Question: I am a student who was involved in the interviewing of candidates for a deputy head post at our school. The head then appointed a candidate whom the students ranked very poorly. Was my presence on the panel just tokenism? I feel that the head has not really taken any notice of our opinions whatsoever. Is it possible for the students to file some sort of appeal against her decision and if so how can this be done?

Joan Sallis replies: I’m afraid the law isn’t hot on school students’ rights but there is a legal point in your letter which is important if you have given me all the facts.  You have implied that the head alone has made the choice of a deputy, but in fact this decision would legally have had to be made by the governing body, and in the case of the deputy appointment I can hardly believe that it was NOT made by a panel of the governing body.

Schools do sometimes involve students in the process – yours is to be commended for doing so – but they cannot take part in the choice and their view is only one among many aspects to take. (Mind you I have to say that I was involved in shepherding a student group through this process and they were spot on with the panel throughout).

The head would of course have been involved but could not legally have made the choice alone.  Governors would also have normally been involved in a decision not to run a particular course and they do sadly have to consider costs.  When I was a secondary school governor I took part in many such discussions and I was often in the last ditch trying to save a subject which had failed to attract sufficient students and we regularly set minimum sizes to govern the continuation of a course. (Have things improved?  I was in a class of one in one A level subject!).  So it is only on the question of the involvement of governors that you have a possible case. Make sure they feel they were properly employed in these decisions.