MAKING THE DIFFERENCE

Improving Parents’ Involvement In Schools

Strategy for Parental Involvement

Following some informal consultation with interested groups (including churches), the Executive want to "achieve stronger, more inclusive and effective parental involvement in all aspects of education and a new partnership between parents and schools". As part of that goal the draft Bill currently out for consultation places a new statutory duty on education authorities to support parental involvement: "we see this duty as a key driver – a legal obligation which will ensure an active strategic approach in every part of Scotland". Education authorities will be required to prepare (after consulting parents) a ‘Strategy for Parental Involvement’ which will set out how they intend to implement their statutory duties under the draft Bill.

Key proposals

• replace School Boards with more flexible and inclusive bodies to represent parents’ views – new ‘parent forums’;

• ensure schools respond to requests from parents for advice and information about their children’s education, building on existing reporting arrangements;

• ensure education authorities draw up strategies for parental involvement in education and schools;

• require education authorities to promote and support the new parent forums;

• establish a complaints procedure about the way authorities discharge their responsibilities under the draft Bill; and

• provide for education authorities to modernise their appointments systems for headteachers and deputy heads while retaining the principle of parental involvement in such appointments.

Background

Research carried out for the Executive "showed that the majority of parents currently have relatively low levels of involvement in schools"; it also suggested that parents were "more likely, if anything, to seek involvement in informal activities" which they might find more open and less intimidating. In light of this, and the evidence that "children do better when their parents are involved in supporting and helping their child's learning", the Executive put forward the case for a more flexible approach. In addition to the specific proposals, there will also be a good practice guide, with examples of what has worked well elsewhere.

Parent Forums

The intention is that rather than having a School Board ‘one size fits all’ approach, the forums would have more flexible systems of parental representation which would aim to be more genuinely representative. Parents at each school will be able to decide on arrangements for their forum that best suits them and their school, such as how they will appoint members and how they wish the forum to operate: "the intention in the Bill is to give parents absolute freedom to decide on the arrangements for the new parent forum for their school".

Parent Teacher Associations will not be affected directly by the Bill, although if parents wish they can set up their forum to encompass the traditional functions of a PTA.

To be eligible to sit on the parent forum a member must be a parent (the term includes guardians or anyone who has parental responsibilities for a school child) or an individual co-opted by the parent forum. The Executive recognise that there are particular issues relating to looked-after children and are looking for views on how their interests can be addressed and catered for in the Bill.

Disclosure checks for parents on the forum will not be required as a matter of course, as the immediate functions of the forum are unlikely to involve activities which would be defined as childcare. Such checks will apply only if a member is to be involved in caring for, training, supervising or being in sole charge of children.

The draft Bill proposes that only members or people that the forum has chosen to invite have the right to attend forum meetings; this means that headteachers could only attend if invited, although there are arguments that they should attend as of right, to ensure that the forum receives up to date information about the school and that no distances emerge between the forum and the school managers.

Establishing a Parent Forum

Education authorities would have a specific statutory duty to promote the setting up of a parent forum for each school in their area and to support its operation. Initially, to help establish the forums, education authorities may prepare a scheme to get one established. Parents might decide that they do not want a parent forum in their school or that they would want to set it up themselves without education authority help – the draft Bill provides for both of those situations. There is also provision for parents in combined schools or clusters of schools who may prefer to have one overarching parent forum to represent all their interests.

The draft Bill suggests that for practical reasons the first constitution of the parent forum would be drawn up when it is first established, whether that is through an education authority scheme or by parents who chose to set one up on their own. Thereafter, however, the constitution would be a matter for the parent forum itself to amend.

Functions of the Forum

The draft Bill sets out a list of functions for the parent forum but it would be for each forum to decide what weight and effort they would give to each function. One of the key roles for any forum will be "that they should also be clearly representative of, represent the views of, and be accountable to, all the parents in the school". This would involve (a) gathering the views of parents at the school about any matters that are of concern or interest to them (b) reporting those views to the headteacher, education authority or other parties and (c) reporting back to all parents about the activities of the forum. Other functions that a parent forum could engage in include raising standards in the school, promoting contact with the local community, as well as supporting the people managing the school.

Agents of Education Authorities

It is proposed that parent forums should legally be ‘agents’ of the education authority when dealing with third parties so that when entering into contracts (except in relation to land), third parties will have confidence in dealing with a forum. However, as an agent of the education authority, a forum might then be restricted to only carrying out activities that are covered by the education authority’s insurance arrangements. This would mean that forums could not hold sales of work for example (PTAs can currently do so because they get wider insurance from the Scottish Parent Teacher Council). The Executive intend to explore the possibility of parent forums being able to carry out such activities with appropriate insurance cover while still being designated as agents of the education authority.

