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Volunteering as a school governor – Good for you, good for Liverpool
244 Plays1 year ago
In this episode, we explore how the University of Liverpool is working with Governors for Schools and School Improvement Liverpool to encourage more people to become governors, as well as the benefits of getting involved.
Chair: Jessica Wing, Partnerships Manager, Governors for Schools
Panellists:
- Emma Harris, Head of Governor Recruitment, Governors for Schools
- Christine Todd, Head of UK Recruitment, University of Liverpool
- Kieran O’Sullivan, UK Recruitment Manager, University of Liverpool
- Dave Cadwallader, School Governance Lead, School Improvement Liverpool
For more information about Governors for Schools, please visit our website.
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Transcript
Introduction and Topic Overview
00:00:09
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the podcast. Today we're going to be talking about volunteering as a school governor. We're going to find out a bit more about why Governors for Schools, the University of Liverpool, and School Improvement Liverpool are working together to encourage more people to become school governors.
Introducing the Chair and Panelists
00:00:24
Speaker
My name is Jessica Wing. I'm going to be chairing the session today. I work for Governors for Schools, but I'm not currently a governor. However, we've got some wonderful panellists here today. Who'd like to introduce yourself, Dave? Hello, I'm Dave Cadmollider.
00:00:37
Speaker
I'm School Governance Lead for School Improvement Liverpool. I've been supporting schools across Liverpool for, I'm going to say, many years now, and I'm chair of governors of a couple of our boards.
00:00:50
Speaker
Hi there, I'm Christine Todd, I'm Head of UK Recruitment at the University of Liverpool and through that role I am currently a Sponsor Governor, where I've been in that role at a local school for nine years. Hello and I'm Kieran O'Sullivan, I'm the UK Recruitment Manager here at the University of Liverpool and I'm currently the Chair of Governors in an outstanding secondary school in Liverpool. Hi, I'm Emma Harris, I'm Head of Governor Recruitment at Governors for Schools and I'm also a School Governor at a local primary school.
00:01:20
Speaker
Lovely. Now we've met our panellists. Let's get on to some questions.
Why Encourage School Governance?
00:01:24
Speaker
So Christine and Kieran, could you tell us a bit about why the university wants to encourage people to become school governors, please? Yeah, absolutely. So obviously we both benefit from it individually, but in terms of the university's position,
00:01:39
Speaker
It's seen as a really valuable opportunity to contribute to the leadership and improvement of schools. And it also offers a fantastic volunteering opportunity for staff with many professional development opportunities leading to career development and transferable skills.
00:01:57
Speaker
Definitely, yeah, and adding to that as well, the universities, we're a civic university based in the city, an anchor institution in the city, so we're a big part of contributing to the city and in terms of encouraging our staff to become governors, that very much ties in with our civic mission of improving educational outcomes for young people in the city. Lovely, thank you.
School Governor Vacancies in Liverpool
00:02:20
Speaker
Dave, one for you. Are there many opportunities for school governors across Liverpool? Yeah, there are.
00:02:27
Speaker
Across the city we have over 2000 governor positions, we have 160 something schools. Governors usually serve a four-year term of office and many of our governors stay on after that four years. But even so, natural turnover alone means that we always have vacancies in some of our schools.
00:02:52
Speaker
Right. Lovely. Thank you.
Partnerships in Recruitment and Support
00:02:55
Speaker
Emma, could you tell us a bit about how you work with the university, please? Yeah, absolutely. So at Governors for Schools, we recruit and support people to become school governors. And we've worked with the University of Liverpool for a number of years now with a really successful partnership because they have been so supportive of encouraging staff and alumni as well to become school governors. One of the reasons that we really value the relationship with the university
00:03:20
Speaker
is really the breadth of skills that are across both the staff and the alumni. So it's something that anybody can consider becoming a school governor, working with a university, we're able to attract people that really understand the value of education, will be able to develop in the role, but can also really offer a real breadth of skills from things like finance, education, background marketing, you know, it's everything that schools need really.
