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The Freedom of Information Act, 2000, indicates that all public bodies in England are required to have publication schemes giving details of the information a school routinely releases to the public and where it can be found. The Act now promotes the principle of 'the right to know' replacing the earlier 'need to know', amending the Data Protection Act 1998 and bringing in a new era of openness.

Education Secretary Charles Clarke has announced new threshold arrangements for 2004. Under the new arrangements, the headteachers will be unable to get their judgments reviewed by threshold assessors.

The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) should look beyond poor attendance figures and seek explanations for absences from the school authorities instead of castigating them. The schools that fall below the national averages are hauled over the coals and asked to do something by the inspectors, as they are scared that the Ofsted bureaucracy will chide them for not complying with the rules.

Governors of primary schools have been deprived of what was an effective system of headteacher performance reviews. This situation has come about because the government has persistently insisted on changing the appraisals system.

A personal account of the various different sorts of school governors and the differing impact each type can have. Types identified include: the proposer, who suggests ideas; the opposer, who points out the flaws in any proposal; the supporter, who is lobbied to provide their support for either the proposer or opposer; and the bystander, who makes very little useful contribution at all.

An analysis of the role of the school governor in making sure that headteachers work constructively and effectively and do not become overworked. It is argued that headteachers are often their own worst enemies, wanting to do everything themselves, but that governors sometimes need to hard on heads and force them to delegate some of their work.

An analysis of the difficulties schools and child protection bodies face in ensuring that everybody who comes into contact with children has had appropriate criminal record checks. The role of school governors in developing anti-abuse procedures is examined in the light of the Bichard report.

The 30 April 2003 deadline for school governors to devise a plan to make their schools more accessible for disabled pupils has passed. In particular, schools are being asked to provide plans on how all pupils will be given access to the school curriculum, on how they plan to consult with parents and pupils, and on how they plan to improve disabled access in terms of installing ramps or toilet facilities.

The government appears to have increased the workload of voluntary governors while seeking to reduce the workload of teachers. In removing some tasks from teachers, there will be a knock-on effect on the workload of governors who may have to take some tasks from head teachers.

Married couples at the same school can disrupt the balance of the school. In such cases it may be best of one of the partners leaves the school.

This article examines legal provisions for disabled and special-needs students in the UK, focusing on the Special Education Needs and Disability Act of 2001. Topics include disability discrimination in education, improved curriculum access, and how schools can provide information in a range of formats.

The author argues that the lack of guidance from UK Department for Education and Skills is hindering the ability of headteachers to accurately assess teachers. Topics include standards for teacher performance management reviews and how teachers advance through the pay scale.

The Government's Red Tape Taskforce aims to reduce the functions of school governors, yet shrinking the size of governing bodies may not be the answer, it is suggested. Means of improving recruitment, including paying reasonable expenses and encouraging parent involvement by assisting with childcare arrangements, might pay dividends.

School governors have a wide range of responsibilities, and this can impose heavy demands on their time. It is vital that time spent in meetings is used effectively, and visits to the school must also be very carefully planned. Meetings must be kept under strict control, with the agenda being established well in advance. It is also important to ensure that the work which arises from meetings is shared equally between the governors.

The UK government has made it a requirement that school governing bodies determine criteria against which the performance of headteachers and deputy headteachers will be assessed when salaries are reviewed in Sep 1998. The department for education and employment now advises that headteachers and deputy headteachers will not receive salary increases unless the governing body has reviewed their performances against the agreed criteria. Many governors are unhappy about having to take on these new responsibilities.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Finding hope in a new Age of Austerity" in the March 26, 2010 issue.

Discusses the British government's relationship with schools. Creation of a team of school improvement partners for headteachers, trained and appointed by local education authorities; Establishment of a model of inspections; Setting a clear direction for the school; Offering members of the senior management team challenge and support; Ensuring that senior management team carry out their legal responsibilities.

Focuses on the necessity of inspectors at the Office for Standards Education to look behind the students attendance for explanations on the issue of compliance. Issue of pupil's absences as a key issue in the inspection report; Increase in the number of unauthorized absences; Appeal of the author to the inspectors to moderate their judgements in writing their reports and look behind the bald figures.

Focuses on changes to the thresholds payment program for British teachers in 2004. Relegation of the Cambridge Education Associates to a minor role; Removal of the requirement for threshold assessors to validate and review school heads' decisions on which teachers qualify for pay rise; Use of funds saved from removing assessors to fund frontline services.