Category: Meetings

Governors sometimes need to form a panel to decide whether disciplinary action should be taken against a member of school staff.

Clerking a staff disciplinary panel is less stressful than it might sound because it is led by a human resources (HR) advisor rather than the clerk to governors.

The HR expert will advise governors and make sure they follow your school’s disciplinary policy. The clerk helps gather the required number of governors for the panel but on the day of the disciplinary hearing you are (for once!) just there to take minutes.

What is the process for a staff disciplinary hearing?

Each school must follow its own staff disciplinary policy so that’s the first thing to check. Written guidance on holding disciplinaries is also available from ACAS (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service).

As a guide, the disciplinary process starts when an allegation is made against a staff member. An investigation into that allegation is carried out by either the headteacher or a senior member of staff.

The investigating officer may decide that no further action is needed or that the issue can be dealt with by offering extra training or an instruction on how to behave in the future.

If the investigating officer decides that the issue is serious enough they refer it to a staff disciplinary panel hearing. This is where governors become involved because they sit on the panel.

At the panel hearing the investigating officer explains the allegations and goes through the evidence. The employee is given the opportunity to set out their case and answer any allegations.

Witnesses can be called by either side. Both the investigating officer and employee can question the case put forward by the other party. The headteacher or governor panel may question any evidence presented and will be advised by the school’s HR provider.

The governor panel considers all the evidence and decides whether there are reasonable grounds to believe the alleged act or behaviour occurred. The governor panel also decides whether they think disciplinary action is justified.

If the staff member disagrees with the panel’s decision they can appeal to a second panel of governors, known as the appeals panel. The appeals panel should be formed of governors who did not sit on the first panel.

Can staff governors sit on staff disciplinary panels?

No. Any governor who is a school employee must not sit on a staff disciplinary panel. It would not be right for an employee to judge whether disciplinary action should be taken against their own colleague.

Which governors can sit on the panel?

Check your school’s own staff disciplinary policy, but generally any governors who are not school employees are able to sit on a staff disciplinary panel.

It’s common for policies to say that a panel of three governors is needed, as a three-person panel helps to avoid a tied vote. You should also check whether your policy states the chair or vice-chair of governors should be on the panel.

My LA’s policy says the chair or vice-chair should sit on the appeals panel, which is the second governor panel. That means that in my LA either the chair or vice-chair of governors should not sit on the first panel, because governors cannot sit on both the first and second panels.

The usual rules about conflict of interest apply to any governor panel. A governor who is biased or could be seen to have a bias must not sit on the panel.

That would include a governor who has a personal connection to the school employee, for example a governor who is related to them. It also includes a parent governor whose child is in the employee’s class.

Do governors need training to sit on a staff disciplinary panel?

No, there is no requirement for governors to receive training. However, training can be very helpful to ensure governors understand their remit and duties.

Does the clerk need training to clerk a staff disciplinary panel?

No, there’s no requirement for the clerk to receive training.

In this situation the clerk’s role is simply to take minutes, not to advise on procedures and law. It is the HR professional who offers advice to the governor panel, not the clerk.

My LA staff disciplinary policy says a “note-taker” must attend the disciplinary hearing. I’d usually object to a clerk to governors being called a “note-taker”, but in this case it is correct – we are only at the hearing to take notes.

What documents should be prepared before the hearing?

It is likely that the document pack will be prepared by school staff rather than the clerk. Every page of the document pack should be numbered to ensure everyone at the hearing can find a page easily and all attendees should receive the same information.

The document pack might contain:

• a written account of the investigation
• written witness statements
• the staff disciplinary policy
• the staff code of conduct
• HR records about the staff member.

Who attends the staff disciplinary hearing?

My LA’s staff disciplinary policy says the following people are invited to the hearing:

• the school employee who is the subject of the hearing
• the investigating officer
• the governors who are sitting on the panel
• HR adviser(s)
• a person accompanying the staff member, for example a union rep or a colleague
• any witnesses, eg: a teacher who saw an incident in the playground
• the clerk.

Governors who are not on the panel must not attend the hearing.

What decisions can governors reach?

The possible outcomes of the hearing will depend on your school’s policy and whether the employee has been disciplined before.

Depending on the situation and your policy the panel might:

• decide the allegations have not been proven
• issue a written warning or final written warning
• fire the employee with notice
• fire the employee without notice (immediate dismissal).
  

Who writes the letter to the staff member to inform them of the panel’s decision?

The HR adviser should write the letter as they are the HR expert, not the clerk to governors.

How do you write minutes of a staff disciplinary panel?

Minutes should be as detailed as possible and clearly show who is speaking. The minutes will be no use if they don’t make it clear what the staff member said in their defence, what the HR adviser advised, what the union rep said and so on.

I would try to stick as closely as possible to the actual words used. In a full board or committee meeting the clerk needs to summarise the discussion, but in a disciplinary panel clerks should try to avoid putting words into other people’s mouths.

You also need to avoid introducing any kind of bias into the minutes by accidentally presenting one party in a more favourable light or spending more time minuting the questions from governors than the answers given by the employee.

In a usual governor meeting you might be diplomatic and say “Governors had a robust discussion and decided to reject the idea” when what actually happened was a heated argument and governors expressing very strong views.

These kind of minutes are fine for board meetings where governors have collective responsibility and must arrive at collective decisions.

However, in disciplinary minutes it is better to record what actually happened as accurately as possible. Write “JC stated that was total nonsense”, rather than “JC denied the accusation”, so you avoid changing the meaning.

Ask for clarification if you have not understood something and let the chair know if you have fallen behind in your notes and need a pause to catch up.

You should also record any adjournments, for example if the panel take a bathroom break. You must also record in the minutes any time someone leaves or enters the meeting.

Witnesses may be asked to leave after they have spoken and the employee, together with anyone accompanying them, will be asked to withdraw temporarily while the panel make up their mind.

Should staff disciplinary minutes be sent to all governors?

No, definitely not. Minutes should be marked confidential and only shared with governors who were on the panel.

If the employee is unhappy with the decision of the disciplinary panel they may appeal and a second panel of governors will be needed to hear that appeal. The governors on this second panel must not have had any involvement in the case, which includes reading the minutes of the initial panel.

The full board of governors can be told that a staff disciplinary hearing took place, but no other information should be shared with them.

The circle model of school governance lets schools hold full governing body meetings but scrap most of their committee meetings.

This article explains how governing without committees works in practice. It also provides a comprehensive annual planner that can be used to adopt the circle model in your setting.

Can we really abolish all committees?

In maintained schools there is no legal requirement to run any committees at all. However, it is good practice to keep a pay committee so that some governors are not involved in pay decisions and are therefore free to hear pay appeals. All other committees can be abolished.

