Further information for Parent Governors

All members of the Board of Governors (BoG) work together as a team to ensure that the school is properly managed, and that it delivers high quality education for all its pupils. Each BoG includes governors of different types (designations) and they will have been appointed to the BoG in different ways. As a parent governor, you have been elected by other parents at the school.  You will attend BoG meetings and make decisions as a member of the BoG.

You can use your experience as a parent to help the BoG understand a typical parent's viewpoint, which may help the BoG when decisions are being taken on certain matters.

As a parent you might ask questions, raise issues, and consider decisions from a different point of view than some other governors; for example, you might think to ask:

“Have we thought enough about the cost of these uniform changes for parents?”

“Will we be able to offer any alternative choices if parents aren’t happy with the menu changes?”

“How can we communicate the timetable changes to parents?”

1. Other parents might mistakenly think that you have been appointed to speak 'on behalf' of parents at the school, or to be a messenger to pass concerns and issues from parents to the BoG. If any parents want to contact the BoG, they should write to the Chair of Governors in the usual way.
2. Not every decision taken by the BoG will necessarily be what you, your family, or your friends would personally want. All governors are part of a team and work together to make decisions for the benefit of the whole school. Your role and responsibility as part of the BoG will be to work together with the other governors to make the best decisions for the whole school community.

Do

All governors should:

• Take the opportunity to contribute fully to discussions and decisions making;
• Participate fully in all relevant meetings of the BoG and in any Committees that you become a member of;
• Act in the best interest of the whole school, and all its pupils;
• Take advantage of any governor training opportunities that are relevant for you.

Any governors who are also parents at the school should:

• Separate their role as a governor, from their role as a Parent.

Don’t

As a governor you should not:

• Raise any of your own issues that you experience as a parent; these should be raised with the class teacher or the principal in the usual way;
• Raise any issues on behalf of any other parent(s). If any parent(s) ask you to raise an issue, you should politely, but clearly redirect them to contact the principal or Chair of the BoG directly;
• Discuss your own child at any governor meeting;
• Discuss any other children at governor meetings;
• Take any action yourself on any issue that is for the BoG to act on. All information should be communicated through your Chair, or (if the Chair is not available) the Vice Chair.

Becoming a governor doesn’t mean that you’re no longer a parent, though it does mean that you wear more than one ‘hat’ within the school community. Social media can be very useful for sharing information, though it can bring many challenges too.

Remember that others won’t necessarily know the difference between any views that you express as a parent and views that you express as a governor. As a governor you should always be aware that your ‘presence’ in the school community either in person or virtually can reflect on the BoG.

As a parent at the school, you may have concerns that you wish to raise with the school. Becoming a governor makes no difference to your right to raise concerns, or the process that you should follow. The only thing that might be different for you as a governor is that the BoG might need to consider your complaint at some stage. If this happens, you will need to withdraw from any meeting where this might be discussed.