This evening I finished an eight-hour training course (done in four parts) that might have been entitled “the bare basics of being a school governor”. (There are many, many more courses to come… on PANDAs (a grid on which the school’s results are judge against others’ – now badly delayed, like much else, by computer problems); on SEFs (self-evaluation forms – vitally important as one of the chief ways Ofsted judges a school); on SIPs – which can be school improvement plans, or school improvement partners – roughly the old Ofsted link inspectors; on new disability legislation, and more.

I’ve now, I think, at least been lined up with the right buzzwords, and have a grasp of the overall framework in which the English education system is supposed to operate. (At least this year.)

Everything is captured under the “Every Child Matters” framework, which aims for five outcomes, for children
* to be safe
* to be healthy
* to enjoy and achieve
* to make a positive contribution to society
* to achieve economic wellbeing

This is the framework for all services – not just education, but also housing etc. It applies to under 18s, and under 19s with statements of special educational needs.

Under the Education Reform Act of 1988, every child is entitled to a curriculum that is “broad, balanced and relevant”, as, it is said, is set out in the 1989 national curriculum. That’s except religious education, which is still covered by the 1944 Act, which provides for a compulsor act of collective worship, although parents have the right to withdraw a child, and must be told they have that right.
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