Elections for New Parent Governors

Elections are held for parent governors.

Here is some information about the role and duties of parent governors for anyone who may be interested in standing for election.

What does a (parent) governor do?

Along with the other appointed governors our role is to support and challenge the school. This involves certain tasks;

We attend meetings each term:-

• The Curriculum and Well Being Committee looks at data about learning, achievement and progression etc and asks for presentations from subject leaders and link governors.

• The Finance and Planning Committee looks at the money that has been and will be spent as well as issues of health and safety etc.

• The Full Governor Body Committee scrutinises the data from both sub-committees as well as the head teachers report.

We serve as link governors
Each link governor is closely allied to a subject (i.e. Literacy) or other area (i.e. Safeguarding). The link governor makes visits to the school to liaise and be kept up to date with the member of staff responsible for that area and so is able to feed back to the governors when necessary.

We sit on panels
Such as disciplinary panels, interview panels, complaint panels etc.

Do parent governors directly represent the parents?

No. Governors are drawn from the community, from the staff, from the L.E.Aand from parents but they are not a conduit for the concerns of the group they come from, rather a means to get balanced range of people on the governing body.Governors are not involved in the day to day running of school. Usually if a parent comes to us with an issue or concern we point them to the schools own procedures for dealing with such things (speaking to the teacher/head etc.). Governors would only become involved in the rare occasions when something has escalated through a complaint or disciplinary procedure.

What qualities/skills are required?

Mainly we are looking for commitment and the ability to spare some time. Mostly our duties involve looking through spreadsheets of data or policy documents ready to challenge or support the school on them and this can be time consuming. Having said that we have recently identified certain key skills and knowledge that would be useful for new governors to have:-

• Finance 
• Special Educational Needs
• Health and Safety
• Procurement and Purchasing
• Law
• Human Resources

This is not to say that these skills are essential and we certainly do not want to put anyone off who may be interested. As said above, commitment and time to spare are the most valuable qualities.

What is the time commitment?

It is hard to say because some periods are busier than others and some are able to commit more time than others. We estimate it averages out to about an hour a week.

Are there other ways of becoming involved in the school?

There are many:-

The Parent Staff Association
The school has a very strong and active PSA which has made huge contributions financially and otherwise over the last few years. They are always looking for more help and more volunteers.

Reading Volunteers
This involves offering some time each week to listen to children read. If you are interested contact Debbie Moncur (Head of Literacy) or Gordon Murray (Link governor for literacy).

Trip Volunteers
These are a pool of parents who volunteer to go on school trips and outings to help out.

I’m considering standing for Parent Governor, how do I find out more?

For an informal chat speak to Gordon Murray, Alistair Dent, Magnus McGrandle or Lisa Venables.