HC Deb 04 April 1977 vol 929 cc367-8W
Mr. Nicholas Winterton

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will make a statement concerning the compiling of files on schoolchildren which record items in addition to academic details.

Miss Margaret Jackson

It is for local education authorities to decide what form of record keeping is most suitable in their schools. The great bulk of information that is recorded concerns academic matters, but there are circumstances—for example, where a child may be being neglected or abused—in which the recording of teacher's more general observations may be desirable in the child's own interest.