School records guide

School manager's minutes and governors' minutes

Meeting minutes of school managers contain details of the administration of the committee, its membership and duties.

Manager's minutes often deal with issues such as:

• Supplies and tenders
• Staff appointments, resignations and salaries
• The school building (including alterations and maintenance)
• Letting of school property
• Fire protection and insurance

The minutes sometimes give details of school hours, term dates and preparations for events such as jubilees, fetes and wartime.

• For managers' minutes of closed Norfolk schools, see C/ED 5/1-73
• For managers' minutes of Norwich schools, see N/TC 35/5/2-16, N/TC/35/6/7, N/TC/35/13/1-33, N/ED 12/1-19, 31-34
• From July 1991, managers' minutes are listed with the records of individual schools

All state schools now have a governing body, which can include parents, staff and representatives from the local authority and community.  Governors do their work voluntarily, but they may be paid expenses.

Governors are responsible for providing strategic management and leadership.

They are also involved in appointing the headteacher, managing certain school budgets and reviewing exclusions of pupils from the school.

In schools which act as their own admissions authorities, including some voluntary aided schools and academies, the governors are responsible for setting the admission policy and making decisions about admissions.

Many public schools also have a governing body, but they usually set their own criteria for its composition.

School governors' minutes, and other documents, are usually listed with records of individual schools.

School managers' portfolios

These distinctive black folders contain paperwork including inspectors' reports, grant applications and correspondence with central government and the Norfolk Education Committee.

Complete portfolios, or their partial contents, survive for very few schools and they are often incomplete.

Where they survive, they are usually listed with the records of individual schools.