The Role of a Governor

The role of a governor is to contribute to the work of the governing board in ensuring high standards of achievement for all children and young people in the school.

Governors do this by:

1. Setting the school’s vision, ethos and strategic direction
2. Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils
3. Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent

As part of the governing board team, all governors are expected to:

1. Contribute to the strategic discussions at governing board meetings which determine:
   • the vision and ethos of the school
   • clear and ambitious strategic priorities and targets for the school
   • that all children, including those with special educational needs, have access to a broad and balanced curriculum
   • the school’s budget, including the expenditure of the pupil premium allocation
   • the school’s staffing structure and key staffing policies
   •  the principles to be used by school leaders to set other school policies

2. Hold the senior leaders to account by monitoring the school’s performance by:
    

   • agreeing the outcomes from the school’s self-evaluation and ensuring they are used to inform the priorities in the school development plan
   • considering all relevant data and feedback provided on request by school leaders and external sources on all aspects of school performance
   • asking challenging questions of school leaders
   • ensuring senior leaders have arranged for the required audits to be carried out and receiving the results of those audits
   • ensuring senior leaders have developed the required policies and procedures and the school is operating effectively according to those policies
   • acting as a link governor on a specific issue, making relevant enquiries of the relevant staff, and reporting to the governing board on the progress on the relevant school priority
   • listening to and reporting to the school’s stakeholders: pupils, parents, staff, and the wider community, including local employers
      

3. Ensure the school staff have the resources and support they require to do their jobs well, including the necessary expertise on business management, external advice where necessary, effective appraisal and CPD (continuing professional development), suitable premises, and that the way in which the resources are used has a positive impact.

4.  When required, serve on panels of governors to:

   •  appoint the headteacher and other senior leaders
   • appraise the headteacher
   • set the headteacher’s pay and agree the pay recommendations for other staff
   • hear the second stage of staff grievances and disciplinary matters
   • hear appeals about pupil exclusions.

In order to perform the role well, a governor is expected to:

1. get to know the school, including visiting the school occasionally during school hours and gaining a good understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses
2. attend induction training and regular relevant training and development events
3. attend meetings (full governing board meetings and committee meetings) and read all the papers before the meeting
4. act in the best interests of all the pupils of the school
5. behave in a professional manner, as set down in the governing board’s code of conduct, including acting in strict confidence.