Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures will be taken under the White Paper Higher Standards, Better Schools for All, to encourage poorer parents to become more involved in their children's education.
Answer
The Schools White Paper proposes a series of measures to support increased parental engagement in their child's learning and increased influence in the schools system as a whole, enabling parents to support their own child's achievement and promote system-wide improvement. We will ensure that new measures will reach all parents, particularly those who might not normally engage. Parents find it difficult to engage for many reasons, not just poverty or socio-economic factors.To enable parents to become more engaged in their child's learning, we will require schools to share progress on children's learning three times a year, rather than annually. We also recognise that some parents, including from poorer families, do not feel they have real choices available to them. We will improve the information available to parents, enabling them to make informed decisions when choosing a secondary school. Through the White Paper, we will provide choice advice, focused on those who need it most, to support parents to make the best choice for their child.