Hi Ben,
I believe the law/guidelines/rules for governing independent schools are different from state schools ? ie notably less regulation, and they are freer to manage themselves as they see fit.
Suffice it to say that the negligence that allowed mistreatment at st james may well have been curtailed if the schools had been governed and monitored in the same manner as state schools.
As with almost all ISA (independent schools association) accredited schools - I think the St James governors are probably members of The Association of Governing Bodies of Independent Schools (AGBIS) ? The professional Body which advises governing bodies on best practice, and also compliance with the law.
AGBIS guidelines are not available online ? but I do have a current copy ? far too long to type and paste here - but happy to clarify anything specific if needed. Copies can be obtained from AGBIS:
www.agbis.org.uk.
One of the main aims of AGBIS is ?:?.the promotion of good governance in (such) schools?.
Guidelines for governance
Some guidelines are mandatory, the majority relate to best practice.
The gist is that while independent school Governors are fairly free to choose how they run themselves (compared to state schools), they do have a very clearly defined, comprehensive and important role in the running and development of their school.
A few things in the guidelines stand out ? (and some comments in brackets..)
"Every school will have one or more governing documents?." ie documents which set out proceedures for governing.
(would be interesting to read the St James one - I presume they have written one. ??)
The Governors have a number of duties to the school, which include:
Duty to act with skill and care
Duty to act in good faith
Duty to comply with the terms of the governing Instrument:
?governors must ensure that all decisions are correctly made in accordance with the provisions of the governing instrument. Therefore if the Instrument provides for a quorum and voting procedure, when decisions are taken these must be followed. If the governing Instrument permits delegation of powers then the Governors must take care that it is correctly authorised?.?
(it would be interesting to hear what the St James governors document says about the appointment process for headteachers. A sizeable section of the guidelines are about the appointment process, and the importance of the relationship between the governors and the Head. Its pretty clear the process for appointing Laura Hyde was about as far adrift of these guidelines as you can get ? would be interesting to hear how Moss and Boddy were appointed)
"The ISC (independent schools council) has a model complaints procedure which is available from the AGBIS secretary."
(it would be interesting to check whether St James has followed this procedure with current/recent parents who have made complaints)
Details of the proper procedure for expelling a child - includes interviewing the parents, inviting them to the panel making the decision, an independent person being on the panel, being informed about appeals procedure etc.
(I have heard from a reliable source of at least 1 expulsion which breached almost every guideline)
?it is also beneficial to have parents on the governing body??
(I imagine AGBIS see this as bringing some independence and accountability ? so not the sort of thing an SES parent would be able to do ? since the school parent body is 80% non ?SES)
"The Chairman (of Governors) holds a key position?. The office of chairman requires that time be given to its discharge and, if special difficulties arise, a great deal of time?. "
(anyone seen or heard anything from Pincham recently?
There is much more ? as the guidelines cover all aspects of the governors day to day responsibilities ? but these are some key areas where its pretty clear that the St James Governors have not adhered to best practice ? to put it mildly ? certainly up until 10 years ago. Whats going on now ? who knows. Probably not even the current parents and pupils...