Governors in maintained schools must take part in interviews for the headteacher and deputy head and can take part in interviews for less senior staff if they wish.
Academy trusts are free to decide whether trustees attend interviews or not.
The relevant law for maintained schools is the School Staffing Regulations 2009. This law explains that when appointing a head or deputy a minimum of three governors must form a selection panel to interview applicants and recommend a candidate for appointment.
“Appointment of headteacher and deputy head
Where the governing body advertises any such vacancy or post, it must appoint a selection panel, consisting of at least three of its members, other than a governor who is the headteacher or (as the case may be) a deputy headteacher, to—
(a) select for interview such applicants for the post as it thinks fit and, where the post is that of headteacher, notify the authority in writing of the names of the applicants selected;
(b) interview those applicants who attend for that purpose; and
(c) where it considers it appropriate, recommend to the governing body for appointment one of the applicants interviewed.”
An older version of this document, back when it was called Guidance on Managing Staff in Schools, recommended that governors should only be involved in appointments for members of the leadership team.
“It is recommended that the governing body delegates functions relating to staff appointments outside of the leadership group and all dismissals to the headteacher, unless it thinks this would be inappropriate.”
This advice also appears in old DfE guidance called The Governors’ Guide To The Law.
“The School Staffing Regulations allow the governing body to delegate many of its staffing functions to the headteacher, one or more governors, or a combination of the two.
“Where these functions relate to staff appointments outside the leadership group, the governing body should delegate them to the headteacher unless there are good grounds not to do so.
“The governing body of a voluntary aided school with a religious character may agree staffing policies, which provide for governor involvement in the interests of preserving the school’s religious character.”
The National Governance Association (NGA) produce a delegation planner to help maintained schools delegate responsibilities. Their planner recommends that the full board appoints the selection panel for the headteacher, deputy head and other seniors leaders and also approves the decisions of the panel.
When appointing other teachers and support staff the NGA recommends that the responsibility is delegated to the headteacher.
Safer Recruitment Training
Maintained schools must also comply with the law on safer recruitment outlined in the 2009 staffing regulations. This requires one member of every selection panel to have received training on safer recruitment, which will help them identify and reject unsuitable candidates.
“With effect from 1st January 2010, the governing body must ensure that—
(a) any person who interviews an applicant for any post under these regulations has completed the safer recruitment training; or
(b) in the case where—
(i) a selection panel is appointed for that purpose under regulation 15 or 27; or
(ii) the governing body delegates the appointment of a member of staff to two or more governors or one or more governors and the headteacher under regulation 4(1),
at least one member of that panel or group has completed the safer recruitment training.”
In academies these regulations do not apply, but DfE guidance states in the section on safer recruitment that it is good practice for panel members to be trained “appropriately”.
“Academies have responsibilities in relation to the health and safety and protection of their pupils; it would therefore be good practice for appointment panel members in academy schools to be appropriately trained.”
The DfE guidance recommends that schools can also seek advice from their human resources manager and the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) when recruiting staff.
“Selection panels should also take into account any advice provided by the school’s HR manager or provider. ACAS provides employers with a range of advice and guidance on its recruitment page.
“It covers many areas around recruitment that employers and governors who will be involved in the appointment process should familiarise themselves with.”
There is no statutory requirement for governing bodies to have a code of conduct for governors or trustees, but many schools find a code of conduct useful in order to set expectations on behaviour and explain the role.
It can also be useful if a governor causes problems at a later stage because the governing body can point to the values the governor agreed to uphold when they joined the board and signed up to the code of conduct.
If necessary the code can also form part of the evidence needed when considering suspending or removing a governor.
The DfE Governance Guides for maintained schools and academies recommend that governing bodies set up a code of conduct.
“Effective governing bodies create and maintain a code of conduct which is agreed by all governors.”
The Governance Guides also say that a governor/trustee who “persistently fails to attend training or development” may be in breach of the code and it “may be necessary to consider their position”.
A code of conduct can explain the main governor responsibilities: the ethos, vision and strategic direction of the school, holding the headteacher to account and financial oversight.
It can also clarify frequent areas of confusion such as the difference between the strategic role of governors and the day-to-day, operational role of the headteacher.
Bear in mind that codes of conduct do not carry any legal weight. A code is a set of expectations but it cannot over-ride the law that maintained schools must follow, or articles of association for academies.
For example, a maintained school could write in their code of conduct that governors must attend every single meeting without fail, but if a governor was missing meetings you would have no legal power to disqualify them unless they missed a full six months of meetings.
Model Code Of Conduct
The National Governance Association (NGA) produce a model code of conduct which they provide free to all schools, whether they are members of the NGA or not.
Two versions of the code are provided, one for maintained schools and one for academy trusts.
The NGA recommend that the whole board review and agree the code annually in the first meeting of the academic year. It’s probably not a good idea to hand this document to a brand new governor without any further explanation as the long list of expectations could be quite daunting.
“Boards should review and approve their code of conduct annually, ideally at the first meeting of the autumn term. When reviewing your code, reflect on the events of the previous year and consider if any changes are required as a result.”
The NGA code only contains space for the chair’s signature, because the expectation is that once the code of conduct has been agreed by the full governing body then all governors are bound by it.
“Once this code has been adopted by the governing board, all members agree to faithfully abide by it.”
Despite this I would recommend asking all governors to sign the code individually. If a governor breaches the code and is challenged they may try to argue that they did not personally agree to abide by it.
That would not be true, even if the governor did not attend the specific meeting where the code was adopted, because governing bodies make decisions collectively and governors must always enact the decisions of the majority.
However, it makes a difficult conversation easier if you can prove that the governor in question did sign the code themselves. If you use GovernorHub governors can sign up to the code electronically.
School governors are allowed to attend meetings “virtually”, for example over the phone or via a video link using web conference software like Zoom. Here are the rules for maintained schools and academies.
Virtual Attendance in Maintained Schools
The law says that governors at maintained schools can attend meetings using “alternative arrangements”.
“The governing body may approve alternative arrangements for governors to participate or vote at meetings of the governing body including but not limited to by telephone or video conference.”
The same law says that any decision to be made is decided by “a majority of the votes of the governors present and voting on the question”.
However, DfE departmental advice explains that governors can be “present” at the meeting virtually; they don’t need to be physically in the room.
“Members of the board and its committees must be present in a meeting to vote, but they may be present ‘virtually’, for example by telephone or video conference.”
Yes, maintained school governors can also attend committee meetings virtually. The original Roles, Procedures and Allowances regulations from 2013 just said that virtual attendance was acceptable at “meetings of the governing body” and did not refer to committees.
However, an amendment to the legislation made later that year clearly states that the rule also applies to committee meetings.
“The governing body may approve alternative arrangements for committee members to participate or vote at meetings of a committee including but not limited to by telephone or video conference.”
