Understand How Schools Are Organised in Terms of Roles and Responsibilities.

Understand how schools are organised in terms of roles and responsibilities.

2.1: Explain the strategic purpose of:
a) School Governors
b) Senior Management Teams
c) Other Statutory Role- SENCO
d) Teachers
e) Support Staff
2.1 a) School Governors.
The School Government is responsible for the conduct of the school and must promote high standards of educational achievement at the school. They provide a structured view of the school by having their own roles to keep an good eye on, e.g. : Health&Safety, Curriculum, Staffing etc.. They help with the school targets, budgets and school improvement plans and staffing structures. They also monitor and evaluate the progress of the school, monitor classes regarding their roles- e.g. a Governor is responsible for the Curriculum department so they monitor classes to see if staff are following the curriculum etc... Governors also sit interview panels for jobs for new staff, this occurs in my setting too.
The school governors need to gain knowledge of how their school operates through training, attending meetings and by getting to know the school community by visits to the school events such as Red Nose Day, Fairtrade Fortnight etc... Governors need to work together as a team, under the leadership of the chair of the governing body. Most governing bodies require their governors to sign a Code of Practice. “Members of our Board of Governors play an active part in the life of our school”.
B) Senior Management Team.
The senior management is usually made of the head teacher and the deputy head. Depending on the size of the school, the team could be made bigger and more varied. You will often find assistant head teachers or senior teachers with particular responsibilities- like sorting out the teachers timetables and duties (lunchtime duty, break duty, corridor duty in the mornings etc..) or responsible for assessments, sorting out training for staff and reviews for the pupils. The special needs co-ordinator

Bibliography: (www.rsd-derby.org/governors.ihtml) – 5/3/13. 2.2: Explain the roles of external professionals who may work with a school. Schools work closely with external professionals because they can provide help to those who are in need of help such as- SEN children, children with behavioural/eating problems, mentally disabled children etc... Educational Psychologists are specially trained psychologists who are also trained teachers. They work with settings to help assess children’s special educational needs and to make programmes of intervention. They may also work at a broader level, for example- helping the setting to develop a communication-friendly environment. All maintained schools have direct access to an EP on a regular basis. They also provide advice and support parents/carers of SEN children. They will work closely with the SEN Co-ordinator to find out the reason for their learning or behavioural problems- once they have established they reason, they will present their findings to both the school and parents. Speech and Language Therapist (SLTS’s) are health care professionals who with children who have difficulties with their speech, language and communication. They also work in close partnership with school, parent/carers and any other health care professionals. They also provide speech exercises for the child’s tutor/SEN key-worker and the child’s parents to use to improve the child’s speech and communication skills. Specialist Teachers are teachers that are training in a specific area and the role of a specialist is important because they ensure that children in school get the best standard of education. They provide direction and support for teachers and school leaders. Their role can often find them working closely with under achieving pupils- this is to help them to improve their performance. Schools bring in Dieticians as well, to help children learn how to eat properly and how to have a balanced diet and to eat in moderation. Dieticians work closely with the child’s parents/carers to see what they are feeding their child at home and they work out a good healthy diet for the child to follow. Some SEN children require a Physiotherapist to help them regain control of their muscles in their legs/arms/neck etc... Physiotherapists work with the SEN Co-ordinator so they can relay information about the child and physiotherapist can give exercises to school staff, SEN key-worker and parent/carer so then they can do they exercises. In my setting we have an annual review with each pupil and including the child’s parents and the headmistress, outside professionals are brought in the reviews regarding the child’s background history. If a child has a social-worker, the social-worker comes to the review, if the child has a physiotherapist- they come to the review. My setting is in touch with a counselling service called Sign Health, they are counsellors for deaf children and deaf adults. They can sign so they can communicate with the pupils and young people. This service respects confidentiality but if they see that it needs to breached for a necessary reason, then they will do that to protect themselves and to protect the child’s well-being. Every school has Ofsted, which are inspectors that come to schools to check the school’s standard of cleanliness, care and education. The Inspectors work with the LEA and the head of the school, the head of the school makes sure that the school knows when the Inspectors are expected and makes sure the Inspectors has the evidence needed to make their statement about said school.