School (parent) Governor

Batman_100

My top piece of advice would be to concentrate on what you were elected to do: to improve things for parents and students at the school.

Don't see it as an opportunity to play politics or force your views on others. This form of tribalism was an issue when I was a member of the governing council of Church. I know we had different issues to deal with but I imagine there must be some similarities in how the council conducts its business.

DKLS

hello007007 wrote: »

Supply teachers and bullying are the issues I am most concerned about.

Supply teachers
My children will have 1-2 supply teachers each week. It is affecting their education.

When I discussed this the vice principle in charge of recuitment, she basically said its not the schools fault as there is a shortage of teachers in the UK. Moreover, the school has tried to recuit from 2 other european countries however, they still dont have the amount of perminate teachers they need.

My arguement (as a parent governor) is that every parent is complaining about the high number of supply teacher and the low quailty teaching that comes with them.
For example, my friends son did his english homework in his french class as the supply teacher asked them to use the lesson for finish off homework.

I believe a full teaching staff is the very basic and core requirment parents expect from a school - do you agree?

I also understand there is a shortage of teachers in the UK but if the school is happy to recuit from aboard surely there is not a shortage of teachers in the world and the school should therefore be full staffed. - do you agree?

Personally, I dont think someone is doing their job properly. Many other schools are well staffed, why cant our school be.

I know the school will try to talk me down at the meetings like they have done before - any tips?

Understand the job market for starters. I recently worked at a company that hired a number of ex teachers, funnily enough they jumped at the chance to get a 50-60k basic wage plus 10-15k worth of package, plus bonus for a 9-5 day, we had no shortage of applicants.
I have never interviewed candidates who were so eager to leave their current roles.

Alleycat

Hi,

I'm a fairly newly recruited parent governor at a primary school (since March 2015). Get yourself on Modern Governor, they do fantastic courses. Also your local authority should have a school governor team that will offer training. The introduction to governors is excellent.

For at least the first term, just make sure that you attend all meetings and take it all in. Including all the committee meetings to see which ones you feel you would be best to join (though being mindful with the chair on what vacancies there are/where they need you to be).

Most boards complete a skills matrix to see where everyone sits and if there are any gaps.

It will take time to get to grips with all the acronyms and systems used (such as target tracker and data dashboard) and general procedures but remember there are no stupid questions. Do be mindful of the head and staff rep's long days though. A fellow governor recently asked why the deputy was so quite during the meeting. Was he well? No, he had just finished another 15 hour day and hadn't seen his own kids for a couple of days.

One last thing. There will be difficult decisions to be made that you as a parent may not agree with but know would be in the best interest of all the children. We have had several such recently and it was really hard to stand up and raise questions. I did and my questions were answered to my satisfaction so I voted in agreement. They will impact me directly in a negative way but they will benefit the kids and support the duty of care we also have to the teaching staff of the school.

maman

Alleycat wrote: »

Hi,

I'm a fairly newly recruited parent governor at a primary school (since March 2015). Get yourself on Modern Governor, they do fantastic courses. Also your local authority should have a school governor team that will offer training. The introduction to governors is excellent.

For at least the first term, just make sure that you attend all meetings and take it all in. Including all the committee meetings to see which ones you feel you would be best to join (though being mindful with the chair on what vacancies there are/where they need you to be).

Most boards complete a skills matrix to see where everyone sits and if there are any gaps.

It will take time to get to grips with all the acronyms and systems used (such as target tracker and data dashboard) and general procedures but remember there are no stupid questions. Do be mindful of the head and staff rep's long days though. A fellow governor recently asked why the deputy was so quite during the meeting. Was he well? No, he had just finished another 15 hour day and hadn't seen his own kids for a couple of days.

One last thing. There will be difficult decisions to be made that you as a parent may not agree with but know would be in the best interest of all the children. We have had several such recently and it was really hard to stand up and raise questions. I did and my questions were answered to my satisfaction so I voted in agreement. They will impact me directly in a negative way but they will benefit the kids and support the duty of care we also have to the teaching staff of the school.

Good advice.


Hope it wasn't your governor duties that kept you up until the wee small hours!:D

Alleycat

Fortunately not! Desperately washing and packing for our holiday tomorrow. The lovely husband who was supposed to be helping me today but had to go into work so it's all up to me!