We currently have a vacancy for a parent governor and are seeking nominations for an enthusiastic and committed parent to join the governing board. The core functions of the governing board are:
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos, and strategic direction.
- Holding School Leaders to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the effective and efficient performance management of staff.
- Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
Any parent or carer with a child on register at the school, in Reception – Year 6, is eligible to become a parent governor. It is most important that parents are fully represented and I therefore ask that you give careful consideration to either putting your own name forward as a candidate or to nominating another parent as a candidate, if they are willing to be nominated.
No special qualifications are needed and the most important thing is to have a keen interest in the school and be prepared to play an active part in the governing board’s work. However, we would particularly welcome nominations from parents with the following skills:
- Environmental sustainability
- Strategic management
- Community involvement/development
- Financial planning and awareness
We would be keen to receive nominations from someone with experience in any of these areas. The term of office for all governors is four years. The governing board currently meets collectively six times a year – meetings usually commence at 6:00pm and end at 8:30pm.
All meetings are held at the school, and where additional meetings are required, governors will be given seven days’ notice unless there are extraordinary circumstances.
All governors are also invited to join the school’s Governing Committees that meet between 4-6 times a year.
The committees are:
- Standards & Pupil Welfare: meets on a Friday morning, 5 times per year with prime responsibility for the safeguarding, Pupil Premium, reviewing overall pupil performance across the curriculum and meeting our objectives and vision
- Resources: meets at 5pm on a Tuesday evening, 3/4 times per year with prime responsibility for the sound financial management and value for money of the school budgets, Staffing, Premises and Health & Safety for all at school
Occasionally, governors are required to conduct monitoring visits at the school and will be encouraged to support school events, where possible. New governors will receive a comprehensive induction and be assigned a mentor. Full training for the role will also be available
At Silsden Primary School, we aim to build a board comprising governors with a diverse range of skills, experiences, qualifications, characteristics, and perspectives, and who are from different backgrounds and settings. A diverse governing board will help pupils from all backgrounds to succeed and allows us to create a culture of inclusion, challenge barriers and biases, and provide a diverse range of role models for pupils. We encourage all eligible parents, regardless of age, experience, and background, to apply for the role.
The Declaration of Eligibility, which can be viewed in the link document below, summarises the circumstances under which someone cannot serve as a governor. In addition, parents/carers who have paid employment in the school for 500 or more hours per academic year or who are elected members of the Local Authority are not eligible to stand in these elections.
If you wish to nominate yourself or another parent for the role of parent governor, you can download a nomination form from the link below.
Alternatively, you can collect one from the school office or request one by e-mailing office@silsden.bradford.sch.uk
Please complete the nomination form and return to the school office by 12:00pm on Friday 28th February 2025, along with a completed and signed Declaration of Eligibility to be a School Governor.
When completing the nomination form, we ask that you keep in mind that you are nominating the person you believe has the skills and commitment to undertake the role. You are also nominating someone you trust to:
- Represent the views of parents when working with the rest of the governing board and the headteacher.
- Promote high standards.
- Strategically improve the school.
If there are more nominations than vacancies the election will be by secret ballot. If that is necessary, voting details will be sent to all parents together with details of the ballot procedure.
If you would like to discuss the details of the role in more detail or have any other questions whatever they may be, then please contact Mr Russell at school.
Parent Governor Nomination Form. Feb 25
Declaration of eligibility to be a School Governor