As Scotland’s only independent membership organisation for parents and parent councils, we at Connect are beyond disappointed at the call from the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA) to do away with online parent consultations this year.

Parents have an imperative role in supporting and encouraging children’s learning - the value of this to children’s and young people’s outcomes has been confirmed in academic research again and again. Parental engagement is the factor that makes all the difference to children’s learning. During these difficult times, involving parents in children’s schoolwork and school lives is more important than ever - we have to work together for the sake of our children.

For nearly six months during lockdown, while schools have been closed, parents have been doing their best to encourage their children’s learning while also juggling many other conflicting pressures. We know from our two lockdown surveys that parents and carers have been under huge strain.

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Support and information from schools and nurseries were patchy. Many parents felt they were left high and dry, trying to work, keep their children safe and happy, provide for the family and keep learning going all at once. It was also clear from our surveys that some schools had no means of contacting parents. They didn’t have up-to-date contact information or it had been left locked away in school.

The vital role of parents in schools

Government guidance is very clear that communication with parents is critical and needs to continue. We would expect teaching unions to think more holistically about the role of parents, with children at the centre of what they do. We would also expect - and we have been campaigning for - parental engagement and the crucial role of parents to be front and centre of education recovery plans. We’ve asked for schools to liaise with parents about their child’s learning, school work and wellbeing over the past six months, and we’re about to carry out another survey to find out if this has been happening consistently. 

We didn’t want children and young people to be faced with a barrage of tests when they went back to school - dialogue and communication with parents and with young people themselves can quickly establish what school work has been done and where there are gaps.

We’d urge the teaching unions to move forward constructively, encouraging their members to work positively with parents. We’ve just written to key education partners, reminding them of the legal obligations for schools, headteachers and local authorities under the Parental Involvement Act. We’re asking them to use the online platforms that work for parents, rather than banning specific platforms for reasons that are not at all clear.

Almost every day, we’re hearing from parent councils about headteachers and school staff who can’t attend parent council meetings because they can’t or won’t use the online platform preferred by parents. Around the world, millions of people are using these platforms every day because that’s the way many are having to work now: school staff need to adapt to this change, too. This is causing parents real problems - they feel their legal role is not being respected or supported. This has to change.

Sidelining parents is not in the best interests of children - and that is true now more than ever.

Eileen Prior is director of Connect (formerly the Scottish Parent Teacher Council)