Every school has a governing body with governors who work as a team. Governors are responsible to parents, funders and the community for making sure the school provides a good quality education. Governors also promote high standards of educational achievement. They do this together with the headteacher and other school staff who are responsible for day-to-day management of the school.
Making a Difference
Governors are people like you. As a governor you'll decide on the key issues which will help teachers to raise standards and to shape the future of the school. You don't need qualifications, just the desire to make a difference and a couple of spare evenings a month. New governors are often surprised at how their experiences can be used to help solve problems at their school. You don't have to be a specialist. Just think about the skills you use in everyday life.
Being a school governor can be one of the most rewarding ways of contributing to your local community.
As a school governor, you have real opportunities to:
Raise educational standards in your local school
Help children achieve their full potential
Identify and develop the school's management team
Identify where the school can improve and help make it happen
Improve the school's financial efficiency and effectiveness
Engage parents and the local community to benefit the school
Develop an environment which promotes learning
Work as part of a team, towards a common goal
Acquire new skills, new friends and a real sense of achievement
Share in and celebrate the success of children, staff, teachers and the school as a whole
Could You be a School Governor in Hounslow?
Do you want all our children to get the best from school?
Do you have time to get to know a school, go to meetings and read papers?
Do you want to put something back into your local community?
Are you interested in people?
Are you prepared to work as part of a team?
Are you comfortable asking questions?
Are you open to new ideas and ready to learn?
School Governing Bodies are made up of members of the local community from all walks of life who work with schools in their spare time. There are vacancies for school governors in many parts of Hounslow. Let us know if you are interested or just find out more about it, help us fulfil our pledge. Phone 020 8583 2644 for the Governing Body Section or 020 8583 2872 for the Governor Development and Training Section.
You can become a school governor by:
Being elected by parents as a parent governor, if your child attends the school;
Being elected by the teaching or non-teaching staff, if you are a member of the teaching or non-teaching staff;
Being appointed by the local education authority;
Being appointed by the church or a charitable trust; or by
Being co-opted (that is, appointed) by the other governors. To become a governor, you will need to ensure that those who have a vote, or who appoint people, know about your interest.
Hounslow Local Authority Governors
All Applicants must be at least 18 years old and ideally resident in the Borough of Hounslow. An LA Governor, like every other governor, acts as an equal member of a school's governing body. In doing so, s/he shares in the duties and responsibilities of the governing body. Hounslow's Criteria for LA Governors gives further information and an application form for people interested in becoming a Hounslow Local Authority school governor. Read Hounslow's "Criteria for Local Authority Governors", accessible from the Documents button above.
Parent Governor Representatives
Parents have a direct voice with their local authority for their concerns about education. Representatives of parents' views - parent governor representatives - have places, with speaking and voting rights, on local authorities' committees dealing with education. Parent governor representatives are parent governors who have been elected by other parent governors at the local authority's schools. They speak for all parents in their area. They form a national network, so that the individual representative can share with representatives in other areas the experience of working in and with their local authority.
Help is at Hand
Being a governor means making yourself available for some evenings each term and occasionally during the day if possible. The amount of time varies widely, depending on how involved you become and what needs doing. You have a legal right to ask your employer for unpaid leave. Governors need to work closely with others to make decisions and make sure that your decisions are followed up. You need to ask questions, gather views and then decide what is in the school's best interests.
The governing body is a corporate body of which you are a part. Provided that you always take joint decisions with the rest of the governing body in good faith and in line with all the advice available, you will not be personally liable for those decisions.
Governors are not alone and there is plenty of help and support available. New school governors receive a nationally designed induction programme covering roles and responsibilities. Hounslow Authority runs training events to meet governors’ needs. You can also get independent advice from GovernorLine – the national free telephone helpline service. Read the information on HVEC's page "Support & Training for Governors" in this section.