Is anyone here a school governor?

[ElizavetaBathory]

I've agreed to be a school governor and absolutely hate it. The meetings are very formal and feel rushed so there's little real discussion; no one speaks to each other informally between meetings to collaborate on anything (or, at least, they don't talk to me...).

I've been thinking of resigning but the school's close to ofsted and a number of other governors have recently resigned (from a really small board) so if I resign now i don't even know if we would be quorate. It all feels disastrous to me and something that really needs sorting.

This is my first governor role, although I'm an experienced teacher and have attended gov meetings at my old school on behalf of the school, presenting and such - it was nothing like this! That was a large school with a huge gov body, so maybe that's the difference.

If you're a school governor and you know your governing body is a good one, how do your governors' meetings go? And how do the governors interact when they're not in an official FGB meeting? Or, if you're a Headteacher, what do you really need from the governors? I've read the handbook and I know the theory, but real life examples and advice would be so helpful if anyone has time to reply.

Our governors’ meetings are very productive, and the group are really friendly. There are only 5 of us plus 4 staff governors, so a small group, but we get on well and there is a nice but business-like atmosphere at meetings. The meetings are long though: two hours is normal.
(I’m a co-opted governor at a school other than one I teach in)

I was a governor and hated it. Meetings were inefficient, too long and no chance for proper discussion. Head and CoG were very pally and basically decided everything in advance. I left after a year ish

Do you meet in person? So far I've only ever met via Teams and I think it is an element of why it feels so frustrating

I’m a governor and our meetings are extremely efficient. All the documents are sent in advance. Plenty of time for discussion and questions and no one minds if you need to ask for some clarification or to explain something. Very little informal happens between meetings - we sometimes take tasks away but that’s pretty much it. We’re about to get a new chair and that actually should make things even better as for various reasons due to the chair’s role it was sometimes difficult for the head to be as candid as he needed to be. (Can’t easily explain without outing myself - it was all legit and above board though.) We’re now back in person which is much easier.
The head sees us as a critical friend - we’re there to support but also provide a challenge. He welcomes the difficult questions and feedback. We do visits and talk to staff and pupils at various points in conjunction with the SIP.

My experience very much mirrors that of SometimesRavenSometimesParrot

Ours runs just like Ionacat’s. Papers go out in advance and governors are expected to ask questions in the meetings, both to support and challenge the head. It’s all at a strategic levels and governors should no get involved in the day to day running of the school. Governors are also invited to governor visits, and can also make individual visits so long as they are related to the school development plan.

In terms of informal interactions, , I’m not quite sure what you mean? You’d need to be careful as governors can only act as a full governing body, and not individually.