School governor shortage in Nottinghamshire leads to appeal
MORE school governors are urgently needed across Nottinghamshire as figures show more than one in every 10 positions in the county are vacant.
At the start of the 2012 autumn term, there were 511 governor vacancies in Nottinghamshire schools, which is 10.7 per cent of the total number of governors required. The national average is 10.3 per cent.
Schools in Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Broxtowe and Mansfield are higher than the national average and are urging more parents to come forward to stand in forthcoming school governor elections.
The current vacancies across the county are:
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Mansfield– 89 vacancies – 13.9 per cent.
Bassetlaw – 104 vacancies – 12.9 per cent.
Broxtowe – 62 vacancies – 12.2 per cent.
Ashfield – 73 vacancies – 12 per cent.
Newark– 68 vacancies – 9.3 per cent.
Gedling – 50 vacancies – 7.7 per cent.
Rushcliffe – 45 vacancies – 6.8 per cent.
Leonie Meikle, Nottinghamshire County Council's governor services manager, said governors make an enormous difference to the performance and attainment of a school.
She said: "We have recently looked at a number of issues around governors particularly the retention levels and how we can attract governors from a wide variety of backgrounds."
Among the recommendations proposed are better information, advice and guidance for new governors, a reduction in paperwork and bureaucracy, improved publicity around the role and recruiting from ethnic and disability groups.
Councillor Philip Owen, committee chairman of children and young people's services, added: "A school runs well when it has an effective and pro-active governing body.
"The most important role of a governing body is to ensure pupils are getting the best education possible."
A governor's role includes monitoring budgets, appointing senior staff including head teachers and making decisions on the future of the school.No formal qualifications are necessary and anyone who is aged 18 or over and has six to eight hours per term to spare is invited to apply.
Ms Meikle added: "The most effective governing bodies consist of governors with a blend of experiences, from different cultures and age groups, so whatever your background you could add enormous value to a local school."
Anyone interested in finding out more can call Governor Services on 0115 8546054.
Comments
by rdc180368
Friday, September 21 2012, 2:35PM
“Not helped of course by the current Tory councillors unwillingness to renew the terms of office of any Labour supporting LA governors...”