Chapter 9:

Parents, Pupils and Achievement

 
The last two chapters have set out how we will help schools and teachers in Wales to perform more effectively. This chapter focuses on the role of parents in supporting their children's education, and on action to tackle truancy and indiscipline in schools.

1  Parents play a direct role in helping their children learn especially at an early age. Indeed, 'family' learning is a powerful tool for reaching some of the most disadvantaged in our society and drawing them into the challenge of lifelong learning. It has the potential to reinforce the role of the family; change attitudes to education; help build strong local communities; and widen participation in learning. We intend that the Family Literacy Initiative in Wales promoted by the Basic Skills Agency in co-operation with local authorities, should be operating throughout Wales by 1998-99, reaching 2000 parents and 3000 pupils.

Question for consultation: What good examples of family learning are there in your area which might be a model for others?
 
 
Parents and their children's learning

Information for parents
2  To be effective partners, parents need accurate information and regular feedback about what is happening in schools. They need to feel a real part of the endeavour to raise standards. No single document or information source can do this. What matters is that the information taken as a whole is user-friendly, and enables parents to make a balanced judgement of a school's achievements.

3  All schools must publish annual reports and prospectuses, and must give parents a pupil report at least once a year. There are many examples of helpful, informative reporting to parents; but we also know that some documents, for one reason or another, leave parents feeling none the wiser. We want to ensure that information is provided in the clearest possible manner. We shall discuss with our partners how this can best be encouraged, notably through revision of the regulatory framework and the dissemination of good practice.

4  Many schools face great difficulties in getting parents to take an interest in their children's education, and in raising their aspirations and expectations. There will be consultation in Wales on the extent to which reports should enable teachers to give parents an indication of what they might be expected to do to help their children achieve more. For example, this could extend to information about mentoring and master classes, as well as homework and vacation support clubs which should achieve all-Wales coverage by 1999.

Questions for consultation: What information should pupil reports, prospectuses and annual reports contain, and what should be left to the school's discretion?

How far could reports be extended to indicate what parents could do to help their children achieve more?

Homework
5  Parents should know what homework their children are expected to do and what role they have in supporting them. All schools should regularly review their use of high quality homework as a stimulus to learning and achievement in Wales. While some children are set regular homework, too many are not. So guidelines will be issued for school homework in Wales. These will cover:

• how much homework pupils of different ages should do;

• how much time pupils of different ages should spend on homework;

• what sort of tasks and activities make good homework;

• how schools can develop and implement successful homework policies;

• what is expected of schools and parents.

  We will consult on the guidelines early in 1998 with a view to their introduction in September 1998.

Question for consultation: What form should the guidelines on good quality homework take, and how can they be made most effective in practice?

Links between home and school
6  Effective school-parent partnerships need to be fostered and promoted by teachers, governors and parents alike to raise standards and improve results. Many schools already have home-school agreements. To build stronger partnerships, it will become a legal requirement for all schools to have written home-school agreements. These will explain clearly what is expected of the school, of the parent and of the pupil. These agreements will not be legally binding, but they will be a powerful statement of intent. The detail will differ from school to school, but all agreements are likely to include expectations about attendance, discipline, homework, the standard of education and the ethos of the school.

7  Home-school associations can also provide powerful support for partnership with parents. We propose to require all governing bodies to ensure that their school has an association. In addition we propose to increase the number of elected parent governors of all kinds of school - and give parents a direct input to LEA education policies by ensuring that there is at least one parent representative on each LEA.

Question for consultation: What specific commitments and undertakings do you think would be most appropriate for (a) a primary school and (b) a secondary school, home-school agreement?
 
 
Tackling behaviour problems

Improving discipline
8  Standards of behaviour in Welsh schools are generally satisfactory. But whenever those standards slip or could be improved, teachers, parents and pupils all have a role to play in raising them. We will be consulting shortly on guidance to be issued to schools about the provisions of the Education Act 1997 on school discipline. The Act requires every school to have a written policy which sets out the standards of behaviour expected, how good behaviour and discipline will be encouraged and the sanctions which will be applied if expected standards are breached.

9  Schools will also be reminded of the importance of dealing effectively with bullying, and of involving the whole school community (including pupils) in the development and application of strategies to this end. We will support local initiatives to tackle behaviour problems and take active steps to spread information on emerging good practice; for example on the benefits which schools have gained from the careful introduction of 'assertive discipline'.

