Thorn Grove Primary School
The Governing Board
The Governing Board works in partnership with all members of the school community to ensure the best possible education for every child at Thorn Grove. The Governing Board members are all volunteers and give up their skills, experience, and time for free, in order to help and support the schools.
Chair of Governors - Russell Knight Chair@thorngrove.herts.sch.uk
What does being a governor entail?
Being active and prepared to get involved is an important part of being a governor. Having the time to get involved, attend meetings and respond to all the governor related matters is essential too. Being comfortable in the role of a critical-friend is key.
Time-wise the position requires about 10-30 hours per term. 4-6 hours of this would be spent in meetings (usually held 7.00-9.00pm on a weekday evening or sometimes in the morning before school). Another 10 hours might be spent per term reading reports, responding to e-mails and possibly completing a task you’ve been given – like reporting on a link area, such as literacy, reviewing a school policy or reporting on communication between parents and staff. And then there are optional networking events and training. Training events usually take place in a nearby school in the evening for a couple of hours, and this is also a good opportunity to meet other local governors.
New governors are expected to do an all-day induction training usually held locally on a Saturday. This training helps answer a lot of questions (What is a governor, what do we do, what is our role within the school?).
As a governor you are also given a link area and encouraged to do a school visit 1-3 times a year. A governor’s role in such a visit is not to judge the teaching but it might be to focus on an aspect of learning, perhaps a curriculum area or a strategy.
If being a governor sounds like a challenge you might want to take on there are often vacancies on Thorn Grove’s Board of Governors, so please do contact the Chair of Governors, the school office or any of the other governors. If you’ve got time and skills to offer why not consider joining us on the board?
The National Governor’s Association describe the role of a school governor as follows:
To contribute to the work of the governing body in ensuring high standards of achievement for all children and young people in the school by:
• Setting the school’s vision, ethos and strategic direction;
• Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils; and
• Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
To read more about the strategic role of a governor follow this link
http://www.nga.org.uk/Be-a-Governor.aspx