December 2016

Dear Parents/Carers

Parent Governor Vacancy

Are you enthusiastic about education and do you have some time to spare? If so, then you may be just the person we need because we are looking for committed people to join The Willows Primary School’s Governing Board.
We have a vacancy in the parent governor category and would welcome nominations from parents/carers, particularly those with experience in:
• Finance (Accountant, Finance Manager etc)
• Human Resources
• Legal (Paralegal, Solicitor etc)
• Health and Safety (H&S officer, union rep etc)
• Capital projects management
The Governing Board of our school is made up of parent governors, staff governors, local authority governors and co-opted governors. The term of office for parent governors is 4 years.
The Governing Board operates at a strategic level and is not involved in the day-to-day running of the school. It is responsible for both the conduct of the school and for the promotion of high standards. It carries out its role by setting the vision for the school, ensuring that the school works efficiently and effectively towards achieving its vision, and that the school provides a high quality education for its pupils. This is done by building a thorough knowledge of the school and its community, by both supporting and constructively challenging the school, and by ensuring accountability and compliance.
Governors need not be experts in the field of education. What they do need is an interest in the school and in the welfare of its pupils, together with the time and willingness to get involved. The skills you have can be very useful to the Governing Board.
Governors also need ‘soft skills’ – the ability to be able to build relationships with a range of people, to be able to work as part of a team, to be able to question, and to make connections between different types of information. All governors are expected to be able to read and interpret budget reports and data on school standards.
Our Governing Board has certain expectations of governors, which currently are to:
• attend and contribute to monthly meetings of the full Governing Board,
• when required, to sit on any committee or working party and attend all associated meetings
• monitor a subject link area within the school, e.g. Numeracy, Literacy, Special Educational Needs, Early Years, etc., and meet with the staff subject leader on a minimum of a termly basis, reporting on each visit to the Governing Board
• visit the school formally for monitoring purposes as directed by the Governing Board,
• visit the school informally on occasion,
• commit to attend training courses,
• comply with the expectations set out in our Code of Conduct and Social Media Policy.
• serve in the best interest of all pupils
In return, our Governing Board commits to:
• provide you with an experienced governor as mentor,
• provide you with a structured induction,
• provide access to quality training via the local authority Governor Support Unit,
• develop your skills in strategic management,
• offer you an insight into the wider perspective of the school,
• give you the opportunity to make a difference to our school and the outcomes for our pupils.
As part of the election process you are required to submit a written statement in support of your nomination, which will be published prior to voting should more than one nominee come forward. This statement should include:
• evidence of the extent to which you possess the skills and experience the Governing Board desires (see above);
• your commitment to undertake training and development to acquire or develop the skills to be an effective governor;
• how you plan to contribute to the future work of the Governing Board;
• Details of those nominating and seconding your candidacy.
To submit your nomination please complete the attached form and return it to the school office for the attention of the Headteacher by 3pm on Friday 16 December 2016.
Please note that certain disqualifications apply and can be found in The School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2012. For details please see the governor section of the school’s website.
If there are more nominations than vacancies, an election will be held and you will be sent a voting paper.

Yours faithfully

Mrs F Weston
Chair of Governors

Please link for application form:  Parent Governor Application Form