HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

FOUR SWANNES PRIMARY SCHOOL

KING EDWARDS ROAD, WALTHAM CROSS, EN8 7HH

Tel:        01992 763939                                                                          Headteacher

Fax:       01992 714420                                                                          Mr A Moore   BEd HONS

E-Mail:  admin@fourswannes.herts.sch.uk

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SCHOOL GOVERNING BOARD – ELECTION OF PARENT GOVERNOR

Dear Parent/Carer,

We have one vacancy for a parent governor, which is directly elected by the parents, and I am therefore writing to invite nominations. No formal qualifications are required; you just need common sense, time, enthusiasm and a commitment to working as part of a team to make a difference for all the children at our School. Being a school governor can provide an opportunity to develop a wide range of transferable skills. As a guide, being a school governor would take up 6 – 8 hours a month of your time. The term of office is four years.

In order to carry out its core functions our board needs people with a wide range of competencies and skills. We are, however, keen to recruit parents and carers coming from ‘all walks of life’ and representing all groups in our School community. You can find out more about the role by contacting the Headteacher on head1@fourswannes.herts.sch.uk), or the Chair of Governors(cog@fourswannes.herts.sch.uk), or, by contacting the School Office on 01992 763939 or by email(admin@fourswannes.herts.sch.uk).

If you wish to stand for election you may nominate yourself as a candidate. No proposer or seconder is required but you must signify your intention to stand, in writing. Those eligible to stand are the parents or carers of pupils who are currently registered pupils at this school. A person who works at the school for more than 500 hours in a consecutive twelve-month period or who is an elected member of the Local Authority is not eligible to be a parent governor.

The term of office will be for a period of four years. A parent whose child leaves the school may continue as a parent governor until the end of their term of office, if he or she so wishes.

Nominations should be sent to me within the next two weeks, that is before the closing date for nominations which is 25^th of October. If there is only one parent nominated, they will of course be elected unopposed, but if there are more candidates than vacancies, a postal ballot will be held.

The ballot will be entirely secret and a further letter about the arrangements will be sent to you. All parents whose child/children attend this school will be entitled to vote in the postal ballot and voting will be on the basis of one vote per parent/carer per place available. Before the ballot takes place we would hope to arrange a meeting when parents would have an opportunity to meet the candidates who have been nominated for election. We would also circulate information from the candidates to all parents, for the benefit of the parents who may be unable to attend this meeting.

If it proves impossible to fill all vacancies, the governing board has the right to make an appointment in order to fill the required number of parent governor places on the governing board. If the need to do this arises, the Governing Board would first of all consider appointing a parent who has a child on roll at the school, followed by consideration of parents of former pupils, and finally parents of a school-aged child not necessarily a registered pupil at this school.

Please note that governors will be required to apply to the Disclosure and Barring Service for a DBS certificate when appointed and the school will advise on this process.

Prospective governors should also note that the School has a Close Personal Relationships Policy and therefore they should not become a governor if they have a close personal relationship with a member of staff at the same school.

Parents may be interested in the overall constitution of the Governing Board, which is as follows:

• One local authority governor nominated by the Local Authority and appointed by Governing Board

•  Co-opted governors appointed by the Governing Board as a whole

• 2 parent governors

• One staff governor elected by other staff at the school

• One headteacher

• Associate members

A full list of the names of the successful candidates will be made available as soon as all the appointments have been finalised.

I enclose a tear-off slip for the parent governor nomination procedure which parents may find useful, but a separate nomination letter is just as acceptable. Please return the slip or letter by 25^th of October.

Yours sincerely 

Mr A Moore

Headteacher

HEADTEACHER REQUEST FOR PARENT GOVERNOR NOMINATION

 I,…………………………………………………………………………., wish to nominate myself for the position of parent governor.

SIGNED:………………………………………….…………………… DATE……………………………………………………………………

Please return to the Headteacher by 25^th of October.