In academy trusts the Academy Trust Handbook says that each trust must have an audit and risk committee and should have a finance committee. It is also considered good practice to run a pay committee. All other committees can be abolished.

In multi-academy trusts the local governing bodies (LGBs) are committees of the trust board, so trustees have the power to scrap any LGB. This would be a significant step though and more radical than abolishing committees at the trust board level. This page assumes you are considering scrapping committees that are not LGBs.

Committees Versus Panels Versus Working Groups

Before we discuss the circle model I need to explain the difference between committees, panels and working groups. There is some overlap in how schools use these terms, but here are the most common definitions.

Committee: a small group of governors with delegated decision-making powers. It meets regularly to discuss the same subject, eg: finance or the curriculum. Committees are sometimes called standing committees, with “standing” meaning “permanently in place”.

Panel: a small group of governors with delegated decision making-powers. It meets rarely and only when a need arises, eg: to consider the later stage of a parent’s complaint. Panels are sometimes called ad hoc panels.

Working group: a small, informal group of governors. It meets to talk about a particular issue, for example a policy, but has no decision-making powers.

The circle model gets rid of most committees.

You still need panels so that governors can hear complaints, consider staff disciplinary matters and so on.

You are free to use working groups for any purpose, but there is never a requirement to use a working group for any reason.

Why is it called the circle model?

No decisions are delegated down to committees, so all the power stays within full board meetings. Picture a circle of meetings around a calendar year, each full board meeting feeding into the next one.

If you had committees the circle would be broken because power would be delegated down from the full board to each separate committee, so the structure would look more like a flowchart than a circle.

Funnily enough some schools refer to the circle model as a flat model rather than a circle, because all the power is kept on one flat level – the full board level – rather than delegated down.

I don’t really know how a structure can be both flat and circular at the same time, but that’s one of the great mysteries of school governance…

How does the circle model work?

The work of the scrapped committees is incorporated into an increased number of full board meetings. Each full board meeting will often have one main focus, such as the budget or educational standards.

Meetings are planned to match relevant dates, so a finance-focused meeting is held when the budget needs approval. The policy schedule can also be planned so relevant policies fall into the most relevant meeting.

Rather than a wide-ranging headteacher’s report that covers absolutely everything, the head can be asked to produce shorter, more focused reports that just cover the subjects on that meeting’s agenda.

Individual or pairs of governors are then assigned to monitor areas that would have been covered by committee work. They need to visit school regularly, speak to staff in charge of areas like SEND or safeguarding and then produce written reports to feed back to the full board.

Circle Model Annual Planner

A fellow clerk has very kindly given me permission to share her annual planner for the circle model – many thanks to the clerk in question! This Excel planner was used in a maintained school.

Section one shows the meeting schedule for the year, with full governing body meetings and pay committee meetings planned. One FGB per year is dedicated to the budget in April and one FGB to admin tasks in September (electing the chair, assigning link roles and so on).

Section two provides comprehensive agendas for all meetings across the year. Section three lists the link governors and their areas of expertise.

Section four records the working groups the school used, which in this case included a group discussing the school improvement plan and a group creating a risk register.

Before you download the file here’s a tip from the clerk who shared it with me – it is important that governors keep on top of monitoring under the circle model, including both carrying out the visits or discussions and reporting them back to the board. This may need chasing by the clerk or chair.

The clerk also noted that her school runs three governors days each year where governors can walk round the school, conduct monitoring tasks and take part in training. This lets them cover much of the monitoring that is needed.

Download Circle Model Annual Planner (.xlxs Excel file)

Advantages of the Circle Model

The circle model comes with both pros and cons. Let’s look at some of the advantages first.

Everyone knows everything! Because all governors are attending all meetings they have a much broader view of what is happening in school. It can be easier to follow discussions because they hear about all aspects of school life.

No repetition of committee work. A common pitfall under a committee model is that a decision is made at committee level and then rehashed all over again at a full board meeting. This wastes time and defeats the purpose of delegation.

No clashing of committee work. A decision made in one committee can easily impact the work of another. This is avoided if all decisions come to FGB.

Full board decisions may be made more urgently. This will depend on how many FGB meetings you have, but many schools who run committees only hold one full governor meeting per term, which can delay decisions that can only be made by the full board.

It can suit smaller governing bodies. If you struggle to recruit governors you may not have enough people to form multiple successful committees. I’ve worked in a school where we could just about form committees but the meetings were often inquorate because just one governor couldn’t attend.

Agendas can be easier to plan. All subjects are the business of the full governing body and do not need to be shared among multiple committees according to their terms of reference.

It may be easier for busy governors. Rather than needing to attend committee meetings at times convenient for all committee members, governors can arrange to conduct their monitoring visits at times that suit them (as long as the times suit the school staff too, of course).

It avoids delegation confusion. Most clerks will have had a conversation with governors about a decision they are trying to make in a committee that actually requires the approval of the full board. If all decisions go to the full board this problem is avoided.

Disadvantages of the Circle Model

Here are the downsides of the circle model, along with some ideas on avoiding these challenges.

Lack of time for really detailed discussions. When committees work well they allow for a forensic look at a specific subject, for example the budget. Some schools call committees the “engine room” of governance because that’s where they feel the most important work is done.

Solution: Make sure you hold enough full board meetings throughout the year. Form working parties if needed. Encourage governors to read all papers, reports and data before the meeting so they can ask informed and challenging questions.

Governors must commit to school visits. In all schools governors must visit regularly, but this is vital when using the circle model as a lot of monitoring previously done by committees will now be done by individuals or governor pairs. Written reports must then be discussed at the full board.

Solution: Make sure governors understand the commitment required for the circle model. Work with the clerk to write a monitoring plan that accommodates governors’ schedules. Provide governors with an example visit report. Ask the clerk to chase visit reports.

It can be daunting for new governors. They may be more comfortable starting out in a committee with their colleagues rather than visiting a school alone.

Solution: Assign people into monitoring pairs or give them a more experienced governor buddy. Make sure they have access to training and support from the clerk or outside organisations.

You need a strong chair. The chair will have no back-up from committee chairs and will be responsible for approving all draft agendas and minutes. They may also need to encourage governors who are not undertaking the necessary monitoring.

Solution: The only solution to this one is electing a good chair, but the board can help itself by ensuring a succession plan is in place for the chair and giving them access to training. Also make sure the vice-chair is giving support.

Danger of long meetings. The circle model can result in very long meetings as nothing is delegated down. Two hours is considered a rough maximum for a full governor meeting, with two and a half hours absolute maximum. After three hours everyone is asleep.

