Parents Playing Truant At Parents Meetings

Traditional parents’ evenings are becoming less popular and schools should consider other ways to communicate with families, the schools secretary, Ed Balls, said today, 7th May 2008

Speaking at an event today on the government’s Parent Know How programme, which aims to develop new and innovative ways of helping parents access information and support, Balls said research shows parents prefer informal chats with schools staff instead of parents evenings and want to get information on their children’s progress on-line.

While evening meetings will continue to have a role, Balls urged schools to keep parents up to date in ways that better fit their busy lives.

A survey of 5,000 adults for the Department for Children, Schools and Families showed that since 2001 the proportion who saw parents’ evenings as the “most useful” way of communicating has dropped from 43% to just 19%.

Parents now see communicating with schools through “informal discussions with school staff” as the most useful way of finding out about their child’s progress.

Half of parents felt very involved in their child’s education in 2007, up from 29% in 2001. Two-thirds of parents (65%) wanted to be even more involved, the research found.

Balls said: “We know parents are increasingly involved in their child’s education - and want to do even more. See the full report in the Guardian