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OR COMMUNITY SURVEY: GOVERNORSHIP OPPORTUNITY ON PAYMENT OF A FEE FOR LEAVERS/ORs
THIS SURVEY In December 2019, Council approved the implementation plan for the reinstatement of the opportunity for Leavers and ORs to apply for election as Roedean Governors upon payment of a fee. Before finalising arrangements, Council would like ORs’ feedback on the implementation plan via this survey.
This survey is being managed by the Council Working Group which was charged by Council to recommend the implementation plan, not by the School’s Alumnae Office. It will remain open until 29 February 2020. It should take c. five minutes to complete.
REINSTATING THE GOVERNORSHIP OPPORTUNITY In June 2019, Council agreed a Resolution to reinstate this opportunity, with the first elections of new Governors to take place at the Corporation’s 2020 AGM. This is on 6 May 2020. The Resolution states:
“Henceforth any eligible Roedean School Leaver (who has attended Roedean for two years or more and has reached school-leaving age) will be invited to stand for election as a Roedean Governor at the following Annual General Meeting of the Corporation and pay a modest subscription fee. This invitation will be issued retroactively for any prior eligible Leavers not yet invited for election since this practice was interrupted in 2004, also including eligible Leavers prior to 2004.”
ROEDEAN GOVERNORS There are currently over 3,000 Roedean Governors, of whom less than one third are regularly active.
A Roedean Governor is a member of Roedean School, which is a Corporation under the Royal Charter and is also a registered charity.
There are three elements to Roedean’s governance: (i) operational management, led by the Head, which reports into Council; (ii) Council, whose members are Councillors, which is the School’s governing body, responsible for managing and administering the business and affairs of the Corporation; and (iii) Governors (the members of the Corporation).
The role of a Roedean Governor is prescribed by the School’s constitution - the Royal Charter. Voting as a body, Governors’ responsibilities include: the election of 10 Councillors; the removal of any Councillor; the election/removal of other Governors; to consider the Corporation’s Annual Report & Financial Statements; and to raise resolutions at EGMs.
These responsibilities are mainly exercised at General Meetings (AGMs/EGMs), with Governors having the right to vote in person and, with some limited exceptions, by proxy.
Roedean is one of only a few schools to have such a structure. The Founders' intention regarding the role of ORs in the governance of Roedean was confirmed in a 'Letter to Old Girls' in 1924:
“…it is of essential importance for the future of the School, that as many as possible of its Old Girls should become Governors, so that the Governors of the School shall be an active and influential body, representative of all the periods of the school life, ensuring that the most suitable among their number are elected to Council.”
Until 2004, all eligible ORs were offered Governorship by way of a single lifelong fee. The interruption of this practice has led to an ageing Governor population and now Council and Governors have been working together on a plan to restore this practice, including the payment of a fee, for the long-term benefit of the School.
PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS TO GIVE YOUR FEEDBACK ON COUNCIL’S IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GOVERNORSHIP RESOLUTION. THANK YOU.