Elton (1989)

Notes on the text
Preliminary pages Contents, Foreword, Membership, Summary
Recommendations
Chapter 1 The enquiry
Chapter 2 The nature of the problem
Chapter 3 Teachers
Chapter 4 Schools
Chapter 5 Parents
Chapter 6 Pupils
Chapter 7 Attendance
Chapter 8 Police
Chapter 9 Governors
Chapter 10 Local education authorities
Chapter 11 Government
Appendix A Written evidence received
Appendix B Witnesses
Appendix C Visits
Appendix D(i) Teachers and Discipline Part I
Appendix D(ii) Teachers and Discipline Part II
Appendix E Selected bibliography
Appendix F Behaviour policies

London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1989
© Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.

Chapter 9 Governors
[pages 172 - 177]

THE ROLE OF GOVERNORS

1 Very few of the submissions we received mention governors. The most notable exception is the evidence provided by the National Association of Governors and Managers (NAGM), an organisation to which many governors belong and which is involved in their training. The NAGM emphasises the contribution that governors can make to developing whole school approaches to pupils' behaviour. We welcome this emphasis.

2 Governors are drawn from a variety of groups including parents, teachers, the local community, the LEA and, in the case of aided and controlled schools, the church or other organisation which set them up. They have a wide range of responsibilities which has been significantly increased by the 1986 (No. 2) and 1988 Education Acts. Between now and 1993 the governing bodies of all secondary schools and all primary schools with more than 200 pupils, and probably some smaller primary schools, will take over responsibility for managing school budgets. This initiative is called local management of schools (LMS). The governing bodies of aided schools employ staff and have responsibility for most building work. Under LMS the governing bodies of county and controlled schools with delegated budgets will be able to decide how many and which staff should work at the school. They will however have to satisfy the LEA, which remains the employer, that these people are appointable. Governors will also be responsible for the day-to-day maintenance of school buildings (see chapter four),

3 In relation to pupils' behaviour and discipline, section 22 (b) of the Education (No. 2) Act 1986 gives heads a duty to act in accordance with any written statement of general principles on disciplinary matters provided by the governing body. Governors also have specific responsibilities relating to attendance and the exclusion of pupils from school for bad behaviour. We discuss attendance in chapter seven and exclusions in chapter 11.

4 Governors are not expected to take detailed decisions about the running of the school, nor would we encourage them to do so. That is the role of the headteacher. They have however a general responsibility for its effective management. In discharging this duty, they should ensure that they know their school well and make arrangements to visit it regularly. We believe that governors can and should make a positive contribution to whole school approaches to pupils' behaviour. Our comments in the rest of this chapter focus on what is likely to become the most typical school - a county or controlled school with a delegated budget. But most of them should apply with equal force to all LEA maintained schools.

5 Most governors are not teachers or professional educationalists. They are lay people such as parents, local businessmen, councillors, and clergymen who are interested in how a particular local school is run. We believe that this is as it should be. Professionals need to take account of the views of lay people. The wide range of training now available to governors can help make them more effective, without losing the important perspective they provide as lay representatives. Governors, for their part, must recognise the value of the professional advice which they are given by headteachers, LEA officers and inspectors. We respect the right of governors and other lay people to hold and express their own views about running schools. Professionals should not assume that they have a monopoly of wisdom on these matters, but neither should governors. Senior professionals such as heads and chief education officers have extensive knowledge and experience of the education service. This often enables them to focus more clearly on the question of what works.

6 We consider that, within the area covered by our terms of reference, two aspects of the governors' role are particularly important - the development of school behaviour policies, and the appointment and dismissal of staff.

