News from Southampton Labour

Whitehead welcomes Labour’s strong schools plan for Southampton

Alan Whitehead MP has today welcomed plans to give parents and pupils new guarantees of what they will get from local schools and to strengthen school discipline.

The Schools White Paper, published by Labour’s Schools Secretary Ed Balls today, sets out:

* a Pupil Guarantee including an entitlement to one-to-one tuition for children at risk of falling behind in English and maths at primary school and the early years of secondary school, and a guaranteed place in school, college, training or an apprenticeship for school leavers

* a Parent Guarantee, including the right to regular information on their child’s progress and new School Report Cards to bring into one place all the information parents need about how local schools are doing. This will include school results, pupil progress, behaviour standards and Ofsted inspection judgements. An annual survey of parents will also lead to a score for ‘parental satisfaction’ on the new report card

* strengthened Home-School Agreements so all pupils and their families clearly understand the school rules and their responsibilities, signing up to adhere to the rules when they choose schools. Schools will have stronger powers to enforce the agreements and tackle bad behaviour

Alan Whitehead MP said:

“Schools in Southampton have been transformed over the last twelve years. When I was first elected in 1997, only half of children in Southampton left primary school able to read, write and do maths to an acceptable level. Today three quarters of children leave with those skills. That’s because we made the choice to invest in reducing class sizes, more teaching assistants, and better resources for our schools.

“Parents now tell me they want schools with good discipline, extra help if their children are falling behind and an education that’s tailored to their child- whether their strengths are practical, academic or both. These proposals are a big step forward to delivering that.

“Under the proposals outlined today, children falling behind will be entitled to one-to-one tuition to help them get back on track. Young people will have a guaranteed place in education, training or an apprenticeship. And there will be tougher powers for schools to tackle bad behaviour, so that lessons are not disrupted by a small minority of pupils.”

Other news from Southampton Labour

• We must keep investing to help everyone back into work – Labour MPs - 10 March 2010
• Alan Whitehead MP calls for support for hardworking carers - 8 March 2010
• Whitehead pledges to continue the fight against fuel poverty - 8 March 2010