All participants should mute their microphones if they are not speaking to avoid background noise and feedback.
If governors need to withdraw because of a conflict of interest (eg: during the election of the chair) ask the host of a Zoom meeting to place candidates for chair in the “waiting room” while governors discuss the candidates and vote.
Alternatively use online form services like Microsoft Forms or Google Forms to collect votes for the ballot.
Governors cannot vote by email before the meeting, but they could email or text a vote to the clerk and then verbally confirm that their vote is unchanged at the meeting. You could also use any poll function built in to the software such as Zoom polls.
Be careful with “private” chat functions built in to online meeting services as they may be viewable by the host and can also be viewable as a transcript at the end of the meeting.
If you find it difficult to hear a specific person ask them to turn their camera off as this can free up some bandwidth and make the audio clearer. You could also turn off HD (high definition) video as it uses more bandwidth than standard definition.
Virtual attendance at a maintained school must be agreed by the whole governing body. The law says that the board may approve virtual attendance so there is no automatic right to attend using technology. If the board says no, it is not permitted. Trustees and local governors have the right to virtual attendance if it is permitted by your articles of association and academy trust.
You may wish to approve a policy on virtual attendance but there is no requirement to do so. Your policy could cover issues such as what happens if the technology breaks down and how governors are going to vote, for example by a show of hands.
Governors can vote virtually and therefore they will contribute to the quorum. For maintained schools this is clear in the law and also in the DfE departmental advice on the 2013 regulations, which says: “Members of the board and its committees must be present in a meeting to vote, but they may be present ‘virtually’, for example by telephone or video conference.”
For academies it is clear in the model articles (June 2021) that trustees attending virtually form part of the quorum. The academy trust decides whether committee members and local governors in attendance virtually also form part of the quorum.
Law for maintained schools suggests phoning in or using video conferencing but also states that schools are not limited to these two options. I’m struggling to think of another technology that you could use, but I suppose one could be invented in the future…
Virtual Attendance In Academies
Academy model articles of association (June 2021) allow for virtual participation of trustees at meetings by phone or “any suitable electronic means”. Whether local governors and committee members can attend virtually will be decided by your own academy trust.
“Any trustee shall be able to participate in meetings of the trustees by telephone or by any suitable electronic means agreed by the trustees and by which all those participating in the meeting are able to communicate with all other participants.
“A person so participating by telephone or other communication shall be deemed to be present in person at the meeting and shall be counted in a quorum and entitled to vote.”
In a maintained school governors can be suspended for up to six months. Some academies have the power to suspend trustees, depending on the wording of their articles of association.
The law gives governing bodies in maintained schools the power to suspend a governor for a fixed period of up to six months.
“The governing body may by resolution suspend a governor for all or any meetings of the school, or of a committee, for a fixed period of up to 6 months.”
A governor can be suspended in one of four circumstances only, details of which are described below.
The law says that “the governing body may by resolution suspend a governor for all or any meetings of the school, or of a committee”, so suspension is not automatic if one of these situations arises and the board will need to assess the seriousness of the issue before taking action.
When a Governor Can Be Suspended
The governing body of a maintained school can decide to suspend a governor if one of the following situations arises.
The governor also works for the school and disciplinary proceedings are bring brought against them in relation to their job. For example, a staff governor who is going through the disciplinary process.
They are part of proceedings in a court or tribunal which could lead to them being automatically disqualified as a governor if found guilty (see the long list of disqualification criteria). It really is a very long list, but examples would include being disqualified as a company director, being disqualified from working with children or being sentenced to three months or more in prison (without the option of a fine) in the last five years.
Note that this applies when the proceedings could lead to a disqualification, so a suspension rather than permanent removal is used in this instance so that a governor can be reinstated if they are found innocent of the charges.
The governor has behaved in a way that is inconsistent with the ethos or religious character of the school, which is bringing the school, governing body or the office of governor into disrepute. This is a vague definition which could be interpreted in a number of ways. It may help to have a code of conduct in place so that your board can agree on the desired conduct of governors for areas that are not laid down in law.
They have breached confidentiality. An obvious example would be revealing the contents of confidential minutes from governing body meetings to non-governors such as parents or colleagues.
The proposal to suspend a governor must be specified as an item of business on the agenda. This means it cannot come as a surprise to the governor in question and you cannot sneak it in as an Any Other Business item at the end of a meeting.
The agenda must be sent out at least seven clear days before the meeting. This applies to all agendas as standard practice, but in some cases the chair of governors can decide to hold a meeting at short notice. Theycannotdecide to do that if the suspension of a governor is being discussed.
Before a vote is held at the meeting the person who is calling for the suspension must say why they think the governor should be suspended. They should explain how the governor’s actions qualify them for a suspension under one of the four categories listed above.
The governor who is at risk of suspension must be allowed to make a statement in response.
The governor at risk of suspension must then leave the room.
The remaining governors vote on the question and if necessary vote on how long a period the suspension will cover. If a majority vote in favour the governor is suspended.
If the governor is suspended they still have the right to receive messages from the clerk telling them the date and time of the meetings, as well as agendas and papers from meetings, so the clerk can continue to send these as normal.
During their suspension the usual rule that governors can be disqualified for missing six months of meetings in a row do not apply.
One final item to note is that the restrictions placed on delegation in the 2013 regulations say that governing bodies must not delegate the power to suspend one of their governors to any individual governor.
This is common sense, as you would not want one person suspending a governor because of a personality clash or power struggle, but it does clarify that not even the chair of governors can suspend a governor without the approval of the board.
Can associate members be suspended?
The law on suspension in maintained schools refers to “governors” only rather than associate members, so there is no mechanism to suspend associate members.
However, the law also states that associate members may be removed from office by the governing body at any time, so boards may wish to remove the associate member completely.
Suspending Trustees In Academies
The current model articles of association, dated June 2021, do not refer to suspensions at all and so academies using these articles cannot suspend trustees. If your academy uses an earlier version of the articles the board may have different powers.
Let’s look at the December 2014 version of the articles, which say that the board of trustees can suspend a trustee for up to six months if they have acted in a way that contradicts the “professional ethos” of the board (including a failure to undertake training) or has brought the academy into disrepute.
“The board of trustees may by special resolution passed at a meeting of the trustees suspend a trustee for all or any meetings of the academy trust, or of a committee, for a fixed period of up to 6 months where the trustee has acted in a way that is inconsistent with the professional ethos of the board of trustees (which shall include a failure to undertake training appropriate to their role, whether or not directed to do so by the board of trustees) and has brought or is likely to bring the academy trust/any of its academies/the academy or the office of the trustee into disrepute.”
Old Model Articles of Association (December 2014)
How To Suspend A Trustee In An Academy
It is important to check what your own academy’s articles say, but the model articles from December 2014 use the following approach.
Note that a suspension requires a special resolution, as opposed to an ordinary resolution. This means that 75% of trustees must vote in favour, rather than the simple majority (anything over 50%) that is needed to pass an ordinary resolution.
