| Event description |
Effective governing boards have a significant impact on school improvement and all board members, including parent governors, need a sound understanding of their role and responsibilities. Currently, maintained school governing boards are required to have elected parent governors.
Parent governors are elected by other parents and guardians at the school. Any parent, or carer, of a registered pupil at the school at the time of election is eligible to stand for election as a parent governor. Parent governors may continue to hold office until the end of their term of office even if their child leaves the school.
Schools must make every reasonable effort to fill parent governor vacancies through elections. Consequently, it means that this role is a significant and important addition to a board, and a role that can be both rewarding and challenging for those that are elected or appointed.
The course will help parents separate their role as a parent and as a parent governor.
Event content
This session will provide parent governors the opportunity to consider their role and its responsibilities. We know that being a parent governor is both challenging and rewarding, the session will enable parent governors to share and discuss their concerns and agree ways in which they might deal with some of the issues they may face. It will also be a valuable opportunity to meet and network with parent governors from other schools and exchange experiences.
The session will consist of a presentation on the role of a parent governor and provide participants with opportunities to discuss and then reflect on some of the challenges they may face and some of the concerns that they have about undertaking their role successfully.
The session will cover:
• The relationship with other parents
• The relationship with staff and the head teacher
• How to deal with sensitive issues
• Conflicts of interest; confidentiality; and the difficult subject of perceived 'no go' areas including 'are there any areas that are off limits for parent governors?’
This session will help governors to separate their role as a parent and as a parent governor.
This session is ideal for any new parent governors orexperienced governors who would like to refresh their knowledge.. However, it will not explore the role of the Governing Board in depth therefore it is advised that any new parent governors attend the relevant induction training for governors before booking to attend this session.
This session will be co-delivered by Angela Langford, Head of Governor Support and Lyn Barnes, Senior Governor Support Officer. Together they have in excess of 30 years’ experience in the field of governance. |
