Applying for School Parent Governor, please help me compose my Election Statement

[WeeTorag]

Hi all, I single handedly challenged the school/SLT last year, and into this year, about their Stonewall Champions membership. They still renewed their membership despite me providing them with all the info discrediting Stonewall but also statements of support from SSAUK and Transgender Trend. I ended up in a face to face meeting with the SLT/Chair of Governors but still they pushed ahead. I have to say they were very respectful towards me, so no criticism about them on that level. I then bombarded them with all the links and articles exposing Stonewall, after the FOI campaign and it resulted, finally, in an email from the Head at the end of the academic year letting me know that "Stonewall may no longer fit with our values" so they were going to review their membership in Autumn Term. I've yet to get confirmation they have cut ties but I will feel a strong sense of achievement if they do.

Anyway, the school know what I stand for but the other parents don't because I didn't/couldn't involve any of them in my challenge - mainly because I don't really know any other parents in my school circle with a backbone, let alone the slightest interest/concern in what's going on. But these are the people who will vote for me, or not.

So, on that note, I need to write a statement about my (good) intentions for becoming a Governor, without coming across as a campaigner/activist. How do I write about wanting to protect the interests and safety of the pupils, especially the female pupils, from the influence of external lobby groups (and potentially TRAs in the school itself), appropriate lessons on Sex Ed/PSHE etc and making sure all protected characteristics are considered, without looking and sounding too radical?

Sorry for long message, I'm rubbish at summarising! :-)

What a good question - I hope someone has some decent guidance because this is exactly what needs to happen.

In broad terms, can you give some sense of your local area? Large city, rural, area with a lot of political activism, somewhere where largely some issues aren't present?

Hi @EmbarrassingAdmissions. Home County, Outstanding Secondary school, about 1500 pupils, fairly quiet larg-ish village, not really a "woke" area, Conservative Council/MP, all pretty bland and non-eventful to be honest. I personally was surprised to discover the school was a Stonewall Champ, it just didn't seem the type - but they have installed "gender neutral" toilets in the new block, so they have been "captured" to a certain extent. We're only in Y8, so I began my campaign against their membership when we were brand new to the school, not a great start!!

Off the top of my head if you download a copy of the Department for Education - Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education guidance, this could help is some way. Page 16 has the role of Governors with bullet points for example their need to ensure "the quality of provision is subject to regular and effective self-evaluation" is possibly something that you could develop. The whole document covers lots of things that maybe useful. Reference to it may also take away the idea that you are a campaigner but more of a person who is following government guidance.

I don't know what parent governors usually say in their statements. Do you want to say something about thd things you think are important? For example, good communication between school, governors and parents. The importance of involving parents I the life of the school. High priority to child safeguarding. Equality of the sexes and getting rid of old gender stereotypes- supporting children to pursue their own interests wherever they are. Just a few ideas. Use bog standard old school language.

Id start with making sure you really understand the role of the governor and state what skills or experience you have to fullfill that role. And accept that it can be a bit of a popularity contest anyway.

If parents are likely to vote for the Conservative party, discussing issues in terms those people understand is useful. Giving all children access to good dedication. Including giving girls from faith families access to sport, exercise.

@Manderleyagain

I don't know what parent governors usually say in their statements. Do you want to say something about thd things you think are important? For example, good communication between school, governors and parents. The importance of involving parents I the life of the school. High priority to child safeguarding. Equality of the sexes and getting rid of old gender stereotypes- supporting children to pursue their own interests wherever they are. Just a few ideas. Use bog standard old school language.

Those are nice ideas @Manderleyagain, I see where you are coming from, thank you. :-)

@Justme56

Off the top of my head if you download a copy of the Department for Education - Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education guidance, this could help is some way. Page 16 has the role of Governors with bullet points for example their need to ensure "the quality of provision is subject to regular and effective self-evaluation" is possibly something that you could develop. The whole document covers lots of things that maybe useful. Reference to it may also take away the idea that you are a campaigner but more of a person who is following government guidance.

Excellent advice, thank you @Justme56!

I very much hope that this is not the only reason you want to become a governor. Governing bodies have a huge remit and they need every single governor to play their part. It's completely rubbish when people join wanting to campaign about single agenda because it means one less person to do the core work of governance.

