HC Deb 19 December 1983 vol 51 cc87-9W
Mr. Gareth Wardell

asked the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will publish in the Official Report the names of those schools in Wales referred to in the HMI (Wales) paper "Home School Links" that have been able to achieve contact with the parents of 90 per cent. or so of the children in a year group; and if he will make a statement;

(2) if he will publish in the Official Report the names of those secondary schools in Wales that follow the example quoted in the HMI (Wales) paper "Home School Links" whereby the science faculty holds an open day when parents and the public at large are invited to visit laboratories and observe the work done by pupils;

(3) if he will publish in the Official Report the names of those schools referred to in the HMI (Wales) paper "Home School Links" as having succeeded in computerising the organisation of parents' evenings;

(4) if he will publish in the Official Report the names of those secondary schools in Wales which do not allow the community at large to use the school facilities in outof-school hours; and if he will make a statement;

(5) if he will publish in the Official Report the names of those secondary schools in Wales that provide interviews at pupils' homes and designate a teacher as a home liaison teacher;

(6) if he will publish in the Official Report the sources for the evidence that is referred to in the HMI (Wales) paper "Home School Links" that education is more likely to be effective when (a) parents understand what the school is trying to do, (b) parents identify with the school's aims and (c) parents show a positive interest in their children's work;

(7) if he will publish in the Official Report the sources for the evidence that is referred to in the HMI (Wales) paper "Home School Links" which suggests that many parents feel progressively less competent in relation to the progress of schooling as their children grow older;

(8) if he will publish in the Official Report the number of secondary school headmasters in Wales who follow the example quoted in the HMI (Wales) paper "Home School Links" by visiting each contributory primary' school, discussing aspects of secondary life informally with parents and showing a film depicting a typical first day at the secondary school;

(9) if he will publish in the Official Report the names of those secondary schools in Wales referred to in the HMI (Wales) paper "Home School Links" whereby parents are invited to comment on their children's reports and provide reply slips for this purpose;

(10) if he will publish in the Official Report the names of those comprising the small working party within the Welsh inspectorate which produced HMI (Wales) occasional paper "Home School Links";

(11) what consideration Her Majesty's Inspectors gave in preparing their paper "Home School Links" to the following factors as they affect educational development of secondary school children (a) low parental income, (b) competence of headteachers, (c) school library facilities, (d) long-term parental unemployment, (e) availability of up-to-date text books, (f) teaching quality and (g) teacher absentee rates;

(12) why Her Majesty's Inspectors did not take into consideration (a) under age cigarette smoking, (b) abuse of solvents and (c) under age drinking of alcohol in their paper "Home School Links"; and if he will study the effect of these practices on education;

(13) if he will take into account the impediment to educational development which is caused by the need for children wishing to be educated through the medium of Welsh to travel long distances to a bilingual school when assessing Her Majesty's Inspectors' report "Home School Links"; and if he will consider providing central Government finance to allow greater numbers of bilingual schools to be established;

(14) if he will publish in the Official Report the names of those secondary schools in Wales which follow the example quoted in Her Majesty's Inspectorate (Wales) paper "Home School Links" whereby prospective parents of first-year pupils are automatically invited to all social and cultural events and are free to accompany their children to concerts, sporting events and open days;

(15) if he will publish in the Official Report the names of those secondary schools in Wales quoted in Her Majesty's Inspectorate (Wales) paper, "Home School Links", as sending (a) regular weekly bulletins to parents giving information about forthcoming social and cultural events, meetings and matches as well as reports of recent activities and (b) regular monthly bulletins for parents giving information about forthcoming social and cultural events, meetings and matches as well as reports of recent activities.

Mr. Stradling Thomas

The hon. Gentleman appears to have misunderstood the nature and purpose of "Home School Links". It is a discussion paper focusing on examples of effective good practice in the realm of home/ school relationships seen by HMI in schools in Wales. No useful purpose would be served by identifying the individual schools in which the examples were seen.

The paper is intended primarily to bring these good practices to the attention of schools, governors, and local education authorities. The association between parental interest and involvement and pupil attainment is widely documented and accepted; it was one factor discussed briefly in "Planning for Progress" to which the present paper is a follow-up.

There can be no doubt that enhanced parental involvement in children's education is likely to be beneficial and whatever schools can do to achieve that is to be welcomed, and I believe "Home School Links" will be helpful.

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