Link Governors

Every Board of Governors has a statutory responsibility to establish and monitor school policies and evaluate the effectiveness of the school and its curriculum. Governors are also held to account for the school’s performance. The Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) assumes that Governors know the strengths and weaknesses of the school and will test this assumption during a school inspection.

The role of the Link Governor is to provide a link between the Governing Board and the school. When Link Governors visit the school and report back to the Governing Board they help to deepen all governors’ understanding of how the school operates, how the strategic objectives are being pursued, how financial resources are being used and what extra support the school may need to meet its objectives. Without Link Governors, the Governing Board is totally reliant on the Headteacher, or other staff governors, for their understanding of the school. The presence of Link Governors provides an additional source of evidence upon which governing decisions can be made. This additional evidence should enable the Governing Body to better challenge information presented by the school and also better support the school to meet its strategic objectives.

At the Willows Primary School, we ask our Link Governors to:

• Gain insight into the life of the school
• Create and develop relationships with staff, children and where appropriate parents
• Better understand the Governors roles in raising standards
• Enable a deeper understanding of the school’s current performance, practice, strengths and areas for further development.
• Observe policies and plans being implemented on a day-to-day basis

What is the purpose of Link Governor Visits?

• To increase the governing board’s first-hand knowledge about the school and its daily operation; thus helping to inform ongoing and future strategic decision making
• Monitor how the school is managing areas for further development
• Demonstrate to staff that the Governing Board takes its responsibilities very seriously
• See in context the monitoring systems employed by the school
• They provide OFSTED with concrete evidence about the involvement of the governors in the school