00:03:47
Speaker
Wonderful. Thank you.
Role and Responsibilities of School Governors
00:03:48
Speaker
Dave, I know you mentioned the term of governor. I wondered if you could talk us through the role in a little bit more detail, like what are the main responsibilities? Being a school governor is seen as being more of a thinker than a doer. Governors don't get involved with school operational matters.
00:04:06
Speaker
They're not involved on a day to day or even week to week basis. The role of the governor is actually set out in education law, which identifies three core functions. The first core function is being strategic and ensuring that the school has a vision for where it's going to be in three years time or five years time. And so governors will sit down and think, where are we now? Where do we want to be? And how are we going to get there?
00:04:35
Speaker
they will put together a plan to achieve that vision. Once that plan is in place, they will hold the head teacher and school leaders to account for how the school is progressing towards achieving the objectives of the plan. The third core function is to do with schools being funded through public money. As such, governors ensure that
00:05:01
Speaker
and that's not just a case of balancing the books at the end of the financial year, it's also a case of thinking strategically again and ensuring that the priorities in the plan are as well resourced as possible.
00:05:15
Speaker
So governors don't go into school on a week to week basis, but they do have to attend meetings. Most schools will meet either on a half termly or termly basis. So that will mean three meetings a year or six meetings a year plus committees if you end up being on a committee. And that's the time element of being a governor along with
00:05:40
Speaker
preparation for those meetings, which basically is just reading the paperwork, reports, data, policies, so that you can go into the meeting armed with questions to ask your head teacher and school leaders. Lovely. Thank you,
Rewards of Being a School Governor
00:05:56
Speaker
Dave.
00:05:56
Speaker
If I can just add to that, Jess, I think, you know, just thinking about my own experience as a governor, it's absolutely about attending the meetings, but also about occasionally being able to visit school, do things like monitoring walks, but really kind of triangulate the information that you're being presented with so you can see all of that planning that you're doing as a strategic board.
00:06:16
Speaker
he can actually see it in action and one of the you know real joys that I get out of being a governor is being able to go into school occasionally very much planned so everybody knows that I'm coming but being able to see you know the way that the children are thriving and how everybody is really working together and to really understand the school in a lot more kind of depth actually.
00:06:39
Speaker
say thank you and if I can add to that from from a personal experience I agree that's that's one of the benefits because you'll have the formal meetings where obviously you're looking at say for instance the school improvement plan but as Eva said when you can actually do perhaps a learning walk around your school and kind of like see some of those points being put into action and the benefits then that's a really rewarding part of the role and equally through some of the
00:07:07
Speaker
other committees that Dave mentioned, there's the opportunity to meet the staff and students and hear firsthand from them how some of the improvements are kind of being embedded across the school. So it's feeling part of those achievements as a school and when you see them in action outside across the formal meetings, then that is also one of the benefits.
00:07:32
Speaker
Lovely, thank you.
Mutual Benefits for Universities and Individuals
00:07:34
Speaker
Kieran and Christine, what sort of benefits do you think the university sees in supporting people to become governors? I mean there's multiple benefits as an institution but also in terms of developing our people as well and our staff base. As Emma said before, I've certainly found that there's an awful lot of similarities in terms of breadth of expertise, skills, knowledge and lots of crossover between the work of higher education and primary and secondary education.
00:07:58
Speaker
Running education institutions, we have similar challenges around budget, staffing resources, the estate and lots of those skill sets that schools require in terms of knowledge, expertise and experience on governing bodies. We have that expertise, knowledge and experience within the university. So it's just a case of tapping into that resource, that knowledge, expertise and
00:08:19
Speaker
developing the links between the university and schools and colleges and from our team's perspective myself and christian we work with schools and colleges as part of our day-to-day roles just really useful and interesting for us to get a deeper insight into the world of secondary or primary education in terms of experiencing and understanding their
00:08:38
Speaker
challenges, demands on their time, precious resources and what their priorities are for schools and colleges. So there's multiple benefits for the university but also for the individuals as well as all the things we've mentioned around personal and professional development. I think there's an awful lot of sharing best practice and learning from different experiences between different educational institutions and settings.