Solution: The clerk and chair should work together to plan out annual agendas. Working parties can look at subjects in detail and bring a recommendation to the full board. Get anything operational off the agenda and remember that most policies do not need annual approval and some do not need governor approval at all.

It may not suit large boards. If you have a larger than average board ditching committees may make it harder for all governors to be heard in meetings and make discussions less manageable.

Solution: Jettison half your governors. (Just kidding.) Consider that a structure that includes committees may suit your board better.

How many full governor meetings do you need under the circle model?

It is up to the board to decide, but a standard minimum under the circle model seems to be six full governor meetings per year, so one meeting each half-term.

(The absolute minimum number of full board meetings for both maintained schools and academies is three per year, but three meetings will not be nearly enough under the circle model.)

Between each meeting individual governors or governor pairs visit the school and write a report that is discussed at the next meeting.

Does the full board need terms of reference under the circle model?

Strictly speaking the answer is no, because terms of reference describe how power is delegated and in this model all the power remains with the full board.

However I would recommend agreeing terms of reference that describe the circle model, how many meetings per year will be held and the responsibilities of the full board. This avoids any confusion and reminds you that if you do set up committees in the future those committees will need terms of reference themselves.

The terms of reference should also explain how many monitoring visits governors are expected to undertake per term.

There is no set list of topics that must be covered in a written headteacher’s report to governors. Each report must focus on the priorities of the individual school and contain the information that governors request.

This page lists some topics that could be included, while explaining why you should not just copy a template from another school. It also covers who decides on the contents of the report, the importance of “triangulation” and whether a termly report is a statutory requirement.

What are the most common topics?

The Education Act 2002 says that the headteacher of a maintained school shall provide the reports that are required by governors “for the purposes of the exercise of any of their functions”. In other words, reports that enable governors to carry out their role.

“The headteacher of a maintained school in England or Wales shall provide the governing body with such reports in connection with the discharge of his functions as may be required (either on a regular basis or from time to time) by the governing body for the purposes of the exercise of any of their functions.”

Education Act 2002 (Section 30)

There’s no equivalent law for academies, but in all schools the three key functions of governors/trustees are 1) to set the strategic direction, vision and ethos of the school, 2) to hold the head to account for educational performance and 3) to oversee the finances.

The headteacher’s report supplies the board with some of the key information they need to fulfil these three main functions, although it should not be their only source of knowledge.

Data Reporting

Data is a key feature of the head’s report. This could be internal data or external data from the DfE and OFSTED. The head should provide in particular information about areas that governors are trying to improve.

This ties in to governors’ monitoring role because of course if they are not tracking the impact of their decisions, policies and spending they will never know whether their work has made a difference. Data could be on:

• pupil learning and progress
• pupil literacy and numeracy
• pupil applications and admissions
• attendance and exclusions
• staff deployment, absence, recruitment, retention, morale and performance
• the quality of teaching.

Here’s a more detailed list of topics that might be included in the headteacher’s report, depending on the key priorities at that time and the key weaknesses identified by the board.

• Pupil learning and progress – how far pupils have progressed in each subject or key stage; progress of key groups such as pupil premium or SEN children, or boys versus girls.
• Pupil applications, admissions, attendance and exclusions – governors need to see if income will fall or rise due to the number on roll, if the school may be over-subscribed, if attendance is poor or if exclusions are trending upwards.
• Pupil attainment – what pupils have achieved in terms of exam results, SATs results etc, including data on specific pupil groups and comparisons with previous cohorts.
• Staff deployment, absence, recruitment, retention, morale and performance.
• Quality of teaching – perhaps a report giving an overview of the current quality of teaching and lesson observation data.
• Summary of reports from external advisers or assessors, eg: school improvement officer, OFSTED inspector.
• Feedback from stakeholders: staff, pupils, parents and the local community.
• Updates to the school development plan (SDP) or school improvement plan (SIP) – a key element should be progress that has been made towards the strategic aims set by governors and whether targets have been hit.
• Safeguarding – an overview of incidents recorded, an update on local issues.
• Health and safety – incidents such as emergencies, any audits or external reports, premises and buildings information.
• Details of the school self-evaluation (SEF).
• A summary of complaints.

Detailed guidance on the data that governors should receive can be found in Understanding Your Data: A Guide for School Governors and Academy Trustees.

Consider using a template for data that remains consistent at each meeting. Data should be shown in context, perhaps with graphs, so governors can spot trends and highlight problems that may be escalating. It is no good showing governors an attendance figure of 91% if no-one can remember what the figure was last year!

(There may be occasional exceptions to this, however. For example, a school may not wish to present safeguarding incident figures as a graph that shows previous figures, because staff should be encouraged to record all safeguarding incidents, not to chase a reduction of incidents on paper.)

Budget Reports

The budget may form part of the head’s report or may be a separate report, but governors should receive information on the budget at least six times per year in maintained schools, as recommended by the Schools Financial Value Standard (SFVS).

“Does the governing body receive clear and concise monitoring reports of the school’s budget position at least six times a year?

“A clear and concise monitoring report will enable the governing body to review income and expenditure against the agreed budget. It will identify variances, provide meaningful explanations for these and explain what will be done to re-balance the budget.

“It should be in an easy to understand format that can be automatically generated from base financial records.”

Schools Financial Value Standard (SFVS) for Maintained Schools

Note that the budget report should be “concise” rather than all-encompassing. It should identify “variances”, which means the difference between the amount the school planned to spend on a specific area and the amount it actually spent. It should also provide explanations for these differences in spending.

It should be in a format that can be “automatically generated”; in other words, the business manager should not have to spend hours producing a bespoke report just for governors.

Headteacher’s Report Template

I have not provided a template or example for the head’s report because the National Governance Association (NGA) specifically advise against using a blank template for your own report.

Governing bodies should discuss exactly what they wish to see in the report and how they want it presented rather than pasting into a template that may not reflect the school’s aims, priorities and challenges.

“Like so much to do with governance, reducing the key reporting document for any governing board to a template would not do justice to any headteacher, governor or board.”

National Governance Association (Full Article for NGA Members Only)

Is a termly headteacher’s report statutory?

No. There is no statutory requirement for headteachers to write reports to governors at any set interval, apart from the budget report requirements mentioned above.

Section 30 of the Education Act 2002 requires maintained school heads to provide reports to governors either regularly or “from time to time”.

Many local authorities recommend that a termly written report is produced and I suspect this is because governors must meet three times per year at minimum, so some schools hold one full governing body meeting per term.

