October 11, 2014  

School Governors & governance.2

Hilary writes to tell me that I am wrong (see blog earlier this month). She tells me that skills are necessary in the modern governing board and that the time of the stakeholder is past. Well I agree on the last point but that is a regret and I need to thank Hilary for forcing me to make my point more clearly.

It is actually worse than I relayed. Now that we are looking for skill sets and not stakeholders we are also handing over most of the appointment process to the Head. The end result is not likely to be people in a very strong position to challenge either head or school.

In my considerable experience as a governor, it was mainly the stakeholders, who had the self-confidence and frankly the clout to challenge the head or the school’s ingrained modus operandi. In future as more and more governors are appointed through school controlled mechanisms there will be, in my submission, less and less, not more and more, challenge.

As once a technician and for a long-time a councillor, I think I know, which was the more likely to be a challenger. Give me the councillor over a financial whizz any day.

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About Tony Belton

Labour Councillor for Latchmere Ward 1972-2022, now Battersea Park Ward, London Borough of Wandsworth Ever hopeful Spurs supporter; Lane visit to the Lane, 1948 Olympics. Why don't they simply call the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, The Lane? Once understood IT but no longer

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