What do you think of governors - are they helpful for teachers?

[Sleepymorningcuddles]

I'm thinking of becoming a governor- but not at my kids' own schools.

I believe the best teachers are happy teachers and that everyone can do a crap job if the circumstances are bad.

So....what are your governors like? Do they affect your professional lives, for good or for ill?

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Never see them. In my school they have made lots of people redudant. In most schools they just ok what slt want.

I don't personal believe schools should have governors who are not specialists in their field.

Waste of space in my school, but I have a friend who is chair of govs and is useful.

How is your friend useful if you don't mind me asking? (I would want to be a useful one).

Primary or secondary?

Primary

I think they have far too much power. They can break careers for teachers. They don't understand what's actually going on in schools. They don't understand what teaching is actually about.

I can't quite figure out the power thing - could an individual gov. Break a teacher's career, for instance?

Should add I have got some classroom teaching experience though it's a PPA subject so very different...

The Governors in our school have no clue how hardworking and dedicated the teaching staff are. They only liaise with SLT and I think they have too much power and no expertise to back it up.

I would love to hear some stories of effective, supportive GBs though. They must exist.

I'm secondary. Have encountered a couple of fabulous ones - got themselves attached to a subject, came in, got stuck in in the classroom, were enormously positive & supportive, went back to Govs meeting & kicked arse on our behalf to get stuff we'd showed them we needed funded/supported. Can't thank them enough.

& then there's the 'my child is a right little sod so I'm going to get myself elected governor so I've got his/her back'. NOT so good.

Oh & the odd total nutter with way too much time on his hands who just wants to jackboot over a few teachers (& whose wife then got herself a job as a dinner lady/exam invigilator so that she could shout at people 'my dh is a GOVERNOR you know!').

Mixed bag all round. It's quite easy to get yourself elected as a Parent Governor, so does attract some...characters.

i never ever see them,
When i was a primary gov we were linked to a class, was way better

I'm support staff in a primary. Our Govs are well known to all the staff, they visit regularly, each has a class they are assigned to, we are all know the CoG.
Our Head is great, and it is her influence that creates this situation. The Govs are fully aware of the calibre of our staff, they are very supportive.
Some come in a couple of times a week to hear readers, we have regular Gov days where they free-range around the school, but mostly concentrate on 'their' class. They talk to the staff and children and have a very good 'sense' of the school. They are supportive to the staff and children, and it works well.
In my previous school I only knew who the CoG was, but he was only really interested in the the SLT.

Would you want to see them or would you be suspicious?

*we all know

i would LOVE them to come into my lessons

Ok, so if I went for it then get attached to a subject and visit?

I am governor.
We are very visible and involved. (primary)
we visit classes and meet with subject leaders and try and be very supportive.
We do have an amazing school and a great teaching staff and we try and make sure that they know we know and appreciate them.
The head is very good and makes our job easier as she is willing to be very transparent.

Having said that, we had a couple of pretty tough meetings last year, we felt the (previous) head had communicated something very badly to parents and there was uproar in playground, and we were the instrument of feeding it back to head. We are very clear about the tough questions we need to ask SMT, and ask them but try and feed back positives to.

The head recently did a thing - how have your governors made a difference - which went out to parents.

My dad is a retired teacher with many year experience and he is on the governing body of two schools. I would imagine he does an excellent job. At my school, they're a mixed bag. Best one was HT of a different school and therefore knew exactly what she was talking about. The mother of one of my DD's friends does it at their school and is only interested in things which affect her DC. I strongly believe that you should only do it if you have knowledge of the education system.

FWIW, our current chair of governors (retired HT) is excellent - she is in school often, listens, talks to us as if we are real people, comes along to school events, engages with the students etc. Another one of them has helped build set for school shows, is always happy to listen, shows an interest but is not openly judgemental. They are part of the school community. However, DD's friend's mum is more of a "I'm a governor and so I will make a fuss about XXX and they will have to do as I say" type.

One Head used to paint a very different (and much rosier) picture to governors to what was actually going on. He's gone now.
They are mainly a benign bunch though and there are several vacancies. Apathy reigns in the area where I teach, sadly.

Yup, if you go for it, I'd say definitely attach yourself to a class or a subject & take an active interest.

I'd love to be a PG at my kids' school - no time to do it properly as I teach FT myself, so haven't gone for it - but I think it's a really important role.

Ok great, thanks x

some teachers would not welcome you and might see it as an inspection.
Some governors are crass enough to try to judge the teaching

I am a governor. I am painfully careful to make sure that I have separate 'governor relationships' with teaching staff from my role as a parent. I have never raised a gripe about day to day issues as a governor, for instance.

We are a team of people who are passionate about our school. We are there to make children's education better and, because we have passionate teachers, that thankfully coincides with making teachers' lives easier. I wouldn't hesitate to make waves if I needed to though -we are there to support and challenge.

yes lougle, we have to do that. Very clear line. We are not involved in operational decisions, that is not our job.

agree with your second paragraph too.

I am a Governor, but I am Overseas, so not quite the same as being a Governor for a school in an LEA.

We do not involve ourselves with day-to-day operational issues.

We are currently working on our Strategic plan for the next five years, focusing on improving teaching standards. Not by telling the staff what to do, (most of us are not teachers- though I am) but by making sure we are a good employers, with a competitive renumeration package, which allows us to attract the best staff we can.

My specific role on the board is CP policy (again, as we are overseas we don't have the UK systems/procedures in place)

Others on the Board have responsibilty for Health and Safety, Finance, etc.

There are some that join the board with a personal axe to grind, but they usually don't last long. The long standing governors are the ones that are passionate about the school, and its long term success, not those that are focused on their own child's experience.