Even though a termly written head’s report is not mandatory, most boards will want their headteacher to provide regular written reports. They should ask for as many written reports as they need, while bearing in mind the head’s work-life balance and their own access to other sources of data. Most schools will have a mix of written and verbal head’s reports.

Who decides what goes in the report?

The governing body. I remember reading an account from a despairing governor who said their headteacher’s report was full of trivial, operational information about school trips and assemblies, seemingly unaware that the governing body does not have to meekly sit and listen to whatever the head decides to tell them!

I also remember reading about a clerk who would shush any governors who dared to interrupt the report, sternly telling them “This is the headteacher’s report”, as if the head owned that part of the meeting and was suddenly the boss of the whole governing body.

It may be helpful to think of it as the head’s report for governors, rather than to them. The report is for the governors; they cannot carry out their role without the right information. The head should not be telling them only what he wants them to know and if he is, governors should be challenging this.

The head’s report should focus on the strategic information that governors require. If it doesn’t then governors must ask for the information they need in order to carry out their role.

How long should the report be?

There’s no way to answer this, except to say it should be long enough to contain the necessary information but not so long that it takes ages to write and ages to read. (Or seconds to read because governors see it is 60 pages long and give up immediately.)

Reports should be concise, focused and should not create a large amount of extra work for the head.

Remember that governors must not rely solely on the head’s report for their information. Part of their job is to hold the head to account and triangulate the data they receive, which means using multiple sources of data and knowledge to check that the information is correct.

For example, if the head tells you that the behaviour policy is working well because permanent exclusions have decreased, how can governors check that is true? Have they asked for data on fixed term exclusions and detentions? Have they read reports from a school improvement partner or OFSTED? Have they visited the school to see how the policy is implemented?

Triangulation could involve comparing the head’s report with the view from an external advisor, for example, or data from other sources such as Analyse School Performance (ASP) or the Fischer Family Trust (FFT). Governors must not use the head’s report as their only source.

Should the headteacher’s report be read out in full at the meeting?

No. Governors should have received and read the report in advance because all papers should be sent out in advance.

At the meeting the head can briefly talk through the report, explain the most important points and provide updates on any changes since the report was written. Governors can then ask questions or request further information.

You may wish to make this clear on the agenda, so rather than an item just saying “Headteacher’s report” the item could be called “Questions arising from headteacher’s report”.

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.”

Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) Regulations 2013

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.”

DfE Departmental Advice on Roles, Procedures and Allowances Regulations

Can governors attend committees virtually?

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.”

Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) Amendment Regulations 2013

Tips For Holding Virtual Governor Meetings

If you are going to hold virtual board meetings here are some tips to help the proceedings run smoothly.

• The most common software used by schools includes Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet.
  
• 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.”

Model Articles of Association (June 2021)

The role of school governors is to provide support and challenge to the school and asking the right questions is a key part of this.

Here are a wide range of questions that governors should be asking, either in meetings or as part of a governor self-evaluation process.

Questions From My Clerking Experience

These are some of the best questions that I have heard governors ask and points I have heard them raise over the years that I have been a clerk.

Being Strategic

• Where do we want the school to go and how are we going to get there?
• How can governors monitor the school improvement plan?
• Do meeting agendas show that we are spending most time on the highest priorities of the school?
• What needs to change for pupils?
• What needs to change for staff?
• Do we have the right committees in place? Would our governing body work better with fewer or no committees?
• What difference is this idea going to make for pupils and how will we know that it works?
• Who is going to take responsibility for this change and who is going to check that it has been done?
• Is the clerk minuting action points showing the name of the person responsible and their deadline? Do we check at the next meeting that these actions have been completed?
• What baseline evidence can we see before we start using this intervention or making this change?

Approving Policies

• Do we have a policy schedule that means we review all policies as often as the law requires? Would we realise if we had not approved a policy for years?
• Is this policy dictated by the local authority or a multi-academy trust or is it written by school staff? (If governors have no power to change it they may wish to approve it quickly and move on.)
• Are we reviewing some policies too often or spending too long discussing policies that do not have much impact?
• Do we give most time to the policies that really affect the education and wellbeing of the children?
• Do we need to keep all our policies or could some be scrapped or merged together?
• Are we rubber-stamping policies without questioning their purpose?
• Are governors checking the grammar, spelling and minutiae of policies but not checking their overall impact on the children’s education?
• How do we check that policies are being implemented in school and are having the desired impact?

Looking At Data

• Which groups are doing well and which are struggling – boys versus girls, SEND pupils, pupil premium, ethnic minorities? How are we closing any gaps?
• What are the strength and weaknesses of the school?
• How often do we look at data on: attendance/exclusions, attainment and progress, staffing and class sizes, income and expenditure, trends in safeguarding data or accident reports, staff absence figures, satisfaction of pupils, staff and parents from feedback surveys and complaints.
• How do our results compare with similar schools locally or nationally?
• Is there are a class or a year group that is “stuck” and not making progress? How can we address that?
• How do we know that this information is robust and accurate?
• Can we triangulate data with a second source? What about the view of an external adviser? Or evidence from governors’ school visits?

Finance And Budgets

• Why has spending on this item increased and how can we justify it?
• Do governors ever say no to proposed spending? Why not?
• How does our school compare to similar schools in terms of percentage of the budget spend on staffing, or training, or photocopying, or IT?
• Can we use a benchmarking report to see how much local schools are spending compared to us and where we can make savings?
• How much does the school get in pupil or sports premium and how do we know it is being spent wisely?

Offering Support

• Do subject leaders have all the resources they need to work effectively?
• How can we help teachers to improve – do they need extra training? Time? Textbooks? Computers?
• How do governors engage with staff and parents and listen to their concerns?
• Do staff worry about governor visits or find them stressful? Do they know that governors are not judging the quality of teaching?
• Does the staff governor liaise well with other staff? Do all employees know who the staff governor is?
• How is the work/life balance of staff and how do we monitor this?
• Do we congratulate staff on their achievements and thank them for their efforts? While criticisms of named staff should be in confidential minutes, congratulatory messages can be public. The clerk can minute expressions of support, eg: “Governors congratulated all staff on the excellent GCSE results this year.”

Questions from the Old Governance Handbook (2020)

On Educational Performance

• Which groups of pupils are the highest and lowest performing, and why? Do school leaders have credible plans for addressing under-performance or less than expected progress? How will we know that things are improving?
  
• How is the school going to raise standards for all children, including the most and least able, those with special educational needs, those receiving free school meals and those who are more broadly disadvantaged, boys and girls, those of a particular ethnicity, and any who are currently underachieving?
  
• Which year groups or subjects get the best and worst results and why? How does this relate to the quality of teaching across the school? What is the strategy for improving the areas of weakest performance?
  
