Leading a school comes with many challenges - not least how you engage and interact with the governors.
This is a unique relationship and one with no direct model in the business world. Yes, there are boards in business, but the measures of accountability and success are very different.
I have had the privilege to have led schools as a headteacher and sat as a governor on three occasions, including in a current role as a chair of the board of governors of an infant school in England.
As such, I have seen it from both sides and know the challenges that come with working with boards and ensuring the relationship is one that, ultimately, benefits the school and its community. Here are some issues that all heads should be aware of when working with their governors.
1. Recognise the personalities of your board
All boards are different because of the nature of those who sit on them. However, recognising the types of engagement that different people bring to the table can be useful to get a sense of who you are dealing with.
The National Governors’ Association (NGA) outlines four types of profiles that make up the board of governors:
Generally, these people are passive attenders who may need prompting to turn up or participate. It can be useful to clarify their motivation for being part of the board.
Sometimes it’s a case of them feeling disenfranchised and by seeking out a common interest in the school, you can provide an avenue for their increased engagement. An example is to appoint them on a sub-committee of their choice, with the remit to report back to the full board.
Such a person may sound great but they carry the risk of agreeing on everything the school leadership presents, which is not what a governor should do. This is often the case with parent-governors, who have a subconscious bias towards the year group(s) that their child(ren) is in.
Knowing they will support you is nice, but try to reshape their thinking by giving them an objective remit, such as health and safety, where they may not have any preference. This should prompt them to offer more useful feedback, rather than just being an uncritical champion.
These individuals go too far the other way: offering scrutiny but without solutions or diplomacy. This puts meetings at risk of becoming finger-pointing sessions that divide governors and the school leadership. They often feel they are “inspectors” and can be blunt in their approach, which can be tough to reckon with at first.
Such people need more frequent attention and responses. Use the protocol of the chair of the board and the clerk to invite them in for updates with the chair present to address their concerns.
Brief the chair before and after meeting them. If the chair is the fault finder, then ensure you maintain clear, open and transparent communication with the chair.
These people are usually happy to attend all meetings and upskill themselves in training in order to ask relevant questions, gain insight and support the school.
Making the most of these people is key - you could ask them to lead in different areas of school improvement on an annual rotation or get them to oversee the most challenging aspect in your context, whether teaching and learning (pupil progress and attainment), finance or some other area.
Spotting these different types is not always easy but over time you can usually see which group most people fit into - enabling you to get better at handling the different personalities that you will invariably encounter.
2. Engage early and often
Make sure you set up a regular interaction with the chair and vice-chair of the governing board and be proactive about establishing this from day one.
Being proactive helps you take the initiative, rather than being reactive to the demands of governors. It also helps you set the agenda and focus for the academic year and engage in the issues they may be planning on raising over the term(s) ahead.
3. Arrange visits
You should also arrange opportunities for the governors to visit the school. Of the NGA’s eight elements of effective governance - which are all relevant and meaningful - the one that stands out for me most is “knowing the school”.
Allowing the governors to get to know the school - its opportunities and its challenges - means that all future discussions will be based on them having a clear understanding of how the school works.
4. Set communication expectations
Ensure communication is on the record, to avoid any anecdotal or misinterpreted messages. Email messages ensure transparency and consistency.
Agree expectations of response time, too - governors may have more time on their hands than a headteacher, sending emails as and when and expecting a quick reply. Being accessible via e-mail does not mean you are available to respond immediately.
Indeed, replying immediately to emails can be problematic. If you are dealing with a contentious issue, you may well write something in haste that does not properly outline your view - causing complications that could have been avoided if you waited and replied when time was on your side. As such, maintain firm boundaries on communication.
5. Meeting preparation
It may sound a touch obvious but before any meeting with governors, make sure you have read and understood all the documents being presented. I’ve seen heads fail to do so and it makes meetings longer than they need to be - and more complicated.
Ensuring you have read everything ahead of time means you can make notes and anticipate any points of clarification or the need to answer any challenging questions. This will help build your credibility, too.
Again, use the chair of governors as a sounding board. If you need further clarification on key agenda items, contact them a few days before the formal meeting.
Ultimately, engaging with the governors is not something that you learn overnight - it is an art in itself and one that is honed over many years of leadership. But with the right intent from the start, it can certainly make the process a lot smoother for all involved.
Kausor Amin-Ali is the author of A-Z of School Leadership: a guide for new school leaders. He is also chair of governors at Robert Miles Infant School and has served as a leader in schools in England and internationally
