School going rapidly downhill - what if anything can parents do?!

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Dd primary school has been outstanding for last 15 years (hasn’t been checked in 7 years or so).
Last couple years results have dipped, this year they have plummeted dramatically.
The head left nearly a year ago and the assistant head has been acting up but quite vocally isn’t happy about it.
Are the parents able to challenge the governors at this point?
Any advice very welcome thanks

School are only as good as the headmaster . You need to get a new one in place asap.

If it hasn’t had Ofsted in seven years, it was outstanding seven years ago, but apparently not now.

Usually, a significant dip in results will trigger an inspection. What do you want the governors to do? Is there a plan to appoint a substantive head?

I want the governors to appoint a new head ASAP it’s very relaxed there’s been no update to the parent since last head left which now I’ve thought about must be more like14 months ago.
A strategy or some reassurance about what the school is doing to improve results.
Any communication at this point would be good it’s radio silence on these terrible results.

Or would we speak to acting head first?

Is there a parent governor? Could you approach them to ask them to raise it at the next governors meeting, and ask for parents to be communicated with?

Have you looked at minutes of the governors' meetings? They must have discussed the results and that may give some indication of what their plans are.

Just double checked and governors meeting minutes aren’t on school website so maybe I need to request them.
Will check who the parent governors are that would be a good start thanks :)

Has anyone challenged their school.
Also does anyone know if parents are ‘allowed’ in to the governors meetings? Thanks

Have you goggle the headmaster job to see if can find it .
Times education paper used to have those ads in it . Must be online somewhere .
Email the acting head and ask when the headteacher will be appointed?

Work with your dc so they fulfil their potential. Don't get caught up with gossip. Write to Governors asking why results are dropping.

Also does anyone know if parents are ‘allowed’ in to the governors meetings?

No, the only way parents are allowed into FGM’s is as a parent governor.

Minutes are also confidential, and if you request more than a certain amount, they can be refused to be provided due to the number of hours it would take to redact the documents before being provided.

You want the governors to appoint a new head ASAP? Yeah, tou should go and bring that up with them, they’re probably too busy fighting over how many paper clips the school needs to have thought about that. I imagine they have a queue of heads lining up to take the job.....

Part 1 minutes should be available from governor meetings, but part 2 minutes are confidential.

Did the head leave suddenly, or was it planned? If it was planned, heads have to give quite a lot of notice, so there should have been time to advertise and recruit a new head.

If it was sudden, presumably the AH had to step up, but if it was over a year ago, I do t understand why the govs haven’t recruited yet.

Do other parents feel the same? I think I would write to the chair of govs and ask them what their plans are for appointing a substantive head and what strategies the school is planning to address the drop in results. Bear in mi d that it is the school’s responsibility to be operational and the govs to be strategic, but also to hold the head and/or SLT to account.

Don't waste your energy. Just get your child moved to a different school. Even if they get a new Head for September, they'll need time to bed in, so probably another year or so before any improvement.

bunny if it was financially possible I would but we will be here for at least another year :(

The Governor's minutes should be available and should give you an indication of where they are at in terms of recruiting. They should also have identified the drop in standards and this should be referenced.
Before you go in all guns blazing you first need to address your motivation. Are your children happy? Are they progressing and provided with opportunities? If the answer is yes then actually what are you complaining about. Results can change year on year, particularly if you have small cohorts as individual results impact the averages in a more noticeable way.
If you still have concerns I would speak to your class teacher first and address those concerns with them. If that doesn't provide satisfactory answers I would speak to the acting head. Ultimately if the leadership aren't aware of parent concerns they can't address them.

LittleLannister, minutes of governors' meetings aren't confidential unless they have specifically voted that they should be, and the circumstances when they can do that are very limited. Best practice is that they should be published on school websites.

Can you and some other parents go in and offer to listen to readers, help run a few extra activities, raise some money for additional items etc

All actually helps

I’m on the pta so actively involved in fundraising for the school you’re right all funds help especially at the minute. My dd is progressing well but generally standards are slipping homework is very mixed not standard across the classes at all. Some teachers have left, others seem apathetic about the decline of the school.

LittleLannister, minutes of governors' meetings aren't confidential unless they have specifically voted that they should be, and the circumstances when they can do that are very limited. Best practice is that they should be published on school websites

The school I govern for doesn’t publish our minutes, but a request can be made to view them. We have kept our meetings confidential

littlelannister you have a statutory obligation to make the minutes of your meetings public unless there is a specific confidential item which would be minuted confidentially. This is certainly the case for maintained schools although I'm not sure about academies.

Have they looked for a new head? At my children’s primary school it took 18 months + to find someone suitable, it’s a hard post to fill as so many are leaving teaching.

LittleLannister, your school might like to have a look at the School Governance Regulations 2013:

15.—(1) The clerk to the governing body (or the person appointed to act as clerk for the purpose of the meeting in accordance with regulation 10(3)) must ensure that minutes of the proceedings of a meeting of the governing body are drawn up and signed (subject to the approval of the governing body) by the chair at the next meeting.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), the governing body must, as soon as reasonably practicable, make available for inspection by any interested person, a copy of— ...

(b) the signed minutes of every such meeting.

There's a shortage of heads in our area. They may be advertising and getting no one suitable.

They had a head from a local outstanding school who got to third day of interviews and then decided he wasn’t a great fit - this hadn’t been made public knowledge but I heard from pta and teaching staff.