• Is the school adequately engaged with the world of work and preparing their pupils for adult life, including knowing where pupils go when they leave?
  
• How is the school ensuring that it keeps pupils safe from, and building their resilience to, the risks of extremism and radicalisation? What arrangements are in place to ensure that staff understand and are implementing the Prevent duty?
  
• Are senior leaders including (where appropriate) the CEO and finance director getting appropriate continuing professional development?
  
• Does the school have the right staff and the right development and reward arrangements? What is the school’s approach to implementation of pay reform and performance-related pay? If appropriate, is it compliant with the most up-to-date version of the school teachers’ pay and conditions document? Is the school planning to ensure it continues to have the right staff?
  
• Have decisions been made with reference to external evidence, for example, has the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) Toolkit been used to determine pupil premium spending decisions? How will the board know if current approaches are working and how will the impact of decisions and interventions be monitored using appropriate tools such as the EEF DIY evaluation guide?
  
• Are teachers and support staff being used as effectively and efficiently as possible and in line with evidence and guidance?
  
• To what extent is this a happy school with a positive learning culture? What is the school’s record on attendance, behaviour and bullying? Are safeguarding procedures securely in place? What is being done to address any current issues, and how will we know if it is working?
  
• How good is the school’s wider offer to pupils? Is the school offering a good range of sports, arts and voluntary activities? Is school food healthy and popular and compliant with the School Food Standards?
  
• Is the school encouraging the development of healthy, active lifestyles by using the PE and sport premium for primary schools to fund additional and sustainable improvements to the provision of PE and sport?
  
• Is the school promoting high-quality provision in literacy and numeracy using, where appropriate, the Year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up premium, to make a positive difference in the attainment of pupils?
  
• How effectively does the school listen to the views of pupils and parents?
  
• How effectively does the organisation listen to the views of staff, and ensure work/life balance for their workforce, and how does the organisation review and streamline unnecessary workload whilst maintaining high standards?

On Finances

• Are resources allocated in line with the organisation’s strategic priorities?
  
• Does the organisation have a clear budget forecast, ideally for the next three years, which identifies spending opportunities and risks and sets how these will be mitigated?
  
• Does the organisation have sufficient reserves to cover major changes such as re-structuring, and any risks identified in the budget forecast?
  
• Is the organisation making best use of its budget (eg: by integrating its curriculum planning with its financial planning and using efficiency data to inform decision making)?
  
• Does the organisation plan its budgets on a bottom up basis driven by curriculum planning (ie: is the school spending its money in accordance with its priorities) or is the budget set by simply making minor adjustments to last year’s budget to ensure there is a surplus?
  
• Are the organisation’s assets and financial resources being used efficiently?
  
• How can better value for money be achieved from the budget?
  
• Is the organisation complying with basic procurement rules and ensuring it gets the best deal available when buying goods and services in order to reinvest savings into teaching and learning priorities?
  
• Is the organisation taking advantage of opportunities to collaborate with other schools to generate efficiencies through pooling funding where permitted, purchasing services jointly and sharing staff, functions, facilities and technology across sites?

Twenty Questions Governing Bodies Should Ask Themselves

In 2015 the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Education Governance and Leadership, together with the National Governance Association, published a list of 20 questions that governing bodies can use to self-evaluate and reflect on how they can make more of an impact on the school.

1. Have we completed a skills audit which informs the governor specification we use as the basis of governor appointment and interview?
   
2. How well do we understand our roles and responsibilities, including what it means to be strategic?
   
3. Do we have a professional clerk who provides legal advice and oversees the governing board’s induction and development needs?
   
4. Is the size, composition and committee structure of our governing board conducive to effective working?
   
5. How do we make use of good practice from across the country?
   
6. Do we carry out a regular 360° review of the chair’s performance and elect the chair each year?
   
7. Do we engage in good succession planning so that no governor serves for longer than two terms of office and the chair is replaced at least every six years?
   
8. Does the chair carry out an annual review of each governor’s contribution to the board’s performance?
   
9. Does our vision look forward three to five years, and does it include what the children who have left the school will have achieved?
   
10. Have we agreed a strategy with priorities for achieving our vision with key performance indicators against which we can regularly monitor and review the strategy?
    
11. How effectively does our strategic planning cycle drive the governing board’s activities and agenda setting?
    
12. How well do we listen to, understand and respond to our pupils, parents and staff?
    
13. How do we make regular reports on the work of the governing board to our parents and local community?
    
14. What benefit does the school draw from collaboration with other schools and other sectors, locally and nationally?
    
15. How well do we understand the school’s performance data (including in-year progress tracking data) so we can properly hold school leaders to account?
    
16. Do governors regularly visit the school to get to know it and monitor the implementation of the school strategy?
    
17. How well does our policy review schedule work and how do we ensure compliance?
    
18. Do we know how effective performance management of all staff is within the school?
    
19. Are our financial management systems robust so we can ensure best value for money?
    
20. How much has the school improved over the last three years, and what has the governing board’s contribution been to this?

The 20 questions are also available as a pdf file.

School governors and trustees must hold at least three meetings of the full governing body each school year.

This is the minimum number of meetings allowed by law for maintained schools. It is also the minimum number allowed for academy trustees in the Academy Trust Handbook and the current model articles of association (June 2021).

Most governing bodies will meet more often than this, for example twice per term, as three meetings in a year will not give them enough time to carry out their statutory duties.

Other schools will have one meeting of the full governing body per term, plus a range of committee meetings which are attended by a smaller number of governors. On average a governor might be expected to attend two full governing body meetings plus two committee meetings per term.

This is what the law says for maintained schools.

“The governing body must hold at least three meetings in every school year.”

Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) Regulations 2013

This is what the model articles of association and Academy Trust Handbook say for academies.

“The trustees shall hold at least three meetings in every school year.”

Model Articles of Association for Academies (June 2021)

“Board meetings must take place at least three times a year, although trusts should consider meeting more frequently to discharge their responsibilities.”

Academy Trust Handbook

How often do committees meet?

There are no rules in maintained schools about how often committees should meet or how many committees governors should have. Governing bodies in maintained schools can choose not to have any committees at all if they prefer; this is known as the circle model of governance.

Academies must have an audit and risk committee (meeting at least three times per year) which must be a dedicated committee if the trust has an annual income of over £50 million. Academies should also have a finance committee according to the Academy Trust Handbook.

How long are governor meetings?

It varies, but the average full governing body meeting lasts about two hours and the average committee meeting around one hour.

I have clerked meetings that have been less than an hour long or up to three hours long, but in general most schools will hold meetings of around one to two hours.

