Ask A Clerk provides advice to governors and clerks in maintained schools and academies in England. All advice has been written by an experienced clerk to governors.
NEW! I now offer online training courses for clerks in maintained schools. Read more about the training courses here.
If you are searching for a specific answer…
Here’s a list of all answers on this site which cover all aspects of school governance. If you can’t find the answer you can ask me a question directly.
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You can also look through the categories below to find articles grouped by subject. For example, the chair of governors category contains information on the procedure for electing the chair.
- Agendas
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- Chair of Governors
- Clerk to Governors
- Clerk Training Course
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- Miscellaneous
- OFSTED
- Only In Academies
- Policies
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- Recruitment, Induction and Training
- Regulations
- School Types
- Templates and Letters
- Terms of Reference
- Voting
- Worst Governors in History
If you are new to school governance…
I would recommend reading the following articles.
DfE Governance Guides
The DfE produce two Governance Guides, one for maintained schools and one for academies. PDF versions are available from Ask A Clerk.
A Clerk’s Meeting Cheat Sheet (Maintained Schools)
A quick reference guide to the most common questions a clerk is asked in a meeting of a maintained school.
Agendas For School Governor Meetings
Who drafts the agenda, who owns it, how far in advance agendas must be sent out and statutory agenda items.
Minutes For School Governor Meetings
How to write accurate minutes, how to record decisions, whether names should be included and minuting confidential items.
What is the quorum for a school governor meeting?
How to work out whether you have enough governors in the room to hold votes.
Voting At School Governor Meetings
A guide to voting procedures at meetings, including who can and cannot vote, whether governors can vote by email or proxy and what happens if a vote is tied.
What are the different types of school governor?
An introduction to the categories of governor (parent governor, staff governor etc) and who is eligible for the roles.
What is the instrument of government?
All maintained schools have an instrument of government listing the constitution of their board.
If you are a more experienced clerk or governor…
I would recommend reading the following articles.
Revised Versions of the School Governance Regulations
Consolidated versions of the Roles, Procedures and Allowances 2013 Regulations and the Constitution 2012 Regulations, showing all amendments from later laws incorporated into the text.
Do school governors need section 128 checks?
When to check if someone is on the “section 128” list.
Who can attend governing body meetings?
A guide to who has a right to attend meetings and whether parents, staff or members of the public can attend.
Can a chair of governors be removed?
What to do if the board decides the chair of governors is not fulfilling the role appropriately.
Do schools need link governors?
Whether there are any statutory requirement for link governors.
What happens if a governor is not attending meetings?
What to do if a governor, headteacher, clerk or chair does not attend meetings.
When do governors have a conflict of interest?
A look at the rules around financial and personal interests.
Should governors take part in job interviews?
What interviews governors must take part in and a look at whether they should take part in all school interviews.
Governor Skills Audit
A skills audit for governors and clerks adapted from the DfE Competency Frameworks.