Should I stand as a Parent Governor and how?

[StarlightMcKenzie]

A place has come up in DD's school (academy) She's in Reception so I'm new to the school. Does this mean no-one would vote for me?

Also, is it a chance to do something useful, or a chance to enter further into my pit of depression about the level of corruption in public services?

Finally, do I have to gloss over deny my interest in SN in order to win the vote, and does anyone have any tips on how to write a good personal statement?

Any tips or experience welcome, including telling me I'm off my trolley!

star, I can only go on my own experience, but my answers would be:

1 - Not necessarily, depends how sought after the position is. If it's popular, then the usual school gate clique rules apply.

2 - Yes to both: you can do worthwhile things as a governor, but your scope to do so is limited because of your supposed 'strategic' role - in practice, many governing bodies operate a lot like the nodding dog in the Churchill car ads. You won't be holding the SLT to account on actual strategic issues (ie why is the school doing x to achieve y), as the Ofsted process leaches much of the autonomy out of this process.

As for entering further into a pit of depression - make sure you pack your diving bell. I didn't see much corruption, but I saw the sort of demented, dehumanised, target-driven behaviour you only read about in articles on North Korea. The obsession with data in school management is frightening to behold, as is their inability to understand the limits of its uses.. I ended up resigning on one of these issues.

3 - I'd gloss over your experience of the SN system in your personal statement, but emphasise the understanding that your experience with DS has given you in working with staff and other professionals to raise attainment, and how you've worked together as a team to embed improvement. You could talk about your experience of annual reviews as an example of how you have acted as a 'critical friend' in the past. And if you manage to put all that down on paper without laughing hysterically, well done!

I was a Governor but resigned when the school decided to become an academy.
Academy Governors become directors of the school and I think there's therefore more responsibility because of that. This article might help.
There is a lot of bureaucracy to deal with and it can be quite time consuming but it can also be rewarding.

Thank you. That's really helpful.

What I wanna say is that I'm a keen advocate of accountability, transparency and information sharing for the purpose of improvement and positive challenge, and the extention of this to parents through my role as their representative on the Board.

No way have I worked out the wording so forgive the clumsiness of that but is this the sentiment I should be going for? Or will I get a whole load of from parents and a bit of from SLT.

What I don't wanna do is bang on about my management position in ICT Consultancy and how I'm gonna challenge the HT at every turn (which seems to be the personal statements of the governors in local schools).

Am I vaguely on the right path?

That's a great article, thanks. Especially the last paragraph. Very helpful.

I would love to do it, but after everything I have been through I can't compromise on my integrity. And would take the accountability seriously. To what extent is that actually possible or do parent governors get patted on the head with a 'there there, let us professionals worry about that love'b

Can I ask the Chair why the vacancies has arisen and the circumstances, or will that be too much to ask ATM?

It could be available because a term of office has come to an end and the person doesn't want to continue. Or because the parent governor child is no longer at the school so they can not continue as a parent governor, but have now become a community or a local authority governor so still on the board but sitting as a different type of governor.

Having said whether you are a parent, community or any other type of governor your is not any different.

Thanks. That's helpful.

"What I wanna say is that I'm a keen advocate of accountability, transparency and information sharing for the purpose of improvement and positive challenge, and the extention of this to parents through my role as their representative on the Board."

IMVHO that isn't going to get you elected. It sounds confrontational and focuses on the parents, rather than the children.

Take those (very useful) sentiments and change them into child-friendly language.

So: Accountability - You may want accountability to the parents, but there are frameworks for that (however rubbish) through Ofsted, etc. So change that into a sentence or two about your passion to ensure that every child has access to high quality teaching and reaches their potential.

Transparency - Again, the school doesn't have to be transparent with parents. They are allowed to withhold some aspects of their work and share what they deem necessary, within reason. So change it to something to do with fostering good communications between parents and the school.

Information sharing - fair enough, bearing in mind my comment.

Generally, the parents are going to want to see that you want to be a Governor for the good of the children and the school, not to use the position to further an individual agenda.

