Information for new Governors

What do I need to know as a new Governor?

Congratulations on joining the School Governing Body.

There is lots of information on the Governors page on the school website regarding when we meet, what each committee do and who chairs them, so please take a look.

The role of a Governor is really rewarding but also a very new world to a lot of people who are not currently in the educational sector, this is the reason why there is lots of support for Governors both through training which is run by the Local Authority at West Park Offices or on line through the National Governance association (NGA).

We all know starting something new there are lots of questions and queries so we are using a mentor system at Dringhouses for new Governors so you have an easy route to ask any question, just getting used to a new set of acronyms is a challenge!

Once you are elected on to the Governing Body you will need to complete a couple of mandatory items immediately, these are listed below and don’t take very long online. They are sent directly to you by the School Business Manager.

Mandatory Training

• Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) application and Section 128 checks
• Prevent and safeguarding training an online course
• Skills audit completion

Training

The core responsibility training is also mandatory and details of these courses will be sent to you in your welcome pack from the Local Authority

1. Local authority core responsibility courses last for 2 hours and are run on an evening:

• Holding Leaders to Account for Performance
• Vision, Ethos and Strategic Direction
• Overseeing Financial Performance and Making Sure the Money is Well Spent

2. Online training through the Local Authority portal, access details will be sent in your welcome pack

Reading material

• School Improvement Plan 
• Policies and procedures 
• ‘School bus’ online – you will need to request access through their website at www.theschoolbus.net