Heart of Birmingham Vocational College

We are looking to recruit new members to join our friendly and professional Governing Body and are keen to attract individuals from across our local community who have the skills and experience to contribute to the success of our college. 

Being a Governor doesn’t take up as much time as you’d think and if you’re working, usually you can ask your employer for reasonable time off to carry out your duties. We ask our Governors commit 2-3 hours every half term on average for visits and meetings. Visits involve meeting key staff, and meeting with learners on occasions throughout the year. We welcome interest from all members of society, regardless of background, gender, ethnicity, disability or age (as long as you’re over 18); all we ask is that you are willing and able to engage with the college and provide the effective challenge needed to ensure we continue to improve outcomes for our learners. 

HBVC is an exciting and innovative college with a reputation for high-quality provision that is responsive to the needs of our learners. Based in Birmingham, Edgbaston and Redditch, we specialise in providing excellent education and support to learners with diverse and additional needs. We offer full-time Study Programmes that provide individualised learning experiences, whilst developing learner’s key employability and supported living skills. Our Governing board and entire staff team are very passionate about making HBVC a great place for everyone to be and are committed to enabling learners to fulfil their aspirations. We have a unique approach to ensuring everyone feels a part of our college which is reflected in our core values of Openness, Determination, Excellence, Progress, Respect and Empowerment, and as a Governor you will contribute towards building upon this and the strategic development of the college. 

We have made it our mission to provide an inspirational learning environment for person centred vocational education in a community-based setting, enabling learners to achieve exceptional outcomes. Our vision is to empower our learners to prepare themselves for the next stage of their adult lives by providing them with transferable skills that enable them to become purposeful independent individuals and to find their place in their community. 

As a Governor you will be required to attend 3 Full Governing Body meetings across the academic year. Meetings are typically held in the evenings, starting at 6pm and usually lasting up to 2 hours. During these meetings various documentation provided in advance of the meeting will be discussed. This is your opportunity as a Governor to present questions to the senior leadership team and bring your experience and knowledge to offer alternative views, suggestions and support. You should therefore be comfortable in appropriately challenging the senior leadership team on information presented. You will also be linked with staff across college for key subject areas to help you get to know the college better and to provide support – these can be linked to the experiences or interests you have. 

In return for your time and commitment, our college has invested in a Governance training programme which includes online training and virtual courses in various aspects of Governance to provide you with further development and personal CPD.

We hope the above gives you a flavour of our college and what being a Governor for us is all about. If you’re passionate about education, can spare a few hours a month, and are looking to expand on your own experience and skills then we'd love to hear from you.

You can contact us by emailing governor@hbvc.ac.uk, or by calling the college on 0121 8090666.