Families in England choosing a primary school now have a government website that shows key facts about each school on one page, according to GOV.UK. The service, called "find and compare school and college profiles", went live as primary admissions opened across every local area. Families have until January to submit their choices.
The government launched the profiles at the same time as two new expert-led groups. One will focus on how schools and parents work together. The other will focus on enrichment, meaning activities beyond ordinary lessons.
Parents and schools as partners
GOV.UK cited new findings on parents and progress. When parents were given very clear information about how their children were doing, those children scored higher at GCSE. They also had lower rates of persistent absence.
The School-Parent Partnership Alliance is co-chaired by Ed Vainker and Fiona Forbes. It has started by asking parents, teachers and school leaders to use its website to describe how homes and schools already cooperate. Examples it gives include parent forums, school apps and family transition days. The ideas judged most effective are due to be trialled in more schools from next year.
Forbes said research from her Parent Voice Project had shown that parents often feel underappreciated by schools. She urged people to take part in the listening exercise. Vainker said teachers and leaders recognise that children do best when schools and families cooperate.
A separate push on enrichment
Steve Chalke MBE, founder of Oasis Charitable Trust, chairs the Enrichment Alliance. Its starting point is the Enrichment Framework, published earlier this year. The alliance will test how schools can provide extra-curricular activities that are accessible, engaging and shaped by local communities. According to GOV.UK, the goals include readying schools for upcoming curriculum reforms and tackling the sharp fall in engagement and attendance in the early secondary years. "Enrichment is not an optional extra," Chalke said.
What the profiles contain
Each profile currently lists a school's location, age range, attendance, results and wider offers such as free breakfast clubs. Secondary listings also show which GCSE subjects pupils were entered for. They also show where pupils went after year 11, whether into further education, apprenticeships or employment. For now, only secondary schools can be compared side by side.
Features still to come
- Next year: side-by-side comparison extended to primary schools, and Ofsted reports added to highlight where schools excel.
- In coming years: details of what pupils can do outside the classroom. These are linked to curriculum overhaul plans that aim to cut overload, freeing time for future skills, nature, sports and the arts.