School governors are not automatically disqualified just because they miss a certain number of meetings.

However, the law for maintained schools states that almost all governors and associate members who miss six months of meetings can be disqualified if they do not have the consent of the governing body to be absent.

Model articles of association for academies (June 2021) state the same rule for trustees and local governors or committee members.

The only governors to whom this rule does not apply are maintained school governors who are “ex officio”, which means that their role comes with their job. For example, the headteacher in a maintained school is an ex officio governor. (“Ex officio” means “by virtue of their office”).

In a maintained school where disqualification is being considered you must count from the date of the first full governing body meeting they have missed (ignore committee meetings).

In an academy you look at whether a trustee has missed all meetings in a six-month period.

How To Disqualify A Governor For Non-Attendance

A board gives consent to a governor’s absence through the use of apologies, so if someone is missing meetings the clerk needs to carefully record whether they sent apologies and whether those apologies were accepted. If apologies are accepted the governor has permission to be absent.

In a maintained school where apologies are not accepted the clock starts counting on the six-month period starting from the first full board meeting missed. (If apologies were not sent at all the board can still decide to give consent to the absence if they wish to.)

If the governor fails to attend any full governing body meetings within six months and the board does not accept any apologies from that person they are disqualified at the end of that period.

Although ex officio foundation governors cannot be disqualified for six months of non-attendance they can be replaced with a substitute governor if they are not turning up to meetings.

In an academy the model articles for academies (June 2021) do not specify when the six-month period must start so trustees could decide to count from any time, including periods such as the summer holiday when no meetings are held at all.

What happens if an associate member is not attending meetings?

In a maintained school exactly the same rule applies to associate members as to governors – they are disqualified if they miss six months of meetings without the permission of the board.

However, boards may wish to be far more lenient with associate members because they may only be expected to attend committee meetings.

In an academy there may be people called associate members on committees but the rules for their attendance will be set by each academy trust.

When should we disqualify a governor?

In practice most people will need to miss the occasional meeting and this should be accepted.

If someone is absent for six months or more, however, governors need to decide whether they accept the reasons for absence or not; the clerk should be keeping an eye on the attendance rate and alert the chair of governors if this situation arises.

If the absence is due to illness or another reasonable issue than governors may decide to give their consent to the absence. However, if the governor is simply not turning up to meetings and not pulling their weight the governing body may take a stricter view.

“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.

“This paragraph applies to every governor, other than governors who are governors by virtue of the office that they hold.

“Any person who is disqualified from holding office as a governor of a school under this schedule is likewise disqualified from holding or continuing to hold office as an associate member of the governing body unless the disqualification is under paragraphs 1 or 2 [which say a governor must be 18 or over and not a registered pupil].”

Constitution (England) Regulations 2012

“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.”

Model Articles of Association (June 2021)

Example Disqualification Letters

I have provided some sample disqualification letters in my templates and letters section. A letter can be sent to a governor who has been disqualified for non-attendance or who is at risk of being disqualified.

I would always contact the governor informally before sending a letter in case they are ill or dealing with another issue.

One-Year Ban For Some Disqualified Governors

Before disqualifying a governor for non-attendance in a maintained school bear in mind that it will ban some types of governor from serving on the board in your school for a full year.

This ban applies to foundation governors, local authority governors, co-opted governors and partnership governors. It would not ban them from serving on the board at a different school, however.

It may seem unlikely that a board would want to reappoint a governor who has missed so many meetings, but it does show that the reason for the long absence should always be considered carefully. If the governor has a very good reason for their absence but the board disqualifies them anyway and later regrets it, the governor cannot rejoin the board for a full year.

“A foundation governor, authority governor, co-opted governor or partnership governor who has been disqualified as a governor of a school under sub-paragraph 2 [failure to attend meetings] is not qualified for election, nomination or appointment as a governor of any category at that school for twelve months starting on the date on which they are so disqualified.”

Constitution (England) Regulations 2012

What if a governor does not attend committee meetings?

In maintained schools committee meetings should be ignored when deciding whether to disqualify someone as these meetings do not count towards the six-month period.

Therefore, if a governor or associate member continues to attend committee meetings but fails to attend full governing body meetings for six months they can still be disqualified as a governor or associate.

If the situation is reversed, so they fail to attend committee meetings but do attend meetings of the full governing body, they cannot be disqualified from the board. However, governors could vote to remove them from that particular committee, suspend them from the board or remove them completely from the governing body.

In academies the model articles (June 2021) say that a trustee can be disqualified if they are “absent without the permission of the trustees from all their meetings held within a period of six months”.

This suggests that if someone was attending full meetings of the trustees but missing committee meetings (or vice versa) they would not be eligible for disqualification, as they can only be disqualified if they have missed all meetings they should be attending.

However, model articles do make it clear that committee members who are not trustees, including local governors, can be disqualified if they do not attend the committee of which they are a member. The six-month disqualification rule is contained in article number 70.

“[Article 70:] 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.”

Model Articles of Association (June 2021)

This is followed by another paragraph which states that article 70 also applies to any committee member who is not a trustee. A local governor, for example, would not be expected to attend meetings of the board of trustees but they can still be disqualified if they fail to attend meetings of the local governing body they belong to.

“Articles 68 to 74 also apply to any member of any committee or delegate of the trustees, including a local governing body, who is not a trustee.”

Model Articles of Association (June 2021)

Even if they do not use the disqualification rule, academy trustees have the power to remove any committee member (including local governors) at any time.

What happens if a governor arrives late?

The clerk should record this in the minutes by writing “Alicia Johns entered the meeting at this point” (or similar) so it is clear what agenda items the governor heard and could vote on.

If the lateness becomes a regular occurrence the chair may wish to have a word with the governor about punctuality. If the lateness is very severe and ongoing the board could consider removing that governor.

Can a governor take a leave of absence?

Yes, as long as they have permission if the leave is for longer than six months. Even for shorter periods it is courteous to let the school know you need to take some time off so work can be redistributed and the clerk can make sure meetings will be quorate.

In maintained schools the full board need to give their permission for a period of absence longer than six months.

In academies it is either the local governing body or board of trustees who need to give permission for some leave. This depends on whether it is a local governor or trustee who wants the sabbatical and who has the power in your terms of reference/articles to give consent to absences.

In theory there is no limit on the length of leave or sabbatical someone could have if they want to take a break, as long as permission has been granted.

Because the governor is not officially resigning or being disqualified/removed, remember that they will still take up a place in your constitution for as long as they are absent. There is no way to “pause” a governor position, so they are still in post even if they are on leave.

