Its nothing really to do with the size of the school.

Google Governors Guide to the law and look it up there.

It will depend on what your Instrument of Governance states.

The proportions of Staff Governors are defined within the Guide to the Law (http://clerktogovernors.wordpress.com/2010/10/05/what-does-the-guide-to-the-law-say-about-staff-governors/ ), but can be summarised as: "At least two Staff Governors, including the headteacher, and up to a third of the total number of Governors." The Instrument of Government (ask the Clerk for a copy) will show exactly how many Staff Governors there are for your own GB. (There are only so many permutations possible for a particular size of GB)

(See http://clerktogovernors.wordpress.com/2011/06/04/composition-of-governing-bodies/ )

Of those Staff Governors, there is guidance on how many places should be allocated for teachers and how many for support staff.

The first place is always reserved for the headteacher, who may choose whether or not to be a Governor. If they choose not to be, that place is still held for them.

The second place is to be offered initially to nominees from the teaching staff (NB nominated by and voted on by ALL staff, not just the teachers). If no one from the teaching staff wishes to be considered, then nominations for the place should be offered to any other staff. Again, voting is by all staff.

The third place, if there is one on your GB, would then be for a member of the non-teaching staff. If no one is interested, the place can be offered to the teachers.

Forth and fifth places follow a similar pattern.

Staff Governor places are filled by elections, but the Staff Governor is not there as a delegate. The fine distinction between being "representative" and being "a representative" needs a bit of care: http://clerktogovernors.wordpress.com/category/governors/gb-staff-governors/

ProfHarry

Thank you Blackdog and Harshbutfair for your help. Now where is my copy of the Instrument of Governance?

Ask the Clerk for it, it should be in the formal papers of the GB which the Clerk holds. If it can't be found ask your Local Authority. IOG has to be approved by LA and presumably they keep a copy. (All assuming you aren't an Academy/Free School)

Also bear in mind the term used in law now is 'Staff Governor' not 'Teacher Governor'

ProfHarry

Is there a limit to the number of Teacher Governor members? I work in a 2 form entry Primary School with some 360 pupils.

The School Governance Constitution England 2007 Regulations set out the maximum and minimum size for a governing body. This does not relate to the size of school, but is a matter of choice for the governing body (current minimum and maximum is between 9-20 - with some differences for schools with a foundation body). Within that the proportions for each type of governor are set out. For staff governors the proportion is at least two, but no more than one third.

Clare Collins

ClerktoGovernors

Forth and fifth places follow a similar pattern.

Crispness

ClerktoGovernors

Fourth and fifth places follow a similar pattern.

Where does it say that?

It doesn't, as such - I should have clarified that if no one from the support staff is nominated for either of the first two places (after the headteacher's) then for subsequent places, if there are any, one of the posts should be re-offered initially to the non-teachers. This fourth / fifth pattern obviously doesn't arise when all places are vacant, but would be relevant when a post becomes available and all the others are held by teachers, or all of them by non-teachers.

"At least one staff governor (in addition to the headteacher) must be a teacher, but if no teacher stands for election, a member of the support staff can be elected to take that place. If a governing body has three or more staff governor places, at least one staff governor must be a member of the support staff, but if no member of the support staff stands for election, a teacher can be elected to take that place." (Guide to the Law 2010)