Every school has a governing body. Governors work with the head
teacher and staff and the Local Authority (LA) to help secure the
best possible education for the children in the school. They have
responsibility for managing the budget and for overseeing the
curriculum. They also have powers with respect to the appointment
and dismissal of staff and the exclusion and re-instatement of
pupils.
Governors are required to give an Annual Report to parents and
to hold an Annual Parents' Meeting to discuss the report. A copy of
the report, together with details of the time and date of the
meeting will be sent to parents at least two weeks before the
meeting.
The composition of the governing body depends on the size and
type of the school and is composed of a range of governors
including parents, staff and LA nominees. If the school is a
foundation or voluntary aided school representatives will also come
from the foundation or its religious background. The governors may
decide to form sub-committees to look at specific areas such as
finance, curriculum or buildings. All parents have a right to vote
for parent governors at their school and to stand for election as a
parent governor. Parent governors are full governors in every
sense. Although elected by the parents of the school, they are not
delegates: nonetheless, they do have a representative role. They
need to ensure that they are in touch with parents' views. They
also have a duty to report back to the parent body on the work of
the governors.
Websites
School
governors' one-stop shop
National Association of School Governers
(NASG)
Governornet