In line with their desire to have governors in schools they approached us to find out if we had had any willing volunteers for governor vacancies who may be interested in the LEA Governor role. Luckily for us we had been oversubscribed in our recent governor recruitment and we were able to put names forward to the local group. Thanks to their actions we now have a full complement of LEA Governors. As the governor's role continues to expand it is increasingly important for governing bodies to be at full strength and maybe the time is right for the other Councils to take on board this flexible approach. Across both sectors, vacancies are highest for co-opted governors, followed by LEA governors.
Most authorities still take political affiliation into account when appointing governors.
Less than half of authorities monitor ethnic origin of governors, and even fewer monitor gender and disability. We were legally required to agree performance targets for Heads and Deputies in the autumn term. Because of the late arrival of information from the DfEE and LEA about school performance, some slippage seems inevitable, but it is something that needs to be done this term, preferably as an integral part of the school development planning cycle. Although initially sceptical about the validity of the scheme, as I have learnt more about it I am beginning to see it may possibly have some advantages. It encourages governors to focus clearly on the priorities for school improvement, and to have clear measures of success.