Governors

Chair of Governors - Mr D Maddocks

Why do we have Governors'

School governors are one of the country's largest voluntary groups with around 345,000 school governors contributing to strategic development and raising standards of achievement at over 30,000 schools.

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.

School governors are drawn from different parts of the community, such as parents, the Staff, the Local Education 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.

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:

Constitution of the Governing Body
The governing body must be constituted in line with the School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2003. These regulations cover the number and type (category) of governors that make up the governing body.

• Terms of Reference of the Governing Body

• Categories of Governors

  Depending on the category (Community, Foundation, Voluntary Controlled, Voluntary Aided) of the school, the governing body will be made up of different numbers and categories of governors. In brief, these are the following categories of school governor:

  • Parent governors - selected by election (or appointment if insufficient people stand for election) and drawn from parents and carers of children at the school.
  • Staff governors - selected by election from teaching and support staff paid to work at the school
  • Community governors - appointed by the governing body to represent community interests
  • LEA governors - appointed by the LEA
  • Foundation governors (not community schools) - appointed by the school's founding body, church or other organisation named in the school's instrument of government
  • Partnership governors (foundation schools only) - replace Foundation governors if the school does not have a founding body
  • Sponsor governors - discretionary category appointed by the governing body from individuals who have made significant (financial) contributions to the school
  • Associate members (not governors) - appointed by the governing body to attend committee meetings and/or full governing body meetings due to their particular skills or experience

• Roles of Governors

  The governing body must appoint a chair and vice-chair and may wish to make a number of other specific appointments to lead on certain aspects of the school.

• Committees of the Governing Body

  The governing body can delegate certain of its responsibilities to committees or individual governors.

Who can be a school governor?

School governors are people from the school’s community who wish to make a positive contribution to children’s education. They must be aged 18 or over at the date of their election or appointment. There is no upper age limit.

Governors are the largest volunteer force in the county and have an important part to play in raising school standards through their three key roles of setting strategic direction, ensuring accountability and monitoring and evaluating school performance.

I’m interested, what do I do now?
You can contact the college to ask if we need a new governor. Your local authority will be able to help you find a school or advise on opportunities to become an LA governor.

If you are a parent - ask your school about elections for parent governors.

Schools, LAs and local Diocesan authorities will be able to tell you about opportunities as community governors, LA governors and foundation governors

Click the links below to find out our current governors