Education CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by Kay Moxon

I have been a governor at a local primary school (Slade School, Tonbridge, Kent) for nine years. I volunteered because I wanted to “give back to the community” and was sick of hearing about people complaining about the quality of state education without being willing to get involved. The School has recently being judged “outstanding” by Ofsted and the quality of governance was also judged “outstanding.” I am a Cambridge economics graduate and a teacher at a nearby public school (Tonbridge School) and have been able to foster links between the two schools. I would have thought that I was just the kind of person that the government would like to take up school governance.

Unfortunately, after nine years as a governor (several of those as Vice Chair) I have now felt the need to tender my resignation. As the Local Education Authority has gradually been “pulled back” it seems that ever greater demands and responsibilities are being placed on governing bodies (and my school isn’t even an academy!) The time that the role necessitates in order to be undertaken correctly has grown ever larger and I feel are beyond me as someone with an independent career and a family. I do wonder whom Sir Michael Wilshaw expects to have the time and expertise to become the “professional governors” that he seems to demand.

Moreover, as for the suggestion of paying “professional governors”, isn’t he aware of the research by Michael Sandel (“What Money Can’t Buy”) that “monetising” activities that were hitherto regarded as “voluntary” actually reduces engagement? If paid professionals are to be given the job of monitoring and guiding schools then it strikes me that they are doing no more than replacing the professionals (for example School Improvement Partners)that used to do this under the auspices of the LEA. It seems bizarre to be forcing schools to become more “independent” through the academies programme whilst at the same time criticising the lack of oversight.

Finally, I do question the logic of attempting to encourage more suitable people to undertake school governance by criticising those who currently give up their free time to do it!

March 2013