Who are school governors, and what do they do?

The role of the governors of a maintained school (who act as a board) is to 

- decide (within the confines of what is laid down at national and Derbyshire County Council level) the overall strategy the school should  follow, establish its vision and its ethos; 
- help the school to run well, provide the best possible education for all children, spend its money wisely and ensure that operations match the strategic plans that have been made
- monitor the effectiveness of the head teacher in achieving those things. 

It acts as a “critical friend” to the head teacher and staff: a supervising/monitoring role, not an implementation role. Responsibility for running the school from day to day are for the head teacher and the staff. The head teacher and staff, not governors, should always be the first point of contact for parents etc. 

The head teacher and two members of staff will always sit on the board of governors. Other governors are unpaid volunteers drawn from the local community, broadly construed. One is nominated by the local education authority (Derbyshire County Council). There are two governors elected by parents. Other governors, who are seen as having particularly relevant skills or experience, are co-opted by invitation from the governing board. All governors should act in the best interests of the school at all times.

The full governing board has four scheduled meetings per year, and meets more often if needed. It has a chair and a vice-chair and a clerk, who provides the administrative support and expert advice as well as being the Federation’s business manager. 

Below the governing board there are three committees which report to it: the Curriculum Teaching & Learning Committee, the Resources Committee and the Headteacher Performance Management Committee.

The governing board appoints individual governors to take the lead at governor level on monitoring particular aspects of the school’s activities (individual subjects, safeguarding, inclusion, SEND provision, etc.). They perform school visits focused on their allocated field and report back to the full board.