Guidance on New School Governing Body Constitution

INTRODUCTION
The School Governance (Constitution)(England) Regulations 2003 which came into force on 20 March require all governing bodies to adopt a new model of constitution by 1 September 2006. The DfES sees this new ‘stakeholder’ model of determining the composition of your governing body as being designed to give you more flexibility than at present. All governing bodies will have to conform to this model and have a new instrument of government between the 1 September 2003 and 31 August 2006. The LDBS is recommending that schools consider the change for 1 September 2004. However, some LA’s may ask schools to work to a different timescale. This guidance is based on the DfES statutory guidance on the regulations. The full statutory guidelines can be downloaded from www.governornet.co.uk. A stakeholder group, or category of governor, in this context is a group of people who have an interest in the school.

CATEGORIES OF GOVERNOR

Foundation governors: are appointed to secure that the religious character of the school is preserved and developed, and conducted in accordance with the trust deed. In all voluntary aided schools, foundation governors must be in a majority of two. At least one-fifth of the foundation governors must be parents. It is likely that the Board will approve at its next meeting the following: ‘The LDBS wishes to retain a minimum of 2 representatives on all governing bodies. They recognise that the new guidelines put certain restrictions on categories of governors and that this may mean that governing bodies have more parental representation. Because of this they are in agreement that, should it be expedient, one of these representatives may also be a parent, subject to normal appointment procedures’.

Staff governors comprise:
(a) the headteacher (ex officio);
(b) representatives of other staff employed at the school.

All models have at least two staff governors: the headteacher and a teacher governor. If the instrument of government allows for three staff governors, the third place must be filled by a member of the support staff. The Board is recommending that all governing bodies consider having at least three staff governors to ensure the continuance of the staff governor category. If a staff governor resigns from their post at the school, they cannot continue as a governor. Staff governors are elected by the staff at the school.

Parent governors: are elected by the parents of registered pupils at the school, s/he must have a child at the school at the time of his/her election. A parent is disqualified from standing for election in this category if s/he is:
(a) an elected member of the LA;
(b) paid to work at the school for more than 500 hours in any 12-month period starting on the 1 August and ending on 31 July.

A parent governor may serve out his or her term of office if their child leaves the school. Where fewer parents stand for election than there are vacancies, the governing body may appoint someone. If they cannot reasonably find someone who is a parent of a registered pupil, they may approach parents of former pupils, or parents who have a child aged between 0 and 16. Governing bodies may find that they will need to have more parent governors and will need to consider the split between elected and foundation parents.

LA governors: are appointed by the local education authority. A person is disqualified from appointment as an LEA governor if s/he is eligible to be a staff governor of the school.

Community governors in voluntary controlled schools: are people who live or work in the community served by the school appointed by the governing body. Alternatively, a community governor may be someone whom the governing body believes to be committed to the “good government and success of the school”. No one may serve as a community governor if s/he is a registered pupil, an elected member of the LEA, or eligible to serve as a staff governor of the school.

NB: There is no category of community governor in a voluntary aided school.

Sponsor governors: are defined as a people who give or have given substantial financial assistance (including benefits in kind) to the school, or any other person who provides or has provided substantial services to the school. The maximum number of sponsor governors is two. The governing body must seek nominations for appointment from the sponsor(s). Sponsor governors do not count towards the total membership when calculating the numbers in each category in accordance with the principles in the table below. It is up to governors to define who their sponsors are.

An associate member: is defined as a person who is appointed by the governing body as a member of any committee, but who is not a governor. The governing body determines the term of office for such members up to a maximum of four years (the term cannot be less than one year).

Governing body composition
The composition of governing bodies is governed by the principles set out in the Regulations and is summarised below. These differ depending on the type of school. A governing body of any school may choose a size of governing body between 9 and 20 members. In calculating the proportion of governors in each category numbers should be rounded up or down to the nearest whole number. The enclosed table gives some suggested options.

