Primary Governor and not enjoying it

[Honeywaffles1]

Due to a local council initiative to increase the representation of ethnic minorities on school boards, I had submitted an application to be a governor.

I believe that the school appointed me in an effort to appease them, but they haven't done anything to make me feel welcome. ignoring emails for weeks and failing to schedule meetings on the part of the head.

For more context, let me say that I run a successful business, am still relatively young, innovative, and outspoken about the challenges I face as a BAME woman in business.

I provide mentoring at nearby universities and aid the local government in its efforts to help young people from non-traditional backgrounds break into the workforce. So I know I have something to give.

I've offered to organise career days to increase aspirations or to use my connections with neighbourhood businesses to raise money through fundraising.

Over 50% of students receive free meals at school, and many kids live in unstable homes, making it a fairly deprived area.

Additionally, school governors are typically permitted to deduct reasonable expenses; however, the school business manager has stated that this is not the case, essentially telling me I must pay them for the after-school club. As a result, I am now spending my own money to volunteer at the school.

How would you respond? I was so eager to contribute, but now I just feel purposefully left out.

I now believe that's the reason you don't see faces like mine serving as school governors because I'm not wanted.

You don’t have to melt into the background. You just have to do the role that governors are there to do.

Since I've been in the position for about a year, I do believe I am in a good position to be perplexed and confused about why I haven't been made aware of any issues or what the school actually needs from me.

Additionally, I've noticed that I've missed a few meetings. Perhaps this is because I'm a parent, but keeping me updated would be nice.

As long as I don't ask too many probing questions, don't upset the apple cart, and nod in agreement with the archdiocese's plans, I do believe I'll be welcomed.

Yes, they contribute to the school's funding, but that doesn't mean we should give them everything they ask for at the expense of the students and neighbours.

I don’t quite understand how you’ve missed the meetings - do you not have an annual calendar or list of all the meetings? As already mentioned I would strongly recommend speaking to your Chair of Governors and whoever is responsible for governance at your LA.

Are there sub-committees, so you may not be invited to all meetings but you should be on at least one sub-committee?

@Squirrelonwheels Specifically, I wasn't invited. Yes, the board holds regular meetings, but as I can see on Twitter, the governors recently visited a school, and no one thought to let me know. If something happened at school or if "all the governors" need to meet to discuss it, everyone replies with their availability, and I don't hear anything further.

That sounds as if a sub-set of governors carried out a monitoring visit which is normal. Do you have a link role? This might be to a particular subject area, or to part of the school development plan, or to an area such as health & safety - different boards organise this differently. But apart from the full governing board meetings (which legally need to be convened by the clerk to governors and all governors invited) it isn’t the case that all governors do everything. I’ll say again - speak to your chair or governors.

@Squirrelonwheels the chair is the bishop

That’s fine, you can still talk to them to get an understanding of the process and when meetings are. If you have concerns that governance is failing (it’s hard to tell from your posts whether that’s the case or whether you have completely misunderstood things) then you need to speak to the governance team at the LA directly.

I have to pay for childcare to go to work .

I'm sorry - why is this any different??

Surely you only volunteer if it meets your needs and you're ok with it? I wouldn't volunteer if I had an issue with covering childcare to be at a meeting.

You run a successful business but want to claim expenses. Wow. As a teacher I regularly use my own money to buy resources for the children. (not saying it's right, but it is what it is) It's for the children. I wouldn't dream of asking for money for it.

It's called volunteering and giving back Teachers/TA's/Cub leaders etc do it week it and week out.

@CoastalWave I would donate money if I wanted to, and I would volunteer if I wanted to. I don't like the idea of having to essentially pay the school to watch my child while I volunteer there.

Your support for this creates a significant barrier for many people who want to support charities but must make prudent decisions when facing a financial crisis.

Why is it such a big deal if we claim expenses for attending a meeting? I don't have any experience with the public sector, but most organisations are conscious of people's financial limitations and offer assistance to lower barriers to entry.

I was volunteering my time and skills, and I shouldn't be shamed for only expecting to offer that.

Other people, like you, are happy to spend your money on these class resources, etc. that's great.

Being totally honest, OP, I am a bit surprised that you've been in post for a year. I assumed from your post you were a very new appointment. I would honestly be tempted to walk if it's still this frustrating a year in. I was also wondering if you had a link role and/or had joined one of the governing board committees? Have you spent any time with the Chair since you've joined? Just trying to work out what is going on - I agree with PP that you don't seem to understand the governor's role but I'm also wondering whether that's because you're not being given the tools and information you need. Have you had access to all the mandatory training?

FWIW, I agree with you on the after school club and how this limits participation but I'm not sure it's the biggest issue here.

@Honeywaffles1 Oh wow. I'm really shocked you've been in post a year. I assumed you were a Sept joiner. Why haven't you done the training yet?

Is it a catholic school? Mine was and you have to remember with catholic schools that the local diocese probably owns the school and the land and wants to retain a majority say on how the school is run. Normally they have the local parish priest on the governors and also the majority of governors are appointed by the diocese too to keep the ethos catholic.

You're ridiculous. Seriously.

