What is involved in being a parent governor?

[sameagain]

And am I mad to be considering it?

DS1's junior school has 2 vacancies that are proving difficult to fill. Is that indicative of what a rotten job it is or, just the lazy/disinterested parents round here? (we also can't get a PTA together )

I work 2 days per week and don't really want to increase that FTB, as I like to do school drop off/pick up and be there for tea etc on my 3 days at home, but I do need something to occupy my brain a bit more. Also thought this could strengthen my CV for when I am ready to work more hours.

Am I mad?

Bumping for you.

As a minimum it would involve a full governors meeting once per term, and a New Governor training course.

Many Governors also take on additional roles eg. literacy governor, special needs governor, and will need additional training and more time spent in school.

Also, most governors become members of particular committees to aid in the running of the school eg. finance committee, staffing committee, premises committee etc. and these committees would normally hold at least one meeting per term.

The training offered is excellent, and its a very fulfilling role if you've the time and energy to do it.

Thanks tipsy - would the meetings and training typically be during the school day or eves/weekends?

Depends on your local area but generally both. You can choose what training to do and when. Meetings are usually in the evenings but some are immediately after school. Have a word with a current parent governor and see what they say about it. I am a school governor (not a parent gov) and it is very useful. Now my son has started school it does help to know some of the jargon etc (I've been a gov in the junior school for 5 years that he will attend from 2010, he's at the neighbouring infant school).

Some governors get MBEs....

What you get out of being a governor depends on what you put in.

Don't get involved in all the crap and form filling - these are huge distractions. Become a governor and focus, and get the GB to focus on the quality of the teaching and what is taught in class - are they spending too much time colouring in Year 4 for example.

Head's sometime focus on all the rubbish that pours out of the LEA and eduation dept - they do that beause form filling is easy. The difficult piece is raising the quality for the child in the classroom

Go for it - but be prepared for all the rubbish that can fill the agenda

bump