Parent Governors

Every UK state school has a Governing Body, consisting of a number of different categories of governors, depending on the size and type of school. In general, the categories are as follows:

• Staff Governors: members of the school staff, including
• The head teacher
• Teachers (elected by other teachers)
• Non-teaching staff (elected by other non-teaching staff)
• Parent Governors: parents with children at the school (elected by other parents)
• LEA Governors: nominated by the Local Education Authority
• Community Governors: members of the local community (appointed by the rest of the governing body)
• Foundation and Sponsor Governors: representatives of any sponsoring bodies

The proportions vary between differing types of school; for example, the governing body of a Community School (owned by the local authority) must be made up of at least 33% parent governors, at least 20% community governors, 20% LEA governors and at least 2 staff governors. There must be at least 9 governors and no more than 20.

The Governors' Responsibilities

Governors have responsibility for raising school standards, to provide strategic management and to support the work of the headteacher and other staff. This includes:

• Managing the budget to cover salaries, running costs, maintenance and equipment; for example:
  • deciding how many and what types of staff to employ
  • which equipment to upgrade or replace
• Deciding the priorities for implementing new strategies and initiatives.
• Appointing the headteacher; they may also be involved in the appointment of other staff.
• Monitoring the school's progress.
• Setting annual targets for the school's performance.
• Setting annual targets for the headteacher.
• Ensuring that the headteacher sets targets for other staff.
• Reviewing school exclusions ; they have the power to reinstate an excluded pupil or reduce the term of the exclusion.

All governors are unpaid for their work, although they may receive payment for expenses. With over 350,000 governor places in England, they are the largest volunteer force in the country.

Becoming a Parent Governor

Becoming a parent governor can be a good way of finding out about and influencing the policies of your child's school. You don't need any special experience to become a parent governor - you just have to have a child at the school. However, although you do not need any formal qualifications, you do need to have an interest in education, be committed to the role and be able to devote your time. The term of office for a school governor is normally four years and you would be expected to attend at least one meeting per term, usually in the evening. There are also committee meetings and other school events to which you may be invited.

If you are interested, talk to your head teacher or chair of governors and ask if there are any parent governor vacancies. If you are nominated, then other parents are invited to vote for those parents standing; however, if there are fewer parents standing than there are parent governor places, then the governing body can simply appoint those interested.