Newsletters

Dear Parent
 
 
PARENT GOVERNOR VACANCY
 
I am writing to let you know that there is a parent governor vacancy on our governing board, and to ask for nominations.
 
The governing board, with the head teacher, has overall responsibility for the running of the school.  The three core functions for all boards are;
 

• to ensure that the school has a clear vision, ethos and strategic direction;
• to hold the head teacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils;
• to oversee the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.

 
You do not need any specific qualifications to be a governor. The most important thing is that you interested in the success of the school and are prepared to play an active part in the work of the governing board.   Parent governors are valued members of the team. An effective board will have a range of skills, and we would welcome nominations from parents with knowledge and experience of business and finance or marketing.
There are some circumstances under which someone cannot serve as a governor and these are detailed on the further information sheet attached to this letter.
 
Training and support will be available to help you develop into the role. This will include in-house mentoring and support as well as access to external governor training.
If you feel you can help in this capacity please complete the attached nomination form which will need to be completed and returned to the school by Friday 24^th April at 9am.
You should be aware that successful candidates will be required to:

• undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
• sign a governors’ Code of Conduct
• provide details of relevant business and financial interests
• agree to the publication of some details on the school website and on the Get Information about schools service.

 
If there are more applications than vacancies, an election will need to be held. Should this be the case, you will contacted again with details of how you can vote and information about the candidates standing for election.
 
Further information about governors and the work they do can be found at
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-maintained-schools-governance. 
 
If you would like to know more about the role of a governor at our school please contact me and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
 
 
Yours sincerely
 
Sarah Taylor
Headteacher
 
 
 
Further information
 
Eligibility
 
To be eligible to stand for election as a parent governor you must have parental responsibility for, or care for, a child or young person registered at the school on the date of the election.  This date is deemed to be the closing date for the receipt of nominations, or the date on which the governor position becomes vacant, if elections are being carried out in advance.
 
Disqualification
 
A parent is disqualified from standing for selection if they are:

• an elected member of the local authority
• paid to work at the school for more than 500 hours in any consecutive 12 month period
• Subject to any of the disqualifications under the School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2012.  Full details will be supplied with the nomination papers.

 
Term of office
 
The standard term of office is 4 years from the date of appointment. Parent governors may continue to serve their full term of office even if their child leaves the school. 
 
The role of the parent governor
 
The role of the parent governor is not as a spokesperson for the views of parents.  They are the same as any other governor on the board, providing a ‘parental viewpoint’ ie representative parents rather than representatives of parents.
 
Can you be removed from the role?
 
There are some circumstances where governors can be removed from their role. These include repeated non-attendance at meetings; and behaviours not in accordance with the code of conduct.
 
 
Frequency of meetings and time commitment required
6 Full governing body meetings and up to 6 sub-committee meetings per year.
 
 
For further information on how to apply for this role, please see below:

 ELECTION OF PARENT GOVERNORS nomination form