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What is expected of Governors?
- All Governors are expected to attend full Governing Body meetings and to take part in at least one committee, working group or panel. Committees carry out the detailed work on specific areas and report back to the full Governing Body.
- All governors must disclose any conflict of interest at the start of each meeting.
- Governors usually join committees or groups which reflect their interests and/or abilities. A skills audit is usually undertaken to ensure Governors are appointed to committees to which they are best suited to.
- Governors are expected to send apologies as soon as possible to the Chair of any committee or to the Clerk ahead of a Governing Body meeting when they are unable to attend.
- If a Governor does not attend Governing Body meetings for six months/3 consecutive sessions, they may forfeit their place as a Governor.
- It is beneficial for Governors to make at least several visits to each school per year when the school is in session as well as attend the annual Governors’ Day.
- In consultation with school staff, Governors decide on how the schools’ delegated budgets should be spent, in accordance with the SIP and the statutory curriculum requirements laid down by the government.
- They approve and monitor the annual budget, ensuring the budget is managed effectively.
- Governors ensure that the schools meet all their statutory obligations, and through the Headteachers, comply with its LA’s financial regulations or contract procedure rules.
- They determine virements and expenditure thresholds and evaluate the effectiveness of spending decisions.
- Where possible it would be helpful for Governors to attend training days, especially when they are linked to the school development plan.
How often are the Governing Body Meetings?
The full Governing Body usually meets twice, once each term and is attended by the Clerk to the Governors (Lucia Perdoni).
What happens?
The agenda will include:
- A Headteachers’ report, which will include items on how the School Improvement Plan is being implemented.
- Reports from the committees, working parties or link governors
- Making decisions on issues affecting the schools
- Items about Governor training
- Policies renewed.
Sometimes a meeting will contain items of a confidential nature. These will be put in Part 2 of the agenda and minutes of the meeting, and Governors are expected to maintain confidentiality.
Papers relating to items on the agenda are circulated a week before the meeting. Governors are expected to read these beforehand.
Panels
All Governors need to become members of a panel. These panels meet very occasionally as the need arises. These are set up permanently but meet only as required to deal with various aspects.
Responsibilities of the Governing Body
- To act as a corporate body
- To act with integrity, objectivity and honesty in the best interests of the school
- To provide strategic leadership to the school, to act in the role of critical friend and to be accountable for decisions made
- To appoint or remove the Chair and Vice-Chair
- To appoint or remove the Clerk to the Governing Body
- To recruit new members as vacancies arise and to appoint new Governors where appropriate
- To agree to the Terms of Reference and delegated powers of the committees of the Governing Body.
- To decide which functions of the Governing Body will be delegated to committees, groups and individuals
- To receive reports from any individual or committee to whom a decision has been delegated and to consider whether any further action by the Governing Body is necessary
- To approve the budget plan annually
- To monitor and review the schools’ policies
Delegating work to committees
A Governing Body can fulfil some of its responsibilities through committees. At Stag Lane Primary School we have the following committees which meet once a term, apart from the resource committee which meets more often
- QuIP
- Resources
The Governing Body
- Defines the terms of reference for each committee
- Defines the extent of its delegated authority
- Ensures it receives minutes of the Committees’ meetings
- Reviews the Committees’ remit and membership annually