School governors

Being a School Governor

Becoming a School Governor is an ideal way of giving something back to the local community. If you get on well with people, would like to learn new skills or develop existing skills and are interested and committed to helping children and young people, this may be for you.

Being a Governor involves attending meetings and making decisions about all aspects of school life. Governors are part of the leadership and management of the school. The Governing Body:

• is accountable for the performance of the school
• plan for the school's future
• select the Headteacher
• make decisions about the school's budget and staffing
• decides how the school can encourage pupils' spiritual, moral and cultural development
• make sure that the school provides for all of its pupils, including those with additional needs

Further Information about being a school governor can be found by clicking on the “Become a School Governor” link in the “Downloads” area.

How to Become a Governor

If you are interested in becoming a school Governor, we welcome applications from people over the age of 18, from all backgrounds, who are willing to commit time and energy. Schools are particularly keen to hear from people with business skills/experience and/or education backgrounds. Please note that to become a governor there are some legal requirements, such as completing an enhanced DBS check.

To register your interest in becoming a governor, you can either:

• Complete the application form and return it directly to School Governor Services at governor@wakefield.gov.uk;
  
  or
  
  
• Visit Inspiring Governance
  An online matchmaking service which connects skilled volunteers interested in serving as governors and trustees, with schools in England.

School Governor Services

Wakefield Council supplies the following services to school governors and governing bodies across the district:

• a Clerking, Information, Advice and Support Service
• a Training and Development Service

The clerking and training services are available to governing bodies on a subscription basis. If you would like to find out more about these services, please visit: http://tradedservices.wakefield.gov.uk/Services/3565.

Governor Training

This is available to all governing bodies on a subscription basis.

The service provides a number of events per year, including programme courses for individual governors, bespoke courses for whole governing bodies or groups of governing bodies and an annual conference.

Training offered can be viewed online at: http://tradedservices.wakefield.gov.uk/Training# (search by provider School Governance Services)

Support for Existing Wakefield School Governors

A range of supporting guidance documents for governors can be found at http://tradedservices.wakefield.gov.uk.

You will need to use your login and password to access these materials. If you have forgotten your details, please get in touch with us.