Strategic vs operational: practical examples

The examples in this article are illustrative - you won't come across all of them in your time as a governor. They're meant to help you work out what is and isn't your role. They'll also help you to say no if you're asked to do something outside your strategic remit or to discuss it with your headteacher if you're not consulted. 

4 of our associate education experts, Graeme Hornsby, Jackie Beard, Bill Dennison and Harry James helped us create some of these examples. 

School policies

Your role (strategic)

As governors, you have an important role in contributing to the strategic direction of many policies, and in checking and approving some policies once they've been written.

You also can hold the senior leadership team (SLT) to account for how policies have been implemented, and whether they've been successful.

School leaders' role (operational)

The SLT will actually write and implement the policies, this isn't your role.

Read more in our article on governors' role in overseeing school policies.

Pupil premium

Your role (strategic)

Hold the school accountable for how it spends its pupil premium funding (extra money for disadvantaged pupils). Make sure it's being used in accordance with the rules and is having an impact.

You could do this through committee meetings, or by appointing a pupil premium link governor.

School leaders' role (operational)

The SLT decides what to spend pupil premium funding on, and implement the chosen strategies and initiatives.

There's more information about governors' role in monitoring pupil premium spending in this article.

School budget

Your role (strategic)

You should scrutinise the school budget, approve it, and monitor it throughout the year. This helps you meet your core responsibility to oversee financial performance and ensure public money is spent well. It also means you can make sure resources are distributed in accordance with your strategic priorities and the school's ethos and values. 

School leaders' role (operational)

The school business manager (SBM) or other school leader should set and present the budget to the relevant governing board committee for approval.

Teacher pay

Your role (strategic)

Your pay committee approves teacher pay recommendations, only once the recommendations have been made by school leaders. You'll usually scrutinise anonymised reports to ensure you don't learn individuals' salary details. 

School leaders' role (operational)

School leaders carry out appraisals themselves, and make sure teachers are appraised effectively and in line with the statutory requirements. As explained above, they make pay recommendations and put them before your pay committee.

Parent surveys

Parent surveys can be used to collect parents' feedback about various aspects of the school.

Your role (strategic)

You might:

• Decide to carry out a survey to find out parents' opinions on a strategically important issue - a specific policy, how well the school engages with parents, or even the school as a whole
• Have an input into shaping the questions to make sure you end up with the information you need
• Work with the SLT to identify strategic priorities based on the results of the survey, once it's been conducted
• Hold the SLT to account for the success of any new plans or strategies put in place to correct the issues revealed by the survey

School leaders' role (operational)

Someone on the SLT should do the leg work, essentially. This'll include:

• Carrying out the survey
• Collating the results
• Implementing actions or plans to address any issues raised by the survey. For example, the survey might say that parents don't think they're told enough about their child's progress, so the headteacher might work on a new way of reporting to parents and present this to you
• Reporting back to you on how the new initiatives have gone

Another of our articles looks at the governors' role in carrying out parent and staff surveys.

Departmental improvement plans

This is a plan that's put in place to help an underperforming department improve.

Your role (strategic)

You should have a monitoring role, to:

• Check on the department's progress
• Hold the SLT to account for how they're leading/supporting the performance and progress of the department

The SLT should report back to your full board or the most relevant committee on a regular basis. They can update on the progress being made, and provide you with any data you request. This'll help you scrutinise the school's work effectively, and check the plan is being implemented properly.

If the department isn't making progress, you can ask the SLT to review the improvement plan and take steps to amend it. 

School leaders' role (operational)

The SLT should review the precise details of a departmental plan, and effectively monitor it day-to-day to make sure the department is making progress. They'll have the relevant professional experience to do this, and are best placed to decide where amendments or improvements can be made. 

The head of department may wish to present an overview of the plan to your board or committee so you can be satisfied that a strategic plan is in place. 

School newsletter

Your role (strategic)

You could speak to relevant staff about the newsletter within the wider context of the school's external communication strategy. This could help you check that the school has a good plan for engaging with parents or other stakeholders.

School leaders' role (operational)

Governors should not directly interfere with planning or writing the content. Read more in our article on governors' role in the school newsletter. 

Introducing split-year classes

Some schools teach their pupils in split-year groups. This means teaching pupils from two or more consecutive school years in the same class.

Your role (strategic)

Introducing this is a major structural change to your school, which could affect your budget, resources and outcomes for pupils. For these reasons, you should be consulted.

When the headteacher brings the proposal to you, consider whether there are good reasons for the change, such as:

• Low pupil numbers
• Financial/resource pressures
• A belief that it's a better way of delivering the curriculum

You should also make sure that:

• The proposal is in line with the ethos and values of the school
• A process is in place for evaluating the impact of splitting the classes

School leaders' role (operational)

The headteacher would come up with a proposal to introduce split-year classes, and present this to the governing board.

They would then implement the change if it's agreed.

Changing the way homework is given

Your role (strategic)

This is very unlikely to have any strategic focus. It's best to leave this one entirely in the hands of your SLT. You shouldn't pass comment or get involved in controlling your school's teaching and assessment methods.

School leaders' role (operational)

It's for headteachers and the SLT to discuss, decide and implement a change to the way your school sets homework.

It would be a good idea for the headteacher to inform the governing board that they intend to change the way homework is given. They could include it in the termly report to the governing board, or by raising it in the headteacher's regular meetings with the chair.

Health and safety inspections

Your role (strategic)

The governing board needs to make sure that the school meets health and safety requirements, including that health and safety inspections are carried out regularly and efficiently. Boards don't organise or carry out inspections themselves.

School leaders' role (operational)

Someone on the SLT should research the best company and book the inspection.