This is the second in a 3-part series first published in SecEd Magazine. Read part 1.
In the first of these three articles on effective governance, I explained that school leaders need to develop good working relationships with governors, especially the chairs of the various governors’ committees through which important information can be fed, and the link governors overseeing their areas of responsibility.
Committee chairs and link governors, I said, should also act as conduits of information, reporting back to the full board, and as such they need to develop effective working relationships with their link leaders – relationships based on mutual respect and trust.
While link governors for some areas may need to make regular contact and be voracious in challenging their link leader about their decisions and actions; others may be able to step back and provide support only when it is asked for.
In practice, school leaders need to provide key briefing documents to governors to assist them in making important strategic decisions: this can best be achieved by leaders providing high-quality summaries or headline data (not long, detailed reports) and a set of reasoned options for governors to debate and decide upon. These documents should be distributed in advance of decision-making meetings to allow thoughtful consideration and to avoid protracted discussions.
The key to an effective working relationship between school leaders and the governing body is for both parties to be open and honest and to keep the other informed.
There is nothing to be gained by keeping secrets or being duplicitous. Both parties should also remember that they are on the same side and should find ways of working together for the benefit of the school.
Link governor
My preferred model of governance takes advantage of the role of link governor – a governor who can become expert in an aspect of school life and work more closely with key personnel than the full governor body or even a committee can do.
For example, a SEND governor can work closely with the school’s SENCO and take part in learning walks to better understand the additional and different needs of students, what support is put in place, and how effective that support is.
Likewise, a Pupil Premium governor can help the Pupil Premium coordinator to make good, evidence-informed decisions about how to spend the grant and about what success should look like. They, too, can carry out joint learning walks with staff to see for themselves how the money is being spent and what impact it is having.
The link governor can then report back to a committee or the full governing body. They can also be the board’s representative during Ofsted inspections, reducing the burden on the chair and vice-chair.
I have written previously about the role of the SEND link governor and offered advice on how to make a success of link meetings and learning walks. Read this article here.
Now let’s explore the various types of governors, how to make a success of governor meetings, and the importance of transparency.
Types of governors
The organisation Governors for Schools says that the role of the governor is to offer strategic guidance, but not to get involved in the operational aspects of a school. This, they say, involves:
- Working with other governors to plan the school’s strategic direction.
- Overseeing the school’s financial performance, ensuring money is well-spent.
- Holding the headteacher or school leadership to account.
The best governing bodies are made up from a range of diverse governors. The best boards comprise:
A chairperson: The chair, with support from the vice-chair and the clerk, is responsible for ensuring the effective functioning of the board by keeping it focused on its core functions. The chair and vice-chair should encourage the governing body to work together as an effective team, building its skills, knowledge and experience.
Co-opted (sometimes referred to as community) governors: Co-opted governors are volunteers who don’t tend to have a connection to the school, religion, or local authority. However they have the skills and experience required to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school. They are sometimes called community governors because they often (but not always) come from the community the school serves and know the needs of that community well. They act in the best interests of the school and the wider community. In a maintained school, co-opted governors will generally have more of a role to play in aspects such as finance than governors who sit on the board of an academy.
Foundation governors: Foundation governors are appointed to the governing bodies of voluntary controlled and voluntary aided schools. This is to preserve the religious character of the school. There are foundation governors in every Church of England school and in Roman Catholic schools, too.
Parent-governors: Governing bodies usually have between two and four parent-governors who are voted for by a ballot of parents. Parent-governors are there to offer the parents’ perspective. If a school can’t recruit a parent-governor, a proxy can join the board. A proxy parent-governor is simply someone who has children of school age. Parent-governors have the same responsibilities as other types of governors.
Staff governors: A staff governor is elected as a representative staff member on the board. Their role is to bring a staff perspective to discussions.
Associate governors: When a school has no governor vacancies but needs someone with specific skills, appointing an associate governor may be helpful. Similarly, if a governor is retiring, a governing body may decide to recruit an associate to bridge the gap. Associate members have no voting rights on the full governing body but may vote on any committees to which they have been appointed. Associate governors can provide a useful pipeline of future governors.
Local authority governors: These are nominated by the local authority but appointed by the governing board. Often the requirement is simply someone who lives or works within the local authority, but this can differ school-to-school.
Constitution and instruments of government
Section 5 of the new governance guide (DfE, 2024) covers structures and provides an overview of how governing bodies must be constituted. The instruments of government usually set out the following conditions:
- Governing bodies should be no bigger than necessary to secure the range of skills they need. Smaller governing bodies are likely to be more cohesive and dynamic.
