What is a school governor and what do governors do?

School governors are people who want to make a positive contribution to children’s education. They provide strategic leadership and accountability in schools. Governors appoint the head teacher and deputy headteacher and hold the main responsibility for finance in schools.

The role of a school governor is to contribute to the work of the governing body in ensuring high standards of achievement for all children in the school by:

• Setting the school’s vision, ethos and strategicdirection;
• Holding the Head Teacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils and the performance management of staff;and
• Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is wellspent.

The Operation of our Governing Body

In order to manage the work of the Governing Body, the workload is split between the Committees and in some cases individuals (e.g. SEN Governor) as illustrated below. To ensure a workload balance across the whole of the Governing Body, all governors are expected to play an active part in this process but the Governing Body remains legally liable for all actions taken in its name by such Committees or individuals.

Chairs of the various committees meet at least once per term in a committee called the Chairs’ Committee. The Chair of Governors receives a termly update by the Local Authority’s Governor Development Service (GDS) and briefs the Chairs’ Committee.