EDUCATION (SCHOOLS PARENTING ROLE) BILL
14th July 1998
Mr. Michael Fabricant (Lichfield): I beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to recognise the in loco
parentis role of schools through amendment of the Ofsted
inspection procedures; and for connected purposes.
The destiny of our nation is inextricably linked with the future
of our nation's children. We have heard about that today.
Their formative years spent at home and at school determine
their lives and the course of society in our country.
With the sad weakening of the family unit and changes in
adult life styles, it is increasingly falling on schools to provide
youngsters with advice and help that would normally be given
by parents. State schools are recognising that their role can
no longer be just to educate in the normal sense of the word,
but often is to be in loco parentis, providing the help, advice,
support and comfort previously provided by parents.
That has long been the role of boarding schools, but the
great achievement of our state schools has been their ready
acceptance of that task. Some teachers in special schools
believe that the parental role provides more practical
assistance to pupils than any mainstream education. I
understand that. In a few instances, children at special
schools are neglected by their parents and find traditional
learning difficult or impossible. Is the work of teachers in
such schools, as well as in mainstream schools, to be
ignored? The aim of my Bill is to recognise the parenting
work of teachers; to recognise that teachers must play their
part in providing an example of how to behave, imbuing moral
values and showing children how to play a constructive part
in society.
That vital work is an investment in all our futures. My Bill
would require the Office for Standards in Education to
recognise that in its reports. Schools that excel in such work
also deserve the epithet "beacon". The work of teachers in
providing such guidance should be universally applauded.
It would be wrong to think that such parental advice might be
missing only in single-parent families or in deprived areas.
Even in the leafy lanes of Lichfield, young people are often
unwittingly neglected by busy parents--perhaps their fathers
work late and their mothers, returned from work, have gone
to keep-fit classes. I know of youngsters left alone to eat a
pre-packaged meal while watching television or surfing the
internet on their bedroom computers. Not for them the family
meal and parental support. Deprivation takes many forms.
Providing parental guidance at school is nothing new.
Boarding schools have long recognised the need to provide a
balanced programme that partly substitutes for the support
normally offered by a parent. For the past100 years, many
day schools have also taken up that duty.
For the past 10 years, there has been recognition in law that
state schools should also play their part. Since the
Education Reform Act 1988, piloted by Kenneth Baker,
schools have been required by law to deliver "a balanced and broadly based curriculum which--
(a) promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and
physical development of pupils at the school and of society;
and
(b) prepares such pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities
and experiences of adult life".
We also require teachers to be legally in loco parentis, with
all that that means for pastoral care and welfare. For too
many children, that important duty represents the main
stability in their life. Such a source of guidance, spiritual
well-being and moral fibre may not exist in their life away
from school. Such pressures and expectations have been
developing and will continue to expand as we move towards
greater integration of students into the unified state
education system.
Hon. Members on both sides of the House recognise that
teachers play a major role in preparing young people for life.
Of course they must include the three Rs and the rest of the
core curriculum, but we are right to expect that our children
should experience a range of skills, including
communication, problem solving and working with other
people.
Schools and their teaching staff have been going through a
period of constant change. We know that we all live in a
changing world, but the shifts in emphasis and the rate of
change in education since 1988 have been unprecedented.
The previous Government recognised that and put a five-year
freeze on the national curriculum, but other changes have
continued. There will soon be many new demands relating to
key skills and post-16 education. There are rightly significant
demands regarding literacy and numeracy. Soon, the
precarious five-year freeze will be over. It is hardly surprising
that teachers wonder what the future will bring.
From the beginning, it was recognised that school league
tables would not take account of factors such as social and
economic deprivation. Work is under way to provide some
value added aspects in such data, but that is no easy task.
It is a sad fact of human nature that the cruder forms of the
tables will continue to gain most attention. For that reason,
too, Ofsted should recognise the in loco parentis role played
by teachers. Often teachers can play their most valuable part
in bringing up worthwhile citizens in the most deprived areas.
That sometimes overshadows more traditional teaching,
although the league tables do not recognise it.
Perhaps if the Government see merit in the Bill--I am pleased
to see the Minister for School Standards here--they will also
think more generally about Ofsted. It is not unreasonable to
demand accountability. At least Ofsted tries its best to take
into account almost all aspects of a school's performance,
but it must be time to review the entire Ofsted inspection
system. It was introduced with all good intentions to improve
standards in schools. Surely we must evaluate what has
gone before and adjust our practices accordingly, as we
demand of our teachers and learners.
Ofsted has become expensive. Surely some of the money
could be better used in schools that we know to be
under-resourced. It is an irony that Ofsted, which was
designed partly as a mechanism to enforce accountability, is
accountable to nobody. Surely that needs to be addressed.
Despite all the pressures and demands on teachers, the in
loco parentis responsibility remains and grows more
challenging. Society looks ever more towards schools to fulfil
the role once played by parents. Responsibilities for social
and moral development, for supporting law and order and
even for helping with local disputes that originate way beyond
the school gates, are being pushed up the school drive.
I have heard schools described as museums of moral
standards. Perhaps we are unreasonable to expect schools
to impose requirements of behaviour, spirituality, general
conduct and work load that exist in few other areas of
modern British life. However, such expectations exist in such
a fierce atmosphere of accountability that teachers work in
the knowledge that the slightest perceived error of judgment
is likely to be heavily criticised. In some ways, that is the
greatest pressure of all.
I continue to applaud the efforts and successes of the
teachers and schools that I know well, particularly in
Lichfield. Our schools manage wonderfully in demanding
circumstances. They do so because of a genuine desire to
do the best that they can for the young people whom they
teach.
I address the House at the end of the parliamentary year, so
there is no chance of the Bill becoming law, but I believe that
the sentiments that I have expressed have cross-party
support. I know that my voice will be heard in the Department
for Education and Employment and I hope that Ministers will
implement what I have said.
It is time to value all that our schools have to offer. It is time
to reward success. It is time to put our schools into a
position in which further success can be sustained. That
cannot be achieved unless we think a little more carefully
about the contrasting and increasing demands that are being
made. It cannot be achieved unless we recognise all the
good work done by our schools, including their in loco
parentis or parenting role. That should be included in the
Ofsted inspection and reflected in the resulting league
tables. We need more common sense on the issue, and I
commend the Bill to the House.
Question put and agreed to.
Bill ordered to be brought in by Mr. Michael Fabricant, Sir
Sydney Chapman, Mrs. Ann Winterton, Mrs. Llin Golding,
Mr. David Amess, Mr. Alan Keen, Mr. Eric Pickles, Mr.
Christopher Fraser, Mrs. Eleanor Laing, Mr. Ronnie Fearn
and Mr. Peter Luff.