As is the case in maintained schools, suspended trustees retain the right to receive agendas and papers from meetings of the trustees.
The suspension must be specified as an agenda item.
The trustee proposing the suspension must say why they feel it is necessary. The trustee at risk of suspension must be allowed to make a statement in response and then leave the meeting.
A special resolution must be passed in favour of suspension.
“A resolution to suspend a trustee from office does not have effect unless the matter is specified as an item of business on the agenda for the meeting.
“Before a vote is taken on a resolution to suspend a trustee, the trustee proposing the resolution must at the meeting state the reasons for doing so.
“In addition the trustee who is the subject of the resolution must be given the opportunity to make a statement in response before withdrawing from the meeting.
“Nothing in [these] articles may be read as affecting the right of a trustee who has been suspended to receive notices of, and agendas and reports or other papers for, meetings of the board of trustees during the period of their suspension.”
Old Model Articles of Association (December 2014)
If a multi-academy trust wishes to suspend a local governor who sits on a local governing body they will need to check the rules set out in the terms of reference for that local governing body.
Can suspended governors appeal?
Neither the law for maintained schools nor the 2014 model articles for academies require boards to have an appeals process for suspended governors.
It would be possible for a governor to complain to their own school about the suspension, because complaints policies should allow complaints to be lodged by anyone.
However, complaints must be heard by impartial people, so the school would need to recruit an unbiased investigator or panel from outside their own board. These people would have no power to reinstate the governor even if the complaint was upheld.
If all stages of the school complaint policy have been completed it may be possible to escalate the complaint to the DfE (maintained schools) or ESFA (academies), but these bodies will not normally reinvestigate the complaint. They will only check that the school has followed education legislation and statutory policies correctly.
Every school must elect a chair and vice-chair to lead the board.
There are few rules covering how to do this, but many maintained schools hold annual elections and current model articles for academies (June 2021) refer to elections in “each school year”.
This page explains the procedure to follow when electing a new chair. The procedure is the same whether the term of office for the current chair has expired or a previous chair has resigned.
Associate members cannot be candidates as they are not governors themselves.
Before the election is held the governing body must agree the date on which the chair or vice-chair’s term of office will end. There are no restrictions on the length of term you can use.
Candidates must not be employed by the school. This includes any member of staff, not just teachers.
A candidate can be any type of governor as long as they are not a school employee, so the chair of governors can be a parent governor, co-opted governor, local authority governor, partnership governor or foundation governor as long as they don’t work for the school.
When a vacancy for chair or vice-chair arises governors must elect a governor to the role at their next full board meeting.
Candidates mustleave the room during the election and cannot vote. This is because they are considered to have a conflict of interest under the regulations. It also lets governors discuss potential candidates freely.
“The governing body must elect a chair and a vice-chair from among their number.
“Prior to the election of the chair and vice-chair, the governing body must determine the date on which the term of office of the chair and vice-chair will end.
“A governor who is employed at the school as a teacher or as any other member of the school’s staff is not eligible to be chair or vice-chair of the governing body of that school.
“Where a vacancy arises in the office of the chair or vice-chair, the governing body must elect one of their number to fill that vacancy at their next meeting.
“Where a relevant person is present at a meeting of the governing body at which a subject of consideration is their own appointment as chair or vice-chair of the governing body the relevant person’s interests will be treated for the purpose of regulation 16(b) as being in conflict with the governing body’s interests.”
[Paragraph 16(b) states that when someone has a conflict of interest that person must withdraw from the meeting and not vote.]
Academies will need to check their own articles but the only restrictions in the model articles of association (June 2021) are that the election of the chair and vice-chair of trustees must happen every school year and academy trust employees are not eligible. It is up to each trust to decide on further procedure.
“The trustees shall each school year elect a chair and a vice-chair from among their number. A trustee who is employed by the academy trust shall not be eligible for election as chair or vice-chair.”
Rules for electing the chair of a local governing body will be decided by your own academy trust.
Who chairs a meeting of academy members?
Check your articles of association to see who chairs meetings of academy trust members, which are known as general meetings or annual general meetings (AGMs).
The current model articles (June 2021) say that members should elect a chair at the meeting by “ordinary resolution”. This means a majority vote, where more members vote in favour than against. (A “special resolution” would need 75% of members to vote in favour.)
“The members present and entitled to vote at the meeting shall elect by ordinary resolution one of their number to be the chair and such election shall be binding on all members and trustees present at the meeting.”
However, if your trust is using an older version of the articles they may say that the chair of trustees also chairs meetings of members. This is not considered good practice these days because it does not provide enough separation between the trustees and the members, but you do need to follow the articles if that is what they state.
Must we elect the chair in September?
No. An old law for maintained schools used to require elections in the first meeting of the school year, but this rule does not exist in the current law.
Model articles for academies (June 2021) do not contain this rule either, but as always in academies check your own articles to see the rules for your own trust board (or terms of reference if you’re electing the chair for a local governing body).
Can we elect a chair in their absence?
Yes, a candidate can be elected as chair even if they are not present for the election unless you have standing orders (maintained schools) or articles of association/terms of reference (academies) that specifically forbid this.
This is known as an election “in absentia” and it is sensible to allow it. The main consideration is whether the candidate’s overall attendance rate is good, not whether they are able to attend one specific meeting.
If you know in advance that a candidate will be absent you could ask them to submit a short written statement to the board to state why they will make a good chair.
Can governors vote if they are not at the meeting?
No. The usual voting rules for governor meetings apply, so voting in advance or by proxy is not permitted. You must be present at the meeting either physically or virtually to vote.
Can a governor self-nominate?
Yes. There are no set rules as to whether a governor or trustee has to be nominated by someone else or can self-nominate, so it is up to your board or academy trust whether to accept self-nominations.
Most schools will allow self-nominations, but it’s not an important question because if the governor cannot find even one person to support their candidacy they will never be elected!
Must faith schools have a chair who shares that faith?
In maintained schools the law does not insist that the chair of a faith school practises any particular faith. Legally the chair of a catholic school does not have to be a practising catholic, for example, or the chair of a Church of England school C of E.
However, the local diocese or linked religious body may recommend that the chair is always a foundation governor. If schools follow this recommendation the chair will usually share the religious beliefs of the school because the diocese will usually appoint foundation governors who are practising members of their religion.
(I have only seen this recommendation in guidance for voluntary-aided (VA) schools, where the foundation governors must outnumber the other governors by two.)
Here’s the recommendation from one catholic diocese which says the “Bishop wishes” the chair of any maintained catholic school or academy to be a foundation governor.
“In this diocese the Bishop wishes that in the case of all voluntary aided schools and academies the position of chair of the governing body or local governing committee be held by a foundation governor.”
