What Is Education?

Steve Gullick - Session 3&4

23/1/12 & 30/1/12

I have decided to put both session number 3 and 4 together as they both had the same Guest Lecturer and had the same topic.

In these sessions we had a guest lecturer who was Steve Gullick. He is a Governor or Education and research, which was really interesting to get his opinions and views of the Governing body. Steve began with an introduction to the Governing body and what they do, what their aims and problems are. In his first seminar  he gave a deeper understanding of the topics and problems they discuss with in Governors meetings. He first explained the type of topics that they have to include and to discuss; reports, finance, head teachers, progress of the school and development plans. Many Governing bodies are full of Volunteers which is helpful in situations where there is a lot to discuss in such little time. 

The Volunteers include; 

Teachers, 

Head Teachers,

Parents

Staff of the School

Residents 

Or local representatives of a local business.  

Obviously, they would all need a CRB certificate. Also, depending on the side of the school, the Governing body can include and range between 9 and 20 people. The Lecturer also explained that there could be a few problems with the types of people on the Governing body. There are debates and arguments that the there should only be experts on the team. It is hard to chose whether only experts should be on the body as I'm sure outside volunteers such as parents have just as much interest in the welfare of the school as any expert would, but on the other hand, do they have the full knowledge to be able to have a say in the future of the school?

When Steve came back to our fourth session, he mentioned School interviews, causal 'pop-in' from Governors to see how the school is doing and that every school needs a SENCO.

The Lecturer mentioned that SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordination Officer) is needed in each schools. Also, that 'Special needs' doesn't just mean students or learners that have difficulty learning. It can also include learners that have disabilities physically too. Such as people in temporary or permanent wheelchairs or crutches.