WIREDGOV

Parents will be expected to sign up to school behaviour policies when they apply for a school place under proposals announced today.

Proposed changes mean schools’ policies will be brought to the attention of parents before they apply for a place. Under the plans out for consultation, parents will also be asked to agree to the behaviour policy, amongst other policies such as attendance and uniform, as part of the application process.

These measures will apply to applications for school places made from this autumn, and will help parents recognise the importance of complying with a school’s policies once the child has been admitted.

Diana Johnson said:

"Standards of behaviour have improved over the last 10 years with the number of schools where behaviour is a significant concern at the lowest levels ever recorded.

“Around 80 per cent of secondary schools in 2008/09 were judged as good or outstanding by Ofsted inspection, In our Schools White Paper we made the commitment that every pupil will go to a school where there is good behaviour and strong discipline, and through our Behaviour Challenge introduced last year we have the ambition that all schools should have a good or outstanding Ofsted rating on behaviour by 2012, or be on track to reach one at their next inspection.

“Pupils, parents and staff share the responsibility for making sure that bad behaviour does not disrupt learning and that children are able to learn. To do this parents need a clear understanding of their child’s school’s expectations of them and of their child. So by clearly setting out the rules and expectations from the outset, everyone knows what they have to do.

“The changes will complement the new, tougher home school agreements, which we are in the process of legislating, and will place greater responsibility on parents to make sure their children turn up to school ready to learn.

"Bad behaviour is not acceptable in our schools full stop. That's why we’ve given teachers the powers they need to ensure strong discipline in the classroom. Behaviour is good in most of our schools and behaviour standards have increased over the last 10 years. But we know there’s more to do and so that’s why we’re taking further action.”

In Your Child, Your School, Our Future: Building a 21st Century Schools System, the Government made the commitment to ensure that parents receive each school’s behaviour policy, as it appears on the Home School Agreement, when applying for a school place and that, in applying for a place, every parent is asked to abide by this policy.

The White Paper also made it clear that if parents have difficulty understanding the requirements of schools’ policies, we will make sure they get the support they need from local authorities. They already have a duty to provide information to parents about the school application process.

Editor's Notes
This press notice relates to 'England'
1. The consultation which runs for six weeks until 25 March 2010 can be accessed online at http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/consultations .

2. The School Admissions (Co-ordination of Admission Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2008 (‘the Co-ordination Regulations’) are made under section 88M of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 and require local authorities to formulate schemes to co-ordinate admissions to the schools in their area. Under paragraph 1 (c) of Schedule 1 to the Regulations, a scheme must require a common application form to be completed, enabling parents in the area to provide certain information, apply for not less than three schools, give reasons for their application and rank their applications.

An amendment to the Co-ordination Regulations is necessary in order to introduce a change to the content of the common application form to include parental acceptance of schools’ policies at the application stage.

3. In addition to this proposed amendment, the School Information (England) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/3093) require amending to require schools to include a summary of their key policies, including their behaviour policy, in their prospectus. For further information, see the Department’s ‘Public Consultation on Proposed Amendments to the Regulations on Pupil and School Information’, which closed on 1 February 2010.

4. Clause 4 of the Children, Schools and Families Bill, currently before Parliament, will make a number of amendments to the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, including requiring that a Home School Agreement must specify the school’s and parents’ responsibilities in relation to pupil conduct.

If accepted, the changes will be brought into force by the end of May 2010 to coincide with the proposed introduction of the amended school information regulations. This would also allow local authorities sufficient time to make the necessary amendments to their co-ordinated admissions scheme and common application form, prior to applications for school places being made for 2011/12 – the deadline for secondary applications being in autumn 2010.

5. Last year, the Government also produced advice for parents and carers on working together for good behaviour in schools. It can be downloaded at http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/news/images/userfiles/file/8444-DCSF-Work%20for%20good%20behaviour%20WEB.pdf .

Contact Details
Public Enquiries 0870 000 2288, info@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk