From Every Parent Matters Letter from then Education Secretary, Alan Johnson, March 2007
Parents and the home environment they create are the single most important factor in shaping their children’s well-being, achievements and prospects. We know that the overwhelming majority of parents want to do the very best for their children. We know that the majority say they expect to need advice or help at some time or another. And we know that mainstream services are not as good as they should be at recognising and responding to parents’ needs. Being a parent is – and should be – an intensely personal experience and parents can be effective in very different ways. However, we also have a growing understanding, evidenced from research, about the characteristics of effective parenting.
Parents are demonstrating a growing appetite for discussion, information and advice, as we see from the increasingly vibrant market in television programmes, magazines and websites. Government wants to support the development of a wide range of services for parents to access as and when they need to. At the same time, we want to empower parents to influence and shape public services such as schools, health and children’s services, as part of our public service reforms.
Every Parent Matters talks about ‘partnership’ between parents and the public sector, it goes into extensive detail about how important parental commitment and involvement are, and how the Government wants to help parents be more engaged and involved in their children’s upbringing.
Our plans for boosting performance and standards across education are far reaching and radical. We aim to put learners, young people – and their parents – in the driving seat, shaping the opportunities open to all learners to fit around their particular needs and preferences.
The Children’s Plan marks the beginning of a new relationship in which Government commits to working with families and their children and making sure that their needs come first. This isn’t about nanny-state intervention or telling parents what to do. We know that Government doesn’t bring up children, families do.
Common sense and every teacher in every classroom tell us that what happens outside school hours and parents’ involvement in children’s education are both vital to their progress.
irony, n. 1. A figure of speech in which the intended meaning is the opposite of that expressed by the words used; usually taking the form of sarcasm or ridicule in which laudatory expressions are used to imply condemnation or contempt.
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