David Snashall talks about three real situations from the calls received through the ASCL hotline.

Leaders' surgery

Hearing advice

Q: I am a headteacher and there is an appeal hearing tonight over an exclusion decision I made. The governors are new and the arguments being put forward by the parent look emotionally convincing. What happens if I lose?

A: There are several issues here. It is not ‘you losing’ if you have done your job properly. The governors have a policy for behaviour, including exclusions, which, I assume, you have been following. Your case needs to be linked to the ‘instructions’ you have been given in that policy. So if the policy is clear about the criteria covering your decision making, then you should be on rock solid ground. Parents often use emotional arguments, but you need to bring the governors thinking back to their policy, and keep emphasising that it is their policy and you are acting as their ‘agent’ in carrying out their wishes.

The more important issue is that all governors who are taking part in any appeal hearing, such as on exclusions, pay or discipline, should be properly advised and well-trained. Part of your role as a ‘chief executive’ is to advise the governors of this and to assist the clerk and chair in making sure that it happens. Untrained governors in a formal hearing are one of the biggest risks to the authority of a governing body, and hence of the leadership of a school. Even now you could ensure that the governors’ panel gets a generic briefing note about assessing the arguments against the governors’ own policy, not being swayed by emotion on either side, and indicating the issues for the governing body if they take decisions that are not in line with their current policy.

Lastly, if they do decide against their own policy, you need urgently to approach the chair to say that you consider the panel has not followed the governors’ policy and ask that the matter of a panel not following an agreed policy is addressed by the governing body.

• For further information visit: http://tinyurl.com/lpsby4x
  

Blog standards?

Q: I am a headteacher and a difficult parent has set up a blog which seems to be for the sole purpose of abusing me and the school. They are saying I am not fit to run the school, I abuse children by shouting at them and that the school is useless – only in much stronger and more colourful language! What should I do and can I sue them?

A: It all depends on the nature of the comments made on the blog. If it is ‘opinion’ then there is nothing anyone can do – it is part of our heritage of ‘free speech’ that people can make comment, however much it may hurt or we may not agree, or indeed we may not see as ‘factual’. If the comment makes threats or is directly ‘abusive’, then the first thing to do is to approach the social media provider, point the blog out as being abusive or threatening, and ask them to remove it. Most providers will respond positively, but there is no direct requirement for the provider to do so; it is a matter for their policy. If the provider is based overseas it can be even more difficult. Also report it to the police as a possible offence. If the comments are defamatory to your career, technically you can sue through civil courts for ‘damages’, but this is unlikely to be either quick or cheap.

In all of the above, it is your employer who should be undertaking action as part of their duty of care for you as their employee. In the case of the above enquiry “not fit to run the school” is probably ‘opinion’, as is “the school is useless”, but the allegations of abuse need to be challenged with the blog provider, and, incidentally, should be properly investigated by the school as any ‘abuse’ allegation would be.

Grade expectations?

Q: I am a deputy head and our most difficult parent who complains at least once a month has written to us asking for a breakdown of the grades awarded in each of the English and maths GCSE sets from this summer’s results. Can I refuse to give it to them?

A: It is not surprising that you may want to refuse. However, in this case, it would be sensible to give the information graciously and reasonably quickly. 

If you do not, the parent could get this data by making a formal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. This means that public bodies (which includes academies but not independent schools) have to release, within 20 days, data that they hold and can access in reasonable time and is ‘in the public interest’. You do hold this data (or could process it quickly), and, as such, a request is likely to pass the ‘public interest test’ (see the website of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) ico.org.uk) In giving the data, however, do make sure that individuals cannot be identified – so if, for example, you had a very small (say less than five) withdrawal group, don’t give the data for that group, as individuals may be identifiable, which would then be a breach of those individual’s data ‘privacy’ under the Data Protection Act 1998.

ASCL members concerned about leadership issues should call the hotline on 0116 299 1122 or email hotline@ascl.org.uk

Find out more

ASCL Professional Development runs several courses that you may find useful to attend and that cover some of the topics discussed here:

• Understanding Data for Governors www.ascl.org.uk/data4gov
• An Introduction to Law Governors Should Know www.ascl.org.uk/law4govs
• Practical Law: Data Protection and Freedom of Information www.ascl.org.uk/dataprotect
• Also, for a limited time only, ASCL PD’s Governor Training DVD is on offer at a heavily discounted rate; order your copy online at www.ascl.org.uk/govDVD

David Snashall is ASCL Hotline Leader

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