Guest Lecture - Steve Gullick - Governing Body

Steve Gullick’s (2012) lecture explained what the governing body is within a school. Gullick discussed the numerous different roles that the body do and also how an individual becomes a member of the body.

Mr Gullick (2012) gave a list of roles which the governing body do which included such roles as conducting the school with a view to promoting high standards of educational achievement, setting appropriate school targets for pupil achievement at Key Stage 2,3 and 4 and also deciding on the appointment of the head teacher and deputy head and other staff and also regulating staff conduct and discipline. These roles are very important in a day to day running of a school, the appointment of a head teacher in my opinion is crucial to how well a school achieves. I have experienced the change of a head teacher in the primary school I have been a volunteer in and it was interesting to see what changed were made in the school.  If the governing body make the wrong decision and the head teacher fails to exceed the targets that have been set then the body may face heavy criticism for appointing that head teacher. 

One other key role that the governing body decide is to draw a plan of action after they’ve had a inspection. This plan may involve improvements which are needed to be made to reach the standards that the inspectors have set, so yet again its crucial that the body decide on the right decisions to make sure that the school makes the improvements which are needed.

Gullick (2012) then went on to explain that to become a member on the governing body they need to be trained first. This training gets supplied by the council which the school’s in which is a useful thing because it gives the members the opportunity to improve their knowledge of how to run a school. Also Gullick (2012) explained that any person that has a stake in the school could become a member of the body, such as a parent, LEA or a teacher. But every member has to be elected to go on the body and after 4 years of being elected they to be elected again to continue their role on the body. Also on some governing bodies bank managers are elected because they’re experts in finances which gives great help to the body in how to budget for the school’s academic year.

I found the lectures and seminar sessions interesting about the governing body because before attending these sessions I wasn’t too sure what the governing body did and what their roles were. I had a slight idea and knew that they were the part of the employing staff process but didn’t know their other roles.