In academies you will need to check your articles of association as well as any guidance from your local diocese. Current model articles for Church of England academies allow the chair to be any trustee who is not an academy employee.
However, current model articles for catholic academies say the chair must be a “foundation director”, in other words a person appointed by the bishop or religious superior. (Some academies call their trustees “directors” but the role is the same – these are the people on the main academy trust board.)
“The directors shall each school year elect a chairman and a vice-chairman from among the foundation directors. A director who is employed by the company shall not be eligible for election as chairman or vice-chairman.”
Yes, as long as your school or academy trust has not forbidden this; check any standing orders, terms of reference or articles of association to make sure.
Decide before the meeting how you are going to handle the election – here are some ideas for holding virtual elections.
Ask the host of a Zoom meeting to place candidates for chair in the “waiting room” while governors discuss the candidates and vote.
Governors cannot vote by email but they could email or text their choice of candidate to the clerk and then verbally confirm their choice at the meeting.
Be careful with “private” chat functions built in to online meeting services as they may be viewable by the host and can also be viewable as a transcript at the end of the meeting.
If you want a very low-tech solution simply ask the candidates to log in to the meeting 15 minutes after the start time and hold the election before their arrival.
If governors feel they do not need to discuss the candidates at all then another low-tech solution would be to ask governors to turn their back to their computers and raise their hands to vote, with votes counted by the clerk. If there is only one candidate governors may feel that they do not even need to turn around and may be happy voting verbally.
Electing Committee Chairs In Maintained Schools
Maintained schools must elect committee chairs annually. There are no restrictions on who can stand for committee chair, so school staff members are eligible in theory, as are associate members.
However, schools should be careful that any committee chairs who are also school employees are not “marking their own homework” or coming up against conflicts of interest.
The law for maintained schools says that committee chairs can either be appointed by the full governing body or elected by that specific committee. Common practice is for the committee to elect its own chair, although the governing body still retains power to remove any elected committee chair.
“A chair must be appointed annually to each committee by the governing body or elected by the committee, as determined by the governing body.
“The governing body may remove the chair to any committee from office at any time.”
Note that the above law only refers to committee chairs, not vice-chairs. There is no requirement for maintained school committees to have vice-chairs, although many do so they know who will deputise for the committee chair. It would be reasonable to choose a committee vice-chair in the same way that you choose the committee chair.
In strict legal terms the headteacher is eligible to be a committee chair but this would be a very bad idea. Committees are just sub-groups of the full board and one of the main functions of the full board is to hold the headteacher to account.
Opinions differ as to whether it is good practice for the overall chair of governors to chair committees, but if possible it’s probably best avoided so the workload is shared and another governor gains chairing experience.
If an associate member is committee chair bear in mind that the full governing body can choose to restrict their voting rights and associate members never contribute to the quorum.
You also cannot hold a vote at a committee if the majority of committee members present are not governors. A final point to consider is that associate members do not have the right to a casting vote if a vote is tied.
“An associate member has such voting rights in a committee to which that person is appointed as are determined by the governing body.
“No vote on any matter may be taken at any meeting of a committee unless the majority of members of the committee present are governors.
“Where there is an equal division of votes the person who is acting as chair for the purposes of the meeting will have a second or casting vote, provided that such person is a governor.”
Rules for academy committee chairs and vice-chairs are set by each academy trust, so check the terms of reference for that committee. Advice from the DfE is that academy employees should not chair committees.
“No employees are permitted to serve as chair or vice-chair of the trust board and should not chair a committee.”
The Academy Trust Handbook places some restrictions on specific committee chairs:
the audit and risk committee cannot be chaired by an academy trust employee, because no employees should be members of that committee
the overall chair of trustees should not chair the audit and risk committee
if the trust has a finance committee that is separate from the audit and risk committee, they should have two separate chairs.
“Employees of the trust should not be audit and risk committee members. The chair of trustees should not be chair of the audit and risk committee. Where the finance committee and audit and risk committee are separate, the chair should not be the same.”
Suggestions in this section are not required but you may find them useful to ensure a clear election procedure.
List the election as an agenda item. The clerk can either ask for nominations in advance by email or at the meeting itself.
If there is more than one nomination give candidates a few minutes to set out their plan for the school and why they would make a good chair. Warn candidates in advance that they might have to do this!
Cast votes using a written ballot, with votes counted by the clerk. Maintained school law from 1999 used to insist that “any election of the chairman or vice-chairman which is contested shall be held by secret ballot”. This law has been revoked but it is still best practice as it allows governors to vote anonymously and freely.
Set a term of office of one or two years for maintained school chairs. Any term shorter than this will not give the chair enough time to have an impact. A longer term may discourage governors from standing for election.
What happens if only one governor stands for chair?
Neither the law nor model articles say what should happen in this situation and I’ve seen differing views, either that the chair is elected unopposed or that governors should vote in favour or against your one candidate.
The National Governance Association (NGA) recommends that a vote is always held, even if there is only one candidate, saying that the board can vote against all candidates if it chooses and ask for new volunteers to come forward. (Their full advice is here but is only available to members of the NGA.)
“A vote by secret ballot will be held, even if there is only one nomination.
“The governors may reject all nominees for chair if they choose. If no candidate has the support of the majority of the governing body, another candidate will be sought from the floor.”
In practice this is rather a moot point because the governing body of any state-funded school has the power to remove the chair at any time so you will never be stuck with an unwanted chair.
The governing body of a maintained school also has the power to set any term of office for the chair, so if you wanted to get silly about it and you only had one (unwanted) candidate, governors could give them a very short term of office.
I suspect the most common practice when boards only have one candidate for chair is for that candidate to be considered elected unopposed and no vote to take place.
However, if you follow the NGA advice and always hold a vote, even when you only have one candidate, you might just find that it saves you one year from electing someone who will really struggle in the role – for example, a brand new governor who is very keen but has no experience of governance at all.
What happens if no-one stands for chair?
Both the law for maintained schools and model articles for academies say that boards must elect a chair at their next meeting if the role is vacant, but of course that doesn’t help you if no-one at all is willing to stand for election.
In the short term the vice-chair can chair the meetings. In maintained schools the vice-chair also acts as chair “for all purposes” if there is no overall chair so has the power to use chair’s action in emergencies. (Some academies may also have chair’s action; check your articles for details.)
It is possible to elect a joint chair of governors or trustees, sharing the role between two people. Boards could consider joint vice-chairs too. Volunteers may come forward if they can share the workload and responsibility rather than take it all on themselves.
Church schools and academies should contact their diocese or linked religious body as they may be able to suggest someone.
You could also advertise specifically for a chair outside of your current board. Maintained schools can contact the governor services department of their local authority as they may know someone who could fulfil the role.
All schools and academies can use their local contacts to find out if a governor from a nearby school might be interested in joining their board as chair. This person would of course need to be appointed to a vacant role on your board before being elected as chair.
