The Scottish Government

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CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND TO THE CONSULTATION

1.1 Background

The Scottish Executive recognises the importance played by schools in Scotland in unlocking the potential of children and currently has a goal for "every school in Scotland to be an ambitious and excellent school". An important element of this is also an acknowledgement that "success in the education of children depends, at least in some part, on the involvement of their parents. If a child sees that their parents are enthusiastic about education, they are far more likely to view their schooling in a positive light, and be more receptive to learning."

With this in mind, the Scottish Executive is keen for parents to be seen as partners in a child's education, not simply in checking that homework is completed, but in a more holistic sense. There is acknowledgement that engaging and working with parents is one of the most vital parts of providing children with an excellent education and this has been emphasised by a number of different studies. There are several key milestones that have been particularly significant in shaping the proposals to improve parental participation under consideration in the draft Bill.

The National Debate on Education (2002)

In March 2002, the then Minister for Education launched the National Debate on Education and the aim of this was to encourage debate on education in all groups with an interest, locally and nationally. The National Debate was intended to create a vision for the future, and a strategy for how to get there. Around 20,000 individuals responded to this Debate. In their response - Educating for Excellence - the Scottish Executive outlined two key themes in relation to parental involvement within their children's education:

• There was widespread support for the principle of parental involvement in schools and it was clear that parents were keen to support both their own children's learning and their schools.
• With changing working patterns, many parents were expecting schools to take on a different role.
• Some of the formal requirements relating to School Boards were felt to be off-putting to many parents.

Of the key comments made, some respondents noted that communication and partnership between schools and parents could be improved. Others noted that classes for parents and more support for parents in understanding school structures and processes were needed.

The Executive's Response to the National Debate (February 2003)

Whilst recognising the strengths of the School Board system, Ministers were aware of the need to make changes to the current statutory arrangements. In response to the findings of the National Debate, Ministers committed themselves to increasing the involvement of parents in their children's education by reviewing and reforming the role of School Boards and improving communication with parents about their role in the decision making process.

A Partnership for a Better Scotland (May 2003)

The Coalition Partnership Agreement published after the 2003 Scottish Parliamentary Election set out a clear commitment to "work to strengthen the link between parents and schools".

Making the Difference (August 2004)

This was followed by a major policy initiative launched in August 2004 offering parents practical guidance on ways that they can help their own children's learning under the banner, Making the Difference. This consists of a series of support packages for parents with information and guidance on areas such as homework, sharing information with their child and getting the most out of parents' evenings.

Recent Consultations and Discussions

The Scottish Executive has engaged in a series of discussions around the key issues relating to parental participation with over 100 School Board chairs in Scotland, parental representative organisations such as the Scottish School Boards Association ( SSBA) and the Scottish Parent Teacher Council ( SPTC). Discussions have also been conducted with education authorities, teachers' unions, and other interested parties, such as the Scottish Consumer Council, and Church and faith groups.

Research on Parent's Views on Improving Parental Involvement

In 2004 the Scottish Executive commissioned George Street Research an independent research company to conduct research with parents to obtain their views on parental involvement ¹. The research aimed to reach the widest possible range of parent stakeholders, particularly the "silent majority" who have tended to be reluctant or unable to express their views, and parents from a range of social, geographical and cultural backgrounds.

The parents who participated in the research had low levels of active or formal involvement, with few participating in formal bodies such as School Boards or PTAs, preferring instead informal forms of involvement. The formal structures were seen as intimidating, closed and not necessarily capable of representing the views of many parents.

The Draft Bill

The draft Bill has been developed in the light of the consultations, discussions, developments and research findings listed above. The proposals upon which consultation has been invited, aim to address the key concerns that have been identified in particular the barriers that the "silent majority" of parents are experiencing in the current systems of parental representation and involvement.

The draft bill is part of a wider set of initiatives to improve parental involvement. A range of initiatives are underway or being commissioned to lay the groundwork for the implementation of and transition to the changes proposed in the draft Bill. These include:

• Support packages for parents and schools which are being issued over an 18 month period
• A good practice guide with examples of what has worked well elsewhere to help parents decide on the future nature of parental representation in their school
• Practical advice on the time of transition on how to consult and capture the views of the whole parent body in a school on what new arrangements they want
• A new section of the How good is our school? - a self assessment manual which will focus on parental involvement - to assist in monitoring and reviewing the new arrangements.

1.2 The Consultation

The Consultation Document and Draft Bill

In March 2005 the Scottish Executive issued a consultation to the general public and to key stakeholders "Making the difference - improving parents' involvement in schools." This document sets out the vision that the Minister for Education and Young People aims to achieve through the new proposals set out in the legislation: to support parents in developing a new partnership with schools and to achieve stronger, more inclusive and effective parental involvement. The support and involvement of parents will help to make every school in Scotland an ambitious and excellent school.

Additional outcomes to meet this ambition, outlined by the Minister, include the following:

• To encourage parents' to be more actively involved in their children's learning
• To move away from a "one size fits all" approach to parental representation
• To ensure that education authorities or schools listen to parents and involve them in their children's learning in line with a move to further devolution of school management and decision making to the local, school level.

