Governors for Schools are calling on local businesses in West London to support local schools through supporting their employees to become a school governor.
Across West London there is a genuine and consistent need for new school governors to step forward and lend their time and expertise to the benefit of local schools. The national charity Governors for Schools are keen to work with local businesses to help promote the role, and the triple advantages it brings to schools, volunteers and employers.
For governing boards to be at their most effective they need governors with a wide range of skills and perspectives to enable them to understand the unique challenges and opportunities that each school faces. Common skills looked for by schools in governors are Finance, HR, Law, Education, Premises and Procurement amongst others. Having an understanding of the community a school serves is another important element to effective school governance, and having diversity among those on a governing board is an integral part of this. Each school is individual and serves its own unique community and so the ability to understand this, and to take it into account, is imperative to good governance.
This is an exciting training and development opportunity for your employees – they will make a valuable contribution to the educational outcomes of local children, while at the same time learning new skills, including contributing in a board context, which can lay the foundations for more senior roles in the future.
There are several ways Governors for School can work with your organisation to recruit volunteers:
* Presentations to your staff: at a set time, or drop in, for example at lunch time
* Internal communications for your company intranet, or to be shared by email
* Workshop opportunities for your staff to learn more about the role and local need
Governors for Schools provide free training in the form of e-learning modules and a monthly webinar series to all of their governors as well as a free 6 month membership to support service The Key for School Governors to help ensure volunteers can be effective in their roles from the very first day.
