A recent survey found that 76 per cent of parents with children in state schools wanted a ‘genuine choice’ over which school their child attends.
So one of the key sections of the education White Paper is about choice.
Better-off parents can choose a school either by moving house or by taking their child out of the state system to a private school.
The government’s goal now is to widen that choice for all parents, not just restrict it to those who can afford to pay.
There are three key elements contained in the White Paper.
1) Providing more help on choosing the right school
From February 2006, the government intends to introduce a new ‘profile’ for every school, which will present the key information that parents need to know - such as results, performance and successes.
More frequent Ofsted inspections will ensure that parents have the most up-to-date data on schools.
School Improvement Partners - usually someone with headship experience, who acts as the conduit between central government, the local authority and the school - will pinpoint areas of strength and weakness within schools, highlighting the performance of specific subject areas or groups of children.
A government website - www.parentscentre.gov.uk - will be developed further to provide more information, such as the profile, admissions arrangements, transport information and the extended services on offer - searchable by postcode.
And families in the least well-off communities, who may have no internet access at home, will get access to a network of ‘choice advisers’ - people based within the community who can offer independent, unbiased advice.
2) Extending the rights of free school transport to give more choice to disadvantaged children
For some, choosing a school is made difficult by concerns about the cost of transport. Since 1944 parents have had a right to free transport for their child only to their nearest suitable secondary school.
In the White Paper there is a proposal to give disadvantaged pupils access to free transport to any of the three suitable secondary schools closest to their home - where these schools are between two and six miles away.
Improved school transport may also help to reduce environmental pollution, as well as the number of accidents.
3) Promoting fair admissions in order to give parents access to a wider range of schools
At present, non-selective schools that have more applicants than places usually offer available places to children living nearest, or to those with brothers and sisters already at the school.
The government wants schools to be able to offer some of their places to pupils living beyond traditional catchment areas.
One approach already used by some schools is ‘banding’ - where schools offer places based either on the range of abilities of applicants (or on the local or national ability range) to achieve an all-ability intake.
Schools will be able to combine banding with the use of ‘inner and outer’ catchment areas. This approach would give priority for some places to those living further away from the school.
All these measures underpin the government’s determination that parents should be able to choose schools, rather than schools choosing parents.
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