1. Impartiality PSA Training Boringdon Hall

2. Parent views of PSAs ‘… If I had gone to the Head with that problem I would have felt like a complete failure but they didn’t make me feel like that. They have made a huge difference to my family. If they were employed directly by the school they wouldn’t be able to be impartial. It’s important to have that bridge between the school, the Head and the parents. You need the impartiality, this is very important.’

3. A Head Teacher view of PSAs ‘Without shared governance, from the point of view of the parent, the PSA would just be another member of the school’s staff. Parent Partnership ensures the impartiality (particularly from the point of view of parents).’

4. Key themes in impartiality:  Not representing a value judgement, while recognising values held by others  Self- reflective practice overtly examines own partiality  Understand factors influencing information exchange  Not advocacy for any position

5. A definition from the PPP policy Impartiality: Not taking sides, not favouring one point of view over another because of preconceived ideas or beliefs, and ensuring that all available facts, truths, opinions and perceptions are being shared openly.

6. Demonstrating Impartiality Whole Group Activity Is the PSA demonstrating impartiality in practice?

7. Demonstrating Impartiality Table Group Activity What are the key factors that might lead to partial views of events?

8. Key factors leading to partial views of an event General: Previous experience of similar situations Misunderstandings of the purpose of the event, differing agendas Difficulties with language or other communications used during the event Power differentials across participants Interpreting requests for clarification or justification as confrontational or conflictual Differing interpretation of meaning behind words Limited time for an effective explanation to have been given by participants Information overload and not being able to remember all that took place In professional PSA practice: Over identification from previous personal experience Over enthusiasm for rights of client group Insufficient reflective practice Limited opportunities for training / practice development / supervision Pressure from managers or service users Day by day personal feelings, beliefs, experiences