“As a civil servant you have sought-after skills which are essential to supporting and challenging the school leadership to improve outcomes.”
This was one of the messages in a Civil Service World article that reviewed an internal blog to civil servants from Department for Education permanent secretary Susan Acland-Hood and chief people officer Rupert McNeil, encouraging all to volunteer their time to help school children and young people by volunteering through both our Inspiring the Future and Inspiring Governance programmes.
We are delighted to work with many civil service departments and networks such as the Department for Education, HMRC and the Civil Service Race Forum, and we’d like to send a huge thank you to the many volunteers who has signed up through one of these partnerships. Civil servants bring a range of different skills and expertise to the governing board, such as an understanding of the bigger picture, knowledge of how the public sector works and specific regional policies, as well as offering strong analytical skills which are in high demand. There are also many benefits and professional development opportunities to be had, with the chance to see how a policy lands in practice and helping to inform and shape future policies.
We have spoken to many civil servants about their experiences of volunteering as a school governor.
Tanzila Samun, chartered accountant at Department for Work and Pensions and volunteer school governor, explains why she became interested in the role, what her financial skills bring to the board and why others should consider the role. Read her story here.
Justin Placide, Head of Home Energy Retrofit Enablers at the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy is the co-chair of the Civil Service Race Forum and the BEIS Faith and Minority Ethnic Network and volunteers at schools in East London. Justin explains why he decided to become a governor, the benefits the role has brought both professionally and personally and the reasons why he recommends the role to others in the civil service – read here.
Julian Kennett works for the Department for Education, delivering new school buildings in England, and volunteers as chair of governors at Joseph Norton Academy in West Yorkshire. We spoke to Julian about his motivations for volunteering as a school governor, the experience and insight he brings to the governing board of a Special School, as well as the valuable skills he brings back into the workplace – read here.
Ibrahim Zavery is a Senior Sustainability Adviser at HMRC and has volunteered as a governor for 18 months at a local school. Read what interested Ibrahim about the role and why he would recommend the role here.
To all civil servants who are currently helping the next generation through a volunteer governor role, we say a huge thank you. To anyone interested in finding out more about the role and signing up – we’d love you to join us!
Read more about the role of school governor here