10  Where pupils put at risk the learning of others or persist in anti-social behaviour, it is sometimes necessary to exclude them from school. This is a sanction of last resort. The 1997 Act provides for fixed period exclusions of up to 45 days per year. We will consult on new guidance for schools and local authorities about the circumstances in which exclusion should be used, and on changes to the appeals arrangements introduced in the Act. We will also consult on arrangements for the education of pupils excluded from school and the merits of increased financial incentives for schools to admit pupils excluded by others.

11  A number of Welsh authorities are already exploring new ways of providing education for children who are in danger of being or have been excluded from school; or are persistent truants. OHMCI will shortly publish a survey of projects undertaken by local authorities with GEST support. A number of authorities are also undertaking initiatives in partnership with Cities in Schools aimed at keeping young people in mainstream education settings or returning them to those settings as quickly as possible. The approaches include bridge courses for 14-16 year olds providing a structured full-time programme of education and work experience for groups of pupils; one to one programmes for younger pupils involving progressive reintegration into the school setting; and measures in schools for identifying and handling behavioural problems well before exclusion becomes an issue.

12  Such approaches sit well with the Youth Access Initiative whose aim is to help those young people, primarily from the age of 14, who are disillusioned and under-achieve, to reintegrate and progress. It aims to help young people:

• under school leaving age, who have dropped out of mainstream education or are in danger of doing so, to be reintegrated into mainstream education or to progress into other forms of education or training which meet their needs;

• above school leaving age, who are not in education, training or jobs, to progress to effective forms of education, training or jobs.

Funding, through GEST and through Local Initiative Funds for TECs, will be made available to support proposals from local authorities and TECs which set out joint action plans covering a period of three years or more, as from 1998-99. The plans will be prepared in consultation with and with the support of the careers service and a wide range of other local partners, including the youth service, further education institutions and the voluntary sector.

13  Pupil referral units (PRUs) are included in the OHMCI cycle of inspections from September 1997. The Inspection Reports will help to inform LEA's work in setting standards which will need to encompass PRUs and the outcomes they achieve for pupils.

Improving attendance
14  Too many pupils in Wales fail to attend school regularly. In doing so, they are blighting their chances of future success. The Welsh Office will consult on further means of bringing home to parents - through the home-school agreement for example - their responsibilities for ensuring regular and punctual attendance.

15  We also propose to apply one school leaving date from Easter 1998 so that 16 year olds do not leave school before the end of their GCSE or GNVQ studies and therefore with no qualifications at all. This should also ensure that we meet the following intended results by the year 2002:

• almost all pupils in Wales should achieve 5 GCSE passes at A*-G, or the vocational equivalent;

• the number of pupils leaving school without any GCSE or GNVQ qualification should be reduced by at least 15 per cent as compared to the 1996 level.

16  Tackling truancy and exclusion effectively will not only serve to raise levels of achievement. It can also help to reduce crime. A survey for the recent Audit Commission study Misspent Youth indicated that 65 per cent of school age offenders sentenced in court had also been excluded from school or were persistent truants. Action to improve attendance and reduce the need for exclusion should therefore contribute significantly to the Government's wider strategy to prevent anti-social and criminal behaviour by young people and to reduce the associated public costs.
 
 

Summary This chapter explains how we shall help schools and parents to work together to raise standards, and ensure that schools provide an orderly learning environment. By 2002 or before then will be: family literacy schemes operating in all LEAs in Wales; better information available to parents; a clear recognition by schools, parents and pupils of the importance of good quality homework in raising standards; home-school agreements and home-school associations in every school; better support for schools in providing for pupils with behaviour problems, less need to exclude pupils from school and better provision for those who are out of school; reduced levels of unauthorised absence from school; no young people leaving school before the end of their GCSE or GNVQ courses - and as almost all 16 year olds in Wales should be able to achieve 5 GCSE grades A-G, or the vocational equivalent, the number of pupils leaving school without qualifications should be significantly reduced. Issues for consultation What good examples of family learning are there in your area which might be a model for others? What information should pupil reports, prospectuses and annual reports be required to contain, and what should be left to the school's discretion? How far could reports be extended in Wales to indicate what parents could do to help their children achieve more? What form should the new guidelines on good quality homework take, and how can their impact be maximised? What issues do you think should be covered by (a) primary school and (b) secondary school home-school agreements? Additional consultation is being undertaken on: bringing home to parents their responsibilities for ensuring their children's regular and punctual attendance at school; detailed guidance for schools and local authorities on pupil discipline, exclusion, attendance and behaviour support plans.