Link governors
Governors have a responsibility to monitor and evaluate the
progress of their school and contribute to the school self
evaluation process. This can be done through a variety of methods
including reports from the headteacher and senior staff, analysis
of statistical data and, perhaps most importantly, through first
hand observation.
If we think of a governing body as a closed chain, a link
governor is an individual governor who has been asked to link up
with a teacher, or department outside the chain. Ideally, every
governor would be asked to fulfill a link role in order to involve
all members of the team. An efficient governing body is one in
which responsibility is shared amongst all its members, so that it
really is performing as a team.
Governing bodies should ensure that, through their links,
prominence is given to the Every Child Matters five outcomes which
are:
Be Healthy
- Helping learners to adopt healthy lifestyles, build on their
self-esteem, eat and drink well and lead active lives
Stay Safe
- Keeping learners safe from bullying, harassment and other
dangers
Enjoy and Achieve
- Enabling learners to make good progress in their work and
personal development and to enjoy their education
Make a Positive Contribution
- Ensuring that learners understand their rights and
responsibilities, are listened to, and participate in the life of
the community
Achieve Economic Well-Being
- Helping pupils to gain the skills and knowledge needed for
future employment
Suggested roles
A detailed booklet about suggested roles for link
governors is available by contacting the Governor Support
Service. Some suggested roles include:
Training and
development
Subject or area
Literacy or
numeracy
Special Educational
Needs (SEN)
Child Protection
Training and development
The Governor Support Service recommends a Training and
Development (T& D) and the Governing Body; taking
responsibility for the training and development (including
induction) of the governors.
Follow this link to the training and development page to view
current sessions including T & D link governor forums
The following tasks are offered as guidelines to aid the role of
the T & D link governor:
- Planning of development activities for governors in accordance
with the school development plan and priorities, as well as taking
account of individual needs
- Ensuring that sufficient money is allocated to support governor
development
- Encouraging governors to attend training and development
opportunities
- Agreeing a system for feeding back the knowledge gained from
training and development activities; preferably by reports to
governors’ meetings
- Discussing with colleagues the value and effectiveness of
training and development activities undertaken
- Receive record of attendance of governors at training and
development sessions from the governor support team and report back
to governing body
- Enabling governors to have access information that is relevant
to their role and responsibilities
- Supporting newly appointed governors and explaining training
and development opportunities
Subject or area
As a model, the subject link governor, in support of the subject
co-ordinator or head of subject, should undertake the
following:
- Become informed about relevant documents and legislation;
OfSTED criteria for evaluating the subject provision; local and
national issues impacting upon the subject
- Liaise with the subject co-ordinator or head of subject in
order to become informed about staffing arrangements and training;
the condition and availability of resources; curriculum and
timetable arrangements; special needs provision; reference to the
school development plan; assessment and recording procedures for
the subject; which visits and visitors are planned
- Establish and maintain effective lines of communication between
the subject co-ordinator and the governing body; report back to
governing body meetings
- Help to keep parents informed via the school prospectus,
newsletter or other communications
Literacy or numeracy
When the literacy and numeracy strategies were introduced into
schools, the government recommended that governing bodies nominate
a governor to take a special interest in each of the core subject
areas. Tasks could include:
- Finding out about current policy and practice for the teaching
of English or mathematics
- Become informed about relevant documents and legislation;
OfSTED criteria for evaluating the subject provision; local and
national issues impacting upon the subject
- Ensuring that all governors are familiar with the literacy and
numeracy strategies;
with the headteacher, reporting to governors on how the strategies
are progressing and impacting on standards;
supporting and promoting the involvement of parents in strategies
e.g. via the school prospectus, parents newsletter and
meetings
- Attending training devoted to literacy or numeracy issues
- Liaising with literacy or numeracy co-ordinators
- Sitting in on literacy or numeracy lessons to raise awareness
and inform discussions
- Providing information about resource implications and
requirements to support literacy and numeracy in schools
The Governor Support Service provide a termly newsletter
incorporated within the ‘Knowsley Governor’ aimed specifically at
the link governors for training to keep them up to date with future
training dates and other useful information for them to share with
their governing bodies.
Special Educational Needs
The ‘Code of Practice for the Identification and Assessment of
Special Educational Needs (SEN)’ recommends that a named governor
be nominated to take a particular interest on behalf of the
governing body in the way the school manages its provision for
children with SEN, and to report on this regularly to the governing
body. It is suggested that the SEN governor’s task should
include:
- Keeping informed about relevant documents and legislation
- Liaising with the SEN co-ordinator, other governors and staff
as necessary
- Monitoring the SEN policy and reporting back to the governing
body
- Ensuring that all parents are kept informed of the school’s
policy and that
- Communication between parents of children with SEN and the
school is two way
- Considering governing body decisions which have implications
for SEN
A support pack for Special Educational Needs governors is
available from the Governor Support Service on request (need a
link).
Child Protection
The Child Protection Governor will often be the Chair of the
governing body. The role is:
- To be familiar with Local Authority (LA) guidance and school
policy relating to Child Protection and to attend relevant
training
- To liaise with the Headteacher, the school's designated Child
Protection teacher and the LA over matters regarding confidential
child protection issues involving allegations against staff
In cases involving an allegation against the Headteacher, the
nominated governor would take a more active role with support
provided by the LA. This role would include consideration of an
allegation in consultation with the designated LA Senior Officer to
decide whether the allegations warrant an investigation and to
ensure, with LA support, that appropriate action is taken in
accordance with agreed procedures
Where a referral to child protection agencies may need to be made
to attend initial and subsequent strategy meetings as required.
