Chair of governors: meetings with the headteacher

Make meetings with the headteacher more productive with our advice on why you should meet and what you should focus on.

Last reviewed on 30 September 2024
School types: AllSchool phases: AllRef: 3753
Contents
  1. Make the most of your meetings
  2. It's up to you both to determine how often you meet 
  3. Establish a focus
  4. Topics you might cover

Make the most of your meetings

They'll:

  • Help you maintain communication between governing board meetings
  • Give you an opportunity to talk in confidence with someone who is engaged in the day-to-day operation of the school
  • Help you both to reflect on some of the more difficult issues

Use your meetings to help inform and set the agenda for governing board meetings.

You'll want to keep some issues confidential, but make sure you share what you can, so you're as transparent with the rest of the board as possible. This will make sure governors don't feel that decisions are being made behind their backs.

It's up to you both to determine how often you meet 

The frequency will differ depending on:

  • The issues your school faces
  • Both of your time commitments
  • Whether you and/or the headteacher are newly appointed (if that's the case, you may want to meet more often)

Work with the headteacher to prepare a brief agenda for