November 2025
Can you help shape the future of our school?
We need parents of pupils registered at the school to make a difference in our school’s community by volunteering to become parent governors. Currently we have one vacancy for a parent governor on the governing body.
Your voice as a parent is very important to our school and it is vital that the governing body has good representation by our parents among its membership.
Information about the role
Once elected or appointed for a term of four years, a parent governor takes on the role of a school governor, a public volunteer. All governors are equal, no category of governor is any more important or influential than any other. Parent governors exercise a strategic parental voice on the governing body.
I have included more details on the role of governors with this letter. Please read this as it is important to understand the role, expectations and commitment before applying.
We are seeking a parent who has a real willingness to help, who can listen carefully, read important documents, ask questions, attend training and be able to actively contribute at meetings. If you can spare approximately ten hours or more a month then please consider nominating yourself for this interesting voluntary role. The governing body is particularly seeking applicants with experience in the Health, Human Resources and buildings/health & safety sector/background.
What can you offer as a parent governor?
- Enthusiasm, time and commitment – to attend twice termly Full Governing Body (FGB) meetings and one or more sub-committes.
- Any professional or other skills you may have will be very helpful, with an openness to learning and change and wanting to make a difference.
- Your local knowledge will be valuable: you will have a feel for what is important to people.
- Governors also provide objectivity in debate and decision-making and can add further and different perspectives to school matters.
What are the benefits?
- Being a school governor is a privilege – you are a small but very important part in an educational system with a very long history.
- The knowledge that you have played a part in improving local children's education
- A chance to develop new skills, to practice and strengthen existing ones, such as chairing a committee meeting, researching or leading on a key school issue.
- The opportunity to work as part of a team to make a real difference in the community.
- The opportunity to meet new people from all walks of life whom you probably would not have otherwise encountered.
- Knowing that the decisions you collectively make will have a huge impact on children’s lives.
- You develop as a person and may even find that your experiences as a governor influence future career and life choices.
Please note: any potential candidates shall also have the opportunity to meet informally the Chair, Vice Chair and Clerk to the Governing Body to ask any questions they may have in relation to the nature and purpose of the role. Any such requests should be sent to the clerk Russell Carpenter at rcarpenter@meadowhighschool.org
If you are interested in volunteering, here’s what you should do …
- Please check that you are eligible to stand as a parent governor. There are some criteria which can disqualify you from serving as any type of governor. This list is given in the nomination form. If you are applying, then you must confirm that you are not disqualified.
The definition of “parent” includes:
- all natural parents, whether they are married or not: and
- any person who, although not a natural parent, has parental responsibility for a child or young person; and
- “Parent” is defined as including “any individual who has or has had parental responsibility for, or cares or has cared for, a child or young person under the age of 18”. It includes a person who the child lives with and who looks after the child, irrespective of what their relationship is with the child. The reference in the definition must be to someone involved in the full-time care of the child on a settled basis.
There are some criteria which can disqualify you from serving as any type of governor. This list is given in the nomination form. If you are applying, then you must confirm that you are not disqualified by those criteria.
- Please nominate yourself by completing the attached nomination form.
- Please ensure that your completed nomination form is returned to the school by 13:00 on Tuesday 2 December 2025. There is a Nomination Box in the school Reception area for the collection of nominations. They can also be submitted by email to the clerk to the governors, rcarpenter@meadowhighschool.org
What happens after the nomination deadline has passed?
Nominations received after the deadline will not be accepted. If the school receives more nominations than the one vacancy, then we will hold an election and all parents will be asked to take part in a secret ballot to vote for the candidate they feel would be most suitable as a parent governor. The information you supply as part of your nomination will be circulated to parents to help them decide who to vote for. Your personal contact details will not be distributed. This is for governing body purposes only.
If the school receives one nomination for the one vacancy, then that nominee is deemed to be ‘elected unopposed’ and becomes a parent governor without the need for an election. If no parent nominates themselves by the deadline given above, then the vacancy is held open until a suitable nominee comes forward. If an election needs to take place, then I will inform all nominees personally, and all parents in writing, providing details of how to vote and the deadline for doing so. If there are any questions or you need further information, please let me know as soon as possible. The timescale for this process in November/December 2025 is as follows:
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Day
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TASK
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DATE
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1
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Parent Communications circulated
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Tuesday 18 November
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11
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Receipt of applications
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Tuesday 2 December 13:00
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13
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Election announced
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Thursday 4 December
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23
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Closing date for return of ballots
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Monday 15 December 17:00
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24
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Count - results announced to candidates
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Tuesday 16 December 09:00
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25
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Results announced
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Wednesday 17 December
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For the successful applicant (whether or not an election takes place), a term of office of four years shall commence from early 2026, with invitation to the next Governing Body on Monday 16 March 2026.
Yours faithfully,
Graham Cunningham
Headteacher
Attachments:
a. Parent Governor Nomination Form, b. Your Skills and Attributes Evaluation Form, c. Personal Declaration Form (note in together in one pack), d. Information on the role of governor
Letter - Parent Governor Vacancy - Autumn 2025
a, b, c Parent Governor Nomination Form
d Parent Governor Information for Applicants
Calendar of Governor Meetings 2025 2026
It was an honour to attend my first Meadow High School Awards Evening last week. It was great to see the former students returning to Meadow High School to receive their certificates and other accreditations and to see how they are getting on now they have left us. It was also a pleasure to see current students receiving their certificates they achieved last academic year. This will surely give them a boost as they move through their current studies. I spoke to the students about the ‘positive power of failure’ and you can see my talk on the website by following the link below.
