Associate Announcement: 3,500 schools seeking legal professionals to volunteer as school governors

Up to 3,500 schools or colleges could be looking for volunteers with legal skills to become school governors in 2015, according to education charity SGOSS – Governors for Schools.

During 2014, 1 in 7 schools who registered a governor vacancy with the charity were looking for a volunteer with legal skills to fill the position. As governing bodies become increasingly professionalised, the number of requests is only expected to increase.

In response to this need, the charity is launching an appeal for legal professionals to apply to the role at www.becomeagovernor.com.

“I would urge all legal professionals to consider becoming a school governor because of the skillset they bring to the role,” said Natsai Manyarara, barrister, school governor. “I’ve been able to utilise all of my skills as a lawyer during governor meetings, not just in the review of policies but also in relation to maintaining standards in the school.”

School governors provide vital challenge and support in order to drive school improvement, and legal professionals have the skills needed to help.

Janet Scott, Interim CEO at SGOSS commented, “Legal professionals are one of the most sought-after volunteers when schools look for new school governors. Their skills are incredibly valuable for driving up school standards – from analysing policies to asking tough questions - and we encourage all legal professionals to find out more about the role.”

A completely free new digital magazine which provides more information for interested volunteers and businesses forms the backbone of the recruitment campaign. The magazine can be read online at www.sgoss.org.uk/legal-mag.

“Experience of the complexities of any legal framework and the skills associated with the profession are extremely valuable in securing the success of our schools in an increasingly commercial world,” said Sarah Young, executive head teacher, The Hessle Federation.

SGOSS - Governors for Schools is the national school governor recruitment charity. The charity provides a completely free service to schools and since 1999 has helped to place over 19,000 governors across England.

School governing bodies have 3 core functions:

1.  Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction for their school

2. Holding the head teacher to account for school performance and

3. Overseeing the financial performance of the school.

1 in 7 schools / colleges who registered a school governor vacancy in 2014 described it as ‘desirable’ or ‘essential’ for the governor to have legal skills.

For any enquiries, please contact Andrew.Rushton@sgoss.org.uk / 020 7288 9532.