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Governors' roles on disciplinary panels (03/07/07)
Question: Do governors need training before they sit on a disciplinary panel? Should governors have any knowledge of a case before attending an appeal hearing? What is the role of human resources at an appeal hearing?

Joan Sallis replies: It sounds as though you are a teacher involved in a disciplinary appeal and are concerned about governors’ role. Generally speaking governors like magistrates and juries perform as lay people, a principle deeply embedded in practice in this country. That does not mean that they do not need guidance on the principles and something of the kind should be provided in initial training though of course this is voluntary. Therefore guidance as distinct from training may be necessary before taking part in a specific case and I would hope that governors elected to serve on a disciplinary panel would have some, from human resources LEA staff perhaps. The role of the latter is to advise on the procedures, options and consequences but the panel decide. Ideally there should not have been idle talk round and about before a hearing for obvious reasons, and governors involved should bring unprejudiced minds to the task, not always easy to achieve in a small community like a school but always an important aim.


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