As part of our Inclusive Governance campaign, we asked a range of school governors to provide diary entries detailing their experiences in the role. As well as gaining first-hand insight into people’s diverse governance journeys, we explore how boards are addressing issues surrounding diversity and inclusion. We end our Diary of a School Governor series with young governor, Anand Aggarwal – who was recently elected as a Chair of Governors and acts as Clerk to a Local Governing Board. In this entry, he explores how governance has prepared him for a career in education.
Taking on the role – August 2024
If I take myself back to 2021, when I first became a school governor, I remember teaching was a career that piqued my interest. I wanted to dip my toes into the education sector to get a feel for the qualities you might need to succeed as a teacher. Additionally, someone with previous experience as a school governor recommended the role to me. To offer some context on the school governor workforce, 10% of roles are unfilled. As well as this, only 1% of school governors are under the age of 30. Inclusion is a vital part of good governance. A workforce where 57% are aged 55+ means that boards are not as inclusive as they could be. Becoming a school governor was a win-win for me. I was able to understand more about the education sector while adding the voice of a young person to our board.
I sit as a school governor at an academy. As a result, my role is less about making decisions and more about checking and supporting the school to meet its goals. We have a school development plan set out by our headteacher at the beginning of the year and it is our responsibility, as a board, to hold the headteacher, and the wider senior leadership team, to account in meeting the school’s goals.
Importance of inclusion and diversity
I believe that our board is diverse in both backgrounds and ages. We benefit from that diversity with a culture of inclusion that trickles down into the school and the wider community. We share different perspectives in every board meeting and our contributions can be supportive or challenging to the leadership team. This is our greatest strength. For example, we reviewed the attainment of pupils that have additional needs, discussing the expectations we had for those pupils. School governors with experience of teaching shared that a gap in attainment between pupils with or without additional needs has long been an issue nationally. At every meeting and in every discussion, we listen to all views and treat each other equally.
Inclusion Governors
In our last meeting of the academic year, we floated the idea of having a named ‘inclusion governor’. Their role would ensure we really do represent the whole of our local community. They would reflect on whether our curriculum reflects the faiths of our pupils. They would also determine whether our website reflects our school population, and in general promote equality at all levels. Inclusion is at the heart of our equity-based values. We believed an inclusion governor would have a role across the whole school ensuring children who receive pupil premium, those in care, and those with English as an additional language feel included and have their needs met. They could look at the specifics of persistent absences and what support is offered to encourage pupils to attend school.
An inclusion governor has the potential to be such a multifaceted role that looks at our inclusive practices holistically. This is in relation to language we use, the support we provide, and the opportunities that we offer. A culture of equality and inclusion helps avoid groupthink and encourages us school governors to provide a variety of perspectives. This develops expertise that we then take back to our primary roles. Moreover, this enables sufficient challenge of the leadership team to ensure the school is meeting its goals, and being the best school it can be.