The Role of the Governing Body

All schools in England have a Governing Body which is responsible for overseeing many of the strategic decisions of the school. The Governing Body works in close partnership with the Headteacher, staff and the Local Authority. Whilst the Headteacher is, of course, responsible for the day to day running of the school, the governors main three roles include:

Strategic - The governing body sets the general direction of the school, looking at how it should best develop. This is done by reviewing and agreeing policies, targets and priorities and monitoring and reviewing aims and objectives.

Critical Friend - A governing body should work with the Headteacher and create a clear understanding of the challenges face in managing a school.

Accountability - A school is a business and its stakeholders are the learners. The governing body must have a professional attitude and use its collective skills to benefit the learners. It must gather views, ask questions and decide what is best for the school. The governing body is answerable to parents, the wider community and the local authority.

School governors are drawn from different parts of the community. This helps to ensure that the governing body has sufficient diversity of views and experience but does not mean that governors of a particular category "represent" that group on the governing body. The different categories of governor are as follows:

Parent governors

Elected by parents to serve on the Governing Body

Staff governors

To include the Head Teacher if they wish to be a governor. Remaining staff (both teaching and non-teaching are represented) governors are elected by other members of staff at the school via elections.

Authority governors

Local Education Authority (LEA) governors are appointed by the LA. LAs can appoint any eligible person as a LEA governor.

Co-opted governors

Appointed by the Governing Body to represent community interests. They can be persons who live or work in the community served by the school, or persons who do not work or live close by, but are committed to the good governance and success of the school.