Letter received from the DFES in July 2006

Dear Mr XXX

Thank you for your email of 30 June about parents' difficulty in gaining access to their child's education reports in private schools and nurseries.

All schools and nurseries have guidelines on keeping parents informed about a child's education. The Departmental guidance for maintained schools, 'Schools, "Parents" and "Parental Responsibility" sets out general principles to guide maintained schools in keeping parents informed about a child's education and related matters. The general principle is that for the purposes of education law all "parents" should be treated equally in the provision of information about their child's education. This includes receiving copies of pupil reports and invitations to meetings involving the child. Section 576 of the Education Act 1996 defines "parent" to include all natural parents, any person with parental responsibility and any person who has care of a child or young person. I should clarify that this is a guide and should not be treated as a complete and authoritative statement of the law. It is not statutory legislation and schools are not bound to follow it.

The provision and standard of education in independent schools is regulated by the provisions in Chapter 10 (part 1) of the Education Act 2002. The Secretary of State is required to keep a register of independent schools and ensure that those schools reach and maintain a satisfactory standard in respect of the quality of education provided, the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils, the welfare, health and safety of pupils, the premises and accommodation at the school and the suitably of the proprietor and staff within the school. Independent schools must also provide certain information to parents and establish a Complaints Procedure. In particular, the Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2003, amended by the Education (Independent School Standards) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2004 sets out the standards to which independent schools will be inspected. The regulations provide that independent schools should send to parents of each registered pupil an annual written report of progress and attainment in the main subject areas taught, although no report need be sent to a parent who has agreed otherwise with the school.

Private nurseries are regulated under Part XA of the Children Act 1989 and they are required to operate using the national standards for under 8s day care and childminding. There are 14 mandatory national standards and these are supported by criteria, which set out how the standard is to be achieved. Standard 12, 'Working in partnership with parents and carers' says that "The registered person and staff work in partnership with parents to meet the needs of the children, both individually and as a group. Information is shared." The prime concern here is that the needs of children are met. The supporting criteria provide for: the regular exchange of information between parents and staff members, for parents to share information, their views and their concerns with appropriate action taken, and that a record of all complaints be maintained (12.3); that staff be aware of the need to maintain privacy and confidentiality (12.4); that parents have access to written records about their children (12.5); and that regular information is provided for parents about activities provided for the children, for example, through wall displays, photographs and examples of children's work (12.6). The criteria do not always have to be followed to the letter if the provider can show that they are meeting the standard outcome by using a different method.

For all schools and nurseries, any dispute must be taken up with the school or nursery concerned, taking account of any legal advice received.

Yours sincerely

Pauline Shaw Public Communications Unit

Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number 2006/0236709.

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