What do school governors do?
They meet at least once a term to discuss the running of the school. This would include looking at the school's budget, various policies (e.g. behaviour, sex education, performance management), the overall ethos and direction of the school, long-term planning, special education needs, targets for pupil performance and staffing structure.
Governors play a strategic role, meaning that they concentrate on the underlying issues of school management, rather than day-to-day issues. They are however involved in reviewing exclusions and dealing with any cases of staff dismissal appeals

Governing bodies are there to monitor and evaluate progress in school development and achievements, and they play an important role in accountability. Not only is the headteacher accountable to the governing body, but the governing body in turn is accountable to parents, the LEA and ultimately the DfES

More about Governors

This report examines some of the challenges faced by schools when special measures have been removed, and the reactions and responses of the key players in sustaining the school's improvement: staff , governors, parents, pupils and local education authorities (LEAs). It discusses the different strategies employed to maintain progress during the first 12 months after special measures have been removed in an attempt to indicate what works

Special Measures

School governors have long played a part in the school system of England and Wales. The duties have increased over recent years due to the local management of schools.

Work of Governors

The Work of School Governors is an Ofsted document which was published in 2002 and is an interesting look from Ofsteds point of view of the state of school governance in the country

Friendly website

Most websites for Governors seem to be designed for government civil servants and are not at all user friendly - this website is different and non pretentious. Full of useful links and written in simple English for those governors who have not made a career out of using jargon

One-stop shop

Another useful website
When the Excellence in Cities (EiC) Initiative was launched in 1999 (to improve inner city education) the School Governors' One-Stop Shop was also launched in support of the school leadership strand.

The objective of the School Governors' One-Stop Shop is a very simple one, "To recruit governors with transferable management skills from the world of work, to fill vacancies on the governing bodies of schools where they are needed most".