Village schools can’t find governors ‘because of second home owners’

Recruiting school governors in Norfolk has become ‘problematic’ because of the rising number of second homes, education bosses have warned.

In rural areas, where 70% of properties are not main residences, they are facing a ‘serious situation’ when it comes to hiring and retaining staff.

Education chiefs say there is a shortage of candidates because of the whopping proportion of people who do not live in the county permanently.

The stark warning comes from major school trust St Benet’s Multi Academy Trust, which runs 11 schools in Norfolk but is part of Diocese of Norwich Education and Academies Trust (DNEAT), which runs 38 academies.

Richard Cramner, chief executive, explained: ‘In more densely populated parts of England, recruiting governors is less problematic.

‘But in Norfolk we have struggled to attract and retain them recently.

‘Many of our schools are located in small villages where there are limited numbers in the surrounding community to draw upon and some of which may have a number of residents who are second home owners so are less interested in being involved with the local community.’

Norfolk has one of the highest rates of second home ownership across the UK.

As a result, currently up to 60% of governor positions are vacant, along with 50% of DNEAT’s posts as a whole in West Norfolk.

Oliver Burwood, chief executive of DNEAT, joined in urging people to volunteer their time to help their local school.

He said: ‘This is a serious situation as we need governors to work together to provide oversight of the management and operation of a school, with the aim of improving the quality of education provided and raising standards.

‘School governors do not run the school on a day-to-day basis; this is the job of the headteacher and senior staff, but the role of a governor is vital in supporting their work.’

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