The role of a governor is a varied and interesting one in our school, but is still something of a mystery to an outsider! We asked one of our governors to give a brief outline of his role. As you can see it is such an interesting position he couldn’t manage to be brief! Hopefully it will give you an idea of what we do.
"As a governor my role can be very varied and certainly rewarding. I can be involved in discussing building improvements and new playground equipment and then later be hearing how standards have improved in important subject areas such as Science.
I am the literacy link governor and as such have that as a subject area that I take particular interest in. This includes liaising closely with the subject leader to fully understand how the school is going to raise standards in literacy and then visiting classes to see how the subject is being delivered to the pupils. This is a very rewarding part of being a governor; it gives me a chance to see how our very professional staff examine performance and learning and then work out strategies to deliver improvement in both achievement and attainment for all pupils. It is great to visit the classes and see them actively learning and I am certainly not allowed to just sit at the back! I am asked questions about who I am and I am expected to help or get involved in some way. Days out, for example to the Water Museum, are even better! Helping identify creatures that live in streams was an unexpected treat.
I attend regular but mercifully short full governing body meetings where we discuss and make decisions on the important parts of school life. The governors are fortunate in that we are advised by a very capable management team and are also given regular subject specific briefings by our committed staff which give me a tangible understanding of the curriculum along with how we deal with specific issues such as special needs provision or agreeing what our priority areas are for the coming year.
We have had many issues to deal with but there has always been a 'can do' attitude from all involved and I am very proud that the quality of pupils’ learning and opportunities for them are always at the heart of any decision we make and all governors and staff place that first on their priority list.
Being a governor is at first a little daunting, there is a bit to learn, but, having been given a mentor to help, this is soon overcome and you can quickly become involved in the job of helping to improve the learning and opportunities for all of the children in the school."
Our thanks to Carl Dallison for his description.