The role of a school governor is exciting, challenging and
rewarding. School governors are people from the school’s community
who wish to make a positive contribution to children’s education.
They can take part in all aspects of school life and it's up to
each governor how much they get involved.
Every school has a governing body
of between 7 and 20 governors. The term of office for all
categories of governor is normally 4 years.
Apply to become a school governor
There are currently vacancies for school governors throughout
the borough. If you're interested, please complete the governor
application form. Anyone over the age of 18 with an interest in
education can be a governor, subject to certain
restrictions.
Apply to become a school governor (39kb
pdf)
Facts about school governors
Read the facts about who can become
a governor, why, what they do, what's involved and more on
the school Governors' One-stop shop website.
Read school governor facts
Governor training
If you become a governor you'll be offered a programme of
training at the beginning of each term. Each school budget includes
some funding for governor training.
Governor roles and responsibilities
There are a range of roles and actions that the governing body
or individual governors need to consider.
Governors: A few
examples of what governors do are:
- 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 3
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.
Governing body: 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
subject to prescribed restrictions and must review the delegation
of functions annually.
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.
School governors are members of their school's governing body
and 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.
Although not a statutory requirement, many governing bodies have
link governors for specific subjects like ICT, Numeracy,
Literacy. Most governing bodies also have a
SEN
and Child Protection
Governor. Each governing body and headteacher can plan its own
guidelines on the role. Governing bodies review the remit and
appointment of link governors annually (usually in the autumn
term).
Contact
Governor Support Team
Rochdale Support for Learning Service
Number One Riverside
Smith Street
Rochdale OL16 1XU
Tel: 01706 925177
