ELECTION OF PARENT GOVERNOR

There are currently 2 allocated places for Parent Governors on the Governing Body of the school, and a vacancy for 1 of these places has recently occurred.  I am therefore writing to give you details of the arrangements for nominations and voting for new Parent Governors and to give you the opportunity to express your interest.

Governing bodies are the key strategic decision-making body of every school and have a vital role to play in making sure every child gets the best possible education.

In all schools governing bodies should have a strong focus on three core strategic functions:

• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
• Holding the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff; and
• Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.

No special qualifications are needed and the most important thing is to have a keen interest in the school and be prepared to play an active part in the Governing Body’s work. However, we would particularly welcome at this time nominations from parents with any of the following skills:

• Experience in education;
• Experience in finance;
• Experience in premises management/development/architecture; and/or
• Experience in marketing, grant funding and/or IT.

Enclosed with this letter is a nomination form on which you, as a parent who has a child/ren at the school, can nominate yourself or another parent, with their consent, for election as a Parent Governor.  It is necessary for whoever is nominated for a Parent Governor position to have a child at the school at the time he or she is elected. 

Certain people are disqualified from being Governors and, as such, you are asked to please consult the sheet detailing the disqualification criteria, which is attached to this letter, before making a nomination.  If grounds for disqualification come to light after appointment the person elected will automatically be barred from being a governor and the appointment will terminate with immediate effect.

There is space on the nomination form for a statement of not more than 150 words for you to give such details as you wish about yourself, your views and the skills you believe that you can bring to the Governing Body. This statement will then be included on the voting paper, should an election be necessary.

The term of office for a Parent Governor is 4 years whether or not the child of the elected parent remains at the school for the whole of this period.  A Parent Governor elected now will hold office until Autumn 2023 and, like other Governors, will be able to stand for re-election providing they are still eligible.

A leaflet detailing further information about the role is available to download below and at the School office.

The closing date for nominations is Friday 11^th October 2019.

If there are more nominations than vacancies the election will be by secret ballot. If that is necessary, voting papers will be sent to all parents together with details of the ballot procedure.

If you have any questions about the role or would like any additional information, please leave your contact details at the School Office and Nancy Ford, the Chair of Governors, will be happy to give you a call.

Yours sincerely
Mr Steven Ginn
Head Teacher