The relationship between heads and a board of governors is crucial if a school is to flourish and thrive.
There are the obvious elements to ensure that the relationship is a successful one, such as the ”eyes on, hands off” approach or seeing the board as ”critical friends” and making a conscious effort to ensure that the board is given the details before stories break to avoid them being blindsided.
However, I think one of the most important things to ensure that the relationship is positive is to invite governors into school. In our setting governors visit the school on a termly basis, and this is a requirement for all board members within their role description.
Of course, governors often come into school for school plays, to open an art exhibition or to attend an alumni dinner, for example, but the termly governor visits occur during the normal school day. This way governors can see how the running of the school works.
Firstly, it supports governors to have a clear picture of how the school operates on a day-to-day basis and secondly, it gives them a profile among the staff and students, rather than them being seen as this often mysterious group who make decisions as to how the school may run.
Schools hosting governor visits
So, how do you do this best?
I would not suggest giving governors unfettered access to the school, or unannounced visits by members of the school board. It is important that visits are planned so governors understand that there is a structure to this; they cannot just walk around the school unaccompanied when they feel like it.
To organise these visits, we ensure they are put in the calendar through the clerk to the board and the head’s executive assistant, and staff are also informed when these will take place. This courtesy is important so that staff know there will be visitors on site.
What is interesting is how this has evolved. When I first started this initiative, some staff were a little nervous. But they all soon realised that the governors were observing the head visiting lessons and seeing classes in action in the school facilities, not observing their teaching.
Now I observe staff welcoming governors but continuing to teach and not stopping or trying to showcase something. These visits are now seen as a natural occurrence.
For the board members, they have found it both informative, in terms of putting into context what is discussed at board meetings, and inspiring, in terms of seeing just how passionate our staff are and how amazing our students are.
Engaging governors in school improvement
Even given this, though, I can appreciate that some school leaders may be squirming in their seats at the thought of letting governors loose in their school.
However, there are very tangible benefits that come with such engagement - as I think the following example demonstrates.
Five years ago, we undertook a 10-year facility master plan exercise. One of the findings was that our science provision, in terms of classrooms and space, was inadequate.
We studied the campus and identified an area for a new science facility, and proceeded to get a design drawn up. When these concept designs were priced, the cost came in at around £10 million.
A high price for any school, even an international, fee-paying one. However, because our governors had accompanied me on learning walks that included visiting our current, inadequate science rooms, they knew why such an outlay was necessary.
They saw how tight the space was. They understood how outdated the labs were and that learning was being impacted because there were not enough labs to allow children to carry out practical experiments.
As such, when the proposal to build a new science facility was presented, discussions were on how we could achieve the outcome rather than explaining why we wanted a facility in the first place, and the board was able to ask pertinent and focused questions to help us achieve this.
Because they knew the impact that the new site would have, they had a sense of ownership of the project and so wanted to be part of it in a constructive, helpful way.
This meant we could reach a swift agreement to proceed with the build and in a few months’ time we will be opening the doors of our new Science and Innovation Centre.
Invite the chair first
For schools without such a relationship with their governors, I appreciate that such a change will not happen overnight simply by starting to invite them into school more regularly.
However, I would advise that the best way to get things moving is for the head to engage with the chair initially and start to invite them into school on a regular basis.
This should help their understanding and should spread insights to other board members, and hopefully encourage them to want to take part in similar visits.
As outlined, clear guidance and planning are required, and boundaries need to be set - which can be more work for schools in the short term.
However, if done carefully, it is a very effective way to engage the board beyond asking them to read copious reports and statistics. It can provide tangible, meaningful benefits that help the school and, more importantly, its pupils.
Mark Leppard is the headmaster of The British School Al Khubairat in Abu Dhabi and chair of British Schools in the Middle East
