The Role of the Governing Body

The governing body has three core strategic functions:

• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
• Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff; and
• Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.

Governing body powers

The governing body is recognised in law as a corporate body, which means it has a legal identity separate from that of its governors. It also means that individual governors have no power or right to act on behalf of the governing body except where the whole governing body has delegated a specific duty to that individual. The governing body can also decide to delegate certain responsibilities to committees that it has established. Governors will, therefore, take collective responsibility for the decisions reached by the governing body to publicly support decisions.