Cwmbran High School is looking for five community governors.
In 2019 the school’s governing body was replaced by an interim executive board following a 2018 Estyn report that placed it in special measures.
Now the school has started to bring together a new, full governing body and already has local authority representatives, staff (teaching and non-teaching staff) and parents on its new shadow board.
The chair of the shadow governing body spoke to Cwmbran Life about the five vacancies for community governors that it needs. She said it could be a chance for organisations and businesses to support their corporate social responsibility aims by allowing professional staff to volunteer as a governor.
Jan English said: “We are raising the profile of governance and doing a professional approach to recruitment. We need strong leadership, not just from the staff in the school, but the governors. It’s pushing the boundaries.
“We’ve done a skills audit of the current shadow governing body to see what we need.
“We want them to do the absolute best for the school. That’s what drives this. How do you ensure those young people get the best deal? For me, that’s the best governing body with high-quality candidates to support us and help us steer our way. It’s important people understand the challenges.
“There is a full governing body every half term. Then we have sub-committees. You don’t have to sign up for them all, it could be one or three depending on how much time you have. There are also statutory committees that deal with things that come up like policy and process, disciplinaries and pay.
“It’s so rewarding and interesting to see the school from a different view angle. You don’t realise that the governors are part of the great cog that makes the other things happen in a school.”
She said Estyn approved the school’s move to bring together a new governing body.
They are looking for people with skills in:
- Public relations/marketing
- Education Law/legal services
- Procurement
- Environmental issues
- Health Services
The governors also want to hear from people who have links to other education bodies.
Find out more
If you would like to find out more email Jan English, via [email protected] to have an informal chat.
This website has lots of useful information about the role of governors.