Chairman who will drive things forward but we have lost performance management trained governors, our most experienced financial and premises governors, our safeguarding governor and governor oversight of the development plan in some crucial areas. Not to mention our ability to prepare effectively for an Ofsted inspection and challenge and support the school. We have a FGB and 2 committee meetings a term. I think we do need to look at the breadth of what we do, but until recently our monitoring visits from our learning trust put us at an amber light; at risk of RI. We have pulled out of that due to fantastic work by the school. Any GB that does not do monitoring visits when a school is regarded as being possibly RI will be in big trouble. Maybe Outstandung can be more relaxed?

We are an LA school and we should have one LA appointed governor. The rest are a parent governor, co-opted governors, the Head and a staff member. The GB was reconstituted last year. Believe me, we have thought long and hard about whether we have suitable friends. The school is in a reasonably affluent area but lots of people work to maintain that lifestyle and afford houses! Although not wanting power cliques among the parents, the PTA gets just about enough helpers but they don't seem to want to come onto the GB. Also, we would be wary of parents who are over-invested in their child! Experienced governors will know those people can cause more problems than they solve!

I've just been appointed as a co-opted Governor. There were seven applicants for three places. The school were looking for a mix of skills- financial, experience in education, time. Two parent Governors have extensive financial experience, although both work full time. The three co-opted Governors are part time or retired teachers with the time to devote to the role and a wealth of educational experience, relevant to the school. Since the start of term there have been several meetings already. It is an extensive commitment and I think that many people don't realise that and think that 'school Governor' looks good on the CV, without taking into account the commitment involved.

We do monitor, but don't visit specifically to monitor lessons. Our link governors have a handle on how things are going in their area. We have governors who attend safeguarding meetings, senior leadership team meetings, behaviour meetings, etc. (Special School).

Do you have any local employers who may release people as part of their CSR?

Most high street banks and supermarkets have volunteering policies that allow paid time off for activities like being a governor. Even pub and restaurant chains are worth a bet. Plus your local professional firms.

I think you may have suffered in the past from the governing body being seen as elitist (from what you have said). You need to be representative of the local community and parents so that means everyone should feel able to apply whether they have a special skill or not. While specialist skills are important you also need a volume of people to help and offer perspectives.

Co-opted governors are good for specific skills but you need a core and you can also add people as associate governors. Get people in to start with by asking them directly: "Jane, I think you'd be a really good governor because you've had two children come through the school and you're calm and empathetic. Will you apply?".

We are a larger school but our GB is far smaller than yours. We did struggle to recruit parent governors, but this was partly because they did not fully understand what was involved. We had a 'Meet The Governors' coffee morning where we met with parents and answered their questions. It didn't bring loads of applicants, but it did bring us a couple, both of whom have become very strong and committed in their role. We have two meetings a term - FGB and committees. Meetings are run efficiently and I can only remember one that ran over two hours, usually around 1 1/2 hrs. Our most recent OFSTED was clear that governors are effective and knowledgeable. The school was rated Good in every category. Oh, and whilst it may sound more 'relaxed' than your school, it's not that long ago that we were in SM, but, as well as th work carried out in school, one of the things that really helped was that the GB reduced size and streamlined itself and its procedures.

Our GB is only 12. I am surprised any GB is smaller for a larger school. A few tiny schools I know are 9. We have one parent governor, not 2. We probably could do a "meet the Governors" coffee morning but the governors are mostly working! Tea with the staff produced 2 Governors (plus the Head and teacher governor). This is the problem. There are 2 of us who are not in paid employment. I think the working governors find it very difficult to come into school during the day. Two governors are full time SLT teachers at other schools, another is doing a full time PGCE, one runs a company from home but is in London a lot, the others are the Head, a teacher at the school and two of us who are not in paid employment. Then the four vacancies.

We do not monitor lessons. Governors should not do this as this is the role of the Head/SLT. We do, however, monitor the school's development plan and are drawing up our own development plan, based on our self-evaluation, to tie into that of the school.

The Governing Body has just changed to the constitution I have described - 2014. This is what is now required - I am told - a majority are co-opted for their skills. We do not have to represent the community and have lots of parents. Having said that, I believe we should. I think I said earlier I was not entirely happy with the "skill set" model because it has been so difficult to find the skills! I think we need a "bums on seats model" now. I think lots of GBs hve not reconstituted so are still working on the old community/parent/LA model. I believe in training people but others (now resigned) thought they could all come ready made!

On reflection I think we will have to streamline our work. Our last HT report was 36 pages long. We need that streamlined too. We are starting to draw up our development plan in 2 weeks so doing less and having shorter reports might be a good start! I had already suggested we monitor the strands of the school development plan but relinquish governors attached to year groups, in order to concentrate on the SDP. This was not agreed so we carried on. I would love to know if everyone still monitors Numeracy and Literacy as well as their SDP? Or are the two jobs combined? On top of that governors are monitoring PP, SEND, Safeguarding, Equality, Budget Benchmarking, and lots more. We take our advice from the LA, but maybe it is too much.

We are a village school but do have one nearish larger town with larger employers - and loads of schools. We could, I think, see if larger employers there are interested. Some might be.

Thank you all for your thoughts. It is always good to see how others work.

Local probus club or other retirered business club

I was a school governor for 4 years always over subscribed for parents/governor role. Had 12 governors in total school of 85. With a good mix of people. Was a church school so had church as well as community and Lea governors.

36 pages??? What can possibly need to fill that many pages?

OK. We are a large primary phase SS. All children have complex needs and statements/EHCPs. We are reconstituted and have 1 LA, 2 staff, HT, 5 parent and 4 Co-opted, to bring a total of 13 governors.

Our last FGB was 1 hr 15 minutes, which included appointing governors to committees, etc. We cut the waffle. We expect people to have read supporting information prior to the meeting so it doesn't need reading again in the meeting and time can be spent discussing the issues/answering questions.

Our HT report is 4 pages. It covers no. In roll, breakdown by sex, breakdown by SN, no. of children in LA care/child protection plans. Health and Safety, standards, etc.

We have a finance committee who examine the budget in detail and report back to the FGB. We also have a standards and improvements committee which looks at teaching and learning, then reports back to the FGB. We did have a management committee, but realised that a lot of information was duplicated so we dissolved it.

In terms of development plan, surely yours is simple: recruit and retain governors. There's no point in having a huge document which details your plans if you have no governors to do it.

What does having a governor attached to the year groups bring in terms of understanding? Surely your data could tell you how the children are doing? Could you suggest having a KS1 governor and a KS2 governor, then the other 5 governors concentrate on other things?