The Role of the Local Governing Committee
Governors are one of the largest volunteer forces in the country and have an important part to play in raising school standards. The Department for Education has high expectations of governing committees. They are the strategic leaders of our schools and have a vital role to play in making sure every child gets the best possible education. For maintained schools, this is reflected in the law, which states that the purpose of maintained school governing committees is to ‘conduct the school with a view to promoting high standards of educational achievement at the school’.

In all types of schools, the governing committee’s should have a strong focus on three core strategic functions:

• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
• Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff
• Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.

Effective governing committees also think carefully about how they are organised. This includes thinking about whether and how to use their powers to delegate functions and decisions to committees or individual governors. Governing committees may decide to task individual governors to take an interest in a specific area, such as SEND, safeguarding or health and safety, but there is no legal requirement for either maintained schools or academies to do so.