The education secretary has said that school leaders should have more training and support on how to communicate with parents effectively.

Bridget Phillipson said school leaders tell her that training does not always show them “how best” to form relationships with parents.

She said: “Engagement with parents is critical in terms of the relationship between the school and the family.

“I do hear, including from school leaders, that they don’t feel that, as part of training, they always know how best to do that. And I think there is more to do.”

The education secretary’s comments come after she revealed that the upcoming schools White Paper will set out “clear expectations” on parental engagement.

Schools’ engagement with parents

Speaking at the Labour Party’s annual conference in Liverpool today, Ms Phillipson said heads should not “drift into judgement” when interacting with parents.

“I think the challenge is how you can support parents and have relational engagement that isn’t just about sending emails or text messages,” she said at an event run by Parentkind and the Centre for Social Justice.

Instead, the education secretary wants conversations with parents to be “meaningful, face-to-face, supportive and challenging if necessary, but doesn’t drift into judgement”.

Ms Phillipson added that school leaders have to act in a way that is “careful and considered, so that parents feel that they’re part of that, not that they’re being talked down to or judged”.

Inspections ‘should not harm heads’ wellbeing’

In response to a question from Tes about whether she is concerned about teacher wellbeing in light of the introduction of the new Ofsted report-card inspections, Ms Phillipson said that she is “confident that we’re on the right path” with reform.

Education unions have expressed “grave concerns” about the incoming inspection framework, with nine in 10 school leader members in a NAHT poll saying they support industrial action against Ofsted.

Ms Phillipson said she has “been clear that [inspections] should not be done at a detriment to the health and wellbeing of our school leaders in our workforce”.

However, she added that it is right that “we have a clearer sense of where schools need support to improve, alongside recognising the brilliant work that they do”.

High behaviour expectations ‘can work with SEND’

Ms Phillipson was also quizzed about her views on behaviour and support for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

“Where it comes to behaviour, I think this is sometimes an area that drifts into it being a bit of a false choice,” she told delegates.

“What I hear from young people who are autistic is that they want calm classroom environments where they can be supported, where actually that level of disruption or bad behaviour can be particularly difficult for children who are neurodiverse.”

The education secretary said she does not accept that “if we set high expectations around behaviour in school, that should be to the detriment of young people; for example, those with autism”.

Her comments mirror those made by Tom Bennett, the government’s attendance and behaviour tsar.

Mr Bennett told Tes that strict behaviour policies “dovetail perfectly” with the government’s drive to make mainstream schools more inclusive.

The government is due to set out details on its approach to both behaviour and SEND in its White Paper.

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