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Become a Governor

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Local Academy Recruitment

What is a Foundation Governor?

Foundation Governors are appointed in the name of the bishop and form the majority of the governing body of a Catholic school. They have a legal duty to preserve and develop the Catholic character of the school and to ensure that the school is conducted in accordance with its trust deed. Governing boards have three core functions:

ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the performance management of staff; and
overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent.

The ministry of Foundation Governor is an important one, because the Catholic character of our schools depends on committed Catholics being willing to undertake this service. Bishop Marcus is therefore very appreciative of all those who offer to assist him in this vital task.

There are two main types of governor

1) a foundation director under company and charity law appointed to the board of an academy trust. This role is more onerous and focused on the strategic responsibilities of the board and bringing the right skill set is particularly important. If you have the professional background to serve the diocese in this way, please see more details on the ‘Foundation Directors’ page

2) a foundation governor who serves on a governing body of a school or an academy council governor both serving a school or academy at the local level ensuring relationships are built with local parishes and community. If this is the role that interests you please see the pages on ‘Foundation Governance’

Becoming a foundation Governor

What is a Foundation Governor?
Foundation Governors are appointed in the name of the bishop and form the majority of the governing body of a Catholic school. They have a legal duty to preserve and develop the Catholic character of the school and to ensure that the school is conducted in accordance with its trust deed. Governing boards have three core functions:
• ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
• holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the performance management of staff; and
• overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent.
The ministry of Foundation Governor is an important one, because the Catholic character of our schools depends on committed Catholics being willing to undertake this service. Bishop Marcus is therefore very appreciative of all those who offer to assist him in this vital task.

Responsibilities and Time Commitments
The average Foundation Governor role will take up about 10-12 hours per month. However, this can vary depending on the school calendar or by events, such as an Ofsted inspection.
This commitment includes the minimum requirement of attending three full governor meetings per year and serving on at least one committee.
The committees will focus on areas such as finance, curriculum, pupil progress and site management.
You will also be encouraged to attend training sessions.

Do I fit the criteria?
Because of our baptism, all Christians are all called to serve the Church’s mission. So lack of experience is no bar to appointment, because all that is required is a wish to serve the mission of the Church in this particular way. Induction and training will be provided for Foundation Governors.

General Criteria
1. To become or remain a foundation governor, a person should be and remain:
• a practising Catholic;
• providing education for his or her own children, if of school age, in a Catholic school or college (unless exceptional circumstances apply);
• able to give priority of attendance at meetings of the governing body to ensure representation of the Archbishop;
• in possession of a valid DBS disclosure certificate.
2. To become or remain a foundation governor, a person must not be disqualified from becoming or remaining a governor in accordance with:
• the current School Government Regulations (or the college’s Instrument of Government);
• the Charities Acts; and
• the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000.
3. A person (other than the parish priest) will not normally be appointed as a foundation governor if he or she is over 70 years of age.

Foundation Governor Responsibilities

The educational provision within the diocese is under the control of the Bishop and foundation governors have the responsibility to act as his representatives as stated in the diocesan trust deed. So it falls to the governing body to ensure that our schools are successful both in carrying out the mission of the church but also as successful schools within the educational provision of an area. Governors are appointed to have direct oversight of the work of the school, its achievements, the needs of its pupils so that every child may flourish. On appointment governors agree to ensure the best Catholic education in the diocese not solely in their own school. Within the diocese there are many families and schools together form an important family for our young people. The actions of one school must never be such so as to adversely affect another. Equally, all schools should be willing to give generously in time and support others in need. This principle of the Catholic church’s teaching on solidarity adds significant strength to our schools allowing them to succeed in many challenging areas.

Canon 806 provides: The Diocesan bishop has the right to watch over and inspect the Catholic schools in his territory ….and has the right to issue directives concerning the general regulation of Catholic schools….Those who are in charge of Catholic schools are to ensure, under the supervision of the local Ordinary, that the formation given in them, in its academic standards, are at least as outstanding as that in other schools in the area.

It is this challenging role that the diocese asks the foundation governors to carry out when they agree to join the governing body of a school or academy.