Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has said that the upcoming schools White Paper will include “clear expectations” around schools’ parental engagement.

Ms Phillipson also promised that improvements to the process of school complaints and resolutions would be included to make the system “more robust and respectful”.

Speaking in London at the launch of Parentkind’s National Parent Survey - the results of which will be published in full tomorrow - Ms Phillipson described parental engagement as central to the government’s mission of eradicating the link between upbringing and success.

She said: “Our schools White Paper will set out plans to establish, for the first time, clear expectations of schools for parental engagement.”

This would include timeframes for contact, methods of sharing data and advice on support around home learning.

Cutting link between background and success

The education secretary said she was aware that many schools already did good work in these areas, but said “high-quality parent partnerships” were essential in all schools.

“Whether it’s in early years or in school, parental engagement isn’t just a nice-to-have,” she said. “It must be front and centre of our mission to raise standards and cut the link between background and success.”

Ms Phillipson also conceded that the system of school complaints “isn’t working as well as it could for either parents or schools”, and promised that the White Paper would improve this.

“This is about finding resolutions quickly, respectfully and in the best interests of children,” she said. “By resetting relationships and rebuilding trust, we can resolve issues before they become complaints.”

The schools White Paper is expected to be published later this autumn.

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