How much strength do chairs of governors actually have?

[Cantsleepwontsleep123]

I have a meeting this week regarding many issues.
The biggest being that the class teacher repeated something to another parent ( which wasn't true, third party info and third party who is a TA is now saying she was misinterpreted ) about me
Unfortunately myself and the other parent already had a strained relationship as her child has hurt mine on a few occasions and I have dealt through the school in regards to that.
Obviously the conduct of the teacher is completely innapropriate in my opinion and nothing has changed even though she was " asked to take some time off " last year after calling my son a liar for informing her this child had hurt him ( She had taken the stance people were just jumping on the fact this child was more challenging however she was wrong in my sons case and made to apologise by the head upon her return )
it's all a mess however I feel I have to fight for what is right and this certainly isn't.
Pretty disgusted by it all to be honest as is the chair of govs, or at least he has been in all the telephone conversations we have had but the actual meeting is this week so any advice on what they can and can't actually do?

TimeforaNNchange, I think it depends on the approach. A CofG approaching a HT and saying 'X parent has contacted me; are we dealing with this appropriately?', is keeping a strategic overview of the situation and acting as a supportive challenge. A CofG approaching a HT and saying 'X parent has contacted me and I've told them I'm shocked at what Flora did and I want to speak to Flora and sort this out....' completely undermines the role of the HT as head of the school.

The Governing body should only be involved in complaints if the complaint has not been resolved at school level. Most complaints should be able to be resolved by the class teacher. Some may need to be resolved by Key Stage leader, or Deputy Head. Some may need the Head Teacher to resolve them.

The only complaints Governors should be involved in are ones that the HT can't resolve, or complaints about the HT themselves, in which case it is entirely appropriate to contact the CofG.

Obviously difficult to get the situation as you quite rightly don't want to post the details. I'd want an apology and some confirmation from the Head that staff had been further reminded about confidentiality/gossiping.

If it's just this one teacher I'd ensure my child was in a different class from Sept.

If it's historic with the school in general, I'd look very seriously at moving my child, regardless of how they feel about it. DD moved schools and settled very quickly, she had no choice as we've moved towns (which did make it easy to explain).

The Governing body should only be involved in complaints if the complaint has not been resolved at school level. Most complaints should be able to be resolved by the class teacher. Some may need to be resolved by Key Stage leader, or Deputy Head. Some may need the Head Teacher to resolve them.

I entirely agree. But how the Governing Body is involved is set put in policy and varies from school to school.
Some Schools agree a policy in which the Chair (or a named Governor) is made aware at an early stage, in the knowledge that they would be excluded from any subsequent complaints panel. Other schools ensure that all Governors remain untainted until a complaints panel is convened.

While a Formal Complaints Panel is the point of last resort, it is clear from the comments on this thread and others that many parents want Governor "involvement" at a much earlier stage in the process. Involving an appropriately trained Governor to support conflict resolution at the informal stage can often avoid escalation.

While it's not clear how the telephone conversations that the OP has had with the Chair have come about, I have supported CoG in similar situations who have liaised with the parent on the phone or met face to face, with the full knowledge of the HT, in order to secure a resolution and avoid a "formal" complaint. Of course, that is only possible if the School Complaints Policy allows it.

Some of the comments about the CoG on this thread have been critical, when in fact, they may have acted entirely appropriately and in line with school policy. It's just not possible to judge without more details.

I will try to remember all the points made and to answer them but please remind me if I haven't.
The head teacher has been fully aware of my contact with the chair.
He did in the first instance state it would have to go through the head, which is what I did, had a meeting after my complaint in writing however as I said, felt it was all very much swept under the carpet with no explanation of why this all came about so I got back in contact with him and we have now met for our meeting and he seems eager to speak with the head and get a resolution.
This could well all be to avoid a formal complaint etc but I'm happy with that, an apology of some sort needs to be made in my opinion.
Whether that's by the head on behalf of these staff members if they aren't willing etc then so be it.
It will never undo the damage caused however it will go some way to be being able to draw a line under it.
I have been assured my son won't have either of these staff members in his class come September

If there is a policy that states the Chair can mediate, but they have already criticised a teacher and have offered an opinion on the issue, they are not impartial and could not mediate in a way that would be acceptable to all parties. Frankly, a governor in this role is probably a mistake because the Head should be the final stage of the issue prior to a complaint being made. Mediation is not strategic, so this is not a role for the Governors. It does compromise impartiality and means a complaint may be upheld against a member of staff with the Chairman having the opposite opinion - although not necessarily in this case. This could be disastrous for the GB.

Also, this raises the issue of when does a written complaint become a formal complaint? The policy should make it clear how parents complain and the OP seems hazy on this too. It flies in the face of modern strategic governance for Governors to be involved prior to a formal complaint, other than to be told a complaint has been lodged. Parent Governors need to be very aware of the pitfalls of advocacy for another parent.