BEHAVIOUR POLICIES

7 In chapter four we emphasise the need for heads and their staffs to develop whole school behaviour policies which are clearly understood and supported by governors and parents. Governors have a right to lay down guidelines for such policies, and we consider that they should do so. We stress the importance of each school working out its own behaviour policy. This report does not include a detailed specification for such policies. It does, however, offer guidelines and examples. Working out the policy collectively may ensure commitment to it, but we do not consider commitment to a bad policy to be a useful contribution to improving standards of behaviour. We therefore recommend that, when governors choose to draw up a written statement of general principles for a school's behaviour policy, they should take account of the principles of good practice identified in this report as well as the professional advice of the headteacher and the chief education officer. (R108)

8 Behaviour policies need to be monitored and evaluated. In chapter four we recommend that heads and their staffs should do this regularly. Governors need to keep in touch with all significant developments in their school. They have a right, under section 32 of the Education (No. 2) Act 1986, to obtain a report from the headteacher on such matters connected with the discharge of his function as they may require. Governors should, of course, give heads a reasonable amount of time to prepare such reports. We recommend that governors should obtain regular reports on the standards of behaviour in their schools from headteachers. (R109)

9 Sections 30 and 31 of the Education (No. 2) Act 1986 require governors to provide parents with an annual report on their management of the school and to hold an annual parents' meeting to discuss it. The recent DES publication School Governors: a guide to the law (1988) suggests that governors may wish to include information in such reports on pupils' behaviour and attendance. We strongly support this suggestion. We consider it essential for governors' annual reports to deal with standards of behaviour, and that this should be a regular item for discussion at annual parents' meetings. We recognise that this can be an emotive issue. In chapter five we emphasise the need for responsible discussion at annual parents' meetings. The chairman of governors does not have to chair the meeting, but he or she is the person most likely to do so. We consider that all governors, and the chairman in particular, have a responsibility to ensure that behaviour- related issues are discussed constructively. We recommend that governors' annual reports should contain a section on the standards of behaviour in and attendance at the school. (R110)

THE APPOINTMENT AND DISMISSAL OF STAFF

10 Appointing a new headteacher is a governing body's single most important job. In county or controlled schools, the LEA employs the headteacher but candidates are recommended for appointment by a selection panel. In schools with delegated budgets, the chief education officer or his representative will be entitled to attend meetings of the selection panel, but only governors on the selection panel will be able to vote. Governors are required to consider, but not necessarily to take, the advice offered by the LEA.

11 The headteacher plays a central role in promoting good behaviour. The quality of leadership provided by heads is crucial to the development of a school community in which high standards of attainment can be achieved. Governors should therefore approach the process of appointment with the utmost care. They may be choosing the person who will be their school's chief executive for more than a decade.

12 We recognise that governors will be looking for wide and differing ranges of skills and experience when making these appointments. It is not for us to advise them on what that range should be in any particular case. We are sure, however, that it will never be adequate if it does not include the skills and experience necessary to establish a whole school behaviour policy; nor would we expect a candidate who does not place importance on establishing or maintaining good standards of behaviour throughout the school to meet the requirements of a conscientious governing body.

13 The whole school, team-based approaches recommended in this report require particular styles of school management. In our view, governors should look for candidates able to combine purposeful leadership with a consultative management style. They should look for evidence of this both in applications and at interview.

14 Governors are also responsible for appointing other teaching and non- teaching staff. The ability to form relationships with pupils based on mutual respect is an essential qualification for effective teaching. Governors should not appoint candidates who appear to lack this ability. Team work and mutual support are also important in promoting good behaviour throughout the school. Governors should look for candidates who are temperamentally suited to this style of working.

15 Governors will, of course, be aware that discrimination in appointments on grounds of race or gender is illegal. They will need to guard against any unconscious assumptions that the qualities we have identified can only be found in particular sections of the population.

16 Interviewing and selecting candidates require skill and tact. Experience of this sort of work, particularly in the educational field, is invaluable. So is first hand experience of teaching. Chief education officers and headteachers have legal rights to offer advice on appointments. Governors should take full account of this professional advice when making appointments.

