By Barry Dixon. Edited by Katherine Palin. Professional adviser: Anne Palin

National Teaching and Advisory Service pound;8.99 order at www.ntas.org.uk

There are numerous books for parents about schools. Writing them seems a simple task, but it’s astonishingly difficult to hit the right tone. This one does it well by keeping away from weak jokes, value judgments and little pictures of adults with question marks floating above their heads.

Instead, it just tells the facts, comprehensively and clearly. It’s a bit official-looking, but don’t let that put you off, because it reads well and the austere style actually helps. It’s very up to date too; let’s hope the publishers keep it so.

I doubt if there’s a single head or teacher who knows more than 70 per cent of what this book contains, which makes it a handy reference for professionals, too.