The Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006 was intended to
- modernise and strengthen the framework to support parental involvement in schooling, education and children’s learning
- set duties on the Scottish Government and local authorities to support parental involvement in schools which are managed by local authorities.
The revised Guidance (which is out for consultation until April) has four sections.
- An explanation of what is meant by parental involvement and parental engagement.
- The local authority duties which support parental involvement.
- Guidance for Parent Councils in carrying out their responsibilities.
- The roles of headteachers and school leaders, Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Education, and other key organisations.
The Guidance is for anyone involved in educating children, such as parents and carers, headteachers, school staff, and local authority staff. It recommends that partner early learning and childcare settings consider the Guidance as good practice, even though they are not legally required to follow the Act.
The aim of the Guidance is to help local authorities and parents understand what duties, rights, and responsibilities they have under the Act and decide how best to put arrangements in place to meet these, in ways that are appropriate for their local circumstances. It is to help local authorities and schools make sure the ways they carry out parental involvement meet the requirements of the Act, and to help Parent Councils with their functions. However, the Guidance is an interpretation of, or series of recommendations about, the Act, and is not legislation itself.
It also includes jargon busters which explain the terminology used in the Guidance and the Act.
There are links to related documents, such as Learning Together, the national strategy and action plan on parental involvement, and national approaches such as Getting It Right for Every Child.
The Scottish Government's full consultation is available here. You can read Connect's response here.