In the same way that Deem, Brehony and Heath’s (1995) study of active citizenship and the governing of schools between 1988 and 1992 began with their own experiences as school governors, my interest in the subject initially derived from the 18 years I served as a school governor in Bedfordshire, England, four of which I also spent as a parent governor representative on Bedfordshire County Council’s Select Committee for Lifelong Learning.

I began my tenure as a school governor in 1994 in a tiny village primary school in Cople. With only 70 pupils, the school was the hub of village life – an integral part of the community. At the time, my first child had just started school, and having come from a career in the City, I had no notion of what it meant to be a school governor. As in the case of many governors, it was not until another parent, a long-standing governor, approached me and sounded me out that I gave it any thought at all. Even though that was over 20 years ago, I still remember what she said to me: “We need people like you on the governing body, why don’t you give it a try.”

I still ponder over that statement – what kind of qualities did she think I had that would make me effective in the role? Was it that I was a parent with three small children, all of whom would eventually pass through the school gates? Was it my business background and prechildren career that made me an attractive proposition? Or was it that I had just embarked on a teaching course and knew something (very little) about education? Then I found out that I would have to stand for election – that this was not a done deal – and the whole prospect became even more unnerving. When I asked what the role would involve, the response was equally opaque: “You just come along to meetings, discuss stuff, that sort of thing; you’ll enjoy it, really you will.”

So, 20-something years on from that first encounter at the school gates, has anything changed with regard to becoming a school governor? Somewhat surprisingly, my research for this book with governors and their families has revealed that despite much work done by a whole raft of organisations dedicated to the recruitment of and support for school governors, very little has changed.