These are the participative structures in the school I most recently led which are similar to those of many secondary schools. There were c.150 staff.

Staff: The Leadership Group met at least weekly to discuss strategy and also used weekend conferences for longer term planning and evaluation.

Whole staff meetings were held about 6 times each year in addition to staff training days where staff would also work together.

Departments would have formal meetings at least once a month - informally they met daily as they were located in the same area as each other.

Cross curricular groups with a specific focus eg ICT, Special Educational Needs, Assessment, Equal Opportunities would meet about 6 times each year.

Support staff met regularly with the headteacher as a group.

Students: Students discussed issues regularly in their tutor group (c30 students) and 6 times per year their representatives met in the Student Council. The Student Council would invite staff, governors or others to their meetings as they wished.

Parents: Parents met in a consultation group every six weeks. This was also attended by the Head and Deputy Head. Parents met their child's teachers twice during the school year and could also request meetings with staff. Occasionally focus groups were invited to the school to discuss specific issues - in one case a focus group met regularly over a period of two years.

Governors: must meet three times a year as a whole group. There were also four committees who each met between three and six times each year or more frequently where necessary.

Parents and Governors: At that time there was a compulsory annual meeting for parents and governors.

Information: A newsletter was sent home each week for parents and students. These days it would more normally be posted on the school's website. There was then an annual Governors Report to Parents which included extensive information about the school. Much of this information is now available on the Internet.