Is this for an academy? I was a Governor at my daughter's primary school, but once they became an academy, the role became pretty much pointless, a lot of decision-making was taken away, and it seemed we were there just to tell the head teacher what a great job they were doing!

In reply to Paul:

Hi Paul - thanks for your interest. No, it's not an academy. It's for a local-authority maintained school.

In reply to Chris:

That's different then, Once a school becomes an academy, they lose all their strategic oversight

In reply to Paul:

What a sweeping generalisation

In reply to Paul:

Funny enough I am a chair of governors at an academy in a MAT and have a meeting this evening, and this is a disappointing take on our roles as you are only referencing "power" as opposed to all the support provided to a school.

Whilst the Trust strategy is determined by the Board of Directors, we have oversight still on all local matters, including H&S, safeguarding, pupil and staff performance, finance etc. We are also very involved with Ofsted inspections and our governors are called to sit on all types of panels for any one of our academies across the Trust. We have Trust-wide learning events for governors, as well as an annual governor event showcasing all the achievements across our schools.

Whatever the status of the school, if you go into the role of a governor with an open mind and willingness to learn and provide scrutiny and support, it is a very fulfilling role and would definitely recommend it :)

In reply to Kimberly:

Sorry, but we had open minds, we were misled by the head teacher who had her eye on being head teacher of not only our school but, the new school down the road, so plumped with the academy that was going to give her the joint role as a sweetner for joining, that didn't happen as the new school was awarded to a different academy. I stuck it out until about 18 months ago; other Governors I joined with quit as soon as the school became part of an Academy. The local secondary school is its own Academy and doesn't have Governors because there is no point; they obviously have Trustees, but that is different

Hi Chris, I have an education sector background; currently operating as an HR Business Partner within an FE institute. I have operated up to acting Head of HR and my remit covers both strategic and operational HR. I am SW London based. Open to a discussion about the volunteering opportunity you have.

In reply to Denny Covington:

Thanks so much Denny - I've requested to connect so that we can discuss.

Hi Chris, if you don't find anyone quickly, I might be able to help. I'm Head of Reward and Research (HR Research) at the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) with a history of leading operational HR in unis. SW London is accessible for me. Andrew