Statutory Duties of Education Authorities

Education authorities have been given specific statutory duties in the draft Bill to support parent forums. They will have to (a) provide forums with a reasonable level of funding (with the option of providing services or accommodation in kind); (b) comply with any reasonable requests for information or to any representations that have been made to the authority or to the headteacher; (c) ensure that school staff are available to give the forum information on what is being done to promote parental involvement; and (c) inform the forum about the school’s arrangements for consultation between parents and teachers. The education authority or its teachers will also have a duty to respond to any reasonable requests from a parent for specific information and advice on any matter relating to the education provided to their child.

Appointment of Headteachers and Deputies

The draft Bill also sets out to modernise the appointments system for headteachers and deputy heads. Rather than prescribing a central new system, the Bill requires an education authority to inform (Executive) Ministers and parent forums about its procedures to fill the posts and also to involve the parent forum in the appointment process. The draft Bill allows for Ministers to make regulations that will impose certain requirements that will have to be met in the appointments process.

Complaints Procedures

It is proposed that each education authority should establish a well publicised complaints procedure to handle complaints about how the authority carries out its duties under the Bill.

In summary:

Under these proposals, individual parents would have the right to:

• be directly involved in setting up a parent forum in their children's school, in a form which reflects their wishes and preferences;

• request and get advice and information from the local education authority on any matter relating to their children’s school education; and

• complain to an education authority about how it carries out any of its duties in the new Bill.

Parents collectively (as the parent forum) would have the right to:

• be consulted on the education authority’s Strategy for Parental Involvement;

• be supported by their education authority;

• have their voice and views listened to and responded to by the headteacher and education authority;

• request and receive information from the headteacher or education authority;

• be consulted about schools’ arrangements for consultation between parents and teachers;

• continue to be involved with new appointments processes for headteachers and deputy heads.

Responding to the Consultation

Responses should be returned by Tuesday 7 June 2005 to Parental Involvement Bill Consultation, Area 2-B North, Schools Division, Scottish Executive Education Department, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ.

The Civic Forum are holding a series of open meetings during April and May to discuss the proposals: in Inverness (11 April), Aberdeen (12 April), Edinburgh (13 April), Dundee (19 April), Musselburgh (20 April), Stirling (21 April), Ayr (25 April), Anniesland Glasgow (26 April), Central Glasgow (27 April), Stornoway, 28 April, Oban (3 May) and Hawick (4 May). All are from 7pm – 9pm, and further information can be obtained from the Civic Forum on 0131 557 6767 or enquiries@civicforum.org.uk.

Theological and Church Context

During the 1980s, some churches opposed the introduction of school boards, on the basis that these structures eroded the proper authority of teachers, headteachers and local education authorities. However, after their introduction, many Christians have seen them as a positive means of influencing the ethos of the school and of supporting staff; many chaplains also serve as community representatives on school boards (there is no automatic provision for community representation on the proposed forums, although that could be a basis for co-option). These commitments have been especially valuable where it has not been easy to find that commitment to serve on school boards among parents or community.

The importance of children and their upbringing – vividly illustrated by Jesus placing a child at the centre – is clearly emphasised throughout the Bible, and Christian teaching has also stressed the role of the family as crucial here, in passing on faith and values. However, the importance which the Scottish reformers attached to the establishment of parish schools shows that the family's role in nurture is not an exclusive one. The Christian community (through Sunday Schools) and the wider community (through the state education system) are recognised as also having an important part to play.

It makes sense, therefore, for Christians to reflect on the respective proper roles of government (national and local, expressing the vision of the wider community which funds our school system and has clear interest in its working well), of trained professional staff (with their knowledge, expertise, commitment and accountability) and of parents. Clearly good relationships of partnership between all of these are in the best interests of children; the question is, then, whether these proposals would improve that partnership over against what happens under the present system.

The evidence suggests that school boards vary dramatically both in enlisting parental involvement and in their effectiveness within schools; it is in the attempt to improve involvement where that is currently low that the Executive have come up with these proposals. Whether they will be effective seems more a matter for informed judgement than one of principle. (The Conservatives have already tabled a Parliamentary motion expressing concern that "under the proposed legislation school boards will lose their statutory rights governing the appointment of headteachers and deputy heads".)