Benefits for governors
Governing bodies benefit from having members with experience of leadership, or with specific financial, legal or other business-related skills such as human resource and project management. Many employers actively encourage their staff to become governors and provide support to them once they've taken up the role. Employer support can include the training and development of Governors, skills development and support for change management.
Schools and colleges can review their governing body's skills and consider recruiting new governors from specific employer backgrounds, using local networks or registering a vacancy with the local authority and the School Governors' One-Stop Shop.
"The skills and experience of people with a business or professional background can add real value to the leadership of a school" Ian Appleton, Head Teacher, Testwood Sports College
Useful reports
The hidden givers: a study of school governing bodies in England
The hidden givers: a study of school governing bodies in England, has been published by the CfBT Education Trust. Visit: http://www.cfbt.com/evidenceforeducation/pdf/6CfBT_HG_web.pdf
Governors mean business
This School Governors One-Stop Shop (SGOSS) and University of Hertfordshire research report shows the ways in which Governors are valued by head teachers and schools. These include challenging and holding the leadership to account, monitoring, evaluation and getting to know the areas of school life in need of development.