00:09:00
Speaker
Yeah, I'd say absolutely that kind of correlation where you can find it between perhaps your role in the university and your role in the school. As Kieran said, as a student recruitment team, we're working every day with schools and colleges. So it's really nice to see it from the other side, the workings of a school.
00:09:18
Speaker
that insight into schools and how they're run and lots of similarities where you're looking at, as Kevin said, attainment data, financial reports, you know, and that sort of thing. And then there's also the opportunity for perhaps a two-way feed. So if you're in one of those subcommittees, so I sat on curriculum committees as an example, and then you could feed in from the university's perspective, our view on qualifications, which my impact on
00:09:46
Speaker
and school curriculum developments and things like that so it can help provide really helpful insight but also back to a conversation and I think just to add as well from the university's perspective the university has a volunteering policy and so really really recommends
00:10:05
Speaker
that staff engage in volunteering opportunities. So they do have this scheme which supports staff, whether it's giving them time off for volunteering opportunities, giving them the information, the resources that they need.
00:10:17
Speaker
and to help them in that role. And the school governor scheme is part of that overarching volunteering ethos that the university has where they sort of see it as a really good opportunity for staff to give back to the local community or perhaps to engage in something that they feel passionate about. It gives staff that sense of achievement and those transferable skills that we talked about as well.
00:10:44
Speaker
Yeah, just building on from that as well, that school governance games initiative, the university-wide initiative that our team kind of drive forward to kind of facilitate a share of best practice, a forum, a network within the institution of all colleagues who are involved in school governors, whether it's experienced school governors or staff who are interested in potentially becoming a school governor, with the support of governors for schools, we've tried to develop that network and share best practice across the institution. So we've
00:11:10
Speaker
a particular challenge or opportunity comes up within a school governing body or school governing board. You can speak to colleagues within the university who might have been through similar experiences. So we found that really beneficial network as well across the university.
Personal Development Through Governance
00:11:23
Speaker
Thanks Kieran and Christine. So following on from that, how do you think your own governor experiences supported your professional development?
00:11:29
Speaker
I think for myself personally, it's probably genuinely the best thing I've done personally, professionally in my career is to become a school governor. I found it hugely rewarding and satisfying. All the things that we talked about before in terms of all the things we discussed at Governor's Week and seeing those play-outs in practice and seeing some of the fantastic outcomes within the school, I feel like you're really making a valuable contribution. But myself personally, I've really developed.
00:11:53
Speaker
both personally and professionally, gain new skills, gain experiences, gain confidence. I've been able to take into my day-to-day role within the institution and as a result of becoming a school governor, I actually applied and I'm successful in getting onto the university's governing body at the University Council. Again, a hugely rewarding and fantastic career development for myself and it was something that was only I only thought of. They were not even considered applying for
00:12:17
Speaker
government having that board level experience and it's certainly something I'd like to continue with throughout my career as some kind of non-executive director role or board level experience because of being a school governor. So for myself personally it's been the best thing I've done for my career is become a school governor.
