Parent Governors

Can you use your perspective as a parent to help the governing board understand a parent's viewpoint? This will help the governors to make good decisions and maintain a link with the parent community.

We do not currently have any vacancies for parent governors, but do let us know if this might be something that would interest you in the future. 

Our Parent Governors  are: 

Rania Abdalla: Parent of a former pupil

Aisie Dumbuya: Parent of a child in Year 6

Sahra Hussan: Parent of a child in Year 6

The role of a parent governor is

• To bring a parental perspective to the issues discussed – they're not there to speak 'on behalf' of the parent body
• They have the same rights as every other governor on the board

What do parent governors do?

Parent governors bring their wealth of experience and knowledge, contributing to the successful running of our school.

Being a governor is a "hands off" role – decisions made by the board influence the whole school, but governors are not responsible for, or involved in, the day-to-day running of the school.

The role is a necessary part of ensuring the good functioning of school leadership. Governors set the ethos of the school and drive for continuous improvement, and they also oversee financial performance and ensure money is well-spent. Governors commission the head teacher and other school leaders to act on their behalf in putting their ideas into practice, and they ensure that the school leadership is held to account in doing so.

What responsibility and influence do parent governors have?

Quite a lot. It is the Board of Governors’ role to:

• Appoint the head teacher
• Appoint the deputy head teacher
• Hold the school leadership to account
• Ensure school staff have training, support and resources to be effective
• Maintain oversight of the school’s budget spending, including pupil premium allocation
• Decide on the aims, strategy, vision and ethos of the school
• Determine ways to put all of the above into practice as part of the school development plan
• Hear the later stages of staff grievances or pupil exclusion appeals

As you can see, school governors have both a creative and managerial remit. They develop ideas and strategies for putting those ideas in to practice, but also hold leaders to account and offer them constructive feedback on their performance.

Responsibility does not rest with any one individual. Decisions are made by the board as a whole, and individual governors are not held to account for collective decisions.

Boards of Governors can also work with PTAs in building a 'whole school' community, connecting with the wider community and engaging prospective parents.

How big a commitment is being a parent governor?

The term of office is usually four years, though it can be decided when parents are elected to the board, and it may extend beyond your child’s time at the school if your child moves to secondary school or changes school during the four-year period. During this time, you would be expected to attend and contribute thoughts and ideas to the governing board’s meetings.

Our full governing body meets three times a year; once per term.  You might also be on one of our committees which also meet three times a year.   Additionally, you will be expected to visit the school as part of your duties in order to monitor and evaluate as you gain understanding for your role, and take on training for the role through the Local Authority.

You may also be invited to school events such as sports days to increase the visibility of the governing board to parents and represent your school to the community. Under current employment law, employers must allow employees to undertake their duties at school, but this may be paid or unpaid, so speak to your employer and find out what their policy is.

You may resign at any time by giving written notice to the clerk on your board of governors.

What skills do parent governors need?

There is no set skillset that marks out an ideal parent governor. So long as you are over 18 years of age and have a child at our school you can express an interest in becoming a parent governor.  It falls to the judgement of the board that any parent wishing to act as a governor has the relevant skills and experience to govern effectively and contribute to the success of the school.

There’s also a legal requirement for parents to be DBS checked before starting their post as a governor.

What's in it for parents?

There's plenty of opportunity to learn new skills, working with others to help to develop useful policies that will benefit the education of children. The role may sound formal, but governors play a vital role in the running of the school and most people enjoy their time as a governor, as well as appreciating the sense of duty and opportunity to show loyalty to their school. You may also progress to being a chair, which brings added responsibility. The experiences of school governorship look great on any CV, and can even create career opportunities.

Not only that, but you will also get to know your school better especially in terms of its strengths and weaknesses. You will gain a great understanding of how the school is run, and this will have a positive knock-on effect on your child’s education, academic outcomes and school life.