The consultation was widely marketed and consultation papers were distributed to a wide range of individuals and organisations. A summary leaflet was distributed to all parents in Scotland to inform them of the opportunity to express their views and this directed them to the full consultation document. Targeted audiences also included parent representative bodies (Parent Teacher Associations and School Boards), schools, teachers, education authorities and other organisations. The consultation was available on the Scottish Executive website and the Parentzone website.

The consultation document contained a background section discussing the main motivations for improving parental involvement in education, identifying how such involvement would help improve levels of attainment and achievement. A draft of the Bill intended to help achieve this was also included.

The key proposals contained in the draft Bill were to:

• replace School Boards with more flexible and inclusive bodies to represent parents' views - new 'parent forums'
• ensure schools respond to requests from parents for advice and information about their children's education, building on existing reporting arrangements
• ensure education authorities draw up strategies for parental involvement in education and schools
• require education authorities to promote and support the new parent forums
• establish a complaints procedure about the way authorities discharge their responsibilities under the draft Bill
• provide for education authorities to modernise their appointments systems for headteachers and deputy headteachers while retaining the principle of parental involvement in such appointments.

The draft Bill therefore proposed new rights for parents, individually to:

• be directly involved in setting up a parent forum in their child's school in a form which reflects their wishes and preferences
• request and get advice and information on any matter relating to their child's school education from the education authority (as appropriate from the school or from teachers or from the authority's headquarters)
• complain to an education authority about how it carries out any of its duties in the new Bill.

The draft Bill proposed new rights for parents collectively (through parent forums) to:

• be consulted on the education authority's Strategy for Parental Involvement
• be supported by their education authority
• have their voice and views listened to and responded to by the headteacher and education authority
• request and get information from the headteacher or education authority
• be consulted about the school's arrangements for consultation between parents and teachers
• be involved in new appointments processes for headteachers and deputy headteachers.

A series of questions was listed in the document, focussing on key issues that are either raised in the draft Bill or which might be included in it, in the light of responses to the questions. The list of questions was not intended to restrict responses, rather to stimulate responses across a number of specific areas.

Scottish Executive Public Consultation Events

A programme of public consultation events were organised by the Scottish Executive during the early stages of the consultation period to support the consultation process, with the aim of bringing the issue to the public eye and encouraging a wider range of individuals and general public members to respond to the consultation. In addition, the Executive encouraged education authorities and parent organisations to hold their own discussion events: more than fifty such events were held.

The public consultation events consisted of a series of twelve public meetings ² in different parts of Scotland which were run by the Scottish Civic Forum and convened by representatives of both the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Civic Forum. At each meeting personnel from SEED gave a presentation introducing the issues at stake, and outlining the key questions of concern within the consultation. Break out group discussions were then run by Scottish Civic Forum representatives, followed by a plenary feedback, and question and answer session. The principal findings from the discussion sessions were summarised in reports produced by Scottish Civic Forum and have been incorporated into this report.

The events aimed to,

• target a broad range of parents, teachers, education authority personnel and others with an interest
• be "participant friendly" and focus on the information provided in the consultation document
• obtain informal soundings of the main themes arising in relation to the proposals contained in the consultation document.

The events were attended by parents, both those from School Boards and representative bodies such as PTAs and individual parents those do not participate in formal bodies, teachers, headteachers and deputy headteachers, education department representatives, education authority education personnel and those representing voluntary organisations and educational associations. A total of 427 participants attended events. The largest number (182) were from School Boards, consisting of 43% of the total number of participants.

A summary of the presentation delivered at each event by the Scottish Executive is provided in Appendix 4. An overview of the events with details of those participating at each event is provided in Appendix 5. A summary report detailing the main findings from these events written by the Scottish Civic Forum who facilitated the discussions and recorded the key points emerging at each is provided in Appendix 6. A list of venues in which each local event was held is provided in Appendix 7.

The key issues raised at the events reflected the main points that emerged during the consultation and have been taken into account in the larger analysis. The pertinent findings from the public consultation events have been identified throughout the analysis in the relevant sections

1.3 Aims of the Consultation

The overarching aim of the consultation analysis was to produce a robust analysis of all responses to the consultation paper using both quantitative and qualitative analytical approaches. These findings will inform the statutory framework being developed in the draft Parental Involvement Bill which aims to develop a more flexible approach to parental representation.

The specific objectives of the consultation were to:

• monitor progress on the consultation exercises (from parents, others with an interest in education and professionals)
• identify the main interest groups responding to the consultation and their views about the consultation themes
• identify groups where the response rate has been poor and indicate which voices remain silent in the consultation
• identify variations in responses of different groups
• provide an analysis of responses (written and electronic) to the consultation grouped under the consultation themes
• provide an analysis of the responses that do not fit within the consultation themes
• identify and highlight contradictions and anomalies that emerge in the analysis
• identify additional and related themes emerging during the analysis.

George Street Research was commissioned to conduct an analysis of the consultation responses and this document constitutes the final report of the findings from both quantitative and qualitative analysis.

Where respondents have agreed to have their response made public, these responses have been made available in the Scottish Executive Library and on the Scottish Executive web site, alongside a copy of this report which provides an analysis of all responses.

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