00:12:33
Speaker
Yeah, I think it can absolutely improve your confidence in terms of being in that setting where you're on a board of governors and you're contributing to those conversations. And that's something that can then obviously play out in your working role as well. So I think absolutely those transferable skills and really that kind of business awareness that obviously translates into your day-to-day work
00:13:03
Speaker
And I think for myself, it's been that increased knowledge of the school sector, but from the other side, so very often in our roles prior to being a school governor, you're working very much with students and advising them on higher education. So it's been really important to see how schools operate from the inside in terms of
00:13:27
Speaker
whether it's from retention to attainment and the financial aspect and that whole school improvement plan and being able to contribute towards that and having your input valued and I think that's always a very
00:13:42
Speaker
The environment, it's always a very supporting environment. I've found on the boards that I've sat on in both the schools throughout my experience, very supporting and your views are always really, you know, counted and valued. Yeah, I'd just add to that a second everything that Christine and Karen have said in terms of professional and personal development. I think the other thing that I've found really helpful with sitting on a board
00:14:08
Speaker
is that you're surrounded by very different people, so you could end up kind of sat in your own bubble when you're working in one organization. But having the opportunity to sit on that board with people who are staff governors, who are parent governors, other co-opted governors, who have all come from really different backgrounds, but have that kind of shared motivation to support the school.
00:14:28
Speaker
I've found that really useful certainly in increasing confidence in talking to other people from kind of outside my immediate contacts and from outside of my sector as well. So that's been really helpful.
00:14:41
Speaker
Definitely. Can I just add to that, am I? In terms of an effective governing body, I've been involved in a number of governing body reviews or evaluations where they measure how effective a governing body they are. And I'm sure you'll agree with this, that to become a really effective governing body, you need that difference of perspective. So different ages, backgrounds, experiences. I think there's a bit of an assumption that everyone who sits at a board level position, whether it's a non-exec director or on a governing body, that you have to be hugely experienced and be very senior in your position.
00:15:13
Speaker
career at the moment and relatively young to be a governor, certainly young to be a chair of governance, but I think it needs that broad range of perspectives to become an effective governing body, coming from all different angles, different perspectives, different backgrounds. So I think that's something that I often come across when I speak to colleagues who perhaps wary or hesitant to become a governing body, saying that I don't know enough, I'm not good enough, I'm not
00:15:39
Speaker
perspective is really valuable to the schools and to the government bodies. Just on that, the smallest schools in Liverpool have a budget of over a million pounds. And so any governor is part of a team that is making strategic decisions about a million pound budget. Plus, governors have an involvement in hiring staff and in managing staff at governor level.
00:16:07
Speaker
We might have to be involved in disciplinaries, in grievances, and in promotions as well. It's not all negatives. But these are experiences that would enhance any CV, along with making sure that the school is compliant with statutory requirements, health and safety, safeguarding.
00:16:34
Speaker
As governors, we need to make sure that our schools are fully compliant. It's all done as a team, so there's no responsibility piled on any one person's shoulders at any one time, but it's part of a learning experience developing that as part of a team.
00:16:53
Speaker
Lovely, thank you.
Criteria for Becoming a School Governor
00:16:55
Speaker
So we've spoken a little bit there about the different types of people that are on governing boards. So I've got a question for you Emma, if you don't mind. What's the kind of criteria for being a governor? Can anyone be a governor? Essentially, anybody who's 18 and above living in the UK can consider being a governor. There are certain criminal convictions that would rule somebody out and there are some issues around bankruptcy as well.
00:17:19
Speaker
But generally speaking, we are looking for people who are motivated to support schools. They don't need to have specific qualifications. They don't need to have years of experience at a leadership position.
00:17:31
Speaker
What they really need to have is an interest in education and a thirst for learning in the role and a passion for working with other people to really support education. So that's another real benefit of working with the university that we're able to reach people who might not have considered the role. There's definitely a misconception that you need to be a parent. You absolutely don't. You don't need to have worked in education at all. You don't need to have set foot in a school since you left when you were 16.
00:18:00
Speaker
That is fine. If you're interested in the role, that's kind of the key ingredient. If you're willing to work with people and to learn in the role, that's really what we're looking for. Lovely. So that diversity of experience and background can be beneficial. Absolutely. Dave, could you tell us a bit about how schools benefit from having someone on the board who isn't connected to the school, please?