Hi OP. I’m parent governor at a primary school. I hold similar beliefs to you but I didn’t put anything like that in my election statement. I talked about my work, and which bits of my career had a focus on education and young people, and about some of my skills and how they would translate into useful qualities in a governor. As far as I remember, it’s not a manifesto, it’s a fairly standard form where the statement comes from two questions: why do you want to be a governor and what skills do you have that would be useful. I don’t think the statement is the right place to get too political, best to get in and then work from inside. Though I will say, at our school it’s a bit of a closed shop and I can’t make the impact I would really like to.

I stated that there were two questions and neglected to put a question mark for either 🤯

I think that it's important that you are honest if you are going to take a gender-critical line in your governance if you get elected. Hiding it (or using phrases that will only have meaning to people in the know about these things) means that people will be voting without key knowledge

Is it important though? Possibly if you are only in it for the gender stuff, but for general governance do I need to put myself as GC? I don’t think that’s necessary tbh.

The key thing is to get elected so you can effect change from within.
Bearing that in mind I think you will have to really tone it down for the election unfortunately
You shouldn’t have to but you will put a lot of people off who either won’t understand or think it’s an important issue (which it is)
Say what you think will get you elected l which sadly probably isn’t anything about being GC

I see a lot of parent governor statements. There should be a word limit so you dont normally get to say much. People normally say their name, how many children they have and which year group. If they work, their job and why its relevant or some other reason they have relevant skills and then something fairly generic about ensuring the best education for everyone then sentance about their passion as it were. Eg sen, pupil premium, diversity.

Have a look at Inspiring Governance website for more info in general
www.inspiringgovernance.org/volunteers/about-the-role/

Good luck as an enthusiastic governor is a real plus for a board.

@Hoppinggreen

The key thing is to get elected so you can effect change from within. Bearing that in mind I think you will have to really tone it down for the election unfortunately You shouldn’t have to but you will put a lot of people off who either won’t understand or think it’s an important issue (which it is) Say what you think will get you elected l which sadly probably isn’t anything about being GC

Hey @Hoppinggreen, I absolutely wouldn't put anything that would be considered GC in my statement but I don't want it to be too wishy washy and generic either. I do believe there is something majorly lacking in the current Governor line up as they appeared to wave through the Stonewall membership, despite my challenge being solely based on Safeguarding and I made a very strong case for not joining.

My main reason for wanting to join the Governors is to keep the school on top of safeguarding, there is a weakness there, and also to open up a line of communication for the parents, which isn't really there. I felt totally alone when I challenged them, there's no parent-council or anything like that and the only way to reach the Governors is to literally start the formal complaint process, that's what I had to do, and I was mortified about that. Also, the Chair is clearly bezzie mates with the Head and I think that's inappropriate, not sure what I can do about that though.

I might be being naive, maybe I can't change a damn thing, especially as I can't actually offer any "business" type support, I'm a "creative" not a grown up in the business world, which I always imagined Governors to be, but I do have a VOICE and I'm not afraid to speak truth to power. I also managed to get them to start sharing more information regarding RSE and PSHE with parents, which they'd never even done before, so I have made a huge effort already at the school and they've even thanked me for changing that culture. So, no, @Neolara it's not just that reason, but it was the issue that sparked my motivation. At least I am motivated, honestly, so few parents appear to give a jot.

The Chair actually asked me to consider being a Governor, he said they need someone like me, but maybe he was buttering me up.

Thanks for all the thoughts and advice, keep it coming if you have anything further to add. It would be great to hear from more Governors actually, is there such a thing as a "parent council" at other schools? I'm not talking about the PTA though. x

@Elephantsparade

I see a lot of parent governor statements. There should be a word limit so you dont normally get to say much. People normally say their name, how many children they have and which year group. If they work, their job and why its relevant or some other reason they have relevant skills and then something fairly generic about ensuring the best education for everyone then sentance about their passion as it were. Eg sen, pupil premium, diversity.

Have a look at Inspiring Governance website for more info in general
www.inspiringgovernance.org/volunteers/about-the-role/

Good luck as an enthusiastic governor is a real plus for a board.

Brilliant @Elephantsparade, thank you so much. :-)

Hope you get in. School governance, if done well, is a significant commitment but so worthwhile. And sometimes you can make a difference. Today I persuaded the governors to stick to the exact words used in the Equality Act in their Inclusion Policy.