‘A good working relationship between the governing board and the headteacher/CEO is essential. Schools and trusts need the support and challenge of strong governing boards to help them thrive, with leaders and those governing developing effective working practices together.’ (What boards and leaders should expect from each other) 

The National Governance Association states governors and school leaders should understand each other’s roles, work together and be mutually supportive. They have produced guides, which include: 

• respecting respective roles 

• working together to set a strategy 

• stakeholder engagement 

• ensuring your school/trust is a great place to work 

• making governance effective 

• ways of working 

​‘For governors to support headteachers, they need to know what’s going on and need information in a format they can understand. A lot of governors are not educationalists and don’t understand data spreadsheets and acronyms etc. This is not to say headteachers should dumb down the information, but they need to be aware – it’s about making sure governors understand the information they are given and are encouraged to ask questions.’ (Five top tips to help headteachers and governors work effectively together) 

It is important as a school leader to get to know your governors including finding out about their reasons for becoming a governor. Find out about their commitments and priorities, their understanding of school life and their motivation. 

The most significant relationship is between the headteacher and chair of governors. Richard Hover asserts that it is important to know and communicate boundaries, which means understanding where professional boundaries lie and ensuring governors, including the chair, operates within them.  

‘Advice: 

• Make meetings purposeful with positive outcomes. 

• Ensure agenda material is sent out well in advance. 

• Publish a monitoring plan early in Term 1 so that each governor knows what is expected throughout the year and can plan effectively. 

• Agree the purpose and content of Headteacher Reports with Governors. 

• Governors are unpaid volunteers who give up their own time to provide independent oversight of the management and operation of a school. Use their time wisely and give them as much notice as possible.’ (How to strengthen bonds between governors and their schools)  

Governance is an integral part of leadership and management of a school, and the effectiveness of boards are linked to school improvement; key to this is an effective working partnership which is: open, honest, transparent, respectful, realistic, supportive, reflective, collaborative, informative and has clarity of purpose, vision and strategy. 

‘Boards are responsible for governing the organisation and school leaders are responsible for the operational day to day running of the organisation. For the organisation to be able to deliver a good education to its pupils, the relationship between the board and the school leaders must be based on trust, integrity and, very importantly, on understanding of each other’s roles.’ (Effective relationships between boards and executive leaders matter) 

 This blog was written by Bretta Townend-Jowitt, Education Consultant and Trainer.