You could also see if a current governor or trustee is willing to be chair for a shorter than normal period, perhaps six months or so, while a more permanent candidate is found. It is not sustainable for any school to be without a chair of governors so every effort must be made to find someone to lead the board.
The situation is less serious if you have a vacancy for vice-chair, although the law and model articles again say that a vice-chair must be elected at the next meeting.
The same advice applies if the vice-chair role is vacant: governors can share the role, take it on temporarily or find someone from outside the board.
What happens if no-one stands for committee chair or vice-chair?
For committee chairs the same advice applies as for the overall chair of governors/trustees: consider joint committee chairs, ask around at local schools, or advertise outside the school.
In maintained schools the law allows committees to function without vice-chairs, so they are not a requirement.
In academies your trust sets the rules for committees. They may allow the committee to run without a vice-chair, so check each committee’s terms of reference.
Laws That No Longer Apply
All of the rules below used to be part of governor law for maintained schools but have now been removed from legislation. They could still be used if you wish to but there is no legal need to follow them.
I’ve included them here as you may come across a situation where a governing body has followed a particular procedure for years without quite knowing why – it will often originate from an old piece of law.
The chair’s term of office must be between one and four years.Regulations from 2003 stated that terms of office must either a) be between one and four years, or b) that elections should be held at the first meeting after the anniversary of the chair’s or vice-chair’s election.
The election must take place in the first meeting of the autumn term. The 1999 regulations said the election must be held at the first meeting of the school year, but boards can now hold elections at any time. It is worth considering holding elections in July so that any new chairs and vice chairs can prepare for their role over the summer holidays.
Before the meeting the clerk shall ask governors whether they are willing to stand for election (1999 regulations). This is still good practice so you know in advance if there will be no volunteers.
The agenda shall list the governors who have informed the clerk they are willing to stand for election (1999 regulations).
If no-one is listed on the agenda as willing to stand for election, governors may state at the meeting whether or not they are willing to stand (1999 regulations).
The clerk must chair the meeting during the election of the chair (1999 regulations). In reality there is very little to “chair” for this part of the meeting and even less if you have agreed on the election procedure beforehand.
When governors cannot attend a meeting they should send their apologies in advance. This lets the clerk calculate whether the meeting will be quorate. However, apologies do not automatically have to be accepted by the board.
Apologies matter because the law for maintained schools and model articles for academies state that governors or trustees who miss six months of meetings without the permission of the governing body are disqualified.
If the governing body wishes to withhold permission to miss a meeting they can refuse to accept the apologies of a particular governor.
Rules for disqualification of academy committee members, including local governing bodies, will be set by your own academy trust.
“A governor who, without the consent of the governing body, has failed to attend their meetings for a continuous period of six months beginning with the date of the first such meeting the governor fails to attend, is, on the expiry of that period, disqualified from continuing to hold office as a governor of that school.”
“A trustee shall cease to hold office if they are absent without the permission of the trustees from all their meetings held within a period of six months and the trustees resolve that the trustee’s office be vacated.”
Neither the law nor the model articles say how apologies should be recorded. However, older law for maintained schools from 1999 (now revoked) says that clerks should record whether consent was given or not and this is still good practice.
“Where a governor has sent an apology to the clerk to the governing body before a meeting which he does not propose to attend, the minutes of the meeting shall record the governing body’s consent or otherwise to his absence.”
Clerks can record whether consent was given by writing “Apologies received from John Smith were not accepted” or by having separate lists of governor names, one list for the people present at the meeting and one for those who sent apologies. If apologies were sent but not accepted the clerk can write (apologies refused) beside the governor’s name.
If a governor misses one or two meetings and forgets to send apologies the clerk can just remind them to do so next time, both as a courtesy but also to avoid everyone traipsing into school only to find that you don’t have enough governors to form a quorum.
If a governor regularly misses meetings with no apology an agenda item could remind everyone of the need for apologies or governors may wish to discuss whether they wish to stop giving consent for the absences. A separate article looks at what to do if a governor is not attending meetings.
Should we record apologies if a guest cannot attend?
There is no need to record apologies for invited guests or observers. A staff member such as the deputy head may have a standing invitation to attend meetings but they have no governing responsibilities and their absence does not affect the quorum.
If someone has been invited to one meeting only and cannot attend the clerk can mention this in the minutes, but don’t include them in the “apologies” section. It should be clear from the apologies how many governors attended and how many sent apologies so you can see if the meeting was quorate at a glance.
Can apologies be accepted after a meeting?
Yes, in my view. I’ve seen guidance from local authorities that insists apologies can only be accepted if they are received before the meeting takes place, but this is not based on the law or current model articles (June 2021) which set no rules at all on how to deal with the specifics of apologies.
Old law from 1999 did refer to apologies being sent “before a meeting” but this law no longer applies. Neither the current law nor the current model articles include the word “apologies” at all.
The only rules outlined in the current law and model articles relate to whether governors give their consent for the absence. It seems harsh to refuse consent for every single apology sent retrospectively, even if Miss Jones has been run over by a truck on the way to a meeting and emails an apology a week later.
It’s also the case that a governor could have a family crisis or other urgent problem and simply forget to send apologies at all, but the board can still give their consent for the absence even if a fraught governor has failed to send an apology.
A board may also wish to give consent for a sustained period of absence for maternity leave for example, without demanding that the governor provide apologies for each meeting missed, particularly if they are not sure when they will be able to return.
In practice boards should not be spending valuable time arguing about the specifics of apologies as the only situation where it becomes relevant is when a governor is regularly absent and the board wishes to consider disqualification.
Minutes of a school governing body must be signed off to show they have been approved by governors or trustees as an accurate record of the meeting.
In a meeting of the full governing body minutes must be signed by the chair of governors or trustees, unless the chair is absent. In a committee meeting they must be signed by the chair of that committee, unless the committee chair is absent.
For maintained schools this requirement is from the Roles, Procedures and Allowances Regulations.
“The clerk to the governing body must ensure that minutes of the proceedings of a meeting of the governing body are drawn up and signed (subject to the approval of the governing body) by the chair at the next meeting.”
For academies the requirement is in the articles of association. This is what the current model articles say.
“The minutes of the proceedings of a meeting of the trustees shall be recorded and kept for the purpose by the person acting as governance professional for the purposes of the meeting; and shall be signed (subject to the approval of the trustees) at the same or next subsequent meeting by the person acting as chair thereof.”
Yes. The law for maintained schools says that if the chair of governors cannot attend a meeting or there is currently no chair of governors, the vice-chair “is to act as chair for all purposes”. All purposes would clearly include signing off the minutes at a full board meeting.
The situation is a little more complicated for committees because you may be surprised to learn that the law does not require maintained schools to have committee vice-chairs at all, just committee chairs. In practice it is still a good idea to elect a vice-chair for any committee and if the committee chair is absent the committee vice-chair should sign the minutes.
