There some questions that you may like to consider, such as:
- how well your governing body promotes the school's values and vision
- how your governing body contributes to school improvement
An effective chair works to create a climate in which the governing body is able to think and take decisions at a strategic level by:
- knowing their children well and the governing body's role in school improvement, for example ask how well are we doing, how do we compare with similar schools and what must we do to improve?
- seeing the big picture, including school, local and national priorities
- building an effective partnership between the governing body and the headteacher/school leadership team
- planning the annual programme of work
There are some useful activities in the
GEL online modules to help you reflect on your governing body's strategic effectiveness.
Ofsted (Making it Better: Improving School Governance, 2001) lists the tasks of an effective chair as:
- giving a clear lead in organising the governing body's work
- delegating roles and helping the governing body work as a team
- managing meetings effectively
- holding regular meetings with the headteacher
- keeping other governors fully informed
- cooperating with other agencies to support school improvement