Parent Governor

Who can be a parent governor?

  • Academy trust articles require two parent governors on each local academy committee.

  • All people who have parental responsibility for a child at St Catherine’s are eligible to stand for election as a parent governor.

  • Eligibility criteria are set out in the trust’s articles of association.

Term of office

The term of office for all governors is 4 years.

Election of parent governors

If there are more nominations than vacancies, an election is held. The election will be organised by the headteacher, and every parents of a pupil in the school will be sent a voting paper and have the opportunity to vote.

The detailed arrangements and a list of parents standing for election will be published in the weekly newsletter on Friday 19th June 2026.

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* to the school by Thursday 18th June 2026. You must include a short personal statement with your nomination, and this will be circulated to parents.

*Please email Liz Smith (Clerk to the Local Academy Committee) - esmith@stcatherines.academy

Parent governor responsibilities

The role of a parent governor is no different to any other governor. Local Academy Committees make strategic decisions and work together to:

  • Preserve and develop the Catholic ethos and mission of the Church;

  • Provide local accountability;

  • Provide day to day support and oversight of the Academy’s leadership team;

  • Monitor the effectiveness of the resources allocated to the Academy;

  • Support the Trust Board in implementing policies and procedures.

Once elected, parent governors should make use of the induction training on offer as this will explain parent governor duties, responsibilities and expectations in details.

Offering a parent’s perspective

Parent governors offer a parental perspective to issues being discussed; however, they are not expected to represent the parent body or act as a spokesperson.

Bringing a parent’s perspective to the committee is important but should not be confused with the committee’s overall responsibility to engage with parents as a collective.

Providing effective support and challenge

Parent governors need to remain impartial, especially when posing challenging questions to school leaders.

For example, if school uniform is discussed at a governing board meeting, parent governors may have opinions based on personal experience but should ensure their questions remain objective.

Rather than stating:

“I’ve spoken to other parents, and we all agree that the uniform policy shouldn’t change”.

A parent governor might instead ask:

“Have parents been consulted on proposed uniform changes?”

“What opportunities are there to minimise the cost of this change to parents?”

While all parents are concerned with their own child's best interests, governors must make strategic decisions that are in the best interests of the whole school community – local academy committees work as a team to make collective decisions.

For example, if data indicates that pupil progress is falling behind expectations in a specific year group, it is appropriate to raise this in board meetings.

Ask: "What support is in place to ensure all pupils make good progress?"

Avoid asking: "What are you going to do to support my child to catch up?"

It is important to keep governing board matters confidential. Parent governors should avoid sharing concerns away from the board meeting or discussing with other parents.

Managing complaints

Governors may be approached by parents wishing to raise a complaint. However, it is not the parent governor’s role to attempt to resolve individual issues. Instead, they should direct parents to the school’s complaints procedure and avoid making promises to investigate the issue.

Similarly, if parent governors have concerns relating to their own child, they should use the school communication channels available to all parents and follow the complaints procedure where appropriate. Parent governors should not attempt to bring individual cases to the board.

Dealing with conflicts of interest

All governors must declare business or personal interests that might affect their ability to make impartial decisions.

Parent governors may need to declare an interest and remove themselves from a meeting where the outcome of a decision could directly affect them or their child – for example, changes to after-school provision that the parent currently uses.

Disqualification of governors

A person is disqualified from holding or continuing as a governor if they:

  • Are under 18 years of age at the time of election or appointment;

  • Have not provided a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate at an enhanced disclosure level to the clerk to the governing body, or have provided a DBS certificate that discloses information that would in the opinion of the trust confirm their unsuitability to work with children;

  • Are missing for six months of meetings without the consent of the local academy committee.