Model articles for academies (June 2021) also say that if the chair of trustees is absent from a full board meeting or there is currently no chair of trustees in post then the vice-chair can act as chair for that meeting and sign the minutes.
“Where the chair is absent from any meeting or there is at the time a vacancy in the office of the chair, the vice-chair shall act as the chair for the purposes of the meeting.”
Academy trusts can set their own rules for committee procedures so check your own articles and terms of reference for details, but usual procedure would be that the vice-chair of any committee can sign minutes in the absence of the committee chair.
“The constitution, membership and proceedings of any committee shall be determined by the trustees.”
In maintained schools the current law does not say what should happen if both the chair and vice-chair are absent, but it is reasonable to assume that a governor should be chosen to act as chair and that person can sign the minutes. The acting chair should not be a school employee because the overall chair of governors can never be a school employee.
To analyse the rules a little further, the current law says minutes should be signed “by the chair at the next meeting” which could mean either the overall chair of governors or the person acting as chair of that meeting.
Law from 2003 referred to “the chair of the next meeting”, which definitely implied an acting chair could sign the minutes. Law from 1999 explicitly stated that minutes could be signed at a meeting “by the person acting as chairman thereof”.
The 1999 law also explicitly stated that when both the chair and vice-chair are absent “the governing body shall elect one of their number to act as a chairman for the purposes of that meeting, provided that the governor elected shall not be a person who is employed to work at the school”. All of this suggests that whoever is chairing the meeting can sign the minutes.
One further clue that minutes can be signed by whoever is chairing the meeting is from the law regarding casting votes in the event of a tied decision. This regulation says that a casting (second) vote can be made either by the overall chair of governors or “the person who is acting as chair for the purposes of the meeting (provided that such person is a governor)”.
If the vice- chair was the only person apart from the overall chair of governors who could ever chair meetings, there would be no need for the law to specify “provided that such person is a governor” because the vice-chair must always be a governor.
For academies,model articles of association (June 2021) include the same wording as the 1999 regulations for maintained schools: minutes of a meeting of trustees shall be signed at the meeting “by the person acting as chair thereof”. The acting chair should not be an academy employee because the overall chair of trustees cannot be an academy employee.
Can the chair sign minutes of a meeting they did not attend?
Yes. Minutes can be signed by whoever is chairing the current meeting, whether or not they personally attended the previous meeting. Both the law and model articles say minutes are signed “subject to the approval of” either the board of governors or the board of trustees.
Therefore, the chair’s signature shows that minutes have been agreed to be a true and accurate record of the meeting by the governing body as a whole, not by the chair of governors alone. The chair is signing them on behalf of the board; they are not signing them to show that they personally approve the minutes.
When releasing minutes to the public maintained schools must only provide signed, finalised minutes (approved by the whole governing body).
However, model articles for academies (June 2021) state that academies should provide both a) draft minutes that have been approved just by the chair of that meeting but not signed, and b) minutes that have been approved by the whole board and signed by the chair. (The former will be available more quickly than the latter.)
Even when providing draft, unsigned minutes the model articles (June 2021) make clear that the draft version can be approved by “the person acting as chair of that meeting” rather than just the overall chair.
Does the chair need to sign every page of the minutes?
The chair doesn’t have to sign every page of the minutes but it’s a good idea to at least initial every page. This lets you distinguish between draft and final minutes if the pages become separated.
Current governor law for maintained schools doesn’t specify whether each page should be signed. However, a previous law from 1999 did specify that if the clerk produces minutes in a loose-leaf format rather than using a bound minute book, as most clerks will these days, the chair should initial every page.
“The minutes of proceedings of meetings may be entered on loose-leaf pages consecutively numbered; but in that case the person signing the minutes shall initial each page.”
The current academy model articles (June 2021) don’t specify whether each page should be signed but again, it’s good practice for the chair to at least initial every page.
Do supporting papers and policies need to be signed?
There’s no requirement in the law or model articles for reports, papers and policies to be signed. However, there may be some documents which need the chair’s signature, particularly financial documents such as the Schools Financial Value Standard (SFVS) in a maintained school.
Some schools may ask the chair to sign and date a policy to show it is the latest version approved by governors, but of course the approval will also be recorded in the minutes. There’s no need for chairs to sign documents such as the headteacher’s report, governor visit reports or safeguarding summaries.
When do minutes become public?
In a maintained school you can only release minutes to the public once they have been signed off by the chair of that meeting, after approval from the governing body or committee.
Academies using the June 2021 model articles can release both draft minutes that have been approved by the person who chaired that meeting or signed minutes after approval from the whole board or committee.
A separate article includes more information about making minutes public including dealing with confidential items and freedom of information requests.
In maintained schools any school employee who is employed under a contract is eligible to be the staff governor. They can be employed by the school directly or by the local authority, but they must work at the school they wish to govern.
In academies the DfE recommends that the chief executive officer or principal is the only employee to serve as a trustee, but staff can sit on committees such as local governing bodies.
Maintained School Staff Governor
In maintained schools the staff governor is one of the types of governor that make up the governing body.
The staff governor post can be filled by a teacher, member of support staff, catering staff or anyone else who has an employment contract to work at that school. It cannot be filled by someone who volunteers at your school.
An explanatory note in governor law makes it clear that staff governors do not have to be teachers.
“Regulation 7 deals with staff governors. This category includes both teaching and non-teaching staff.”
(The previous constitution law from 2007, which allowed schools to have multiple staff governors, insisted that at least one was a teacher unless no teachers volunteered for the role. That law has been revoked.)
The law says that it does not matter whether someone’s contract is with the school directly or with the local authority; both employees qualify to be a staff governor. This is also explained in statutory guidance.
“Staff governor means a person who—
(a) is elected as a governor by persons who are employed by either the governing body or the local authority under a contract of employment providing for those persons to work at the school, and
“Teaching and support staff who, at the time of election, are employed by either the governing body or the local authority to work at the school under a contract of employment, are eligible to be staff governors.”
The Academy Trust Handbook recommends that the CEO or principal is the only staff trustee, with no other trust employees serving on the trust board.
However, this recommendation only applies to trustees, not to committee members. So academies are free to recruit staff onto their local governing bodies and committees if their trusts allow it.
“Any newly appointed senior executive leader can only be a trustee if the members decide to appoint them as such, the senior executive leader agrees and the trust’s articles permit it. No other employees should serve as trustees.”
However, school employees are also eligible to serve as co-opted governors and foundation governors. They can be parent governors too as long as they work for the school for fewer than 500 hours per year.
“A person is disqualified from election or appointment as a parent governor of a school if the person is paid to work at the school for more than 500 hours in any twelve consecutive months.”
School employees cannot serve as local authority governors or partnership governors.
“A person is disqualified from appointment as a local authority governor if the person is eligible to be a staff governor of the school.
