Do schools have a duty to inform parents about events?

[longdiling]

So two parents are divorced and have joint custody. One parent does all school pick ups while the drop offs are shared. The parent doing pick ups gets all letters etc but never informs the other parent of any upcoming events. School assure other parent they will let him know what's happening independently. They don't though. Other parent has missed a vital meeting, nearly missed sports day and now missed a leavers assembly. What duty does the school have to ensure BOTH parents are kept informed.

[PeruvianFoodLover]

If the school is not fulfilling its duty to keep both sets of parents informed then he should raise it as an issue with the governers of the school.

Please don't do this!

If you have an issue with the procedures or an individual within the school, it MUST be addressed using the schools official complaints procedure.

Not only will correspondence with the Governors be ignored if it is not in line with the school complaints policy, you risk tainting the Govenrors and preventing them from fulfilling their role at the appropriate time in the process if it cannot be resolved at an earlier stage.

Yes, this issue does warrant a formal complaint as informal requests have failed - but if it's not followed properly, then the OPs brother won't secure the outcome he wants.

[clam]

We have loads of correspondence that goes out each week to classes. As much as possible goes via email in an attempt to minimise paper consumption, but there are numerous other flyers. It would be a nightmare having to send some kids (which ones???) out with two of everything, when even getting them to pick up one and not drop it in the cloakroom is hard enough.

I thought that the school's responsibility re: info was mainly to do with reports and notification of parents' evening???

[PeruvianFoodLover]

clam how do you ensure that the parents whose DCs are off sick on a particular day get the info? What about DCs who are taught off-site? DCs who are in occasional/weekend foster care?

Schools should have procedures that accommodate the variety of living/care arrangements that their pupils may have; stuffing a flier in the book bags of young children and hoping it gets to the correct carer at the correct time is not meeting the needs of the DCs and their families.

[clam]

If a child is absent, and on the non-parentmail list, I'll put their name at the top of a newsletter (or anything equally important) and put it in my pending tray for when they return. Anything else, and I'd expect the office to deal with it, as I'm a teacher, not a postman. Junk mail (and there's loads of that) and they take their chances - I'm not chasing kids around to force those on them.

[mrz]

Prh47 could you please link to the relevant information detailing what information must be shared with parents ?

The legal advice from teaching unions is that the only the only specific legal duty is an obligation to keep parents informed about their child's progress ... Is this incorrect?

[PeruvianFoodLover]

Schools (not necessarily teachers) must keep all parents informed of any elections for parent Govenror positions, notify all parents if the school is subject to an inspection and share Inspection reports with all parents.

These are set out in a variety of obscure Governance-related legislation!

[prh47bridge]

the only specific legal duty is an obligation to keep parents informed about their child's progress

There are two separate legal requirements here.

You are correct that the only communications specifically required by law are to keep parents informed of their child's progress.

There is a separate requirement that any communication that is sent must be supplied to both parents and anyone else with PR regardless of whether or not that communication is legally required. So, for example, there is no legal requirement to tell parents about the school play and invite them to buy tickets, but any communications about the play that are sent must be supplied to both parents and both must be given an equal chance to buy tickets.

[prh47bridge]

If I can use an analogy to make it clearer, it is a bit like car lights. There is no legal requirement for a car to be fitted with reversing lights at all. However, if your car has reversing lights there is a legal requirement that they must work.

Similarly there is no legal requirement to write to parents about the school play but, if you do, you must write to both parents and anyone else with PR, not just to the parent with care.

[overthemill]

I think the guidance issued to schools suggests they should make sure all parents are informed. We used to ask each new school for,2 copies of everything plus an email. It was a hassle to start with but got easier as they got used to it. One school point blank refused but soon did it when I sent them a copy of guidance highlighted so they could see they had to do it. It's a bit more work but really not that much for them.

[MidniteScribbler]

All of our documentation is handed out to the students to take home. We will provide two copies if required, but it's up to the student and their parent to hand that form/sheet/flyer to the other parent. Where we have a few issues with parents not sharing the information, the other parent provides us with a packet of self addressed and stamped envelopes. A copy of all documentation will then be posted out to that parent.

[longdiling]

Thank you all so much, this information is really helpful. I like the stamped addressed envelope idea for written correspondence. Hopefully he can work with the school to get this sorted once and for all come September.

[mrz]

We send texts to every number we have registered (of course many parents don't think to inform us of change of number). We send home two copies of letters with children who we know have separated parents (of course we don't always have information about absent parents). We post out important information to the home address (of course parents don't always inform us when they move). Finally we publish dates on the school web site (which could be argued is all that is required to fulfil the guidance).

[longdiling]

They do have his current contact details, he has checked and rechecked this. Two letters home still relies on the ex ensuring she passes his set on which she is under no obligation to do.

[minionmadness]

I think you've been given some good advice here and your DB needs to address directly with the school. I appreciate he already has but whatever he has done is not having the desired effect. If this where me I would take a different stance with the school by putting his complaint in writing and requesting a written response from the school stating how they intend to put this right in the future.

In my experience when there is a paper trail people are less likely to shirk their responsibilities.

[Yokohamajojo]

Our school has NOT got a website with information, so no not all schools do but they are on the texting parents thingy and email the newsletter. I am sure if I told our school to also add DH number they will do, surely that would be the easiest option! Ask your brother to set up a meeting with the school secretary and/or head!