School Governors

Our village primary school is advertising for a vacancy. We have lived here for 6+ years, but never been involved with the school, although our daughter is now 6months old so will likely be making use of it in a few years.

Anyone on here do something like this? Is it rewarding/ useful, or just full of the local busybodies? The only governors I have known were friends of my parents (local magistrate/ socialite types) from my hometown.

Also a little concerned about being the youngest person by a stretch- I’m 33.

I have just had my last meeting after 13 years, 6 as Chair (local primary).

IME very rewarding, made a difference with the decisions/action we took.

I lost out to a mate at our village primary when there had to be an election as they had too many wannabes, and MrsMC was a governor at son’s secondary school.

If you are genuinely interested in trying to do the best you can for the pupils and the school, I’d certainly say it was worth looking into. It does bring responsibility – the primary school got pulled up by Ofsted for “not having a current safeguarding policy” when the governors hadn’t got around to signing off the new version before the old one had expired. Imagine how that went down on social media!

You may be the youngest governor,  but I’d say that was a good thing, if anything.

Secondary was more challenging, especially as MrsMC was a governor when MCJnr was chair of the student committee, so I literally got to hear both sides of the arguments!

Even if this isn’t the right time/role for you, suspect there’s a few other local groups who could use your time and experience.

I was a School Gov for 4yrs at a local primary, 3 of them when I had no child at the school.

It was eye opening, alarming, infuriating, boring (frequently) but also rewarding and satisfying.

The biggest take away for me was just how underfunded the schools are and that was depressing.
But as part of school management you can still do a little to make a difference. We chose a new Head and she was fantastic and re/energised the school community. So being part of that process helped make up for all the other more mundane formalities.

What was strikingly obvious when I first joined was that the two of us who were outside the school or Church system had a very different approach to conducting meetings and finishing them on time ?

my wife did it for 7yrs (Primary) really enjoyed it, enjoyed mucking in at the school. Most people were there for the good of the school and a couple for “the prestige”.

I did it for 5 years and found it very interesting as well as rewarding.   The school was a CofE so had a broad mix of governors- one from the LEA, one from the diocese, a retired teacher and 4 parents/locals.

We made a lot of changes, engaged & encouraged a very active PTA and got the school to “excellent”.

I know when I first considered it I looked at the existing governors and decided that I could a) work with them and b) have an impact.  There should be plenty of info on the school’s website on both the individuals themselves and what they’ve achieved.

The only governors I have known were friends of my parents (local magistrate/ socialite types) from my hometown.

there’s two words you don’t normally see juxtaposed.

if people think “people like them” don’t sit on such committees etc – then it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.  So if it interests you go for it – break the mould.

My perspective is as a Senior Leader in a large secondary school. I’d definitely encourage you, especially as a younger person, your perspective and understanding of young people could make a big difference.

Good governance is a huge positive factor for a school… But the inverse is also true. So please find out more if you are interested, you can really change lives.

Pm me if you’d like?