Role & Responsibilities

Role of the Governing Body

Schools are required by law to have a governing body and the school’s Instrument of Government sets out the size and composition of that body.

The governing body works in partnership with the headteacher and the Local Authority and is responsible for the strategic direction and operation of the school.

The headteacher manages the school on a day-to-day basis and implements the policies laid down by the governing body in its strategic role.

A governing body is a corporate body and is responsible in law and practice for all major decisions about the school and its future. Governors act collectively and no single governor is required to make decisions alone, unless asked to do so by the governing body as a whole. Some duties and responsibilities are delegated to committees, working parties, individual governors, or to the headteacher.

Responsibilities of the Governing Body

The key purpose of a governing body is to help the school to provide the best possible education for its pupils. Governing bodies do this by:

• Setting the school’s values, vision and strategic aims, agreeing plans and polices, and making creative use of resources.
• Monitoring and evaluating performance and acting as a critical friend to the headteacher to support and challenge them in managing the school.
• Ensuring that the school is accountable to the pupils and parents it serves, to its local community, to those who fund and maintain it and to the staff it employs.

Responsibilities of the Headteacher

In contrast, the headteacher is responsible for:

• The internal organisation, control and day-to-day management of the school.
• Advising on and implementing the governing body’s strategic framework.
• Formulating aims and objectives, policies and targets for the governing body to consider adopting.
• Giving governors the information that they need to help the school to raise standards.

Powers and Duties of the Governing Body

The strategic working of governing bodies translates into some quite specific powers and duties, which include:

• Deciding, in broad strategic terms, how the school should be run.
• Promoting high standards of educational achievement.
• Setting appropriate targets for pupil achievement.
• Ensuring a broad, balanced and appropriate curriculum.
• Managing the school’s budget.
• Deciding the number of staff and making decisions on staff pay.
• Appointing the headteacher and deputy headteacher. Leading on appointments to the senior leadership team and determining how other appointments will be made.
• Agreeing polices and procedures for staff conduct, discipline and grievances.
• Establishing the policy for performance management.
• Reporting on assessments and examination results.