Become a Governor
What is a Governor?
Being a school governor is an honour. You will have the opportunity to give back to your local community, and make a difference to the young people in the school you serve. School governors do not need to be education experts, and they can come from all walks of life. They just need to listen, think and ask questions.
Anyone interested in becoming a governor is always given an opportunity to visit the school and meet the key people involved (including the Chair of Governors). Governors are given plenty of support and induction into the role.
What does a Governor do?
Foundation Governors are appointed in the name of the Bishop and form the majority of the governing body of a Catholic School. They have a legal duty to preserve and develop the Catholic character of the school and to ensure that the school is conducted in accordance with its trust deed.
Some of the responsibilities of being a governor include monitoring the financial performance of the school, ensuring the school funds are well spent, assisting in holding the headteacher/school leaders to account and supporting the school with its strategic direction/ethos. Governors are normally required to attend a few meetings every year, depending on the school’s situation. The average governor’s role will take up about 5 hours a month (meetings included).
The ministry of Foundation Governor is an important one, because the Catholic character of our schools depends on committed Catholics being willing to undertake this service. The Bishop is therefore very appreciative of all those who offer to assist him in this vital task.
The governing committee provides strategic leadership and accountability in schools. It has three key functions:
- Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
- Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils.
- Ensuring clarity of vision, Catholic ethos and strategic direction.
Governors set the aims and objectives for the school and set the policies and targets for achieving those aims and objectives. They monitor and evaluate the progress the school is making and act as a source of challenge and support to the headteacher.
In action, this means:
- Supporting the Trust Board in appointing and performance, reviewing the head teacher and senior leaders, including making decisions about pay.
- Managing budgets and deciding how money is spent.
- Engaging with pupils, staff, parents and the school community.
- Sitting on panels and making decisions about things like pupil exclusions and staff disciplinary.
- Addressing a range of education issues within the school including disadvantaged pupils, pupils with special needs, staff workload and teacher recruitment.
- Looking at data and evidence to ask questions and have challenging conversations about the school.
How to become a Governor
We welcome interest from anyone keen to learn more about volunteering in this important capacity. Initially, we are looking for people to register their interest so that when vacancies arise on governing bodies or with the Trust Board we can contact you.
It is good practice for schools to take up references before confirming their decision to appoint you, so do be prepared to provide these if requested. You will need to complete a declaration of interests to declare any conflicts of interest you will have including conflicts of loyalty and financial interests – this information must be published by the school on its website. You must undergo an enhanced DBS check, and your appointment will be subject to this – this will be carried out by the school. Once all this is in place, the full governing committee can then make a decision about your appointment.
Should you be interested in becoming a governor of one of our schools, please contact info@xaviercet.org.uk.
