What does 'supporting the school' really mean? What can a staff governor take part in? How can we deal with a misbehaving governor? Do LEA governors have to toe a party line? Should a new head opt to be a governor? Do we have to give the head an annual pay rise? In this collection of articles originally printed in her well-known weekly 'Agenda' advice column in the Times Educational Supplement, Joan Sallis tackles these and many other questions with the humour, humanity and candour for which she is renowned. She defines boundaries, clarifies the representative role of school governors, offers guidance on relations between the head and the governing body, and the principles, procedures and skills that underpin successful team-building, sound decision-making, and honourable behaviour among all those groups which make up the school community. This collection is an essential complement to the best-selling Basics for School governors. It includes a concise summary of new regulations (made under the Education Act 2002) which came out in the summer of 2003, and which could significantly change the way governing bodies work.
Not only school governors, head teachers and parents, but anyone who has to manage difficult 'people situations', in any context, will gain valuable insights from the range of experience and wisdom concentrated within these pages.