Recruiting parent governors: PRUs and special schools

Last reviewed on 23 November 2021
School types: All · School phases: All
Ref: 33148

Parents may be unwilling to commit to the parent governor position if their child won’t be on roll at your school for long, or they live far away. Get guidance and tips on how to build your school community and attract people to apply to be a parent governor.

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Contents

  1. Understand issues with engagement
  2. Build a parent network
  3. Showcase your school
  4. Make it clear what the role is
  5. Make the role accessible
  6. Alternatives to appointing a parent governor

This article is based on advice from our associate experts Lorraine Petersen, Gulshan Kayembe and Jackie Beard.

Understand issues with engagement

Special schools and alternative provision (AP) settings such as pupil referral units (PRUs) and AP academies, face similar issues when recruiting parent governors.

In each case it's likely that:

  • Pupils travel further to get to school, so it's not as easy for parents to attend school meetings
  • Parents feel their spare time is precious, to provide their child with the specialist support they need

However, there are some key differences: 

For special schools  Pupils are likely to stay longer,

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