Our friends at SGOSS, the governor recruitment charity, have told us that 1 in 7 of the schools registering with them last year asked for a volunteer with legal skills. After speaking with our governor team, it was clear to see why this was the case. There are many areas of school governance that someone with a legal skillset would be well-placed to help with. These include capability, conduct and grievances, admissions and roll, discipline and exclusions, constitution and membership, health and safety and issues surrounding academy conversion.
The benefits are not one-sided either, being a school governor can also help lawyers develop skills which they can take back to their workplace:
So if you know any legal professionals, do share SGOSS's free new digital magazine which is aimed at getting more legal professionals volunteering as school governors.
Senior researcher Jess has suggested 10 popular articles on The Key for School Governors from areas of governance where legal professionals could really help:
- Legal responsibility of governors for health and safety
- Complying with RIDDOR
- Removing a governor from office (maintained schools)
- Removing a governor from office (academies)
- Suspending a member of the governing body
- Allegations of abuse against staff: confidentiality
- Admission appeals: can we challenge an appeal decision?
- Multi-academy trusts: governance and conversion
- Risk assessment for a school converting to academy status
- Academy conversion process
Members of The Key for School Governors can log in to see these articles in full. If you’re a school governor who hasn’t used The Key before, you can register for a free trial here.