I was a governor for my local primary school – Norwood Primary School in Eastleigh.
It was an interesting role, and I learned a lot, from curriculum and educational standards, to legal issues and financial planning.
School Governor work
My work as a school governor was very varied, but some particularly interesting areas were:
ICT (Information and Communication Technology)
My background in computing meant that I was well suited to advise the school and the other governors on issues of technology planning and delivery.
Chair of the school Standards Committee
The Standards Committee was responsible for the achievement and the school’s vision and aims in respect of all standards and curriculum issues.
Recruitment of a new Headteacher
The school headteacher left, leaving the Governing Body to have to recruit a new school head. I was involved in our recruitment and selection effort. The Governors also worked to provide additional support to the Deputy Headteacher during the interim period of over a year while he worked as the Acting Headteacher.
Federation with a local school
One of the last actions that I took as a Governor was working towards federating the school with another local school. This led to the dissolution of the Norwood School Governing Body (to allow for the creation of a new Governing Body). It was at this time that I left as Governor (deciding not to apply to join the new GB).
Other
I was also involved in a variety of other strategic and policy decisions during my time, from finance and budget-related issues to class structure and size issues.