In practice, boards will need to bear in mind that an absent governor is not contributing to the work that needs to be done and is making it harder for them to assemble the quorum they need to make decisions. They should balance this factor against the reason for the sabbatical.

For example, if a governor has asked for maternity leave it would be unfair not to allow it unless an unusually long leave period has been requested or the governing body has a high number of vacancies and is struggling to get the work done.

What happens if the chair cannot attend a meeting?

In both maintained schools and academies the vice-chair can act as chair for any meeting which the chair of governors/trustees has failed to attend.

“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 is to act as chair for all purposes.”

Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) 2013

“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.”

Model Articles of Association (June 2021)

What happens if both the chair and vice-chair cannot attend a meeting?

If both the chair and the vice-chair have failed to attend then there are no rules set in law or model articles about what to do.

However, old law from 1999 said that maintained schools should elect one of their number to act as chair (but not someone who works for the school or is a registered pupil) so that is a reasonable solution, even though that law has now been revoked.

“Where [the chairman is absent from any meeting and] the vice-chairman is absent from the meeting or there is at the time a vacancy in the office of vice-chairman, 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, or a registered pupil thereat.”

Education School Government (England) Regulations 1999

Academies may have procedures set in their own articles of association or in terms of reference for committees.

What happens if the headteacher cannot attend a meeting?

In most cases it should be possible to carry on without the head and there’s no legal or procedural reason why the meeting needs to be cancelled. Deputy heads often attend meetings as a matter of course and can answer questions and take part in discussions on the headteacher’s behalf.

The only situation where you might wish to consider postponing the meeting (or one agenda item at least) is if there is a major decision to be made or an important discussion that needs the headteacher’s input. For example, if there is a proposal to spend a very large amount of money or to make significant changes to a key policy.

Can a governor send a representative if they cannot attend a meeting?

No. Staff governors in particular will sometimes ask if they can send another staff member in their place, but a governor cannot nominate a substitute or proxy to govern on their behalf.

It’s also important to remember that the staff governor is not on the board to lobby for the staff, just as parent governors do not lobby for parents. All types of governor have the same role. If the staff governor does not attend a meeting it does not mean that school employees are disadvantaged or have lost their “voice”.

The board or committee can invite anyone to attend a meeting, including school employees, but these guests can never vote or take on governor duties. It is up to the board which guests they invite, not an individual governor.

The only time a substitute governor can carry out governance duties is when a substitute foundation governor has been appointed because an ex officio foundation governor (someone who became a governor due to their office, eg: being the parish priest) is unable or unwilling to take up the role.

What if we have ongoing vacancies?

The governing boards of both maintained schools and academies can still function if they have vacancies.

A separate article on vacancies explains that for maintained schools there is no minimum number of governors you must have in post. It also explains that academy trustees may have limited decision-making powers if there are many vacancies and describes why too many vacancies can cause problems.

What happens if the clerk cannot attend a meeting?

If the clerk knows in advance that they cannot attend a meeting you can contact local schools or the local authority governor services to borrow a clerk temporarily.

If the clerk of a maintained school is absent at short notice then the law says that any member of the governing body apart from the headteacher can take the minutes for that meeting. That governor can still vote, form part of the quorum and take part in discussions in the normal way.

“The governing body may, if the clerk fails to attend a meeting of the school, appoint any one of their number (who is not the headteacher) to act as clerk for the purposes of that meeting.”

Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) Regulations 2013

This applies to both meetings of the whole board and committee meetings. This is because the regulations use the phrase “a meeting of the school” and the same law defines this exact phrase as “a meeting of the governing body or of a committee”.

If the clerk of an academy is absent then the model articles say that any trustee or indeed any other person can act as the clerk for that meeting. This means that you could ask a member of the academy’s office staff, for example, as long as there are no confidential or sensitive items on the agenda that would be inappropriate for them to hear.

Notice that the model articles do not ban the academy’s headteacher from acting as clerk, although this should be avoided. The head needs to take an active part in each meeting and part of the board’s role is to hold the headteacher to account, so minutes should be taken by someone who is either a neutral observer or a member of the board who is not the headteacher.

“The trustees may, where the governance professional fails to attend a meeting of theirs, appoint any one of their number or any other person to act as governance professional for the purposes of that meeting.”

Model Articles of Association (June 2021)

The term “extraordinary meeting” usually describes a meeting that happens outside of the planned schedule of meetings, particularly if it is held at short notice.

This could be to discuss an urgent issue that has arisen or to hold a meeting with a one-item agenda to allow a more detailed discussion than usual of a particular topic.

Extraordinary governing body meetings are often known as EGBs. Scheduled meetings are known as meetings of the full governing body (FGB) or sometimes whole governing body (WGB).

Neither the law for maintained schools nor current model articles for academies (June 2021) use the term “extraordinary meeting”, but they both give governors/trustees the discretion to hold a meeting at short notice.

Usually the clerk must send out the agenda “seven clear days” before the meeting date, together with any reports or papers which will be discussed at that meeting. This means that in normal circumstances you cannot hold a meeting unless you have given people at least seven days’ notice.

However, the law and model articles also state that the chair can decide to hold a meeting at shorter notice if there are matters “demanding urgent consideration”.

“Where the chair so determines, on the ground that there are matters demanding urgent consideration, it will be sufficient if the written notice of the meeting states that fact and the notice and the copy of the agenda are given within such shorter period as the chair directs.”

Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) Regulations 2013

“Provided that where the chair or, in their absence, the vice-chair, so determines on the ground that there are matters demanding urgent consideration, it shall be sufficient if the written notice of a meeting, and the copy of the agenda thereof are given within such shorter period as they direct.”

Model Articles of Association (June 2021)

Can we hold extraordinary committee meetings?

In a maintained school the law gives committee chairs exactly the same right to call meetings at short notice.

“Where the chair of the committee so determines on the ground that there are matters demanding urgent consideration, it will be sufficient if the written notice of the meeting states that fact and the notice and agenda are given within such shorter periods as the chair directs.”

Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) Regulations 2013

In an academy the rules will be established by your own articles of association and committee terms of reference, because each academy trust can set the rules for its committees.

Items That Cannot Be Discussed At Short Notice

It is entirely down to the chair to decide what items are urgent, but maintained schools must be aware of three issues which cannot be discussed if less then seven clear days’ notice has been given. These items can still be discussed in an extraordinary meeting, just not one arranged so quickly.

Maintained school meetings held at short notice must not be used to discuss removing the chair or vice-chair from office, suspending a governor or closing the school.

“The power of the chair to direct that a meeting be held within a shorter period does not apply in relation to any meeting at which—

(a) the removal of the chair or vice-chair from office

(b) the suspension of any governor, or

(c) a decision to serve notice of discontinuance of the school under section 30 of the SSFA 1998

is to be considered.”

Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) Regulations 2013

These restrictions do not apply to academies, although note that if trustees wish to remove their chair the model articles (June 2021) say they must do so at two meetings held not less than 14 days apart.

Are extraordinary meeting minutes confidential?

Minutes are not automatically confidential simply because they were discussed at an extraordinary meeting, but governors may choose to record some or all items in confidential minutes, depending on the subjects discussed. Even confidential minutes can be requested under freedom of information law.

Who can vote at an extraordinary meeting?

The same people who can vote at the ordinary version of that meeting. So if you hold an extraordinary full board meeting, all governors or trustees can vote (as long as they do not have a conflict of interest).

A maintained school may have associate members and these members can never vote at full board meetings, whether ordinary or extraordinary.

If it is a committee meeting then the governors, associate members or local governors who usually vote on that committee can also vote at extraordinary meetings of that committee.

Who can call ordinary meetings?

The chair (or chair of a committee in a maintained school) must call any meeting that is held with less than seven days’ notice.

However, what we could call “ordinary” meetings, ie: meetings held with at least seven days’ notice, do not have to be called by the chair. Full governing body meetings in both maintained schools and academies can be called by either:

• the chair of governors/trustees
• the governing body, or
• a minimum of three governors/trustees.

In each case the request to hold a meeting should be sent to the clerk, who will then send out the date and time of the meeting along with the agenda and papers.

Committee meetings in maintained schools can be called by the committee chair or the governing body. (Academies should check their committee terms of reference).

If a meeting is called by three governors or trustees then the clerk must arrange for a meeting to be held “as soon as reasonably practicable”, so this will mean the earliest date and time that can be attended by a majority of governors/trustees.

“Meetings of the governing body are to be convened by the clerk to the governing body and in exercising this function the clerk must comply with any direction given by—

(a) the governing body; or

(b) the chair, so far as such direction is not inconsistent with any direction given under sub-paragraph (a).

“Any three members of the governing body may requisition a meeting by giving written notice to the clerk to the governing body, and the clerk must convene a meeting as soon as is reasonably practicable.

“Meetings of a committee are to be convened by the clerk to that committee who, when exercising this function, must comply with any direction given by (a) the governing body; (b) the chair of the committee.”

Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) Regulations 2013

“Meetings of the trustees shall be convened by the governance professional. In exercising the functions under this article the governance professional shall comply with any direction:

a) given by the trustees; or

b) given by the chair or, in their absence, the vice-chair, so far as such direction is not inconsistent with any direction given as mentioned in (a).

“Any three trustees may, by notice in writing given to the governance professional, requisition a meeting of the trustees; and it shall be the duty of the governance professional to convene such a meeting as soon as is reasonably practicable.”

Model Articles of Association (July 2021)

Anyone who is invited by the governing body can attend school governors’ meetings. Unless you are a member of the governing body you must ask if you can attend, because meetings are not open to the public by default.

Attending In Maintained Schools

For maintained schools the law says that only the following people have the right to attend meetings of the full governing body:

• governors
• the headteacher
• the clerk
• associate members
• any other person who is invited by the governors.

“The following persons are entitled to attend any meeting of the governing body—

(a) a governor

(b) the headteacher of the school, whether or not that person is a governor

(c) the clerk to the governing body

(d) an associate member; and

(e) such other persons as the governing body may determine.”

Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) Regulations 2013

If it is a committee meeting then the same attendance rules apply, except that not all governors and associate members have a legal right to attend, only the ones who are members of that particular committee.

Either the committee or the governing body as a whole can invite anyone else they wish to, however, including governors who are not committee members.

The clerk also has the right to attend committee meetings and the headteacher can attend whether or not they are a member of that committee.

Although maintained school governors have the right to exclude people from their meetings the law also requires them to be as transparent as possible.

Regulations from 2013 state that governors should “be open about the decisions they make and the actions they take and in particular shall be prepared to explain their decisions and actions to interested parties”.

Any governor or associate member who has a conflict of interest will have to leave the room during any discussion relating to that interest. Associate members do not have as many right as governors and can be asked to leave any meeting if the discussion is about a specific school employee or pupil.

“The governing body may exclude an associate member from any part of its meeting which the associate member is otherwise entitled to attend when the business under consideration concerns an individual member of staff or pupil.”

Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) Regulations 2013

Attending In Academies

Just as in maintained schools, governance meetings in academies are not automatically open to the public.

For trustee meetings the model articles of association (June 2021) do not state who has the right to attend. The board of trustees is the board that is equivalent to the board of governors in maintained schools.

The articles do say that “Subject to these articles, the trustees may regulate their proceedings as they think fit”, so it is reasonable to assume that attendance is by invitation only unless you are a trustee. Academy members may occasionally attend meetings of trustees.

For meetings of local governors in a multi-academy trust the local governors themselves or any person appointed to the local governing body can attend. Trustees may sometimes attend. Others attend by invitation.

For meetings of academy members, called general meetings or annual general meetings (AGMs), all members can attend of course and the model articles also specify that all trustees are allowed to attend and speak. Local governors may be invited and if they wish the academy trust could invite parents or local residents.

“A trustee shall, notwithstanding that they are not a member, be entitled to attend and speak at any general meeting or annual general meeting.”

Model Articles of Association (June 2021)

Can governor candidates attend meetings?

Yes, possible volunteers can be invited to attend a meeting to observe and see what the role entails.

Statutory guidance for maintained schools recommends that boards make “every effort” to help candidates understand the role, including inviting them to attend a meeting before they have been elected or appointed.

“Governing bodies should make every effort to help all prospective governors understand clearly the role of a governor.

“For example, before they are nominated for appointment or election prospective governors may be invited to observe a governing body meeting and to meet the chair and other governors and the headteacher.”

The Constitution of Governing Bodies of Maintained Schools: Statutory Guidance

If you do invite someone who is not on the board to attend you will need to consider beforehand whether any items will be confidential; these can be left to the end of the meeting, when the guest will be (politely!) asked to leave. The board can also use this time to vote on the appointment.

Can parents attend governor meetings?

Parents can attend if they are invited, but it is wise to read through the minutes of previous meetings first – all schools and academies must make minutes available – to get a feel for the subjects discussed.

You may be surprised to discover how rarely governors talk about individual children and how much of the meeting is about budgets, policies, facts and figures. If you are a parent concerned about your child’s progress, coming to a governors’ meeting is unlikely to help you.

You should also bear in mind that if you have a complaint about the school you must go through the complaints policy first. Many complaints will not be in the governors’ remit and will be dealt with by school staff.