to wonder if this is really happening? parents are being asked to confirm if their kids are British born.

[someonestolemynick]

A few messages popped up on social media today by parents whose school asked them to confirm if the child in question is foreign born. One friend said this was being done by all schools today.
I don't have kids and am an EU national.
I have been disappointed by the referendum result but have adopted a "Wait and see" approach.
Yesterday's announcements of companies having to list foreign employees coupled with today's rumours is really freaking me out.

Have you been asked today to confirm your child's nationality by their school? Aibu to be fucking terrified?

Scary, completely aware of that. But not quite the same as suggesting you have access to healthcare and education with no questions asked, is it?

Have they just decided their old questions were not precise enough and some people were twisting the truth when they claimed to be speaking English at home?

It is perfectly normal and healthy to wonder why you are being asked to hand over personal data and shows a severe lack of imagination just to hand it over unquestioningly.

It is a change. Not to the form as a whole, but to one specific area they are focussing on this time. Nicky Morgan's crass statement aside, the data is needed in order to accurately assess the changing needs of society.

That piece also quotes Jen Persson, from DefendDigitalMe, a campaign group calling for more transparency with pupil data, said it was important the DfE made it clear who would be able to access the data, its purposes and any right for parents to refuse to provide the information.

She said it was unclear why the data was needed as similar information is collected by the Office for National Statistics.

Whilst she is correct to remind people that the DfE need to make it clear why and the right to refuse, she is being very disingenuous with that last bit. The ONS themselves acknowledge gaps in their data collection, often due to reticence for some groups in our society to engage with them. Measuring every child through school accesses more data.

There are many issues with the census, but some of the reasons given/feared here aren't the ones I would worry over!

Regardless of how long the school census has been running, any additional data collected should have a reason behind it. 'We're curious' is a shit reason

Curiosity is a fabulous reason. Being curious about how society is working, where things are good/bad and what affects them and gathering evidence to think and understand is far, far better than ignorance and ideology.

Curiosity is a fabulous reason. Being curious about how society is working, where things are good/bad and what affects them and gathering evidence to think and understand is far, far better than ignorance and ideology.

Not for collecting lists of other people's information without justification, it isn't, particularly in the current political climate.

Got a use for it? Got a hypothesis, an idea, an actual gap that would make a difference to children's educational outcomes? Great. Explain it, then ask for permission to collect the data. Not 'let's get the data, then decide how it might be useful.'

List of data of how many immigrants there us in one school and his thy progress is the sort Infirmation needed by the DoE. They don't need a NAME associated with all that.

As fur the school, yes they need the info but then again, I'm sure this would be evident after a few days (I'm talking there as the mum of two bilingual dcs, one if which had plenty of issues with English. Both of them were known to be coming from a bilingual family very quickly).
Besides, that sort of information has never been asked. Religion and ethnicity were yes. Language spoken at home (but only one language allowed ). But not nstionality (language spoken at home and nationalities aren't always the same btw)

kmowing the language(s) spoken st home is necessary fur school. Not the nationality (ies)

When did this get made into law by being discussed and voted on in Parliament?

NB We are still in the EU, for at least 2 1/2 more years.

But you do have access to healthcare, no questions asked in the uk.

I'm not resident in the uk. My DS was taken to hospital in the uk (we were visiting friends), treated and sent "home".

No questions asked.

Wouldn't happen where I live!

My DC were born in Bulgaria (but became British citizens when we adopted them) and yes we've been asked. I feel sorry for them, they're very proud of their country and all that, and everyone knows but it makes them feel like they're somehow not "properly" British.

@parnish The school census went through parliament as part of the 1996 education act. www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/56/section/537A

@jassy et al asking for the reasons for the data being collected; this is all documented - as required by law - in the 163 page document on the school census for this year.
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/fil/554478/School-census-2016-to-2017-guide-version-1.3.pdf It's understandable for newspapers such as mine (the Guardian) to campaign for parents to refuse to answer specific questions - you can, of course, refuse to answer any. It's also reasonable for them to use such a campaign to attack a government with which they disagree. This is, however, clearly officials and (yes) Ministers attempting to obtain better data to understand how well the education system works in practice for our communities - we could go back to Gove's "we don't need experts" approach as an alternative.

That link goes to "page not found," which is not very enlightening.

As for Michael Gove - he consulted lots of experts, he just chose to ignore them.

OurBlanche 09.29

Well said. My perspective exactly.

Thanks roundabouttown - I removed an e from the word file :) www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/554478/School-census-2016-to-2017-guide-version-1.3.pdf

Having read the relevant two pages of the document mentioned (around p65 for those interested) I'm no further enlightened on how this might be used except for cheap headline fodder of the kind the 'children born to foreign mothers' statistics now generate on a depressingly regular basis. And it's worth noting the rationale (sorry, 'rational' to quote the document) was only added in August.

I'm as unsettled about the current climate as the next foreign person but the form I got was not any different than the one I get every year? Ours state nationality, place of birth, home language, first language, ethnicity - as well as other trivial things like how we travel to school and meal arrangements. My (British) husband is outraged that we had to provide all this information.

Thanks, sussexman. Asking for nationality and place of birth and EAL and proficiency in English is certainly wanting to look in a remarkable degree of detail at how long someone may have been in the country for, how well integrated they may have become and where they came from. The information generated would certainly be interesting. I can foresee the information gathered being manipulated to suit many a political agenda.

Following Brexit debate I was asked both at work to provide my passport details etc. and also the school. My kids are born in the UK however have a EU country nationality/pasport. Not great ... with the pound down @15% already without Brexit even happening I think we'll be in for a ride.