For many people, the school governors are a bit of a mystery. I want to start demystifying your governing body so that you know who we are and what we have been doing on your behalf.
You will all know our Head Teacher, Bob Wakefield. He is the most visible part of the school. But much of the work of the school is overseen by the Governing Body. This work often goes unnoticed.
First of all, it is probably worth reminding you of the basics . There are 19 governors on the board. Seven are parent governors ( having a child at the school), 5 are Community Governors ( representing wider community interests), 3 are teacher governors ( representing the staff at school) and 4 are appointed by the Local Education Authority ( to represent the view point of the local authority). At the present time we have 2 vacancies for Community Governors.
The role of governors is to :
The main governing body at Alder meets 5 times each year and there are committees that look after Finance & Personnel; Curriculum and Standards ; and Health, Safety and Premises. We also have governors with special responsibilities such as literacy, child protection, Special Educational Needs, Gifted & Talented etc
Most governors serve for a period of 4 years at a time and then seek reselection if they wish to carry on. The role of governor is purely voluntary. Our time is given freely. But it is a vital role because without a governing body, the school would not be a legal entity and the local authority would have to impose its own set of governors on the school.
Working as a governor gives a great insight into the way a school is managed, how the timetable is made up, where the money is spent, how staff are recruited, how behaviour is managed, and the myriad of issues that make up the day to day work of the teachers. Most of all it is a way of finding out about your child’s education and all the work that goes into giving your child the best opportunities. We have two “Governor Days” each year, when we are timetabled into lessons and really get to see the inner workings of the school.
The Governing Body has been stable, but inevitably there is some turnover. A new parent governor was elected last summer and there will be other opportunities in the future. We have also recently elected two new Community Governors, one coming from a local church, the other with a business and charity background.
I fully intend to update our school website to give you a bit of information about each of your governors. Its your right to know who we are and what we are doing on your behalf. We are there to represent a wide range of parent, community and teacher interests.
More information will follow in future editions of Alder Express.
Nick Lowther
Chair of Governors
January 2008