How to clerk a panel hearing

Types of panel hearings and your role in them

You may be asked to clerk different types of governor panels. These are mainly set up on an ad-hoc basis to hear appeals related to topics such as:

• Exclusions (e.g. if parents are unhappy with the school's decision to exclude their child)
• Parent complaints
• Staff pay 
• Staff discipline or grievances 
• Admissions

Your role is to coordinate the panel, which usually involves: 

• Identifying who needs to be involved and who can't be on the panel (this'll depend on the type of panel)
• Preparing a document pack ahead of the meeting and sending it to all parties involved
• Arranging a meeting time for the hearing and making sure it's in line with any statutory timeframes (see the 'prepare for the panel meeting' section below)
• Preparing the agenda
• Setting up the room that the meeting will be held in (or the virtual platform if you're holding the meeting remotely) 
• Informing participants of the outcome of the hearing

Here we've summarised the