“A person is disqualified from nomination or appointment as a partnership governor of a school if the person is eligible to be a staff governor of the school.”
If you wish to appoint a school employee as a co-opted governor you must make sure that the total number of school employees on the board, counted with the headteacher and staff governor, do not make up more than a third of the total membership of the governing body.
This is to ensure a good balance between school employees and governors who are independent from the school.
“The total number of co-opted governors who are also eligible to be elected as staff governors, when counted with the staff governor and the headteacher, must not exceed one third of the total membership of the governing body.”
For example, if you have nine governors in total you can have one co-opted governor who is an employee, because that employee, plus the headteacher, plus the staff governor equals three people out of nine.
If you have twelve governors in total you could have two employees as co-opted governors. (Ignore vacancies when making these calculations.)
(Co-opted governors in maintained schools used to be called “community governors” and school employees were banned under the law from serving as community governors. This law has now been revoked so the rule does not apply to co-opted governors.)
For academies the DfE recommends that the CEO/principal is the only trustee who is also an academy employee.
Despite this the current model articles of association (June 2021) do allow for employees to be trustees but state that the total number of employees who are also trustees must not exceed one third of total trustees.
“The total number of trustees [including the chief executive officer/principal if they so choose to act as trustee] who are employees of the academy trust shall not exceed one third of the total number of trustees.”
Academy trusts can decide to appoint academy employees to committees such as local governing bodies. The number of employees allowed on each committee will depend on the rules of your own trust.
Can the deputy head be a staff governor?
Although the deputy head is not specifically banned from being a staff governor/trustee in the law or model articles it is not seen as good practice.
Governors need to challenge senior leaders to fulfil their role and that is difficult if there are too many members of the senior leadership team on the board.
In the schools I have clerked for the deputy head has either been an associate member or has not been a member of the board, attending meetings purely to take part in discussions and answer questions.
Can a member of the SLT be a staff governor?
Yes. If a member of the senior leadership team (SLT) becomes a staff governor the board should take their job role into account when allocating link roles and other responsibilities to ensure the governor does not end up “marking their own homework”.
For example, if the SENCO is a staff governor they should not also be the link governor for SEN, because of course they cannot ask themselves challenging questions about their own role. Another example is that the designated safeguarding lead (DSL) should not be your link governor for safeguarding.
It may also be difficult for the school business manager to serve as a staff governor because the budget is a major part of their job and oversight of the budget is one of the three core functions of school governance.
Therefore they would attend meetings where they were supposed to explain the budget to governors as business manager and then ask questions about the budget as a governor…
Indeed, any member of the SLT who joins the board must remember that they are in meetings as a governor, not a member of staff. They must challenge the headteacher if necessary, ask probing questions and vote in the best interests of the school, not just the staff. They are not in meetings to assist the headteacher.
However, neither the business manager nor any other member of SLT is banned from being the staff governor in the law for maintained schools or model articles for academies.
Can a parent be a staff governor?
In a maintained school the law allows someone who is a parent at that school to be the staff governor.
In an academy trust you would need to check whether your own trust has set rules on whether a staff trustee or staff governor role can be filled by a parent, but the model articles do allow staff trustees to be parents.
Can a union rep be a staff governor?
Yes, although it’s important to realize that the two roles are very different. Staff governors do not fight for the rights of staff, they make decisions in the best interests of the whole school.
The rep would also need to declare their union role in the register of interests as it may give rise to a conflict.
Do staff governors represent staff?
No. Statutory guidance for maintained schools explains that the role of the staff governor is the same as any other governor, not to argue in favour of anything that might benefit staff and canvass the views of school employees on issues raised.
“Their role will not be to represent staff, nor to stand alongside the headteacher in being held to account by the governing body, but to operate as part of the governing body to provide strategic leadership and to hold the headteacher to account.”
This is also made clear in the DfE Maintained Schools Governance Guide.
“Staff governors act as any other governor does. They are there to operate and make decisions in the best interest of their school, not their own or other staff interests.”
What happens if a staff governor leaves their job?
In maintained schools staff governors automatically stop being governors if they leave their job, as this role must always be held by a current school employee.
“Upon ceasing to work at the school, a staff governor of a school is disqualified from continuing to hold office as such a governor.”
However, school employees who are co-opted governors, parent governors or foundation governors can continue to be governors if they wish to, even after leaving their job.
In academies if your CEO/principal is a trustee they lose that role when they leave their job.
If you have other staff trustee or staff local governors their term of office will be stated in your articles or terms of reference.
If a headteacher has excluded a pupil there are some circumstances where school governors must set up an exclusion panel to consider whether the decision was correct.
For example, any decision to permanently exclude a pupil must be considered by the governing body.
The exclusion panel is often known as a governors’ disciplinary committee (GDC) because pupils can only be excluded for disciplinary reasons. It may also be known as a PEX panel, for Permanent Exclusion. The decision of the panel will be based on whether the child has broken the school’s behaviour policy.
In maintained schools this exclusion panel can be made up of a committee of no less than three governors. In academies it can consist of less than three governors if your articles of association allow it.
The governor panel must meet within 15 school days of receiving notice of the exclusion if any of the following apply:
the pupil has been permanently excluded (also known as being expelled)
it is a fixed term exclusion which means that the pupil has now been excluded for more than 15 days in a single term
it is going to mean a pupil misses a public exam or national curriculum test.
In a case where a pupil has been excluded for five days or fewer in total in a term, governors must listen to the views of parents but cannot overturn the headteacher’s decision.
If the pupil will be excluded for more than five days but less than 15 in a term, the panel must sit within 50 school days, but only if the parent has asked to be heard.
If a pupil is going to miss an exam or test governors must try to sit before that test; in maintained schools the chair or vice-chair of governors can hear the case alone if no other governors are available at short notice.
However, if it is impossible for governors to meet within these timeframes their decision is still considered valid, as long as they have made “reasonable” efforts to convene the panel within the limits.
Statutory guidance from the DfE says that the following people must be invited to the governor panel:
the parents
a friend or representative of the parents if they would like one to attend
the headteacher
a person from the local authority if it is a maintained school.
What happens if parents fail to attend?
The panel can go ahead if parents are absent. However, governors must have made “reasonable endeavours” beforehand to find a date and time that was convenient for parents to attend, within the time limits set out above.
Note that the decision of a governor panel is not invalid if it is made outside of the time limits, but governors must always try to stick to them.
“The governing board must make reasonable endeavours to arrange the meeting for a date and time that is convenient to all parties, but in compliance with the relevant statutory time limits.
“However, its decision will not be invalid simply on the grounds that it was not made within these time limits.”
The DfE do not provide an example agenda for the panel, but many LAs produce their own suggested agenda. If yours does not I have provided one on my templates and letters page.
LA exclusion agendas usually follow the same formula. The headteacher is asked to explain why the pupil was excluded and takes questions from those present. The parent and pupil can then explain their own case and take questions.
