The Role of the Governing Body

All schools in England have a Governing Body which is responsible for overseeing many of the strategic decisions of the school. The Governing Body works in close partnership with the Headteacher, staff and the Local Authority. Whilst the Headteacher is, of course, responsible for the day to day running of the school, the governors main three roles include:

Strategic– The governing body sets the general direction of the school, looking at how it should best develop. This is done by reviewing and agreeing policies, targets and priorities and monitoring and reviewing aims and objectives.

Critical Friend– A governing body should work with the Headteacher and create a clear understanding of the challenges face in managing a school.

Accountability – A school is a business and its stakeholders are the learners. The governing body must have a professional attitude and use its collective skills to benefit the learners. It must gather views, ask questions and decide what is best for the school. The governing body is answerable to parents, the wider community and the local authority.

School governors are drawn from different parts of the community. This helps to ensure that the governing body has sufficient diversity of views and experience but does not mean that governors of a particular category “represent” that group on the governing body.

The different categories of governor are as follows:

• Headteacher -  appointed by the Governing Body and Local Authority
• Parent Governors -  who are elected by parents and carers of pupils at the school
• Co-opted Governors -  who are self-nominated, and appointed by the Governing Body
• Staff Governor - who is elected by staff at the School
• Local Authority Governor -  who is nominated by Calderdale Local Authority