Education Act 1996

Reports, meetings and information

161 Governors' annual reports

(1) The articles of government for a county, voluntary or maintained special school shall require the governing body to prepare once in every school year a report (referred to in this Chapter as “the governors' report”) containing—

(a) a summary of the steps taken by the governing body in the discharge of their functions during the period since their last governors' report, and

(b) such other information as the articles may require.

(2) Schedule 17 has effect in relation to governors' reports.

(3) The articles of government shall—

(a) enable the governing body to produce the governors' report in such language or languages (in addition to English) as they consider appropriate, and

(b) require them to produce it in such language or languages (in addition to English and any other language in which they propose to produce it) as the local education authority may direct.

(4) The articles of government shall require the governing body to take such steps as are reasonably practicable to secure—

(a) that the parents of all registered pupils at the school and all persons employed at the school are given (free of charge) a copy of the governors' report;

(b) that copies of the report are available for inspection (at all reasonable times and free of charge) at the school; and

(c) that, where (by virtue of section 162) there is an obligation on the governing body to hold an annual parents' meeting, copies of the report to be considered at that meeting are given to parents not less than two weeks before that meeting.

162 Annual parents' meetings

(1) Subject to section 163 (special schools in hospitals and boarding schools), the articles of government for a county, voluntary or maintained special school shall require the governing body to hold a meeting once in every school year (referred to in this Chapter as an “annual parents' meeting”) which is open to—

(a) all parents of registered pupils at the school;

(b) the head teacher; and

(c) such other persons as the governing body may invite.

(2) The purpose of the meeting shall be to provide an opportunity for discussion of—

(a) the governors' report; and

(b) the discharge by the governing body, the head teacher and the local education authority of their functions in relation to the school.

(3) Schedule 18 has effect in relation to annual parents' meetings.

163 No annual parents' meeting required in case of certain special and boarding schools

(1) The articles of government for a maintained special school which is established in a hospital shall provide that, where the governing body are of the opinion that it would be impracticable to hold an annual parents' meeting in a particular school year, they may refrain from holding such a meeting in that year.

(2) Where, in the case of a county, voluntary school or maintained special school (other than a special school established in a hospital), the proportion of registered pupils at the school who are boarders is, or is likely to be, at least 50 per cent., the articles of government for the school shall provide that, where—

(a) the governing body are of the opinion that it would be impracticable to hold an annual parents' meeting in a particular school year, and

(b) at least 50 per cent. of the registered pupils at the school are boarders at the time when they form that opinion,

they may refrain from holding such a meeting in that year.

164 Governors' reports and annual parents' meetings for grouped schools

(1) This section applies where two or more schools are grouped under section 89.

(2) In discharging their duty (by virtue of section 161) to prepare governors' reports, the governing body for the group shall prepare separate reports in relation to each of the schools within the group, except that if they decide to hold a joint annual parents' meeting under subsection (4) they may prepare a single report covering all the schools within the group.

(3) If the governing body prepare a single report covering all the schools within the group, they shall secure that any matters which they propose to report on and which are likely to be mainly of interest to the parents of registered pupils at a particular school within the group are treated separately in the report.

(4) In discharging their duty (by virtue of section 162) to hold an annual parents' meeting for any grouped school, the governing body may, if they think fit, hold a joint annual parents' meeting for all of the schools within the group.

(5) Where—

(a) a joint annual parents' meeting is held, and

(b) the governing body have prepared a separate governors' report in relation to each of the schools within the group,

the governing body shall, when discharging the duty imposed on them by virtue of section 161(4), attach to the report prepared in relation to a particular school within the group copies of the reports prepared for each of the other schools within it.

(6) Where at a joint annual parents' meeting the question is put on any proposed resolution which concerns one or more, but not all, of the schools within the group—

(a) only parents of registered pupils at the school or schools which the proposed resolution concerns may vote on the question; and

(b) the registered pupils at the other schools shall be disregarded for the purposes of any provision made by virtue of paragraph 2 of Schedule 18 (resolution may be passed by simple majority where required number of parents of registered pupils present) as it applies in relation to the proposed resolution.

(7) Where at a joint annual parents' meeting there is any disagreement as to which schools within the group a proposed resolution concerns, the matter shall be decided by the chairman of the governing body.

165 Provision of information by governing body and head teacher

(1) The articles of government for a county, voluntary or maintained special school shall provide—

(a) for the governing body to provide the local education authority with such reports in connection with the discharge of their functions as the authority may require (either on a regular basis or from time to time); and

(b) for the head teacher to provide the governing body or (as the case may be) the local education authority with such reports in connection with the discharge of his functions as the governing body or the authority may so require.

(2) The articles of government for an aided school shall provide—

(a) for the local education authority to notify the governing body of any requirement of a kind mentioned in subsection (1)(b) which is imposed by them on the head teacher; and

(b) for the head teacher to provide the governing body with a copy of any report which he makes in complying with such a requirement.