Types of School Governors

Parent governors

Parents (including carers) of registered pupils at the school are eligible to stand for election for parent governorship at the school.

Parent governors are elected by other parents at the school. If insufficient parents stand for election, the governing body can appoint parent governors.

A person is disqualified from election or appointment as a parent governor of a school if they are an elected member of the LA, or if they work at the school for more than 500 hours in any consecutive 12 month period (at the time of election or appointment). If a serving parent governor subsequently starts to work at the school for more than 500 hours in a consecutive 12 month period, they would serve out their term of office.

Staff governors

Both teaching and support staff paid to work at the school are eligible for staff governorship. Staff governors are elected by the school staff and must be paid to work at the school – volunteers are ineligible. Any election that is contested must be held by ballot.

Local Authority governors

LA governors are appointed by the Local Authority. LAs can appoint any eligible person as an LA governor. A person is disqualified from appointment as an LA governor if they are eligible to be a staff governor of the school. View the ineligibility criteria.

As a Local Authority we have to publish the criteria we use to identify candidates for appointment as our representatives on governing bodies. We must ensure we fill any vacancies as quickly as possible.

Who can be LA Governors?

The Government states that "governors should be chosen on the basis of the contribution which they can bring to a school in terms of their skills and experience."

We have chosen to appoint LA governors on merit, irrespective of their political persuasions, on the following basis:

A willingness to serve as a governor
A belief that every child matters
A passion for making education in Salford the best
An enquiring mind and the confidence to question the way things are done in schools

How we select and appoint our LA Governors:

All candidates are required to complete an application form which should be returned to Governor Services
Governor Services will arrange for applications to be officially approved by Councillor John Warmisham, the Lead Member for Children's Services.
Where appropriate, the views of headteachers and/or Chair of Governors will be sought before appointments are confirmed.
Applicants who are appointed to a governing body will be notified of the appointment as soon as possible.

If you are interested in becoming a local authority governor, please download, complete and return the application form.

Guidance notes for completing the application form.

Community governors

Community governors are appointed by the governing body to represent community interests. Community governors can be people who live or work in the community served by the school, or people who do not work or live close to the school but are committed to the good governance and success of the school.

Foundation governors

Foundation governors are appointed by the school’s founding body, church or other organisation named in the school’s instrument of government. They may hold their governorship in an ex officio capacity if they are the holder of an office specified in the instrument of government, for example a parish priest. If the school has a religious character the foundation governors must preserve and develop this.

Sponsor Governors

Sponsor governors are appointed by the governing body. It is at the governing body’s discretion whether they choose to appoint sponsor governors or not. If the governing body wants to appoint one or more sponsor governors, it must seek nominations from the sponsor(s).

The sponsor can be someone who gives substantial assistance to the school, financially or in kind, or who provides services to the school. The governing body can appoint a maximum of two persons as sponsor governors, or where the school is a secondary school, up to four sponsor governors.

Associate Members

The governing body can appoint associate members to serve on one or more governing body committees and attend full governing body meetings.

The definition of associate member is wide and pupils, school staff and people who want to contribute specifically on issues related to their area of expertise (for instance, finance) can be appointed as associate members.

Associate members are appointed as members of any committees established by the governing body. They are appointed for a period of between one and four years and can be reappointed at the end of their term of office. Associate members are not governors and they are not recorded in the instrument of government.