'Being a school governor is great and eye opening'

Nikki Blackham is a mother-of-seven with several part-time jobs, but finds time for one role she really enjoys - being a volunteer governor at her children's school in Wolverhampton.

Already having a great relationship with St Luke's Church of England Primary School through her children, she said she was approached about taking up the position and has embraced it for the past 18 months.

She is now backing efforts to encourage more people to take similar roles

Earlier this year, the council appealed to residents and parents in the city to apply to be school governors and to join a role that "acts as the link between the school and the community it serves".

"I recommend it to anyone to try because it really is an eye-opening experience, especially if you've got children in school and you would like to know a little bit more," she said.

Governing bodies set targets for raising schools' educational standards, the council said, monitoring progress and supporting and challenging head teacher performance.

St Luke's is rated good by Ofsted, and during an inspection of the school said: "Governors are aware of their responsibilities and challenge senior leadership effectively."

Ms Blackham, part-time delivery driver and Royal Mail worker, has five children at the school and "thought that it'd be ideal to to go behind the scenes and and help as much as I can".

She chose to sit on SEN and education committees and meets staff and other governors at least once a term, but said governors can "put in as much as you want". She has taken some training the school has offered to boost her CV.

"You can't really judge until you've done it - it's as much as you would like to do," she said.

She said she attended meetings to help approve school policies and read reports from staff, had been on "learning walks" with pupils and teachers and said "it's very clear that staff and pupils are happy" at the school.

"I didn't realise how much work and time the teachers take behind the scenes to actually run the school," she said.

"I do have a big thing to add, though, that you do feel that the government need to go into schools and see what teachers are faced with every day.

"It's not like how it used to be like 10 years ago. Teachers are doing so much more now. We have more children now, more SEN needs and plans needed but the funding really isn't enough.

"Teachers are showing children basic parental needs. We've become a very lazy society and children can't even go to the toilet and don't know how to play as we've become fixed on screens and parents are not engaging with the children like they used to."

"It really is a good experience and honestly, you don't realise how much the school puts in to how much they do," Ms Blackham added.

Fortunately, she said her children did not object to her presence at the school and enjoyed her being involved she said.

"They're like, 'oh, my mum's coming in today', so the kids love it... it's quite good really."

Councillor Jacqui Coogan, cabinet member for children, young people and education, said: "We had a good response to our recent appeal for governors, but we are always looking for more people who have an interest in school performance, a desire to contribute to and represent the community, and an open and inquiring mind."

She added: "Everyone has something to offer, and we want to hear from people from as many backgrounds and with as wide a range of interests as possible."

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