On 3 June, PaJeS in conjunction with JVN ran an evening for prospective new governors following requests from both Heads and Chairs of Governors who are looking for new interested people to join schools as governors.

Advertised through the JVN mailing list, around 40 people came to hear Sue Nyman, Chair of Governors at Yavneh College and Susy Stone, Head of Akiva School, talk about the role and what was involved. There were animated discussions about the skills people had and how these might fit with skills needed around a governing body table. Sue emphasised how much you learn and grow into the role, taking on tasks you may never have thought possible when you began. Certain skills are generic such as understanding data or change management but the scope of a governor’s role is large and a large variety of skills prove to be very useful. They talked about the sorts of relationships governors have to manage and the important difference between the operational role, which is that of the head and senior management team, and the strategic role that is the head and governors.  

There were numerous questions both during the session and afterwards. The expertise in the room was hugely impressive and bodes well for future governance of our schools.

Any school looking for new governors should contact Lia Bogod at [email protected] and preferably well before you actually need someone in place.  This is a really exciting development and we are grateful to the heads and governors who suggested it to us.