Whether the role depresses you will probably very much depend on the following:

-How 'good' your school is to start with.
-How flexible and collaborative the HT is, and the overall relationship with the GB.
-How good your Chair of Governors is at leading the GB
-Whether you can make peace with the strategic role of the Governing Body and leave Operational matters at the door, or at least make sure that anything operational you want to bring up is phrased as a strategic matter

Oh yes, don't focus on SN too much - for 80% of the school population it will be irrelevant and for 20% it will be direct alienation because they'll worry that little Tabitha will be overlooked for her giftedness because you'll be banging the SN drum

Thanks lougle. I see I need to do some work on both my statement and aspirations.

But I do wanna work for the parents, not for an individual agenda (with the exception of making the PTA turn their bloody music down at their events). And I wanna do this for the children. It's their school. I also want to help parents gain access to the information that will enable them to understand and support the work of the school. I'm not sure schools sometimes realise quite what this information might look like. Simple bites of bland information can reduce a whole world of suspicion often and pave smoother paths.

As for the profile of the school. It's an outstanding new academy with shedloads of PTA money though not such a boring demographic within the spectrum of 'affluent'. They are hailed SEN specialists by those who know nothing about SEN and the reverse by people who do though. But I wouldn't set out in that direction, just support the SEN Governor.

I'm sure you do want to work for parents. I'm not doubting it for an instant.

Okay. Thanks. I'll think some more. I'd take it seriously so need to make sure my motivations and skills match with what's needed.

My friend was gov and found info about school funding etc very interesting. She found schools willingness to do fixed term exclusions for children with sen / behavioural problems difficult to tolerate. I would say in a well heeled academy brag about your commercial experience to get elected (ours always say they have finance exp etc) then reveal your true self / agenda once elected

Your skills certainly match what's needed - the ability to support and challenge the school in their strategic approach to education.

So I've put in my application. The two who agreed to nominate me were very supportive but also said my personal statement was hilarious.

The PR one offered to give me tips on it but after reading said it needed no changes.

I'm a bit thrown by their reactions tbh. I think perhaps in real life I don't come across as knowing anything about anything.

Hilarious? I'm not sure that's a supportive comment

Do you know how many people are going for it?

No. I've been told that typically it will be around 4 or 5.

I have been utterly unable to leave my ds and his SEN out of my personal statement so not expecting to win it because of that and due to being so new to a school with a lot of well-networked parents.

Lougle, If it isn't too much of an ask, would you mind reading my statement if I PMed it? It's only allowed to be 120 words.

Of course, I'd love to.

Thank you. I've handed it in but sure I can rehash if I need to as getting friendly with school secretary.

PM in a sec.

Ok. I was going to PM you an assessment of your Personal Statement, because I got the impression it would need to be kindly worded from your recent posts.

Now, I'm

I can't see why you were told it was 'hilarious'.

Ironic, yes. 'Hilarious', no. Perhaps they were picking up on the irony of your past background then having a child at Special School? I always think there's a special irony in the fact that I was very, very able at school and then had a child with MLD.

Your statement is considered, humble and demonstrates beautifully that you have the skills and experience needed to carry out what is becoming an increasingly demanding role.

Your only barrier now is if there is someone who has been at the school some time who is very popular and has a 'following'.

Oh thank you SO much for your feedback. I feel a bit better now. I truly want to do it 'right'. I have looked a lot into my motivations and I think they are to do with my hope that I can find that my poor past experiences are just a small glitch in a system with mostly good, caring and responsible people.

As for hilarious, I just met that mother at the post box and dared ask her what she had meant. She said that it is funny what hidden talents there are amongst a bunch of mums at the school gates, - so I guess that is good!?

Yes - if you think about your past, from your statement, then being a Governor is just doing what you did at a higher level, in a school environment, but not getting paid!

I'd say go for it. Especially if they're an 'evil' academy
Your SEN experience, if sold as 'differentiation' and 'individualisation' may be an asset to parents who fear Tabitha or Tarquin is being treated as one of the herd.

Relatively few pushy-type parents can believe their own dc are simply the 'normal' average range dc. They're all either G&T in something, or else falling behind potential in subject x because they weren't taught properly / lack confidence in it / are too advanced for the teacher

Weirdly I have G&T experience professionally too. And lots of random stuff that I couldn't put in my statement due to lack of words allowed but that should be useful in the role.

But yes, differentiation and individualisation good stuff.