The principles:

Term of office
The normal term of office will be four years for all categories of governor (except ex officio governors). Governing bodies may choose a shorter period of office for any category of governor, but this must be written into the instrument of government. Terms of office may not be less than one year and may not be changed without a prior change in the instrument of government. Governing bodies cannot have different length terms of office for different governors within a category. The Board is recommending that all governing body categories stay at 4 years.

Ex officio governors
In church schools there are two categories of governors which will have ex officio governors, i.e. governors appointed by virtue of the office they hold. One of these is the headteacher, the other will be the incumbent of the local parish. In some schools there may be more than one church representative. The headteacher may opt not to be a governor by writing to the clerk, this decision may be reversed at any time. If the position is not taken up by the headteacher it remains vacant. The ex officio incumbent foundation governor may also opt not to be a governor, in which case, a substitute will be appointed by the local Archdeacon. A substitute may also be found where there is an interregnum in the parish. This does not affect the right of a new incumbent to take up the ex officio position on the governing body.

Transitional provisions
Any governor who is serving on the governing body of a school prior to 1 September 2003 can continue in office, regardless of whether there is a place for them on the new governing body up to the expiry of their term of office, or 31 August 2006, whichever is the sooner. Most governors will simply transfer to the new governing body, but may find themselves under a different category, e.g. teacher governors will become staff governors and co-opted governors in controlled schools will become community governors under the new instrument.

Making the Instrument of Government

The regulations prescribe what must be in the instrument of government.

(a) the name of the school;
(b) the category to which the school belongs;
(c) the name of the governing body;
(d) the number of governors in each category;
(e) the total membership, including any sponsor governors and additional foundation governors (to equal the number of sponsor governors and retain the foundation majority);
(f) the sponsor(s) entitled to nominate;
(g) the name of those entitled to appoint foundation governors;
(h) details of the ex officio foundation governorship and details of who can appoint a substitute for them;
(i) the name of any person entitled to request the removal of the ex officio foundation governor and/or appoint a substitute;
(j) a statement to the effect the school has a trust deed, if applicable;
(k) a description of the religious ethos of the school; The LDBS recommends:

‘Recognising its historic foundation, the school will preserve and develop its religious character in accordance with the principles of the Church of England and in partnership with the Church at parish and diocesan level.
The school aims to serve its community by providing an education of the highest quality within the context of Christian belief and practice. It encourages an understanding of the meaning and significance of faith and promotes Christian values through the experience it offers to all of its pupils.'

(l) the length of the term of office of any category of governor, if less than four years;
(m) the date when the instrument takes effect.

A copy of the instrument must be given to every member of the governing body, trustees and the LDBS.

Action for governing bodies
Below is a flow chart of the action that needs to be taken; the dates are given as an example only the governing body can decide when the new constitution will come into effect (any time between 1 September 2003 and 1 September 2006). The timescale may be shortened, but governors should check with the LA first to find out how long they will take to make the instrument.

Notes:
[1] A model draft instrument can be provided by email request to penny.harvey@london.anglican.org. Please title your request Model Instrument (Name of School). Requests should only be made in the year the governing body is considering a change in constitution. The governing body will need to discuss the model and insert the number of governors to serve in each category in accordance with the suggested models overleaf or those in the DfES guidance.
[2] The trustees in many cases will be the LDBS, when this is the case only one copy of the draft will need to be sent. In most other cases, the trustees will be the vicar and churchwardens of the local parish. If you are in doubt please ring Penny Harvey for clarification on tel: 020 7932 1151.

A number of training sessions will be held in the autumn term giving guidance for governors. Please click on this link for details of the Governor Support Programme. If you would like an individual governing body session please contact Penny Harvey on tel: 020 7932 1151 or e:mail: Penny.

SOME SUGGESTED MODEL CONSTITUTIONS – OTHERS ARE AVAILABLE IN THE DfES GUIDANCE DOCUMENT

VOLUNTARY AIDED SCHOOLS

VOLUNTARY CONTROLLED SCHOOLS

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