Pepe Di’Iasio, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, responds to the news that parents will be given a guide to help them engage constructively and respectfully with their child’s school.
“We welcome the publication of this guide as a step forward in taking some of the heat out of complaints from a minority of parents and in encouraging reasonable and respectful behaviour.
“Positive relationships between schools and parents are vital in supporting the education of children and young people, and for the most part this works well. However, many schools have increasingly experienced a rise in vexatious and personalised complaints which are often amplified on social media. They spend a great deal of time and energy dealing with these complaints which increases workloads and distracts from other priorities.
“We hope a clear set of ground rules will help to ease the pressure on schools and support good and productive relationships with parents.”