Could you be a school governor?
In the Diocese of Lichfield, we have 206 Church of England schools. These are made up of primary and secondary schools and in some areas, we have first and middle Schools.
Approximately half of the schools are in academy trusts and half are still local authority schools. All local authority schools and most academy schools need individuals who will act as local governors. Could you help us by becoming a local governor in a school or an academy? Those people who are appointed to represent the interests of the Church of England are known as foundation governors, because they are there to ensure the Christian foundation of the school is upheld.
What do governors do?
Governors take strategic decisions about the school and oversee that its statutory duties are met. The support the leadership team of the school but also hold them to account. Governors need to ask difficult questions, ask leaders to explain certain situations and decisions and to scrutinise a range of information from different sources to ensure what they are being told is accurate. There are plenty of resources, training and support available to help governors fulfil their role.
You will be expected to sometimes visit school, so that you are aware what is happening in classrooms and to talk to a range of different people.
Governors are not there for the day to day running of the school. That is the role of the headteacher. Sometimes, governors may be called upon to sit on committees around complaints or pupil suspension and exclusion panels or staff disciplinary panels.
Who can be a local governor?
You need to be over the age of 18 and have a skill set that would support the group. Skills in finance, education, HR, law and local community to name a few are all helpful.
You do not need to have a background in education. Whilst it always useful to have someone who does understand education is also helpful to have a variety of backgrounds so that the group has skills from a wide range of areas.
You do not have to be a member of the Church of England to be a Foundation Governor for a Church of England school. Although the first preference may be someone from the parish church, we are grateful for the support of those who may be outside the parish and from other Christian denominations.
If you are interested in becoming a Foundation Governor, please get in touch with us as education@lichfield.anglican.org
Mark Davis has completed his first year as Lichfield Diocese’s Director of Education. Before that he’s taught in primary schools, provided support and training to schools on health and PSHE and spent ten years as a headteacher.