Guest Lecturer
Stephen Gill
This is my first of four blogs on the guest lecturers that we had during Andy's absence. Stephen Gill was one of the first guest lecturers that came in and gave us two lectures and two seminars teaching us about governing body's in an educational environment. This is an area of education that I have a personal interest in as I spent a year working in a Primary School and never really understood what the governing body's purpose was. In the first lecture we received some basic information of what the governing body are for and in fact how important  they are to a school environment. I learned that the governing body is possibly the most important part of the educational environment and that every incident or issue within the school is taken to the governing body.

We then had a seminar with Stephen where we learned some information on his personal teaching history and the parts hes had to play in a governing body as a headteacher. We also had an opportunity to put ourselves in the situation of a governing body where we were asked to put a school curriculum together and also to organize a list of items and objects that are required for an overnight school trip. These activity's really put it into perspective, by showing how hard it is to be a governor and how many different complicated decisions that have to be made. For example the list of different things that were needed for a school trip was something that none of us as a seminar group were able to compare to Stephens list, which shows how much thought is put in to such a small event.

After the lectures and seminars with Stephen Gill I have learned how important a governing body is to an educational environment and also how much work is put in by individuals who are volunteering to be apart of the school and therefore receive nothing but travel expenses. Therefore you have to give credit to the people who are a member of these body's as it seems as if it they are putting in so much time and effort only to give the pupils of the school the best possible educational opportunities.