Using this guidance
What you need to know about legal requirements and resources from third parties.
In this guidance:
- must聽identifies a legal or regulatory requirement or duty which must be complied with
- should聽identifies minimum good practice which should be applied, unless it can be demonstrated that an alternative approach better suits the circumstances
Where neither a must nor should is used, the content will reflect the generally held view of high-quality governance.
Additional governance expectations or arrangements may be in place for specific groups of schools, for example by diocesan authorities. This guide refers to these where relevant but does not aim to cover them comprehensively.
Many organisations provide support for governing bodies, and we recognise the value that these resources bring to help support effective governance.
Organisations referenced include, but are not limited to:
- local authority governor services
Some resources available from these and other organisations are only available through membership subscription, but this guidance includes links to free resources where available. This is intended as signposting to further reading, and not a formal endorsement of the content.