- A key consideration in the appointment and election of all new governors should be the skills and experience the governing body needs to be effective.
- Governing bodies should use a skills audit to identify any specific gaps that need to be filled in the skills, knowledge and experience of existing governors.
- Before being nominated for election or appointment, governing bodies should help all prospective governors to understand the role of a governor and the governing bodies’ code of conduct.
- Regulations specify that anyone appointing governors must only appoint someone they believe has the skills to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school.
- Governing bodies should enable their governors to receive any appropriate training and development needed to address any skills gaps, and where appropriate liaise with local authorities in doing so.
- Foundation governors have a particular purpose to safeguard the character of the school and ensure it is conducted in accordance with any founding documents, but otherwise the governing body must operate, collectively, in the best interest of students, not as a collection of individuals lobbying for the interests of the constituency from which they were elected or appointed.
- Meaningful and effective engagement with parents, staff and the wider community is vital. It is not the role of governing bodies to provide this through their membership. They need to assure themselves that specific arrangements are in place to understand their views and listen to their feedback.
- Governing bodies should review their effectiveness regularly, including the extent to which their size and structure is fit-for-purpose, and their members have the necessary skills.
Members and meetings
The total membership of a governing body must be no fewer than seven governors and must include:
- At least two parent-governors, elected where possible, otherwise appointed.
- The headteacher (ex-officio), unless they resign the office of governor.
- Only one elected staff-governor.
- Only one local authority governor, nominated by the local authority and appointed by the governing body.
- Foundation governors or partnership governors where appropriate, as specified in the School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2012.
The governing body can also appoint co-opted governors as permitted by their instrument of government and as it considers necessary. The number of co-opted governors who are eligible to be elected or appointed as staff governors must not (when added to the one staff governor and the headteacher) exceed one-third of the total membership of the governing body. Governors must be 18 or over at the time of election or appointment.
Governing body meetings must take place at least three times a year and have the appropriate quorum to carry out its business. However, the governing body and its committees are recommended to meet regularly to discharge their responsibilities.
The governing body should:
- Ensure all governors and the governance professional can participate fully in meetings.
- Consider committee or panel meetings being held at suitable times so that all governors and the governance professional can participate as appropriate.
- Decide how to hold meetings, such as face-to-face, virtually or using a hybrid model.
Committees and panels do not define the size of a governing body. They can be established for a specific purpose, include individuals from another school (joint committee), and contain people not elected to the governing body. The governing body’s committees or panels can include associate members appointed for their specific skill or knowledge but who are not governors.
Terms and transparency
The standard term of office for all categories of governor is a fixed period of four years, but this may be varied for particular categories or individuals in the instrument of government. Terms of office for additional governors are set by those appointing and can be up to a maximum of four years. Ex-officio governors stop being a governor when the position entitling them to be a governor ends.
As publicly funded organisations whose purpose is for the public good, it is important that schools have a culture of transparency and that they welcome public scrutiny.
Openness about governance arrangements and decisions helps the school’s parents, carers and wider communities to understand and navigate the organisation and creates a relationship based on trust.
The governing body or school must publish up-to-date details of its governance arrangements on its website in an accessible format. This must also set out the structure and remit of the governing body and any committees.
Other information published on the website should include:
- The structure and remit of the governing body and any committees, and the full names of the chair of each committee.
- The full names, dates of appointment, term of office for each governor who has served at any point over the past 12 months; information should also be shared on who appointed them, any relevant business and pecuniary interests including governance roles in other educational institutions, any material interests arising from relationships between governors or relationships between governors and school staff, and their attendance record at governing body and committee meetings over the last academic year.
- Governing bodies should also publish this information for associate members, making clear whether they have voting rights on any of the committees to which they have been appointed.
Next time, we will explore the role governors play in evaluation.
About the author
Matt Bromley is CEO of bee. He is an education journalist, author, and advisor with twenty five years’ experience in teaching and leadership including as a secondary school headteacher and academy principal, further education college vice principal, and multi-academy trust director.
Matt is a public speaker, trainer, initial teacher training lecturer, and school improvement advisor. He remains a practising teacher, currently working in secondary, FE and HE settings.
Matt writes for various magazines, is the author of numerous best-selling books on education, and co-hosts an award-winning podcast.
Find out more here. Follow Matt on X @mj_bromley
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