Dear Sir / Madam,
Corporate Social Responsibility Opportunity: School Governor Volunteer Vacancy
Nether Stowey C.E. V.C. Primary School currently has a vacancy on its Board of Governors. We are looking for someone with commercial / financial / business skills.
What is a school Board of Governors?
All state-funded schools in England have a Board of Governors staffed by volunteers; there are over 250,000
governors nation-wide, making this the largest volunteer force in the country!
The Board of Governors provides strategic leadership and accountability within a school, as well as overseeing
the school’s financial performance to ensure that money is well spent. There are also Foundation Governors who uphold the school’s Christian ethos and values.
A governor is a ‘critical friend’ who challenges current performance, sometimes asks difficult questions and
provides support and a sounding board to ensure continuous improvement. Governors who sit on the Business
Committee are responsible for working with the Head and School Finance Officer to prepare and monitor the
school’s annual budget.
School Governors come from all walks of life. They bring different skills to help our children and our community
thrive and develop. We encourage applications from all members of society, regardless of background, gender,
ethnicity, disability or age (as long as you're over 18).
Why become a Governor?
Being a school governor is a challenging but hugely rewarding role. It will give you the chance to make a real
difference to young people, give something back to your local community and use and develop your skills (both
personally and professionally) in a board-level environment (www.nga.org.uk).
By becoming a Governor, you could add the following skills and experience to your CV:
- Strategic planning
- Experience on a board
- Holding senior leaders to account
- Finance, and maintaining oversight of budgets
- Human resources and performance management
- Project management
- Marketing
- Communication and teamwork
- Decision making
Our school
Nether Stowey Church of England Primary School is set in the foothills of the Quantock Hills in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and rich cultural history. The village of Nether Stowey has a strong community and the school sits at the very heart of this.
The school is a medium-sized village school with almost 180 pupils, from Reception to Year 6 (4-11 years old). It is a welcoming, happy, forward thinking school where the school community shares the highest of expectations and aspirations for everyone; working hard together towards securing the best outcomes for every single child.
Our vision is underpinned by our Christian principles and values of Thankfulness, Fellowship, Endurance, Peace, Charity and Trust. These values are shared with all staff, governors and children inspiring all that we do.
We are rated as Good by OFSTED and our driving ambition is to provide excellence for all in teaching and learning and to open doors to a bright future.
What skills and time-commitment are required?
The ability to think critically, work as a team and maintain confidentiality are all vital. As we are recruiting for a governor to sit on the Business Committee, we are looking for someone with an understanding of budgets, commercial contracts and monitoring of such.
We hold 4 full board meetings per school year (generally in September, December, March and July). The Business Committee meets on a half-termly basis, therefore 6 times per year. In general, meetings last 1-2 hours. You would be expected to keep abreast of developments in the education field and would have various documents to read prior to governor meetings (e.g. policies for review, financial information, school educational data etc.) In total, you can expect to spend about 6-8 hours per month, but this is term-time only.
New governors attend a half-day induction session with Somerset’s Support Services for Education, paid for by the school. There are also opportunities for additional training, depending on the Board’s needs, including financial management, human resources management, health & safety, safeguarding of children and more.
For further information, the Community section of the school website (www.netherstowey.somerset.sch.uk) has information on who our current governors are, and the Parents section includes our most recent newsletters, The Governors’ Post. If you have questions or would be interested in applying for the position, please contact me on rrichardson@educ.somerset.gov.uk or 0745 4543 133.
Yours faithfully,
Ruth
Ruth Richardson
Clerk to the Board of Governors