The role of the Link Governor

As governors we understand the need for members of staff to undertake continuing professional development but how many of us think along the same lines for ourselves? The pace of change within education is so dynamic that any governor training undertaken three years ago is probably now out of date.

The Guide to the Law says:

● training for all governors and clerks is to be encouraged

● training will help them become more effective

● all governors, however experienced, need training to improve their effectiveness in the role and to keep abreast of developments that may affect their school and their role as a governor

● new governors should take advantage of induction training.
We have a responsibility to ensure that our knowledge and practice are current and up to date and one strategy which can support this is for the governing body to appoint a nominated link governor. Many governing bodies follow this practice, of course, but some do not and for some who are appointed this responsibility is not made clear to them. In a nutshell, the role of the link governor is to have an oversight of all matters relating to training and development for individual governors and the whole governing body.