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Foundation Governors

The key task of a Foundation Governor is to secure, develop and maintain the religious character of the school, namely its Christian distinctiveness

Foundation Governors: Guardians of Christian Vision and Ethos

The Role and Responsibilities of Foundation Governors

Church of England schools have ‘foundation’ governors. As well as meeting all the responsibilities laid out in the governance guide, they have additional duties related to the Church of England Christian principles in the original trust deed upon which the school was founded, maybe hundreds of years ago. These include:

  • preserving the links between the local church, the school and the Diocese of Chelmsford;
  • regularly accessing diocesan or national Church of England foundation governor training;
  • ensuring that collective worship and religious education (RE) at the school are lawful, of high quality, and accurately monitored and evaluated;
  • bringing to the attention of the Diocese of Chelmsford any matters requiring external intervention in keeping with the Diocesan Boards of Education Measure 2021, especially where directions may be required;
  • ensuring that the theologically rooted Christian vision is embedded and promoted throughout the school community and is reflected in its policies and protocols, curriculum, activities and relationships;
  • ensuring that their own attitudes and behaviour in relation to the school, its staff and the wider community reflect distinctive Christian values;
  • taking an active role in the SIAMS process.

Foundation Governor Appointments and Terms

A voluntary controlled school must have at least two foundation governors, but they may not account for more than one quarter of all governors. A voluntary aided or qualifying foundation school must have a sufficient number of foundation governors to outnumber all other governors by two.

There will often be an ‘ex-officio’ foundation governor who is usually the principal officiating minister in the local church. The other foundation governors are almost always appointed by the local parochial church council (PCC) and the Chelmsford Diocesan Board of Education (DBE). In a small number of cases, other Church bodies may also appoint foundation governors. The school’s instrument of government will explain how many foundation governors there should be and who appoints them. All foundation governors other than the ex-officio foundation governor will have a term of office lasting for four years from the date of their appointment.

All foundation governors are expected to assent to the foundation governor code of conduct.

Foundation Governors Code of Conduct

Foundation Governors Appointments Policy

 

Foundation Governor Appointment Process

Where a foundation governor is appointed by a PCC, the DBE asks that the secretary to the PCC should send a copy of the minutes of the PCC meeting at which the appointment was made to the DBE using this email address. Where a prospective governor is applying to be appointed by the DBE, they should use the foundation governor nomination form below which, when completed, will send out reference requests to the applicant’s church minister as well as the school’s headteacher and chair of governors.

Nomination Form for Foundation Governors

 

All foundation governance queries should be directed to the governance schools adviser Richard Hopkins at rhopkins@chelmsford.anglican.org.