Clause 6 - Duty to notify parents of section 5 inspection
Education Bill [Lords]
10:15 am
Mrs Angela Watkinson (Shadow Minister, Education; Upminster, Conservative)
The amendment would provide that the head teacher may,
“if he considers it appropriate, arrange a meeting between parents and the Chief Inspector during an inspection of his school.”
It has always been the case under the current regime to have a meeting with the chief inspector just at the conclusion of an inspection. In the interests of parental involvement, it is essential that those parents who wish to should have an opportunity to meet the inspector, the governing body and the head teacher to put such questions as arise out of the report, particularly if failings that give cause for concern have been highlighted. Parents will be anxious to discuss how such failings might be remedied and what systems will be put in place to try to put things right and to help the school to improve.
Even if the inspection has been a great success, parents will wish to have an opportunity to speak to the inspector. We are trying to encourage parents to take a close interest in the education of their children, to come into schools more frequently, to take part in the life of the school and to attend the annual meeting of parents and governors. Therefore, it is essential that they should have an opportunity on such a momentous occasion to meet the inspector. The inspection period has been one of great anxiety for the school: will it pass or not, will it be found failing in some way? Very often, the whole school celebrates at the end of an inspection if its fears or anxieties have not been realised.
In the interests of parental involvement, whether the inspection is a cause for concern or for celebration, it is the right of parents to have an opportunity to meet the inspector in person rather than just to have access to the report and the findings.