00:18:25
Speaker
It's important for a board whose role is to hold the head and school leaders to account, not to be completely made up of people who are part of the school community. And so independence is important. A lot of school boards are put together on the stakeholder model. So we do have parents. We do have people who have been nominated from the local authority.
00:18:53
Speaker
or appointed by the local church if it's a faith-based school or just brought on board by the existing governors because that individual has skills that would enhance the collective skill set. Through those different starting points, who's to say that a parent would feel the same way as someone from the church or someone from the local authority?
00:19:18
Speaker
And that melting pot of ideas is a useful way of providing a consensus that moves the school forward. So all those different starting points of chipping their ideas, their points of views, a consensus is formed, and then it's agreed that that's the way forward for the school. So we do need independent people who aren't entirely tied up with the school and can provide external and independent viewpoints
00:19:50
Speaker
Wonderful. It reminds me of that critical friend aspect that I've heard about before, being able to both support the score whilst also challenging them on doing things differently. It's a great phrase, Jess. I always felt that critical friend
00:20:05
Speaker
put across the role of the governor, someone who is a friend, a supporter of the school, but also someone who is able to read a report or look at some data and provide a critique of what it says. Highlight the good bits, but also be aware that there are areas for improvement and make supportive suggestions on how that could be.
00:20:29
Speaker
Lovely. Emma, are there any particular skills that schools are looking for? Yeah, so when schools register a vacancy with us, some of them will tell us that they need something really specific. That can sometimes be linked to things like the three core elements that David talked about. So it might be around finance skills, it might be around strategic planning. But equally, schools need a whole breadth of skills. So it can be things like data analysis, it can be things like
00:20:58
Speaker
health and safety, safeguarding, special educational needs. We get asked for so many different things. Our top kind of most frequent requests are in finance, HR and education, but equally schools really value somebody who has a really good understanding of the local community or has perhaps got volunteering experience within another area, perhaps another charity and have a really good understanding about how a board works.
00:21:23
Speaker
So it's really, really varied and I wouldn't want anybody to kind of rule themselves out of the role because they don't think they've got that specific job title that is going to give them the skills to become a governor.
00:21:36
Speaker
Lots of schools do already have very balanced boards and they're looking for exactly what Dave just mentioned that objectivity so somebody from outside of the school who can bring in a fresh perspective and that also leans in on you know the fact that realistically most boards do feature a lot of people over 40.
00:21:54
Speaker
simply the fact of being younger and having experienced education more recently can bring real value to a governing board because it will make you ask different questions from those that perhaps are much further on in their career. So essentially we get asked for all sorts of skills
00:22:10
Speaker
and anything that you've got, you will be able to tailor and may work on a governing board. And I should also mention there's loads and loads of support available. So from ourselves, we provide e-learning and webinars to give you a kind of really sound understanding of what the role is that you're taking on. Dave, do you want to mention any training that comes from School Improvement Liverpool? Thanks so much. Yeah, we offer a package of training
00:22:36
Speaker
available to all schools and we begin with induction and then we go on to specific areas such as finance, HR issues, safeguarding, health and safety. I could go on forever but there's a full range of training made available. That sounds like whatever the skills you already have there's ways to learn even more skills whilst joining a board and supporting a school.
00:23:04
Speaker
Can I just say that the Department for Education identify a willingness to attend training as a skill in itself? Well, that's really important. So that willingness to do the training, willingness to support school, both very valuable things to becoming a school governor.
Encouragement to Join and Support Systems
00:23:20
Speaker
Going back to Christine and Kieran, based on your experience as governors, what would you say to anyone who is considering the role?
00:23:27
Speaker
Absolutely, as it's been alluded to, there's a whole wealth of information and support both through Governors for Schools and School Improvement Liverpool and I would just say to have a look at that, have an informal chat with somebody who's already in the role. It may
00:23:43
Speaker
feel a bit daunting at first. But as it's been alluded to today, everybody has something to contribute. Your skills will be really welcomed and valued. So as Ciaran said, don't worry about feeling. You may be old enough or experienced enough. Think about what you could offer to the school, what you could get out of it. And just find out about as much as the role as you possibly can. Have an informal chat with somebody who's already doing it.
