Hello! Recently joined a primary school governing board as a co-opted governor. Any advice?

[buzzheath]

I've only attended two meetings so far, and have found them very interesting...but also very overwhelming! I'm working my way through all the training, various documents, acronyms, doing some general 'horizon scanning' around education and Local Authority-funded schools...I expect it'll be a while before I feel I'm adding value!

There's a few things I'm rather confused about, and was hoping anyone with experience of school governance could offer some insight?

• The Headteacher always attends the governing meetings. I think he is part of the governing board - but is he also a governor in terms of voting, etc? This issue hasn't arisen yet, but I'm a little confused. Wouldn't think be a conflict of interest, given part of governance is about holding the senior leadership team to account?
• The clerk. Ours is really good - she always offers really good procedural advice and seems to have a deep understanding of laws and regulation, etc. I assume she is employed by the Local Authority, or by the school? I don't fully understand how the role is different to that of the governors - she is far more knowledgable than everyone else there...
• We have two staff governors on the board (a teacher at the school). I'm a little confused as to how this is the case as I thought there'd be a conflict of interest i.e. they are attending the meetings and offering views etc while also being employed by the school. Seems a bit odd, especially when discussions around staff reductions etc are happening. I assume I am missing something here but would love an explanation.
• The School Business Manager is referred to a lot - but this isn't actually an employee of the school (there's a list of all staff, they're not in it)? Is this someone who is employed by the Local Authority?

Thanks so much. And any other general tips etc that anyone has, these would be very helpful.

Assuming this is a maintained school, not an Academy, the head has to be on the governing body unless they choose to resign so that's totally normal.
There would also normally be at least one other staff member; there can only be one elected staff Governor, but there can be other co-opted ones as long as the number of staff overall don't exceed one third of the governing body.

The governing body and the head do have a joint responsibility for setting the strategic and future strategy of the school; it's then the heads role to implement it day-to-day.

The Clark can be a member of staff or it can be somebody who is drafted in externally, but it is a completely different role to being a governor. They have specific training and their role is very much to provide the support not just secretarily but legally, it's a very important specific role.

Good luck! I've been a governor and now chair for a number of years; it's very fulfilling although it can be challenging as well.

Thanks so much! Really helpful. I'm really enjoying it so far, but still feel a bit useless when contributing in meetings, so hopefully it'll just take time.

Having staff on the board is not a conflict of interest as the board work together as strategic leaders to monitor and oversee the performance of the school. Staff and parents are represented on the board. If there are confidential matters in the agenda, the staff Governor leaves the meeting.

The clerk is not a governor but is there to facilitate the meeting, take minutes and provide guidance. They have training in governance.

The SBM is a member of staff usually. Maybe this school has outsourced to an agency? Is the school an academy? Maybe the trust runs the business aspects of the school?

it’s a great thing to do, and will give you real insight into the complexities of school leadership.