A school’s governing body is responsible for raising school standards through the following key roles:

• Setting strategic direction
• Promoting high standards of education and achievement
• Monitoring and evaluating school performance
• Budgetary allocation and control

The governing body supports school staff, enabling them to provide the best possible standards of education and helps children throughout the school realise their aspirations and expectations.

An effective governing body is a source of enormous strength to a school and is increasingly important in helping to deal with new major issues such as the Every Child Matters agenda and the extended schools programme (e.g. establishing before- and after- school clubs to help support parents and families), the pace and type of change, the implications of faith, race and language and the influence of new technology.

There are over 350,000 volunteer governor seats in England in 23,500 Primary, Nursery and Secondary schools. At any one time, approximately 40,000 of these places will be vacant so apply today!

You do not have to be a parent, know about education or have any specific skills to be a school governor. People who are not parents or teachers but who merely live in the school’s local community, are an essential part of every governing body and can make a massive contribution provided they:-

• Are able to work in a team
• Have a desire to help the community
• Have an external perspective
• Are willing to challenge assumptions and express their opinion.