Governing councils are bodies that govern a school or preschool.

 Governing councils work with the site leader (principal or director) to help set and monitor the direction of a site.

A governing council meets regularly to talk about the direction for the site. The timing of meetings can be different for each site, but it’s no less than twice a term.

Meetings are a big part of being on a governing council, but it’s not only that. In your role on the council, you might:

• be on an interview panel to select the site’s principal or director
• need to deal with media in response to an event or a good news story
• be an employing authority of out of school hours care (OSHC) or canteen staff.

Shared responsibility

You do not work alone when you are on a governing council. You and the site leader have shared responsibilities, but your day-to-day involvement is different.

Some differences between governance and day-to-day management

In your role on a governing council, you work with the site leader to:

• involve the local community
• develop and approve local policies
• set the broad direction and vision of the site
• monitor and review the site improvement plan 
• be the employing authority of some services, including OSHC and canteen.

Site leaders work with governing councils to:

• give educational leadership
• carry out the site’s policies
• carry out the site improvement plan.

Responsibilities

To quickly see who does what, you can look at the comparison of responsibilities.