January 23rd, February 6th and the 13th - Steve Gullick

Steve Gullick, who is the director for All Wales Centre for Training and Research, spoke about the Governing body's within a school.

There are around 300,000 school Governors, which means that they are one of the largest voluntary groups in the country. School Governors are part of the 'Corporate body' which means that they are protected and not blamed individually for what decisions the whole Governing body have made as long as they acted in reasonable manner. (Department for Education)

"Governors Wales is committed to supporting the effective management and provision of high quality learning opportunities for all pupils and young people in Wales" The Governing body encourages the schools to achieve high standards of education, they set targets that are appropriate for the pupils to achieve, they take responsibility for the functioning and behaviour of the school, they manage the schools budget, which includes the teachers pay, they have to make sure that the teachers are following the right curriculum, the are involved in deciding who becomes head teacher and deputy head, they make sure the staff are behaving in the right way and they must draw an action plan for after an inspection. The Governing body must meet at least once a term in a meeting.

There are more Governor's in a secondary school, then a primary school. You have to be a Governor for 4 years, even if your child has left that school. While the head teacher is in charge or running the school day-to-day, the Governors are the ones who will work out a ling term plan for the school. Governors should ask questions but then they should also be very supportive, like a critical friend.

The staff in the school do have regular contact with the Governors, as the Governors are there for job interviews, informal visits, celebrations, presentations and staff disciplinary meetings. There are only two groups of people you can officially stop from entering your school, with Governors being one, and the other being inspectors.

Governor's do not get paid. If they did get paid they might be a Governors for the wrong reason, as they should be there as they want the school to do well and help improve it, not for the money. "The work of Governors Wales recognises that governors voluntarily give their time, experience and expertise to help their schools and the communities they serve". However,you could argue that if a Governor has to miss their day-to-day job for an interview or meeting, shouldn't they get expenses? As their manager might not pay them for that day they have missed.

There are several types of Governors that make up the Govorning body. These are, parent governors, who are appointed by election, staff governor, who the teachers and the rest of the staff in the school elect, community governors, who the governing body choose who they think are interesred in the community, authority Governors, who the local authority choose, sponser Governors, these get chosen by the Governing body for making a financial contribution to the school, associate members, who are asked to attend the meeting due to a certain skill that they have, Partnership Governors, who are only part of a Governing body if there is no founding body and finally, the foundation governers, who are not in the Governing body of a community school, but they are apoointed by an organisation, like a church, outside of the school. Within a Governing body, there must be a Chair Governor and a Vice-Chair Governor. (Department for Education)

Becoming a governor is a rewarding way of making an important contribution to education
If you become a Governor you are making a contribution to education in a rewarding way, as you can learn new skills and devlop the one you already have further (Direct Gov). Parent Governors are the biggest Catagory in a school, where as the Community Governors is the shortest Catagory. In areas where there is poverty there is a shortage of Governors. Also, there is a shortage of black or foreign governors, due to their type of work. As a lot of foreign people work in restuarants and newsagents, they are working during the evening, and that is the time that the meetings would be held. Also, to be a Governor in this country you have to be able to speak English quite well, and this could be a problem for Foreign people. People under the age of 40 might also struggle to cope with being a Governor, as they might have children to bring up and may not have enough time to attend the meetings or job interviews. People of a low class in society are not usually Governors as travelling can be a problem, especially if they do not own a car, and due to them not having a highly paid job then they might question the value of school as they did not do very well in it.

Steve Gullik highlighted four different type of Governing bodys. If you are in the abdicator group of governers you are not very supportive towwards the school and claim to be very busy. They leave everything to the head teacher. If you are in the adversaries group you put too much pressure on the school. You may visit occassionaly without warning and are critical about the school. If you are in the supporters club then you leave all descions down to the head teacher. You see your role as being there to offer advice but do not ask questions. If you are in the partners group then you work equally with the head teacher and the staff. There is a bond of trust between you all.

In order to be an effective school Governor, it is important to do the training that is offered to you. The training can help a Governor learn how to deal with problems that occur quite often, to keep them updated with any changes in education and it shows them how to raise the standerds of the school by supporting them. (Department for education)

references - http://www.governorswales.org.uk/about/
                 - http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/governance/a0056694/categories-and-roles-of-school-governors
    http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/Gettinginvolvedinyourcommunity/Volunteering/DG_10038366