What is a governor?
A governor is first and foremost a volunteer. Governors have to be able and willing to devote their time, skills and experience to making sure the school provides an effective, challenging and safe learning environment, high quality teaching and safe school buildings for all our children. This involves ensuring that the school makes effective use of the resources provided by government.
Governors are not involved in the day to day running of the school but have a strategic role in setting the direction, monitoring the progress and use of resources and analysing data and outcomes.
Some examples of activities include:
- Appointing the head and deputy head teachers and then holding them to account for the performance of the school.
- Monitoring the financial performance of the school
- Overseeing and monitoring the many Policies that govern activities of staff and pupils
- Linking with staff to review subject plans and their delivery
- Keeping up to date with government requirements and specific funding such as Health and Safety, Pupil Premium funding and Sports Premium funding.
Training is available to help governors to understand their role and the national legal, social and educational frameworks within which a school operates.
There is much information provided on the Internet by both the council and the government about the role of governors.
Being a governor is a very rewarding voluntary activity. It can be time consuming and carries significant responsibility for the staff and pupils at the school. Being an effective governor requires objectivity and an open mind to personal learning in order to keep up to date with activities in school and the national agenda.
