WHAT DOES A GOVERNOR DO?
‘School governors are people who want to make a positive contribution to children’s education.
Governors are one of the largest volunteer forces in the country and have an important part to play in raising school standards. The role of the governing board is absolutely key to the effectiveness of a school. Time and time again Ofsted (the national inspection body for schools) has noted that the most effective schools demonstrate effective leadership and management – including by the governing board.
Strategic leadership
‘School governors provide strategic leadership and accountability in schools. Governors appoint the head teacher and deputy headteacher. In some schools the site is owned bi the governing board. It is governors who hold the main responsibilty for finance in schools, and itis governors who work with the headteacher to make the tough decisions about balanaing resources. _
Each individual governor is 3 member of a governing board, which is established in law 3s a corporate body. Individual governors may not act independently of the rest of the governing board; decisions are the Joint responsibilty of the governing board.
“The role of the governing board is a strategic one, its key functions are to:
set the aims and objectives for the school
set the polices for achieving those aims and objectives
set the targets for achieving those aims and objectives
monitor and evaluate the progress the school is making towards achievement of its aims and objectives be a source of challenge and support to the headteacher (a critical friend)
‘The headteacher is responsible for the internal organisation, management and control of the school and the implementation of the strategic framework established by the governing board.
Who can become a governor?
Almost anyone over 18 years of age can become a governor. There are no particular qualifications or requirements, other than a willingness to give time to the role and a capacity for working with other people. There are diferent types of school with different categories of governor,
‘There are also different categories of governor:
parent
staff
foundation
partnership
local authority
co-opted
“The type of governor you will become depends on your situation; however all governors have the same roles and
responsibilities once part of the governing board.
‘The Governing Board meet once a term. Each Governor is also appointed to a committee that also meet at least once per
term.
CODE OF CONDUCT
“The governing board has the following core strategic functions:
Establishing the strategic direction, by:
~ Setting the vision, values, and objectives for the school
~ Agreeing the school improvement strategy with priorities and targets.
- Meeting statutory duties
Ensuring accountability, by:
- Appointing the headteacher
- Monitoring progress towards targets
- Performance managing the headteacher
- Engaging with stakeholders
- Contributing to school self-evaluation
Ensuring financial probity, by:
- Setting the budget
- Monitoring spending against the budget
- Ensuring value for money is obtained
- Ensuring risks to the organisation are managed
All Governors agree to the following:
Role & Responsibilties
- We understand the purpose of the board and the role of the headteacher.
- We accept that we have no legal authority to act individually, except when the board has given us delegated
authority to do so, and therefore we will ony speak on behalf of the governing board when we have been specifically
authorised to do so.
«We accept collective responsibilty for all decisions made by the board o its delegated agents. This means that we
will not speak against majority decisions outside the governing board meeting.
- We have a duty to act fairly and without prejudice, and in so far as we have responsibilty for staff, we wil fulfil all
that is expected of a good employer. - We will encourage open government and will act appropriately.
- We will consider carefully how our decisions may affect the community and other schools.
- We will aways be mindful of our responsibilty to maintain and develop the ethos and reputation of our school. Our
actions within the school and the local community wil reflect this. - In making or responding to criticism or complaints affecting the school we wil follow the procedures established by
the governing board, - We will actively support and challenge the headteacher.
Commitment
- We acknowledge that accepting office 3s a governor involves the commitment of significant amounts of time and energy.
- We will each involve ourselves actively in the work of the governing board, and accept our fair share of
responsibiltis, including service on committees or working groups; - We will make full efforts to attend all mestings and where we cannot attend explain in advance why we are unable to.
- We will get to know the school well and respond to opportunites to invlve ourselves in school activities.
- We will visit the school, with all visis to school arranged in advance with the staff and undertaken within the framework established by the governing board and agreed with the headteacher.
- We will consider seriously our individual and collective needs for training and development, and will undertake relevant fraining.
- We accept that n the interests of open government, our names, terms of office roles on the governing body,
category of govemor and the bady responsible for appointing us will be published on the school’s website.
Relationships
- We will strive to work as a team in which constructive working relationships are actively promoted.
- We will express views openly, courteously and respectfully in all our communications with other governors.
- We will support the chair in their role of ensuring appropriate conduct both at meetings and at all times.
- We are prepared to answer queries from other governors in relation to delegated functions and take into account any. concerns expressed, and we will acknowledge the time, effort and skils that have been committed to the delegated function by those involved.
- We will seek to develop effective working relationships with the headteacher, staff and parents, the local authority
and other relevant agencies and the community.
Confidentiality
- We will observe complete confidentiality when matters are deemed confidential or where they concern specific
members of staff or pupils, both inside or outside school. - We will exercise the greatest prudence at all times when discussions regarding school business arise outside a
governing board meeting. - We will not reveal the details of any governing board vote.
Conflicts of interest
- We will record any pecuniary or other business interest (including those related to people we are connected with)
that we have in connection with the governing board’s business in the Register of Business Interests, and if any such
conflicted matter arises in a meeting we will offer to leave the meeting for the appropriate length of time. We accept
that the Register of Business Interests wil be published on the schools website. - We will also declare any conflict of loyalty at the start of any mesting should the situation arise
- We will act in the best interests of the school as a whole and not as a representative of any group, even if elected to
the governing board,
Breach of this code of conduct
- If we believe this code has been breached, we will raise this issue vith the chair and the chair will investigate; the governing board will only use suspension/removal as a last resort after seeking to resolve any difficulties or dispute in more constructive ways.
- Should it be the chair that we believe has breached this code, another governor, such as the vice chair will
investigate.