17 We recommend that, in selecting applicants for interview and appointing headteachers, or recommending them for appointment, governors should take care to select only those candidates who have the leadership and management qualities necessary for establishing whole school behaviour policies on the lines set out in this report. (R111)

18 We recommend that, in selecting applicants for interview and appointing other teaching staff, or recommending them for appointment, governors should take care to select candidates temperamentally suited to staff team work and mutual support and able to form relationships with pupils based on mutual respect. (R112)

19 We recommend that, in making or recommending appointments, governors should give full weight to the professional advice offered by chief education officers and headteachers. (R113)

20 There are circumstances in which governors are not directly in control of adults servicing the school for which they are responsible. This can arise both under present arrangements where, for example, school meals are delivered and served under arrangements made by the LEA; or it may arise in the future where a school chooses to contract out certain services to the private sector. In both cases, headteachers and governors will need to bear in mind the effects which these adults will have on the school's behaviour policy. All adults working at the school should be required to comply with the school's behaviour policy, including members of the LEA's direct labour organisation and employees of private sector companies to whom LEAs or governors, in the case of schools with delegated budgets, have contracted a service. We recommend that LEAs and governing bodies which employ contractors should make adherence to the relevant parts of the school's behaviour policy a condition for the letting or renewing of contracts. (R114)

21 The dismissal of a teacher is a rare event, but it is sometimes necessary. Teachers can be dismissed for breach of contract, professional misconduct or incompetence. Both misconduct and incompetence can relate to the management of pupils' behaviour. Questions of misconduct may, for example, arise if a teacher or headteacher is found to be administering illegal physical punishment. Our impression is that cases involving incompetence tend to be less straightforward. The introduction of systematic appraisal should help to ensure that teachers receive help and support in dealing with discipline problems, but problems may still persist. In chapter three we comment on the tradition of 'classroom isolation' which still exists in many schools. We have heard of situations where heads and colleagues have turned a blind eye to a teacher's apparent inability to control classes. We do not doubt that such situations are rare, but where they exist they can continue for years. When a crisis is reached in such cases, governors who decide to recommend dismissal on the grounds of incompetence will find their action difficult to justify to an industrial tribunal if the teacher has been sacked after several years of service during which there is no record of any systematic attempts to provide professional support or supplementary training. In chapter three we discuss the kind of action that heads and LEAs can take to support teachers in difficulty. If all reasonable action has been taken, including consideration of transfer to another school, and it is clear that there is no prospect of the teacher involved achieving an acceptable standard of competence in classroom management, we believe that governors should not hesitate to recommend dismissal.

22 We recommend that:

22.1 governors and LEAs should recognise that teachers who are unable, with the training and support recommended in this report, to control their classes in a school should cease to be employed in that school; (R115.1) and

22.2 in such cases, as in all personnel matters, that governors should follow professional advice on good employment practice. (R115.2) This can be provided by LEAs.

23 Governors will need training to carry out their responsibilities effectively. In 1989/90 the government is supporting expenditure of £5.3 million on training for school governors in England and Wales through the Education Support Grant scheme. Further funding will be available in 1990/91 and 1991/92. We welcome this initiative. We recommend:

23.1 that LEAs should ensure that governors' training includes their role in developing school behaviour policies and in the appointment and dismissal of staff; (R116) and

23.2 that governors should take full advantage of the training opportunities which are becoming available to them. (R117)

VOLUNTARY BODIES

24 Our terms of reference mention voluntary bodies. The best known of these are the Church of England and Roman Catholic Diocesan Boards of Education. Although these bodies offer valuable support and advice to voluntary schools, particularly in relation to building matters, they do not have statutory powers and responsibilities for the running of schools analogous to those of LEAs. Their influence is exercised mainly through the 'foundation' governors whom they appoint. All the recommendations in this report relating to the running of schools apply with equal force to the voluntary sector. Voluntary bodies will wish to note in particular the recommendations addressed to governors.