New requirements mean that all LA maintained schools must reconstitute their governing body by September 2015 if they have not done so since September 2012. It's good practice though for all governing boards (including academies and free schools) to review their constitution and membership periodically.

You need to think whether your structure enables you to carry out the board's role effectively. The three core functions are outlined by the Department for Education: 

•  Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction of the school
•  Holding the headteacher to account for the performance of the school
•  Ensuring the sound, proper and effective use of the school's financial resources

The agreed constitution then needs to be populated with skilled and committed people. A skills audit should be conducted so that the strengths and weaknesses of the board are identified to allow any current or future vacancies to be targeted at creating a diverse and skilled board. The NGA skills audit was recently updated, and includes a matrix (available at www.nga.org.uk/skillsmatrix.aspx) to allow boards to collate the information.

If the board is reducing its size, there may well be a role for the chair in talking to the governors that have played less of a role. Where there are more governors in one category than there are positions, the governors in the other categories will decide who remains in post based on their contribution to effective governance.
The NGA Constitution Q&A (available at www.nga.org.uk/constitution.aspx) contains much more detail on reconstitution. The next version (coming soon) will be open to non-members, along with a one page document on the process of reconstitution. GOLD members of NGA can email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if they have a question on this or anything else.

More details on the NGA website -here - 

David Gosling