Becoming a Governor?

Governors

Branksome Heath Middle School

Becoming a Governor

Information for Prospective New Governors

What being a Governor is all about

The Governor's role is extremely valuable and rewarding as well as carrying great responsibility. We hope that by reading this information leaflet about how our Governing Body works and what is expected of Governors, you will be able to make a decision as to whether becoming a Governor is right for you.

First some reassurance, whilst the Governor's load can sound onerous and the responsibilities are considerable, Governors do not exercise these responsibilities as individuals as all Governors' decisions are corporate and all responsibilities are corporate. Only by doing something criminal, or stepping wilfully outside of your powers, can you incur personal liability.

Secondly, there is a lot of help, not only from other Governors at Branksome Heath, but also from Poole Governor Services which provides comprehensive support for both its new and established Governors through its Service Level Agreement with the school. This gives you access to training and support through attendance on courses, the telephone and email.

The most fundamental thing about Governors is that they do not manage schools. Schools are led and managed by their management, which starts with the Headteacher and 2 Deputies. Other staff within the school also have important leadership roles. Governors are, however, required to oversee the development of the school and ultimately, all Governors' responsibilities come back to this. For example:

Governors do not:
o Choose resources to be purchased for the school
o Decide which teacher should teach which pupils
o Judge individual teachers

But Governors do:
o Allocate a budget to spend on school resources
o Decide on the number of teachers the school should have
o Discuss with the Headteacher, measures to be taken to improve areas of the school's work
o Decide with the Headteacher how to further improve the learning environment.

Types of Governor
The governing body is made up of:

o Parent governors (elected by parents)
o Staff representatives (elected by school staff)
o Local authority governors (appointed by the local authority)
o Community governors (members of the local community appointed by the governing body)
o Sponsor governors (appointed by the governing body)

The Three Governor Roles

Strategic
Governors have three roles to fulfil. The first of these is the strategic role. This is setting the general direction of the school, loooking at how you corporately want it to develop. For example, if the school were to get disappointing test results, one strategic decision might be to take measures to improve them. This could mean agreeing with the Headteacher to fund extra training for staff, allocating money for additional resources, or employing an extra teacher or teaching assistant.

Strategic thinking need not always be directly connected with the curriculum. It may also mean further developing the school building or enhancing the way the school works with its local community.

Being strategic does not just mean responding to problems or weaknesses, it can also mean identifying ways of making a good school even better in the future.

The Critical Friend
The second role of a Governor is to act as a critical friend to the Headteacher. The Governing Body is meant to be supportive of the Head. As has been made clear earlier, it is the Headteacher who runs the school, who is at the sharp end. The Headteacher therefore has a right to expect the Governing Body to be generally sympathetic, to be there to hear about difficulties and to work with them in developing the school as they and the Governing Body have agreed.

Governors should also be willing to question and challenge when things do not look right and then to look with the Headteacher at the positive steps that can be taken to improve things in the future. Critical friendship is achieved through trust and mutual respect.

In order to act as a critical friend, the Governing Body needs to establish ways of monitoring and evaluating the progress of the school.

Monitoring is about keeping
an eye on things and seeing whether the decisions you have made are producing the desired results. Some of the strategic decision will involve setting targets. Monitoring means asking to see if those targets have been met.

Evaluating is about analysing whether such strategic decision making and target setting has made a difference to the children in the school and has had a positive impact on their learning progress. In this way Governors and the Governing Body contribute to the school's Self Evaluation.

Accountability and the executive role
The Third role of a Governor is accountability and the executive role. The Governing Body is accountable to a variety of 'stakeholders' in the school and at times will exercise executive powers.

The principle of accountability underpins everything that governors do. Governors are not appointed or elected just for their own benefit or for that of their child, but to consider the needs of the wider school community.

The executive powers cover various instances where the Governing Body has to make a decision that directly affects the running of the school, eg appointing a new Headteacher, or deciding on whether to uphold the exclusion of a pupil or to hear appeals against the dismissal of a member of staff.

