A key part of your role as chair is to build a cohesive team of governors, delegating tasks across the governing body so that all members contribute, share responsibility for the overall workload and feel that their individual skills,knowledge and experience are well used.
You need to identify the skills, knowledge and experience of your governors, ensuring that any gaps are filled with training and recruitment.
It is important to ensure that the governing body continues to attract and retain good governors including governors with specialist experience as necessary. By delegating some responsibilities – for example, ensuring that your fellow governors take the chair of other committees – you are also helping to grow new leadership talent.
In line with good practice in corporate governance in other sectors, you will also need to take into account the importance of promoting equality and diversity when recruiting, and consider the extent to which the governing body represents the community it serves. Support for building the team and securing diversity is available from a range of organisations.
There should be clear, open and honest communication between governors at all times.
Effective chairs of governing bodies are approachable, readily accessible to other governors and take the issues they raise and the ideas they have seriously.
Finally, a governing body needs a code of practice that outlines its role and responsibilities. The NGA has developed a Code of Practice for School Governors (NGA, 2011) that can be adapted to suit the circumstances of your school.
Checklist
Have all new governors been properly inducted? See Welcome to Governance (NGA, 2011).
How recently have you audited the skills of your governing body? See the model skills
audit available through NGA
Which of your governors has accountancy or financial management experience?
Do you need to recruit someone?
Have you considered using the School Governors’ One-Stop Shop (www.sgoss.org.uk) to recruit governors?
Is there a training link governor and have all governors attended recent, appropriate training?
Has the governing body allocated funds from the school budget for governor development?
How are these funds being used?
How often do all governors attend meetings?
Has attendance been discussed?
Are there exit interviews with governors who leave?
What plans are there for developing other members of the team? How are you planning
for your successor? See Succession Breeds Success (NCOGS, 2007).
How familiar are governors with sources of support that are available?
Have governors considered undertaking performance reviews of members of the governing body?
Taken from http://www.nationalcollege.org.uk/chairsofgovernors Leading Governors Booklet
Sean - looks like a great checklist for building a team. Interested in your views for developing a team once it is recruited as I hear a range of views about the inconsistency of quality of CPD for Governors. (PS Cool wallpaper to your blog!)
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