Letter: School agreements

THE SCHOOL Standards and Framework Bill is due for its third reading in the Commons within the next few days. If this Bill is enacted all school governing bodies will be required to draw up a home school "agreement" and a written "parental declaration". Governors will be required to ensure as far as possible that all parents sign the declaration, to put on record that the parents "accept and acknowledge" their "parental responsibilities" and the "school's expectation of its pupils".

We believe this requirement could lead to division rather than partnership between parent and school and will impose an extra administrative burden on schools.

Rather than the Government imposing this detailed legal requirement on all schools we want to see the Bill amended. Governing bodies should be required instead to draw up a home school policy, following a genuine consultation, which would include parents and staff. The statutory requirement for a parental declaration should be dropped. Then, parents, teachers and governors could decide for themselves at school level if they wished to have a signed agreement as part of their home school policy.

MARGARET McGOWAN, Advisory Centre for Education; PAT BALL,

Alliance of Parents and Schools; MARGARET TULLOCH, Campaign for State Education; ALAN DODD, Parent Teacher Association of Wales; PETER SMITH, Association of Teachers and Lecturers; NIGEL de GRUCHY

National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers; DOUG McAVOY, National Union of Teachers; MARGARET JONES, Institute of School and College Governors; HADRIAN SOUTHORN, National Association of Governors and Managers; PAT PETCH, National Governors' Council

London SW20