Governing Bodies (GBs) are better able to help the school improve if they are well run and perform well as organisations in their own right.  Running the GB is primarily the role of the Chair of Governors, and the Link Governor can help by providing information for planning continuity in filling governor roles and committees i.e. succession planning.

Clearly, periodic elections and ends of terms of office can stimulate regular turnover of GB members, which, if effectively managed, can provide both core stability and refreshment of approach.

There is no one right way to organise a GB, and many combinations of roles and committees work well in their own settings. It is often helpful for all GB members to have a written list of committees and roles, and how they interrelate, as this can smooth the flow of business and minimise ambiguity and time loss.

The summer term is often when GBs take stock of the past year and plan for the next, so it may be a good time to update the experience and training records to feed into the Chair’s preparation for the review.

GB business is guided by agreed strategic objectives and values, and falls into a few general areas:

• Finance/pay
• People/staff/performance management/recruitment/reward system
• Curriculum/education delivery
• Pupil matters
• Premises/site matters, including letting
• External relations, marketing, community
• Appeals, complaints, grievances adjudication

In addition to general GB roles, usually covered by committees, there are nominated individual roles, eg for Child Protection and Special Educational Needs, that should be filled.  You can keep up to date with these requirements via governornet.

GBs can also appoint governors to take a particular interest in, say, literacy, year 3, ICT, a specific improvement objective or out-of-school services. Such appointments not only help with the areas concerned, but also give a focus for school visits.

A simple table relating roles and committees with governors can be very helpful to all. Overlaying on this information from the skills audit and the end of term of office for individual governors will reveal gaps and perhaps potential candidates. Decisions on re-appointment recommendations can be made and perhaps recruitment to fill any specific gaps in expertise you perceive.

It may be worth considering ways to keep chairmanship fresh. One might be to limit the period of office and use appointment to chair committees or vice-chair of the GB as ‘training’ for a future candidate for Chair.