On Wednesday 1st March two school governors came to our school council meeting: Jackie Hudson (chair of governors) and Graham Whitmore.

Here is what we asked them and their (paraphrased) answers:

Qu from Megan: What do school governors do?

Answer from Jackie: The best way to describe us is to think of the school as a football team. The pupils are the players, the staff and the head teacher are the coaches and managers and the governors are like the directors of the football team. As ‘directors’ we hope to help the school run smoothly and to support the school in any way we can.

Qu from Mila: Do different governors have different roles?

Answer from Graham: Yes, for example I am the school’s link governor. I am the link governor for Year 5/6 and I come into school to see the staff and pupils in this phase and to help and offer support where I can.

[All governors have different roles and work to support different areas of the school. There are several committees within the governing body. There is a full governers meeting twice each term]

Qu from Patrick: How do you become a governor? Are there elections?

Answer from Jackie: We are all volunteers. Staff at the school elect the staff governor (Mrs Dibden) and parents elect the parent governors.  I have had three children through Fishergate School and have been on the Governing Body for 9 years.

Qu from Bella: We have heard about schools becoming academies. Is Fishergate going to become an academy and what will that mean for our school?

Answer from Graham and Jackie: It does look likely that all schools will have to become academies at some point in the future. The governors are discussing this issue at the moment. When a school becomes an academy, they can join other schools and be part of the same academy group. We don’t believe that becoming an academy will bring any big changes to our school. We will ensure that we maintain our school ethos and values.

[We have asked that if we have any further questions about becoming an academy we can send these to the governors]

We would like to thank Jackie and Graham for coming along to our meeting and for chatting with us. We learnt a great deal about what our school governors do and how they help the school.