School Governor Volunteer

School Governor (Bradford) – Volunteer

Do you want to be inspired by the impact of education? Schools across Bradford are looking for volunteers to support education by becoming school governors.

Governors make decisions that affect schools for years to come. Our recent impact survey found that our volunteers bring £9.9 million worth of value to schools each year, and 9/10 volunteers would recommend being a governor to a friend.

As a governor, you’ll visit the school to understand its culture and ethos, meet children, parents, and teachers, and see the impact of your work first‑hand.

• Ensuring accountability
• Acting as a ‘critical friend’ to the Head Teacher
• Monitoring and evaluating the school’s progress
• Budgetary allocation and control
• Shaping plans for school improvement and overseeing their implementation
• Setting the school’s aims and values
• Appointing senior members of staff including the Head Teacher

The governing body is usually split into a small number of committees, each responsible for one area such as finance or pupil achievement. These committees meet separately from the main governing body to discuss relevant issues in more detail, with discussion fed back to a full governing body meeting.

A school governing body is made up of representatives from the school, the parents, the local authority and the local community.

You don’t need any specific skills or experience to be a school governor. You must be over 18, but you don’t need to be a parent or have experience working in education. Often, it’s the outside perspective you can bring that a school needs.

Professional experience in areas such as HR, finance, law, or project management is useful to a school. Soft skills such as leadership, communication and problem‑solving are also great additions.