Restructuring your staff: governors' role

Major restructures are strategic and part of your remit as a governor. Learn to challenge the need for a restructure and scrutinise plans. Also find questions to ask and get tips on supporting your headteacher through the process.

Last reviewed on 9 December 2022
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Contents
  1. When governors should be involved
  2. Make sure you challenge the idea
  3. Ask your headteacher to create a draft plan
  4. Scrutinise the proposed new structure
  5. Questions to ask
  6. Approve the decision 
  7. Support the headteacher

This article outlines a common way that restructures are decided and planned. If the process differs in your school or local authority's restructuring/redundancy policy, make sure you follow that instead.

Several of our experts helped us write this. You can find out more about them at the end of the article.

When governors should be involved

Your headteacher should be free to reorganise staffing structures at an operational level as they see fit. For example, they might want to increase the number of staff in a key area, make a change to the subject leadership structure, or create a new pastoral role.

If more significant changes are on the horizon, especially where they might result in redundancies, your board should be involved from an early stage. This is because major staff restructures are strategic.

Make sure you challenge the idea

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