Becoming a school governor at New Marston Primary School
From time to time, New Marston Primary School’s Governing Body has vacancies for school governors. School governors are volunteers who…
Are enthusiastic about education
Want to help New Marston become even better for all our children
Live locally to the school and/or are interested in the development of our local community
Have around 2 hours a week that they can commit to volunteering as a governor
What does a Governing Body do?
The Governing Body oversees the work of the school and works with the school to make sure that it provides a high standard of education. The Governing Body evaluates the school’s progress and helps sets the school’s aims and values. The Governing Body is not responsible for day-to-day running of the school.
Find out more about New Marston’s Governing Body here.
What does a governor do?
Governors use their skills and experience to contribute towards the strategic development and improvement of pupil standards and progress at New Marston Primary School. The term of office is four years. The basic requirements are:
Prepare for and attend Governing Body/committee meetings
All governors attend six Full Governing Body meetings per year, i.e. once per school term. These meetings are held on weekday evenings (usually 6.30pm-8.30pm) at school.
Governors are also a member of one or two of the Governing Body’s sub-committees. The sub-committees also meet six times a year/once per school term. Meetings are held at different days of the day during the week at school
The sub-committees are: Resources (Finance, Premises & Staffing), Learning & Teaching, and Working Together. There is also a Pay Committee which meets once a year.
Attend other meetings depending on the responsibilities you hold
For example, governors on the Learning & Teaching Committee meet with a member of staff to discuss an area of the curriculum (e.g. Writing, Maths) once per term before the sub-committee meeting. Or, you might serve on a short-term working party.
Regularly interact with the Governors’ Virtual Office between meetings
Governors use an online system for storing papers and holding virtual discussions between meetings. This is a secure website that can be accessed from anywhere you have internet access.
Attend meetings and events with members of the school community
Governors meet with staff, parents, pupils and others in our local community at regular intervals through the year, both to seek their input and to feed back on the work the Governing Body is doing. Governors are very welcome to attend school events such as assemblies, International Evening and more.
What skills do we need?
The most important attributes are enthusiasm and commitment: you’ll be prepared to use your life / work experience in a voluntary capacity to help school improvement.
We are currently very interested to hear from potential governors with teaching/education background and/or a finance/accountancy background and/or experience of chairing committees.
You don’t need to have experience of being a governor before: help, advice and training are available from various sources. Training is currently provided by Oxfordshire County Council and all governors can attend as many free training courses as they wish.
You need to be available to attend meetings, use the online Governors’ Virtual Office system (with training) and attend school events/other meetings during the year. We estimate that you need to have 2 hours a week available.
How do I find out more?
You can find out more about the Governing Body here.
If you would like more information please contact the school (office.2529@new-marston.oxon.sch.uk) and we can put you in touch with a member of our Governing Body for an informal chat. They can let you know if we have any current vacancies.
How do I apply?
Please write to the school (preferably via the school email) with a summary of your reasons for wanting to become a governor at New Marston Primary School and attach a CV.
What will happen if I apply?
The Governors and Senior Leadership Team will consider the request. We will make contact with you as soon as reasonably possible after that.
