How do you manage the governing body?

[Tipsntoes]

I have a great job as business manager in a school of 150 staff. "My" staff are all great, the SLT is excellent, the school is, IMO, very well run but that is despite the governing body, which is weak.

The chair and vice chair are best buddies and have pre-meeting meetings, so in the actual meeting there is no challenge at all on the things that matter - they will have had off the record chats beforehand and agreed their position, the rest of the board is mute. All the big decisions are made without any discussion. Then, they'll pick up on something insignificant and spend 40 mins debating it, only to agree things are fine as they are.

I don't mind being challenged, I like being challenged and feel strongly that this is the role of the GB, but how do I make that happen? Indeed, is it my place to make that happen?

Are you on the Governing body?

I don't have a problem with pre-meeting meetings, but then it is up to anyone who is at the full meting to make sure they understand all the implications of what is being muted, and to support or challenge, or request more info as appropriate.

Is all information circulated prior to the meeting, in time for everyone to have read up on the detail of the things to be discussed?
It is usually difficult if new information is presented in detail at any meeting, as people will often need time to read through, and digest detail of any proposals, whatever the meeting is.

A weak governing body can and will affect Ofsted judgements. In one of our Ofsted reports it was noted that the Governing Body were weak and not challenging the school. Governors were then given lots of extra training, especially around interpreting data and curriculum requirements, invited into school more often and linked up with departments to come in and visit and have as a point of contact in the school. This has meant that they all now have better knowledge and understanding of what goes on in school and are better able to challenge us. It was noted in our most recent Ofsted that our Governing Body are now very strong. The governors need to feel knowledgeable and confident enough the question the Chair and Vice Chair.

What BackforGood says.
I guess it's preferable that it's the chair and vice chair who are buddies rather than the chair and head which I have come across.
The chair and vice chair are best buddies and have pre-meeting meetings, so in the actual meeting there is no challenge at all on the things that matter Are those pre-meeting meetings just the two of them or with the Head?
It's the duty of the GB to challenge the head and SLT not to challenge the other governors. Do you feel they are accepting information from the head without supporting evidence?

I'm at the GB but not on it, I present in my capacity as Business Manager but I'm not a governor.

We've had the meeting today. I'm fairly new in post and I inherited a mess. e.g last year's budget was about £600k adrift and none of the basic H&S checks had been done (or at least not recorded) for several years.

I've done loads of work to turn that around and I'm happy that most things are now in order, although there's still work to do. However, there wasn't a single question on my budget presentation or on the H&S report I presented. Maybe that was because the information I'd provided was so comprehensive there was no need, but really?

It worries me that, if I did want to hide something, it would be really easy to do.

Last year I was asked to Chair a meeting that has a similar role to a Governing Body (not a school, and FAR smaller budget, but same principles), and it was in a dire mess, tbh. So much just hadn't been done, for years. Nothing in place that should have been from financial checks to policies to safeguarding issues - I could go on.
There are things I would like to address, and I've no doubt that others at the meeting have things they would like to address, but, unless we have a 4 hour meeting every week, some things just have to be put on hold at the moment.
If I'd received a report that is efficiently done, and a presentation that explains everything well, then, as Chair, I would be thinking "Great - at least that one aspect of all the things I need to do is now in really competent hands" and I would then be able to spend time at the meeting with things that were either more urgent for today's meeting, or things that didn't currently have a competent person "owning" them.
They can still scrutinise the report outside of the meeting, and - if you were new - I suspect you wouldn't start your dishonesty in the first few months .

However, there wasn't a single question on my budget presentation or on the H&S report I presented.
While I agree that there is no need to dwell on a report that is clearly thorough and competent I think there should be at least some probing question on it. OFSTED like to see evidence that the GB are holding the school to account.