Schools no longer have to draw up blueprints for pupil and parental engagement after the government scrapped a requirement for “prescriptive” home school agreements.
The Department for Education has amended statutory guidance so that, from this month, schools no longer have an obligation to put the agreements in place.
First introduced in 1999 for governing bodies of certain schools in England, the documents set out a school’s aims, values, responsibilities and expectations of pupils and parents.
A Department spokesperson told Schools Week the move was made in order to “cut red tape” and free schools of a “one-size-fits-all, prescriptive approach to engaging with parents”.
He added: “This change does not mean schools cannot continue with home-school agreements should they wish to do so, but it does mean they can look at more creative approaches depending on the nature of the school and its population.”
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