Education (Schools Parenting Role) (Hansard, 14 July 1998)

§ Mr. Michael Fabricant (Lichfield)

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to recognise the in loco parentis role of schools through amendment of the Ofsted inspection procedures; and for connected purposes. The destiny of our nation is inextricably linked with the future of our nation's children. We have heard about that today. Their formative years spent at home and at school determine their lives and the course of society in our country.

With the sad weakening of the family unit and changes in adult life styles, it is increasingly falling on schools to provide youngsters with advice and help that would normally be given by parents. State schools are recognising that their role can no longer be just to educate in the normal sense of the word, but often is to be in loco parentis, providing the help, advice, support and comfort previously provided by parents.

That has long been the role of boarding schools, but the great achievement of our state schools has been their ready acceptance of that task. Some teachers in special schools believe that the parental role provides more practical assistance to pupils than any mainstream education. I understand that. In a few instances, children at special schools are neglected by their parents and find traditional learning difficult or impossible. Is the work of teachers in such schools, as well as in mainstream schools, to be ignored? The aim of my Bill is to recognise the parenting work of teachers; to recognise that teachers must play their part in providing an example of how to behave, imbuing moral values and showing children how to play a constructive part in society.

That vital work is an investment in all our futures. My Bill would require the Office for Standards in Education to recognise that in its reports. Schools that excel in such work also deserve the epithet "beacon". The work of teachers in providing such guidance should be universally applauded.

It would be wrong to think that such parental advice might be missing only in single-parent families or in deprived areas. Even in the leafy lanes of Lichfield, young people are often unwittingly neglected by busy parents—perhaps their fathers work late and their mothers, returned from work, have gone to keep-fit classes. I know of youngsters left alone to eat a pre-packaged meal while watching television or surfing the internet on their bedroom computers. Not for them the family meal and parental support. Deprivation takes many forms.

Providing parental guidance at school is nothing new. Boarding schools have long recognised the need to provide a balanced programme that partly substitutes for the support normally offered by a parent. For the past 100 years, many day schools have also taken up that duty.

For the past 10 years, there has been recognition in law that state schools should also play their part. Since the Education Reform Act 1988, piloted by Kenneth Baker, schools have been required by law to deliver a balanced and broadly based curriculum which—

(a) promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society; and
(b) prepares such pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life".

213 We also require teachers to be legally in loco parentis, with all that that means for pastoral care and welfare. For too many children, that important duty represents the main stability in their life. Such a source of guidance, spiritual well-being and moral fibre may not exist in their life away from school. Such pressures and expectations have been developing and will continue to expand as we move towards greater integration of students into the unified state education system.

Hon. Members on both sides of the House recognise that teachers play a major role in preparing young people for life. Of course they must include the three Rs and the rest of the core curriculum, but we are right to expect that our children should experience a range of skills, including communication, problem solving and working with other people.

Schools and their teaching staff have been going through a period of constant change. We know that we all live in a changing world, but the shifts in emphasis and the rate of change in education since 1988 have been unprecedented. The previous Government recognised that and put a five-year freeze on the national curriculum, but other changes have continued. There will soon be many new demands relating to key skills and post-16 education. There are rightly significant demands regarding literacy and numeracy. Soon, the precarious five-year freeze will be over. It is hardly surprising that teachers wonder what the future will bring.

From the beginning, it was recognised that school league tables would not take account of factors such as social and economic deprivation. Work is under way to provide some value added aspects in such data, but that is no easy task. It is a sad fact of human nature that the cruder forms of the tables will continue to gain most attention. For that reason, too, Ofsted should recognise the in loco parentis role played by teachers. Often teachers can play their most valuable part in bringing up worthwhile citizens in the most deprived areas. That sometimes overshadows more traditional teaching, although the league tables do not recognise it.

Perhaps if the Government see merit in the Bill—I am pleased to see the Minister for School Standards here—they will also think more generally about Ofsted. It is not unreasonable to demand accountability. At least Ofsted tries its best to take into account almost all aspects of a school's performance, but it must be time to review the entire Ofsted inspection system. It was introduced with all good intentions to improve standards in schools. Surely we must evaluate what has gone before and adjust our practices accordingly, as we demand of our teachers and learners.

Ofsted has become expensive. Surely some of the money could be better used in schools that we know to be under-resourced. It is an irony that Ofsted, which was 214 designed partly as a mechanism to enforce accountability, is accountable to nobody. Surely that needs to be addressed.

Despite all the pressures and demands on teachers, the in loco parentis responsibility remains and grows more challenging. Society looks ever more towards schools to fulfil the role once played by parents. Responsibilities for social and moral development, for supporting law and order and even for helping with local disputes that originate way beyond the school gates, are being pushed up the school drive.

I have heard schools described as museums of moral standards. Perhaps we are unreasonable to expect schools to impose requirements of behaviour, spirituality, general conduct and work load that exist in few other areas of modern British life. However, such expectations exist in such a fierce atmosphere of accountability that teachers work in the knowledge that the slightest perceived error of judgment is likely to be heavily criticised. In some ways, that is the greatest pressure of all.

I continue to applaud the efforts and successes of the teachers and schools that I know well, particularly in Lichfield. Our schools manage wonderfully in demanding circumstances. They do so because of a genuine desire to do the best they can for the young people they teach.

I address the House at the end of the parliamentary year, so there is no chance of the Bill becoming law, but I believe that the sentiments that I have expressed have cross-party support. I know that my voice will be heard in the Department for Education and Employment, and I hope that Ministers will implement what I have said.

It is time to value all that our schools have to offer. It is time to reward success. It is time to put our schools into a position in which further success can be sustained. That cannot be achieved unless we think a little more carefully about the contrasting and increasing demands that are being made. It cannot be achieved unless we recognise all the good work done by our schools, including their in loco parentis or parenting role. That should be included in the Ofsted inspection and reflected in the resulting league tables. We need more common sense on the issue, and I commend the Bill to the House.