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The governing board: purpose and responsibilities
Use our download to get to grips with the responsibilities of governing boards in maintained schools and academies.
Contents
- The 3 core functions of the governing board
- Key tasks and responsibilities
- Free governor induction from The Key
The 3 core functions of the governing board
The governing board exists to provide strong strategic leadership to a school, ensuring accountability for its educational and financial performance.
The Governance Handbook assigns 3 core functions to the board:
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
- Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the performance management of staff
- Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent
Key tasks and responsibilities
These vary depending on your school type
Download this to help you to understand what you need to do based on the type of school you serve.
It covers:
- Admissions
- Behaviour and exclusions
- Curriculum
- Finance
- Governance
- Parents and the community
- Health and safety
- Pupil wellbeing
- Safeguarding
- Special education needs and disabilities (SEND)
- Staffing
- Pay and appraisal
Our 'wheel of governance'
This infographic shows the key tasks and legal responsibilities of the governing board, based on the Governance Handbook. Share it with your governing board:
Free governor induction from The Key
Governor Induction is a free e-learning module produced by The Key in partnership with Lloyds Banking Group and Governors for Schools. It's designed to help new governors and trustees in maintained schools, academies and multi-academy trusts to understand their role, but existing governors and trustees can also use it as a refresher.
The module includes information, activities, videos and practical resources. It provides an overview of:
- Your role and responsibilities
- The impact you can make
- Learning about your school
- Attending your first meeting
- Your accountabilities
Governor Induction takes around an hour to complete. It's free to access. You can do it on your PC, tablet or smartphone. You can find it here.
More from The Key
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