1 The importance of school governors I wouldn't have accepted the job if I didn't think that the governors understood their role. (A secondary headteacher) In March 2004, the DfES stated that school governors represented one per cent of the adult population, and constitute the single biggest volunteer force nationally. However, doing the job voluntarily does not mean that governors should aim to do it less than professionally!
4 Effective governance Effective teams have clear, agreed and common goals – their members must all be pulling in the same direction. (Creese and Earley (1999)) The DfES, LAs and a number of authors have set out their own definitions of the elements that make a governing body effective. They have generally included the following: having a sound knowledge of the school;
2.1 Introduction For governing bodies to work efficiently and effectively, some governors are needed to take on clear roles: the Chair; the Vice-chair; Chair for each governing body committee. All governors are entitled to an equal say and to serve on any of the governing body committees. However, some governors may wish to take an interest in a specific feature of the school. Such responsibilities might include; special educational needs; early years provision; health and safety; ICT; numeracy and lite
Learning outcomes The learning outcomes for this unit are: to explain the composition of governing bodies and to consider the respective roles of the ‘officers’ of the governing body; to understand the sharing of the governing body's workload within an agreed formal committee structure; to develop governors as effective managers of their role through critical self-evaluation; to encourage governors to undertake appropriate training as a means of es
3.13.7 Assistive technology software
Screen magnification
SuperNova Magnifier (formerly known as Lunar)Â from Dolphin Computer Access
SuperNova from Dolphin Computer Access ZoomText from Ai Squared Author(s):
3.11 Accessible content and alternatives Assistive technology can give access only to whatever is on the screen; it doesn't provide any alternative content, unless this is specifically added. For example, a screen reader cannot interpret visual content but it can read a description if one has been provided. Multimedia content might need to be supplemented with the same content in other formats. Deaf students need transcripts of audio and for the audio track of video material. If the video is an interview, a simple transcript m
3.10.1 Use of computers by dyslexic people In general, people with dyslexia may have difficulty reading, and may also have difficulty in composing and physically writing or typing their own work. This group can be supported by assistive technology for both input and output and they may use a range of software to assist them in reading and writing, depending on their particular needs. People who have difficulties with reading may use text-to-speech software that reads out text. For example, the screen readers used by visually impaired
3.10 Dyslexia Dyslexia is sometimes referred to as a specific learning difficulty (SLD). The British Dyslexia Association provides a useful description of dyslexia, its effects, and the numbers of people affected. The word ‘dyslexia’ comes from the Greek and means ‘difficulty with words’. It is a difference in the brain area that deals with language. It affects the under-lying skills that are needed for learning t 3.9 Activity task 5: without a mouse If you never use a mouse, you can skip this activity. If you have your usual document editor open, close it now. Put your mouse where you can't reach it easily and continue using only the keyboard. If you get stuck, use the mouse but keep count of the number of times you use it and what for. See if you can open the editor using the Windows keystrokes. If you don't know where to start, here are the keystrokes. (These insructions are for a PC with Windows software. If yo 3.7 Deafness The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) estimate that there are approximately 9 million deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK (approximately 698,000 of these are severely or profoundly deaf) and this number is rising as the number of people over 60 increases. The RNID also states that approximately 450,000 severely or profoundly deaf people cannot hear well enough to use a voice telephone, even when using equipment to amplify the sound (RNID, 2005, ‘Facts and figures about d 3.5.3 PC input by partially sighted people Partially sighted people can learn to touch-type as sighted people do. However, this can be a difficult process if you cannot see the screen or the keyboard clearly. A simple, low-tech solution to make the keyboard more visible is the use of large print labels, which can be attached to the keys. Alternatively, a high contrast keyboard can be used; for example a black keyboard with black keys with yellow characters. In addition, speech output software can announce every key that is pressed so 3.4 Activity task 3: using a screen reader If you are already familiar with screen readers you can skip this activity. A simulation that demonstrates how a web page might be read by a screen reader and speech synthesiser is available on the Web AIM site. This site contains an audio file of a screen reader reading a website that has been designed with some common accessibility errors. It also provides a visual version of the site. The simulation requires the Shockwave plug-in. If you do not have this plug-in on your c 3.3.5 PC input by blind people To input to the computer blind people can touch-type using a standard keyboard but can't use a mouse because this requires hand-eye coordination. Although it is possible to emulate mouse actions using the keyboard, it can be difficult to locate its position on the screen reliably. It is possible to use most Microsoft applications under the Windows platform without using the mouse at all by using keyboard shortcuts. The Help files of Microsoft applications and Windows provide lists of availabl 3.3.4 Screen readers and speech synthesisers A refreshable Braille display is a row of cells each containing pins that represent Braille dots. These pins are raised or lowered to form Braille letters. The screen reader program sends text a line at a time or as set by the user. The hardware is expensive, a 40 character display costs about £4000 ($7000, €6000); so this option is most often used by those in employment. Its main advantage over speech output is that refreshable Braille distinguishes between individual characters, so there References 3 The challenge of change …although we may be striving to turn a profession that has the inertia of a supertanker, as individuals each of us is a speed boat that can turn on a dime… (Pate and Hohn (1994), p. 217) The American authors of the quote above suggest that PE needs to change so that it places primary emphasis on the promotion of lifelong exercise. However, they consider that this could be slow and difficult 3.5 Issues of capability Very occasionally, issues about the capability of the headteacher may arise during discussions about performance against agreed objectives. If the appointed performance review governors suspect that the headteacher is not able to meet his/her objectives, they should first consider the circumstances of the school to satisfy themselves that these have not altered significantly to make the objective/s unachievable. If this is the case, they should make necessary allowances when monitoring 3.1 What the review is about ‘The performance review process enables me to have a meaningful discussion about issues at the heart of the improvement of the school, with governors who support me yet make me stop and think about why I do what I do and, more importantly, how I might do my job better.’ Quote from headteacher The review of the headteacher's performance is one of the most important tasks for the governing bo 1 Performance management 5 Further information The Scottish Government: Education & Training Curriculum for Excellence www.ltscotland.org.uk/curriculumforexcellence/whatiscfe/purposes.asp Learning and Teaching Scotland Literacy www.ltscotland.org.uk/literacy/index.asp Department for children, schools and families: Standards Site www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primary/