00:24:11
Speaker
and get a sense of actually what it involves, maybe visit the school if that's a possibility. But I think certainly the resources that are available that have been mentioned, there's a whole wealth of resources that you can tap into to find out exactly what it's going to entail to see if it's right for you. And then when you're placed in a school or even prior to that, you know, there's an opportunity to go into the school, you know, meet the staff,
00:24:36
Speaker
meet members of the board because it has to be a kind of like a mutually agreeable appointment both in terms of from the school's perspective but also is it the right fit for yourself and I think that's where Governors for Schools and School Improvement Liverpool are great in terms of the fact that we really value our links with both organisations
00:24:59
Speaker
and doing the placements through governance for schools, that's really pivotal in terms of finding the right match for somebody who wants to volunteer into that role and a vacancy that a school may have. Yeah, definitely. Just following on from that, what I'd say to anyone considering becoming a governor is
00:25:25
Speaker
but the overarching advice I'd give is go for it, just go for it. Get involved and become a school governor. You won't know what you're going to learn and develop. As you said before, you'll bring a certain skill set to the table and a certain perspective, but you've developed so many skills and so much knowledge and experience to be able to take into your future career, future roles, whether it's volunteer roles or substantive roles, levels of personal
00:25:54
Speaker
felt that I've been able to contribute to a fantastic pool in the city in which I live and I'm very passionate about education and then moving outcomes for young people and making that difference has been hugely rewarding on a personal level for me so I'd say go for it for both personal and professional development reasons also in terms of the university's mission as we said before to improve education outcomes locally. Lovely thank you and I've got one final question. Emma, what should someone do if they're interested in getting involved?
Application Process and Commitment Required
00:26:23
Speaker
Great question, Jess. We would really like people to go onto our website, which is www.governorsforschools.org.uk. On there, you'll be able to access lots of free trading, so really get an understanding of the role.
00:26:37
Speaker
you'll be able to read case studies from other people that have taken on the role. There's a frequently asked questions section, so if you've got any queries, and there's obviously ways to contact us if you've got any questions that you want to ask. Most importantly, you will be able to complete your application form on the website. So on that form, you'll be asked a bit about your motivation, what kind of skills you're able to offer a school, what kind of experience you'll be able to share with a school.
00:27:03
Speaker
You'll also include on that application the skills that you've got, which will help us match you with the school, but also things like your preferences. So are you really keen on supporting a primary school, for example? Do you really want to support a school that's very close to you or perhaps a faith school? You can tell us all of that. And then once you've actually submitted your application, you'll have a local partnership manager or partnership coordinator who will guide you through the whole process. They'll talk to you about what vacancies are available,
00:27:33
Speaker
you'll be introduced to a school. As Christine said, you'll usually have the opportunity to go and meet the school, meet the staff, sometimes the rest of the board, and really decide from both sides whether it is a good match. If it is, then great, we will place you at that school and we'll provide ongoing support, particularly in the first year, and then there'll be all the support from School Improvement Liverpool too.
00:27:54
Speaker
But if it's not the right school, that's fine. You come back and we start the process again. It is a long-term commitment. For most roles, it's a commitment of four years. So it needs to be the right school for you. And through our process, we're able to really support you to find a school where you'll be able to have lots of impact and feel really satisfied in the role. So just to reiterate, the website is www.governorsforschools.org.uk and you'll be able to complete your application form on there.
00:28:23
Speaker
Lovely, that's the end of my questions. Thanks everyone so much for your contributions today. It's been wonderful to hear from you all. We hope that all of those listening will consider sharing your skills with one of the many schools looking for governors all across Liverpool. Thanks so much.