The right fit

Many schools struggle to recruit governors, largely due to the increasingly high mountain of paperwork that the governing body is expected to plough through. Rather than invite applicants to a post, it is worth targeting the right individuals directly

The governing body needs to be actively involved in supporting the head, bursar and staff. The overall management of the school is too important to be treated lightly. It is better to have a smaller, dedicated governing body than a large, indifferent one.

If particular governors fail to attend meetings on a regular basis or are thoroughly unprepared for meetings' agendas, then they should be advised to stand down.

The governing body needs to be able to work as a team and pool its collective talents. To be most effective, the talents must be complementary. The mix of personalities needs to be creative, not combative.

To ensure that you have the right mix of talents, it is worth identifying particular types of expertise that will be invaluable to running a school. Many of the following positions don't formally exist, but are pre-eminent roles in effective school governance.

Governor with a special interest in finance
This would ideally be someone with extensive financial knowledge who can interpret financial data and present it to other governors in a simple and straightforward way.

This person will liaise with the headteacher and school bursar (or county bursar) to ensure that bank accounts are being operated correctly (and getting the best interest), that funds held for different purposes are kept in separate accounts, and that accounting and auditing records properly reflect the school's operations. Where there are sufficient surplus funds to invest (usually where there is a school charity), this governor must ensure that the funds are prudently invested and that performance of the investment is closely monitored.

Governor with a special interest in property
This governor should work closely with the headteacher, bursar and finance governor. There are two broad aspects to this role: the upkeep and suitability of school premises for teachers' requirements and monitoring health and safety regulations.

The advent of extended schools will impact on this particular governor as school premises will be open for much longer and will be available to a wide range of individuals, community groups and local businesses. It would be helpful if the person recruited for this role has a legal or property background, possibly from working in leisure management or local government. They must ensure that the school is maximising potential income from lettings and is investing some of this income into maintaining and developing the facilities.

If there are major building works taking place, this governor will need to be available to liaise with the bursar and site manager.

Governor with a special interest in the law
The person recruited for this position will help ensure that each non-teaching member of staff has a contract of employment with clearly stated duties. They should oversee the recruitment, appointment and resignation of governors as well as assist in the appointment of new school staff. This governor would ideally also lead the body as chair. Consequently, they would also be responsible for overseeing meetings, setting the agenda and ensuring that each member of the governing body contributes to the debate and that each point is discussed within a set time-frame, agreeing actions and ensuring they are minuted and carried out.

Governor with a special interest in marketing
This role needs to be filled by someone with an innovative and commercial approach. Ideally, they should have experience of fundraising and dealing with the media. They should be able to come up with fundraising ideas and appeals and advise the school on ways to achieve the fundraising targets. They should liaise with fellow governors, school staff and parents to begin the fundraising process.

This governor would also ensure that fundraising applications are clearly written. He or she would closely liaise with the governor with legal expertise to ensure that the application was valid.

As part of this role, they would be required to be open and honest about the costs of any appeal or fundraising projects and should not use fundraising tactics that put school supporters under any undue pressure.

Good media contacts would be helpful in publicising the school and any projects. The ideal person for this role would be a journalist, fundraiser or marketing professional.

Governor with a special interest in administration
Every governing body needs someone with a highly developed memory for details of the workings of the governing body over the previous years. This helps resolve issues by drawing on precedents, but also saves time on trawling through previous minutes for information. This role could also be assumed by the clerk to the governors. Anyone with a secretarial or personal assistant background might be most appropriate for this role.

Altogether now
Although the appointment of these super-governors will ensure greater levels of expertise within the governing body, it is important to remember that the body is a team. It is also vital that calm judgment is brought to bear on issues. The aptitude for these circumstances usually comes from experience of life.

The expertise advised here should help to make the governing body as a whole better informed, but should not necessarily mean that they dictate the decisions taken. No single governor is more important than another and should not act alone when managing important decisions.

Other key attributes to look for from new governors is a passion for the school, its history, but, more importantly, its future. They must be willing to take on suggestions of others, work hard, contribute ideas and do all of this for no financial reward, just the knowledge they are helping an important institution within their community.

Candidate checklist
Governors should have strong verbal and written skills, be honest, and must always act in the school's interests (this can sometimes cause conflict for parent governors). Ideally, they should also be innovative in their approach and able to look at the development of the school in the short, medium and long-term.

They must be prepared to be actively involved in overseeing the management of the school, but must remember their role is as "critical friend" rather than boss.

Governors must declare any personal interests which conflict against the management of the school or whether they have any direct interests in companies tendering for work at the school. Any contributions of any sort to the school must be open, fair and transparent.

The governors are responsible for overseeing the strategic aims, objectives and future direction of the school under the leadership of the headteacher. They must be able to identify potential risks to the health and safekeeping of the children and also the fabric of the school and grounds.

One or more of the governors must be expected to represent the governing body at a local meeting of governors from other schools.

They must be committed to attending meetings of the full governing body and of any sub-committees to which they belong. In addition, they should attempt to attend as many school events as possible, making themselves accessible to parents to overcome the divide between school management and parents.

Governors should be committed to sharing all non-confidential information with parents. The minutes for each meeting are available for parents to read, but are often not publicly displayed.

Governors are legally required to be over 18 years of age and must not be an undischarged bankrupt or have served a conviction for dishonesty or deception.

The chair of governors should appoint a governor to induct a new governor with roles and responsibilities, background to the school and overview of the school's development in the coming years.

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