parents | Schools Week

RSC’s push to get communities on board not matched by academy guidance

The Department for Education has quietly removed the need for schools to be “answerable” to communities and parents from its governance handbook. It comes in spite of renewed emphasis in recent weeks on community involvement, with Claire Burton, the regional schools commissioner for south east England and south London, saying academising schools must show the […]

New academy rules put trust autonomy at risk, say sector leaders

Sector leaders are warning the new academy trust handbook could undermine board autonomy , and demanding the government confirm whether it spells “broader intervention” in future. Most of the changes to the rebranded 2021 edition, previously known as the academies financial handbook, are simply pulling in existing school guidance from elsewhere. Minister Baroness Berridge’s foreword […]

Top-rated schools and grammars pocket the most in parental donations

‘Outstanding’-rated schools raise almost twice as much money through parental donations as those rated ‘inadequate’, while grammar schools pick up five times more than their non-selective neighbours, it has been revealed. New figures lay bare the stark discrepancies between how much state schools can raise from parent donations to pay for essentials, including new equipment […]

Send annual reports to better engage with parents, Carter tells academy trusts

The former national schools commissioner has urged academy trusts to send out “annual reports” to parents, admitting their engagement with local communities is an area of “real uncertainty”. Sir David Carter, in a wide-ranging interview with Schools Week, said trusts should look at producing an annual report for parents, which he likened to the report […]

Uniform supplier School Trends leaves pupils in the lurch before new school term

Deliveries from a school uniform supplier that serves over 5,000 schools and academies across the UK have been delayed by a “technical glitch”, leaving parents and their children in the lurch with no uniforms for the first day of the new school term. The Twitter account for School Trends has been inundated with complaints in the […]

Schools need more protection against vexatious complaints

There may not be many of them, but one or two unreasonable parents can make running a school very tough indeed, writes Russell Holland As an education lawyer, I see it as my job to help schools get on with the most important job, teaching children, by making legal issues as simple as possible to […]

Ofsted attempts parental charm offensive

Ofsted wants to make its inspection reports more accessible to parents because they are its “most important education stakeholders”, according to a senior official. Amy Finch, its head of strategic development, said this week that when Ofsted’s new framework comes into effect from September 2019, it will improve parental communication by using clearer language in […]

Emma Sheppard, founder, MaternityTeacher PaternityTeacher project

Emma Sheppard is on a mission to make it easier for parents to stay in teaching – and to move into leadership roles – and one way she intends to achieve this is by making it acceptable to bring babies to conferences. There’s pressure on Sheppard on the day we meet. First, I’m showing up […]

Schools that engage with parents boost pupil progress, report reveals

Training school staff to help the parents of disadvantaged children to get more involved in their education helps learning at home and improves progress at school, a report from the Sutton Trust has found. The research from the Sutton Trust and the University of Oxford looked at the work of the Parental Engagement Network, a […]