Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat). It was answered on Tuesday, 24 July 2007.

Schools: Ofsted Report

Question: My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply. Does he agree that there is a great deal of good practice in the report but that there are still some schools that really struggle to engage parents? What will the Government do to disseminate this best practice to those schools that are crying out for good advice? Is there, for example, some sort of twinning programme in place, or some other initiative? This is relevant particularly at this time of year, when we have the transition of shiny-faced primary school children moving up to secondary school in their brand new uniforms. What are the Government doing to disseminate best practice in forging good relationships with parents right from the start, so that can be a very productive partnership for the children’s learning?

Answer: My Lords, the Ofsted report itself concludes: "““Schools often said during the survey that they wanted more information about how other schools involved parents and carers successfully and how to judge the impact of their actions on achievement. We recommend that local authorities provide support for schools in these respects””." We entirely endorse that recommendation. We see this as primarily a matter for local authorities, which have an ongoing and close relationship with schools, to see that when there are schools with good practice in this area—and all local authorities have some schools with excellent practice—that good practice is used to inform the behaviour of all schools in their area.

Secondary information