What do School Governors do?

School governors work to plan the strategic direction of the school, oversee budgets, and support and challenge the Headteacher. As part of the governing body, governors at Dundonald Primary School play a vital role in helping schools run efficiently and effectively to give children the best education possible.

A school with a strong governing body is better equipped to make important decisions that affect the education they provide for their pupils.  

School governors have three core functions:

• Planning the strategic direction of the school
• Overseeing financial performance of the school and ensuring money is well spent
• Holding the Headteacher and/or Senior Leadership Team to account

The governor role is strategic rather than operational. Governors do not get involved with the day to day running of a school, but support and challenge the leadership team to drive school improvement.

Governors are recruited according to the skills required; Dundonald's governing body als has staff on board.

Why is it important for a school to have a strong Governing Body?

Headteachers are experts ar what they do, but they do not always have experience in other key areas like HR, law or finance. Governors with a background in different areas can support their school in numerous ways, from assessing the premises, joining disciplinary panels to finding new suppliers.

The Headteacher focuses on the operational side of running a school, and governors are there to support with the strategic decisions. A strong board means that strategic decisions can be properly considered, leading to improve outcomes both financially and for children's education.

It is important that boards are diverse so that there is not a danger of group-think and that decisions are made robustly with input from people with a variety of lived experiences - as well as varied skills. It is also vital that children see people of all backgrounds in board-level positions. Diverse boards help ensure effective governance, which leads to improved outcomes for children.

Who can volunteer as a School Governor?

You do not need to be a parent/carer to become a school governor. While parents/carers and those with education experience make great governors, neither are requirements to volunteer. Many schools also want an outside perspective and rely on those with business acumen to bring challenge to the board.