The LA representative comments on the case and takes questions. Once all questions have been heard the headteacher and parent/pupil summarise their views. Finally, everyone except the governors and clerk leave the room to allow governors to make their decision.
How should governors prepare for an exclusion panel?
Evidence should be gathered about the pupil’s behaviour and circumstances. This will include written witness statements and information held by the school such as details of an education and health care plan (EHCP) and the special educational needs of the child.
Depending on the reason for exclusion it might also include items such as attendance figures, referrals to outside agencies or a behaviour log. Include any letters sent to parents and relevant policies such as the behaviour policy.
This evidence, plus a list of those attending the panel, should be sent to everyone invited at least five school days before the panel will sit. That is the absolute minimum time acceptable, so in reality evidence should be sent sooner than this.
If a child under 18 is invited to be a witness their parents should be invited as well and asked for their consent. Governors should also make reasonable adjustments for any disability or language barrier.
They should think about how best to encourage the excluded pupil to contribute to the panel, bearing in mind their age, or how they could submit their views if they cannot attend in person. The clerk should be invited to the meeting to take minutes.
Should governors receive training on exclusions?
There is no requirement for governors to receive training before they sit on a governor exclusion panel, but it would be good practice for governors to be trained.
(Note however that members of an independent review panel, the next stage of appeal that is described later in this article, must receive training.)
Can staff governors sit on exclusion panels?
Although there is no ban on staff governors sitting on exclusion panels it would be difficult for them to take part because panels must be unbiased, impartial and fair.
A member of staff may have had at least some contact with the child or heard employees discuss them and so cannot be unbiased. It would be difficult for staff to challenge a decision made by their boss and they may think too much about what is best for staff rather than the pupil and school as a whole.
Similarly, if a parent governor knows the child in question or knows they are friends with their own child they should not sit on the panel. Governors should also not be involved if they have discussed the child’s situation with the headteacher prior to his or her decision to exclude.
“The decision to exclude a pupil must be lawful, reasonable and fair.”
Yes. Statutory guidance explains that “all parties” should have access to minutes of the governor exclusion panel.
“The governing board should ensure that clear minutes are taken of the meeting as a record of the evidence that was considered by the governing board. These minutes should be made available to all parties on request.“
Everyone except the governor panel members and the clerk should be asked to leave the meeting before a decision is made. The panel should decide whether the exclusion was correct, using the following advice from statutory guidance.
“The governing board should consider whether the decision to exclude the pupil was lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair, taking account of the headteacher’s legal duties and any evidence that was presented.”
The panel must think about the interests and circumstances of the child but also the interests of the other pupils and the staff working at the school. If governors are not sure whether something is true or not they only need to believe that on balance it is probably true; they do not need be certain if there is enough evidence to strongly suspect that the evidence is true.
“When establishing the facts in relation to an exclusion the governing board must apply the civil standard of proof; ie: ‘on the balance of probabilities’ (it is more likely than not that a fact is true) rather than the criminal standard of ‘beyond reasonable doubt’.”
The governor panel can only make one of two decisions.
Uphold the original exclusion.
Cancel the exclusion and reinstate the child, allowing the child to return to school immediately or at a set date in the future.
The decision and an explanation of the panel’s reasoning should be sent in writing to the parents, headteacher and the local authority. This should be a detailed letter that allows everyone involved to understand why the decision has been made; it should not simply state the decision itself.
Can parents appeal the governors’ decision?
If the child has been given a short, fixed-period exclusion then the governors’ decision is final. However, if a child has been permanently excluded and the governor panel have agreed with the original decision of the headteacher to exclude, the parents can appeal and the decision will be looked at by a second panel.
This second panel is called an independent review panel(IRP) and is arranged by the local authority or the academy trust, not the school itself.
Can the headteacher appeal the governors’ decision?
No. The parents are the only people who can ask for an appeal. If governors have decided to reinstate a pupil the headteacher will presumably disagree, unless further information has come to light during the panel, but the head cannot request an appeal.
Holding An Independent Review Panel
The IRP will be formed of either three or five people, made up of headteachers (or former headteachers), governors and a lay person to chair the panel (someone who does not work at any school).
The panel members must not be governors or employees from the original school. They must all have received training on how to run an independent review panel and the law around exclusions.
Governors from the original school have the right to be represented, so the chair will usually attend to explain their decision and defend it.
The independent review panel can either:
agree with the governors’ decision
recommend that the governors reconsider their decision, or
“quash” the decision (reject it because it is invalid) and direct governors to reconsider. The decision will only be quashed if there was a flaw in the way the original panel came to their conclusions.
Following the IRP the panel must write to “all parties” to explain their decision and the reasoning behind it.
If the independent review panel has recommended or directed that a decision must be reconsidered, governors must hold another meeting to review their original decision within 10 school days. If their original decision was quashed and governors still refuse to reinstate the child the school can be fined £4000.
The IRP can go ahead if the parents are absent. The LA or academy trust arranging the review must take “reasonable steps” to find a date that all parties can attend, but once parents have asked for the review it must begin within 15 school days.
“The local authority/academy trust must take reasonable steps to identify a date for the review that all parties, and any SEN expert appointed to give advice in person, are able to attend.
“However, the review must begin within 15 school days of the day on which the parent’s application for a review was made (panels have the power to adjourn a hearing if required).”
Can the same governors sit on the reconsideration panel?
Statutory guidance does not ban governors who sat on the original governor panel from also sitting on the reconsideration panel.
However, the National Governance Association recommends that governors involved in the original decision do not form the reconsideration panel. This will make sure that the case is being considered by fresh governors who have not already formed a view.
Do parents have a right to see minutes of the reconsideration meeting?
Yes. If an independent review panel has told governors to reconsider their decision they should make minutes of the reconsideration meeting available to “all parties”.
“The governing board should ensure that clear minutes are taken of the meeting as a record of the evidence that was considered by the governing board. These minutes should be made available to all parties on request.“
If you know a school governing body or individual governor who has had a real impact on improving the school there are several awards for which they can be nominated.
Outstanding Governance Awards from the National Governance Association (NGA), the national charity that supports all state-funded governors.
Awards are given out every other year with nominations usually accepted from September.
There are gongs available for an outstanding governing board in a single school, outstanding board in a group of schools, outstanding vision and strategy and outstanding clerk to a a governing board. The 2019 awards were presented at the House of Commons.
Honours such as the OBE (Office of the Order of the British Empire) and MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) can be awarded to school governors. The chair of governors is often the recipient but any governor can be recognised.
Only individuals can receive these awards so there is no way to nominate the full governing body. This list of new year honours for 2019 shows a number of governors in receipt of OBEs and MBEs.
More details on how to nominate a governor are available here and detailed guidance is available on how to write the citation.
You can also email the DfE’s education honours team at [email protected]
