School Governors

[keepyourmouthshutox]

Anyone dealt with them before?

My impression after a meeting in October was that they understood our position and was quite supportive.

Did not hear from them.

Today, when making a query about another matter, I asked if we should have heard from them after the last meeting and got a reply saying that the SEN governor will contact me but suffice to say that they have sought and gained some understanding of the school's position.

Should they still not have got back to me?

Is it worth investing much time in them?

I was a school governor. There was really almost nothing we could do if the HT was being uncooperative.

They are a waste of time. The reason you need to complain to them, is that after you 'are not satisfied with their response' you can complain to the LEA. But before you have complained to the governors you can't....

Our LA's instructions to School Governors explicitly forbids them from geting involved in complaints about SENs and states that all such complaints must be referred to the LA.

I think they're scared of being sued.

Each school has a SEN Governor but they are more focused on applying the framework within the school than dealing with individual cases - that's not their role.

Yes, it is the governors role to approve policies (such as the SEN policy) and then to monitor that the policies are followed.

They wouldn't know anything at all about individual children unless a formal complaint has been made.

If there is a formal complaint, all they can do is see if school policy has been followed or not.....

....and then refer the matter straight to the LA.

No - it goes to a Panel convened of the local great and good such as Councillors

So the consensus is that they are useless but a necessary part of procedure.

Thought so but wanted confirmation.

Depneds what you're complaining about.

HT ignored my request for copy ofschool file so I complained to School Governors and then got a copy ofthe school file.

So yes, they deal with process rather than specific SEN support to specific children

Yes - they most definitely can as it's failure to follow process.

Only if their SEN policy says that IEP's should contain SMART targets.

No - the SEN Toolkit says that IEPs shouuld be SMART, so their policy should adopt national best practice as promulgated by the Dept of Ed.

It's only monitored by default - when parents discover they should have been invited to something they haven't been invited to and complain.

Star

You're getting a bit too scatter-gun in your approach.

If you want to complain about the un-SMART IEP then complain to the BoG. (not MP). This is a school matter.

If you want to complain that SENDIST is crap and has left you with an ambiguous Statement complain to MP. This is a national issue.

I fully applaud your tenacity but if you don't get more focused on complaining to those who can actually do something instead of muttering a Sybil Falty - 'Oh I Knooow' - you're going to burnt out - fast.

Best wishes

You get your fun in some weird ways

You're like my cat toying with amouse