role of school governors

[bkj]

Decided to speak to our Chair of Governors about a problem my child was encountering in the classroom. The Chair's child is a close friend of my child. Surprised when the Governor told me that our children attended a state school with 30 kids to a class and not a private school with lots of support, and so should reduce my expectations. The Chair recommended I speak directly to the class teacher. Are my expectations too high re: the school and the Chair?

[Tommy]

depends what the problem is I would say (just stepped down after 5 years of being a governor) and would also say that the first port of call would always be with the class teacher, then the key stage manager, then the head - before you ever get to the governors

[TheFallenMadonna]

Have you spoken to the class teacher about it? He or she should be your first point of contact I would think. And without knowing what the problem is, impossible to say if your expectations are too high.

[Hassled]

The Chair was perhaps a bit blunt, but basically right. The role of the governors is not to manage - they delegate that responsibility to the Head. The school's complaint procedure will escalate to the Governors eventually, but you need to go through normal channels first.