Volunteer Telford

Opportunity Description

Telford & Wrekin Council is advertising for more volunteers to join the Independent Appeal Panel dealing with primary and secondary school admissions and exclusion reviews. It is a requirement that the Local Authority’s School Admission Authority provides arrangements for appeals against decisions not to allow a child to attend a school or regarding a decision to exclude a child from a school within Telford and Wrekin.

The role

Admission panels comprise of three members to hear and determine appeals by parents who are not happy with the decision made about their child’s school placement. The panel is independent of the education authority and draws on a pool of lay and independent members to sit on particular appeals. This is an essential role that provides impartiality of decisions for parents and children in Telford and Wrekin.

Membership of the panel comprises of:

- People who have experience in education, who are acquainted with educational conditions in the local authority area, or who are parents of registered pupils in school. This can include current or previous head teachers, teachers, governors or parents

- Lay people, someone without personal experience in the management of any school or provision of education in any school except as a school governor or in another voluntary capacity.

Requirements

- Ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of people. - Assess information and identify key points of the case. - Ask questions to obtain information. - Analyse information to form conclusions. - To be impartial and sensitive. - Ability to respect the need for appropriate confidentiality. - Form decisions in compliance with law and procedure in relation to school admission and school exclusion reviews. There are no qualifications required to become a panel member however appointed panel members will need to attend a one day training course to understand the law and procedure in relation to school admission and school admission appeals.

Unfortunately we cannot accept applications from a local authority officer or a person who has at any time been connected with the Local Authority Admission Authority.

A panel member cannot sit on an appeal panel for any school that they have been involved with in the past.

How often does the panel sit?

The panel sits in the day during school term time, panels sit more frequently during the months of May, June and July. As part of a group of panel members you will be contacted in advance to confirm your availability for the forthcoming months.

Appeals take place during working hours. The duration is half to a full day.

Support

A legal officer attends all panel meetings and is present throughout.