By that standard, all those lovely parents who help organise/staff school dances, school fundraisers, summer fun days, attend field trips as 'extra adults' when needed which schools can't have if parents don't volunteer to help, should be billing schools for childcare if they have other children at home that need to be looked after?

Their volunteer roles are no different to yours, except in your own mind perhaps. It's all supposed to be about supporting our grossly underfunded, underappreciated schools. Thinking they should be paying for your childcare to do so is absurd.

Surely you have friends. Ask them to watch your children; do a swap if you don't want to hire a babysitter or leave them with your spouse/partner/their other parent.

Well, actually, if you don't, the Archdiocese can sack almost the entire board. Which would leave you (if you're a parent governor), the Head and the LA nominated governor (if they've got somebody in situ). If you look at the Instrument of Government, that'll tell you how many and of what type of governors there should be.

You also need to check what you're actually supposed to be attending - if you're not on a particular committee/sub committee, you don't go to that. It's only the Full Board Meetings you're expected to attend other than your particular committee/sub committee meetings. Do they use GovernorHub? Or just an emailed list of meetings at the beginning of the academic year when you started later than that?

@bewarethetides School governance is a totally different level of commitment to the other volunteer tasks you’ve outlined there. You may think the OP is ridiculous but the National Governance Association recommends that governors have their expenses paid. As I’ve already said on this thread, we should want to increase the diversity of our boards of governors (diverse boards = better decisions = better outcomes for the children) and one way to do that is to remove barriers to volunteering.

I've been a parent governor, 4 year term, in a primary school. I do understand and I still think the OP is lacking a serious reality check here.

@bewarethetides
You are incorrect. Governance is absolutely not about support without rigour and challenge. Governance is not about fund raising either. It’s about Governance and a clearly defined role for school improvement.

@Honeywaffles1 I do think you have become involved with a school and don’t understand your role. You have the additional issue that’s it’s probably VA and highly controlled by the church. Even having the bishop as chair is antiquated. I think they talk about diversity but you are there, in their eyes, to tick the box. I would recommend you move schools as this one is, in effect, a closed shop.

By now you should have a good grasp of school improvement. This should involve you having a schedule of meetings and you should be on at least one committee. The committees are where the real work is done. So finance, HR (as the school is the employer), data analysis, evaluation/monitoring of school improvement plan, governor self evaluation etc is all done in committees. Governor main meetings ratify decisions taken on committees. Training would have made this clear. Children succeed by a great education. As an individual, it’s not up to you to stray away from the SIP (school
improvement plan) on a one woman crusade.

You should be allocated an area of the Sip to monitor. So if there’s (for example) a requirement to improve behaviour, you could monitor the policies, receive data and make a focus visit to the school. Evaluate if the policy is working well. You could be a PP governor as your school will have a lot of pp money. Is it used effectively? How would you judge that? What evidence does the school provide regarding fsm DC having better outcomes after pp spending? Instead of having your own views about DC, why not look at data and evaluate how you can make a difference via the existing mechanisms?

I strongly advise you to get trained! You should also look at your governor expenses policy. What the governors decide is nothing to do with the finance officer. It’s fairly normal to give money for child care in this day and age. If you understand the role but still cannot find a way to operate within their systems (which are not great!) do find a community school. Steer clear of VA and your own pet projects. Then you can succeed and see Dc get better outcomes.

Lastly the critical friend mantra is wholly outdated. It’s far more about effective challenge.

I’ve been a governor and it’s a hard role to pitch right. The critical friend balance is difficult. I actually also found it really frustratingly inefficient in terms of signing off all the policies etc.
If there are particular areas of school life you feel strongly about, you might be able to make more of a change by using your time for those instead. You’d also have more control over timings so you may save on childcare. The governor role is important, but there are many other useful ways to support the school that might be a better fit for you.

When I was PTA Chair my kids didn’t even get into the Social events free, I bought a ticket for them like everyone else.
OP you are approaching the role like it’s a job and it’s really not.

When I was a governor my dcs sat in the school library or outside the head’s office.

I agree with others that governor after governor joins with the idea that they are going to be part of the school’s management rather than sort of a board member. Some think they are going to discuss individual teachers etc etc or even their own dcs.

The OP needs to revisit the governor guidance for her school, access training and perhaps speak to the Chair about what she feels would be the most useful contribution. Admittedly cliques do form and when I first became a governor the reception was Arctic in its frostiness. But composition changes and so may OP’s fortunes on governing body.

I know that.

I was commenting on the 'volunteering' aspect that was being discussed. Governors are volunteers. As our all the other roles I mentioned.

Governors are an extension of SLT. Their work is part of an ofsted inspection. Other volunteers do not have this status and inspection of their effectiveness. They are not the same @bewarethetides . Maybe some governors have not understood their role and I’m afraid you don’t either.

A governor is a volunteer when they step forward, but once accepted they are a holder of public office and subject to the nolan principles.

I'm a trustee as a governor in a an academy. But although I'm registered on company house I can still leave whenever I want. I'm not shackled to it.

Being a governor is sometimes an thankless task for some quite highbrow responsibilities.

I only stay as it's a SEN school and I am totally committed to that school