How Governing Bodies work

The full Governing Body

Governing bodies work principally through meetings. Meetings are at the heart of what Governing Bodies do because this is the forum in which decisions are made. If you think you are not going to be able to make most of the Governing Body's meetings, you should not agree to become a Governor.

However, the burden here is not excessive. The whole Governing Body meets 6 times a year, with 2 meetings a term. Meetings usually last for around 2 hours.

Committees
The Governing Body is responsible for many areas of activity and it cannot possibly cover them all in a few hours a term at whole Governing Body meetings. Branksome Heath has therefore set up the following Committees:

o Finance
o Staffing and Curriculum
o Premises

Each committee has delegated authority to make decisions on behalf of the Governing Body and then report back to it on what they have done. In order to contribute properly to the Governing Body you will be expected to volunteer for 1 or 2 committees. This is where to some extent you can be guided by your own inclinations and interests. The amount of work and the frequency of meetings vary depending on the workload, but typically a Committee would meet once each term for around 1 and a half hours. The Finance committee meet twice a term.

Each committee has a Chair and a Minute taker and there is an expectation that all Governors will be prepared to take on a lead role either within a Committee or within the full Governing Body.

Finance
This Committee is responsible for making proposals for the budget allocations for the financial year bearing in mind the priorities within the SDP. The Committee also monitors expenditure against the allocated budget throughout the year. Staffing matters are also discussed at this meeting.

Staffing & Curriculum Committee
This Committee defines the staffing levels of the school, ensuring that staff vacancies are advertised and that appointment procedures are adhered to. It also handles issues relating to the pay points of staff, upgrades, early retirement, staff leave and redundancies. Other responsibilities relate to the monitoring of staff welfare and the professional development of staff.

This Committee is responsible for monitoring and evaluating curriculum standards across the school and for looking at trends in pupil performance. The Committee also ensures that requirements in respect of pupils with additional educational needs or with English as an Additional Language are met. The Committee reviews the SDP and monitors and evaluates the school's progress towards the realisation of that plan.

Premises Committee
This Committee is responsible for monitoring and reviewing the maintenance of the school premises and for determining priorities for building projects and other works. This Committee also has the important role of endeavouring to provide a safe and pleasant learning environment for the students.

The Role of the Headteacher
Much of the Governing Body's role involves working with the Headteacher to reach decisions. The Headteacher is the school's professional leader and the Governing Body's professional adviser. In this latter role the Headteacher has a vital function as your main source of information about the school. Governors are able to ask questions of the Headteacher which should be done within the environment of a meeting.

Governor Training
All Governors are expected to take responsibility for their own professional development and to attend training to support their role as a Governor. The Local Authority induction course runs across 3 evenings. This course is likely to be the longest one you will come across in your time as a Governor, but is well worth attending - indeed, essential unless you are knowledgeable about governance. Thereafter only one or two training sessions a year should be sufficient to update yourself on the areas of governance that you are particularly involved with.

Your Contribution
Finally, what should you do to add your part to the Governing Body's work and what are our expectations of you?

1. Take an active part in full Governing Body meetings by reading the documents sent to you in advance of the meeting and being prepared to ask questions.

2. Join a committee or two and be prepared to discuss actions, options or proposals for the development of an aspect of the school.

3. Take part in the Local Authority's induction programme and be prepared to go on training to further develop your role as a Governor.

4. Be prepared to take on a lead role in the development of the Governing Body's work.

5. Occasionally visit the school to see the work of the school first-hand and to improve your understanding of the school.

6. Aim to attend school functions eg plays, concerts, parents' evenings.

As with most things, the more you put into being a Governor, the more you will get out of it. So this certainly means some commitment of time and a willingness to learn. However, it needs enthusiasm more than time and as you come to enjoy the work, the time spent should be a pleasure.

If, on reading this leaflet you have any further question please contact either Kim Bainton (Clerk to the Governors) or Mike Finn (Chair of Governors). Both can be contacted through the school office and we will be happy to provide you with the information you need.

Becoming a Governor?

Friends of BHMS