Schools white paper will set ‘expectations’ on parent engagement

The upcoming white paper will establish “clear expectations of schools” for parent engagement and “improve how school complaints are made and resolved”, the education secretary has said.

In a speech to an event run by the charity Parentkind last night, Bridget Phillipson said parents needed “an effective route to make their voices heard”.

The “current complaint system isn’t working as well as it could, either for parents or for schools”, she added.

But she said the government would “continue to guard against any mistreatment of our hard-working school staff, because there can never be any place for abuse”.

Phillipson’s comments come after Schools Week revealed earlier this year that government would draw up new complaint guidance for schools, amid growing concerns raised by leaders about a sharp increase in complaints from parents, many of them vexatious.

A Schools Week investigation in March revealed how school leaders have been confronted outside their homes, spat at and “offered out” for fights as abuse from parents surges.

‘Parents must be partners in change’

Survey results released this week by Parentkind suggested two million children are “unhappy at school”, 1.6 million are not having their special educational needs met at school and almost one million felt unsafe at school.

Phillipson said the report “tells me two things. It tells me that we need change, and it tells me that parents must be partners in that change.

“It’s why our schools white paper will set out plans to establish for the first time clear expectations of schools for parental engagement.

“So that families can be clear what they should expect from schools, and that schools can be clear on what they can expect from parents too. We’ll co-create these expectations together with schools and parents.”

The white paper is due to be published later in the autumn.

One big concern raised by leaders in recent years is that parents increasingly expect information or responses to enquiries from schools in the evenings or at weekends.

The expectations will cover how schools will “deliver a universal offer for all parents”, Phillipson said.

“Things like how and when they’ll be in touch, how and when they’ll share data, support with home learning, involvement in school life. How parents work with the school to support children moving from one stage of learning into another.”

Phillipson said she knew that “many schools do this well already”, but that we needed  “high-quality parent partnerships across all schools and sometimes support will need to go further”.

White paper will ‘improve’ complaints

She also acknowledged that “all parents want to support their children, but we know that not all know how to do that.

“Not all parents had a good experience of school themselves when they were children. So schools will need to offer tailored and targeted engagement for families who need that extra support.

“For families who’ve lost faith that the school system will deliver success for their child.For families who have different or additional needs.”

Phillipson said government would support schools to build “trusting relationships with parents to address challenges like behaviour and attendance”.

“I know many already do just that. But when it doesn’t work, parents need an effective route to make their voices heard. And I know that the current complaint system isn’t working as well as it could, either for parents or for schools.”

One concern frequently raised is that parents now target their complaints at multiple public bodies, including the DfE, Ofsted and Teaching Regulation Agency.

“The new white paper will improve how school complaints are made and resolved to make our system more robust and more respectful, more supportive and reassuring,” Phillipson said.

It will clarify “roles and responsibilities” so complaints schools can’t resolve themselves are “dealt with promptly elsewhere”.

“But make no mistake, we will continue to guard against any mistreatment of our hard-working school staff, because there can never be any place for abuse.”

Phillipson added that the “best schools see parents as partners.

“And just as we are doing on vital areas like attendance and attainment. Now, I want to spread that excellence to all schools.”