Local Governor at The Echelford Primary School, Ashford Surrey

What will you be doing?

We are looking for individuals who care about making a positive impact in our school communities, embracing those wishing to join us who believe they have a part to play in securing our future generation's life chances. 

Echelford is an inclusive and nurturing primary school and being one of the larger schools in Spelthorne means we are uniquely placed to offer our children every opportunity to form numerous friendships and, at the end of their time with us, make a confident and smooth transition to secondary school.

Our Local Governing Body (LGB) supports the school leadership at a strategic level and is not involved in the day-to-day running of the school. The focus is on 3 core functions.

• Strategic leadership: ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction aligns with the Trust values in serving the school’s local community;
• Accountability and assurance: supporting the Executive Principal (CEO) and Directors in seeking insight about the impact of action taken by school leaders to strengthen outcomes for the pupils;
• Compliance: (if representing the local governing body) supporting the Trust Central Team and Directors in overseeing the financial performance of the Trust schools.

We are looking particularly for someone who has:

Commitment to what is essentially a volunteer role - you will be required to:

• attend 3 in person LGB meetings, typically each lasting 1.5–2 hours at the school you support each year
• carry out a minimum of 3 monitoring visits during school hours per year
• undertake governor training (online), typically 8-10 hours per year
• fulfil a 4-year governor term.

As well as: 

• An interest in children’s education and the performance of our schools
• A willingness to keep up with national developments that might impact our school communities
• A community spirit
• An enquiring mind and the confidence to support and challenge, asking questions and debating issues that affect the school
• A desire to work collaboratively and build relationships with a range of people
• The ability and confidence to use initiative whilst respecting advice from professionals
• The ability to consider matters objectively and make informed judgements.

What are we looking for?

You don’t need any specific skills or experience to be a school governor. You must be over 18, but you don’t need to be a parent or have experience working in education. Often, it’s the outside perspective you can bring that a school needs.  Our governors come from a range of different backgrounds, skills and experience but all share a common interest of wanting the best possible education for the children in our school.

Professional experience in areas such as HR, finance, law, or project management are all useful to a school but soft skills such as leadership, communication, and problem solving are also highly valued.

Please note, we cannot consider an application from a parent of a child currently on roll at this school.

What difference will you make?

Governors are essential for the effectiveness and success of the school and it is an extremely rewarding and fulfilling role.

Echelford is part of a multi-academy trust of primary schools with diverse catchments and a wonderful team spirit.  The whole school teams are committed to ensuring a safe and happy environment where children love learning and thrive.

All governors are volunteers, working in their own time, often in very busy lives. However, we feel that individuals in a governor role gain a great deal in terms of personal development as well as the satisfaction that comes with knowing they have played an important part in improving education and life choices of children in the local community.

What we can offer you:

1. The opportunity to improve education for children locally and see the impact of your decisions;
2. A chance to develop your own personal skills that can enhance your performance and employability including: strategic decision making; analytical interrogation; adaptive communication skills; empathetic sense of civic responsibility;
3. The opportunity to work with our team of Directors, Executive Principal, Governors and Staff in developing our school;
4. An insight into the wider perspective of the school through long-term planning;
5. Access to a programme of free training in respect of education/governance matters;
6. A sense of achievement in helping make a difference to children reaching their potential;
7. The pleasure of seeing children thrive and become successful learners.
8. The support and guidance from fellow governors and the wider trust leadership team including Trust Directors.

Additional information

You can download the following documents:

Before you apply

Please apply through Reach in the first instance. 

Shortlisted candidates will be:

• Asked to complete our additional application form.
• Our Governance Professional will arrange a mutually convenient time for you to meet with our Lumen Learning Trust Executive Principal either in person or virtually. During the meeting the role of a governor will be explored in more detail, you can share more about your unique skills, abilities and life experiences as well as ask any questions you have. The meeting is essential, ensuring each candidate is placed with the LGB that will benefit most from what you have to offer.