SCOTTISH SCHOOLS (PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT) BILL

What makes a difference to how well your children perform at school?  Teachers do, so do school facilities.  But the most important factor in a child’s education is you – the parent.  Where parents take a close and active interest in what is going on at their children’s school, children perform better in class, their behaviour is better and they are much more enthusiastic about learning generally.  You may have heard that the Scottish Executive is currently working with schools and local councils to improve the ways in which parents get involved in their child’s learning.

There are a whole range of ways for parents to get involved – whether it’s supporting homework, helping out at the school disco or representing other parents’ views.  The Scottish Executive has produced a series of leaflets on different ways in which parents can get involved.  They can be seen on the Parentzone website (www.parentzonescotland.gov.uk).

The Scottish Executive is currently taking a Bill through the Scottish Parliament which aims to strengthen both parental involvement and representation in schools.  The Bill proposes to replace the current School Board system with Parent Councils.  There will also be new legal duties on councils to promote parental involvement; new annual reports by the Headteacher to parents; a new power for parents to take unresolved concerns to school inspectors and extended involvement in appointing senior staff to schools.

The proposed Parent Councils are more flexible, allowing you to decide the type of Council that would work best in your school  The intention is not to sweep away good systems that work well.  If you think our School Board suits our school then that is what we will build on.  But in future parents would have powers to change, adapt and extend the role of the board at any time – something that can’t be done today.  You can find a detailed leaflet explaining the difference between the two systems at www.parentzonescotland.gov.uk.

Some of these changes are dependent on the Bill and they would not come into place for another year or so.  But you can still think about getting more involved now – it will make all the difference.  Speak to the Headteacher, to your child’s class teacher or the Chair of the School Board -–Mairi Morley, Gaelic Development Officer, Summerhill Education Centre, Aberdeen.