School governors
Every school has a Governing Body
of between 9 and 20 governors made up of various members of the
community. The governing body works closely with the Headteacher
who is responsible for the day-to-day management of the school. The
governing body is part of the school leadership team responsible
for strategic planning and policy development making sure the
school provides a good quality of education for all its pupils.
Types of governors
School governors are drawn from
different parts of the community, such as parents, the staff, the
Local Authority, the community and other groups. This helps to
ensure that the governing body has sufficient diversity of views
and experience but does not mean that governors of a particular
category "represent" that group on the governing body. For example,
parent governors do not act as a representative of the parents at
the school and do not report back to them.
The school’s Instrument of
Government sets out how the governing body is made up.
The term of office for all
categories of governor is normally four years.
School governors are members of
their school's governing body, which is a "corporate body". A
corporate body has a legal identity that is separate from its
members and as a result, individual governors are generally
protected from personal liability as a result of the governing
body's decisions and actions, provided they act honestly,
reasonably and in good faith.
Individual governors have no power
or right to act on behalf of the governing body except where the
whole governing body has delegated a specific function to that
individual or where regulations specify that a function is to be
exercised in a particular way.
What governors do
School governors can take part in
all aspects of school life and it is up to each
governor how much they get involved. It will depend very
much on their interests and how much time they have to
give. There is a requirement however to attend each of the main
governing body meetings (usually only three per year).
A few examples of what
governors do are given below:
- Make decisions about a range of issues to improve and maintain
the standard of education in a school
- Attend governing body meetings, there are usually three
meetings per year
- Be a member of at least one committee that looks in more detail
at different aspects of governors’ work such as finance, curriculum
or staff matters
Responsibilities
The governing body has a range of
duties and powers and a general responsibility for the conduct of
the school with a view to promoting high standards of educational
achievement including setting targets for pupil achievement,
managing the school's finances, making sure the curriculum is
balanced and broadly based, appointing staff and reviewing staff
performance and pay and many more.
The governing body has considerable
discretion as to how to discharge its responsibilities but is
required to constitute itself in line with the regulations and to
appoint a chair and vice chair. The governing body may delegate
certain of its responsibilities to certain governors or committees
of governors, although in general, it is not compelled to do
so.
Roles and actions
There are a range of roles and
actions that the governing body or individual governors need to
consider. Useful information and articles are available on the DCSF
GovernorNet website.
The law
The principal regulations relating
to school governance constitution are available on the DCSF
GovernorNet website.