Background
School governors are one of the country's largest voluntary groups with around 345,000 school governors contributing to strategic development and raising standards of achievement at over 30,000 schools.

School governors are members of their school's governing body which is a "corporate body".  A corporate body has a legal identity that is separate from its members and as a result, individual governors are generally protected from personal liability as a result of the governing body's decisions and actions, provided they act honestly, reasonably and in good faith.

Individual governors have no power or right to act on behalf of the governing body except where the whole governing body has delegated a specific function to that individual or where regulations specify that a function is to be exercised in a particular way.

School governors are drawn from different parts of the community, such as parents, the Staff, the local authority (LA), the Community and other groups.  This helps to ensure that the governing body has sufficient diversity of views and experience but does not mean that governors of a particular category "represent" that group on the governing body.  For example, Parent Governors do not act as a representative of the parents at the school and do not report back to them.

Responsibilities
The governing body has a range of duties and powers and a general responsibility for the conduct of the school with a view to promoting high standards of educational achievement including setting targets for pupil achievement, managing the school's finances, making sure the curriculum is balanced and broadly based, appointing staff and reviewing staff performance and pay and many more.

The governing body has considerable discretion as to how to discharge its responsibilities but is required to constitute itself in line with the regulations and to appoint a chair and vice chair.  The governing body may delegate certain of its responsibilities to certain governors or committees of governors, although in general, it is not compelled to do so.

Roles and Actions
There are a range of roles and actions that the governing body or individual governors need to consider:

• Constitution of the Governing Body
  The governing body must be constituted in line with the School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2003.  These regulations cover the number and type (category) of governors that make up the governing body.  Follow the link in Background Reading below to the GovernorNet article Constitution of the Governing Body for further information.
• Terms of Reference of the Governing Body
  Follow the link in Background Reading below to the GovernorNet article The Roles of the Governing Body and Headteacher for detailed guidance including a decision planner issued by DCSF.
• Categories of Governors
  Depending on the category (Community, Foundation, Voluntary Controlled, Voluntary Aided) of the school, the governing body will be made up of different numbers and categories of governors.  Follow the link in Background Reading below to the GovernorNet article "Categories of School Governors" which gives detailed information.  In brief, there are the following categories of school governor:
  • Parent governors - selected by election (or appointment if insufficient people stand for election) and drawn from parents and carers of children at the school.
  • Staff governors - selected by election from teaching and support staff paid to work at the school
  • Community governors - appointed by the governing body to represent community interests
  • LA governors - appointed by the LA
  • Foundation governors (not community schools) - appointed by the school's founding body, church or other organisation named in the school's instrument of government
  • Partnership governors (foundation schools only) - replace Foundation governors if the school does not have a founding body
  • Sponsor governors - discretionary category appointed by the governing body from individuals who have made significant (financial) contributions to the school 
  • Associate members (not governors) - appointed by the governing body to attend committee meetings and/or full governing body meetings due to their particular skills or experience
• Governor Recruitment and Selection 
  Follow the links in Background Reading below to:
  • Electing Parent and Staff Governors
  • Help Schools Help Children - How to become a school governor and the School Governor recruitment toolkit - variety of resources to help with promoting governance and recruiting governors
• Roles of Governors
  The governing body must appoint a chair and vice-chair and may wish to make a number of other specific appointments to lead on certain aspects of the school.  Follow the links in Background Reading below to:
  • Chair of Governors and Vice-Chair of Governors
  • Specific Roles within the governing body - Link, SEN, Literacy, Numeracy and other specific subject governors
• Committees of the Governing Body
  The governing body can delegate certain of its responsibilities to committees or individual governors.  Follow the link to Committees of the Governing Body - Overview in Background Reading for more information.

Guidance
In addition to the information provided in the GovernorNet articles mentioned above, Chapters 2 and 3 of the Guides to the Law for School Governors provide general information on the types and roles of governors as well as details on elections, eligibility, disqualification, removal, terms of office etc.  Follow the links in Background Reading below.

The Law
The principal regulations relating to School Governance Constitution are available by following the links in Further Reading below.