Is anyone a parent governor?

[OhComeOnRon]

Just that really? My daughter has just started reception and have received a letter that they have vacancies for new parent governors.
Has anyone done this? What does it entail? And how much of a time commitment is it usually?
I'm new to the school thing but would love to get involved. I am going to request further info but thought some mn's might have some experience and knowledge to share

I didn’t mean to suggest that no primaries would be the same as the one on the tv. Only that it was a different phase of education and is obviously not the same.

However, small schools are very late to the federate debate. It’s the only way forward. You are too small to be viable and one Head can manage two schools. In my area a couple of small schools agreed that one would be infant and one would be junior. The combined school is now full, thriving and outstanding. Both were set to close. Yes, it’s a difficult conversation but you keep both schools open, the children get more spent on them and it’s win win apart from travel time and costs. It you want the best for children, start looking for solutions. Many of our village schools are infant anyway with juniors in larger settlements. Many children travel to a school but keeping the schools open is better than withering on the vine.

Our KA has always been low in the per pupil spend. We have never spent as much as others on education. Governors are used to managing and being creative. If small schools want to survive in some form, then they do need to think about what might actually work to keep them open.

Many of the primary schools in our MAT have gone down the route of Heads of School for each school and then an Executive Head for each group. Think days are numbered for Head Teachers for small schools. Governors have been involved with these decisions

That can be an expensive model if each school retains a Head and there is an Executive Head as well. Are the Heads of School paid on an identical salary to the Head of an equivalent LA school? Or is it a courtesy title and they are paid less? Usually executive Heads get an inflated salary. I was talking about a LA Head managing two schools in, say, adjacent villages. Managing 125 children in two schools is perfectly doable. The Head gets more money, you pay D Heads more but you save overall. This money can then be used for classroom teachers.

No Heads of School are paid less than Head Teacher. Their responsibilities mainly relate to teaching and learning, and they have some teaching time too. One Executive Head covers 6 rural schools (spread over a quite a large area). Another Executive Head covers 4 slightly larger rural schools