'Many parents feel underinformed and underutilised by schools'
Placing requests legislation exists thanks to a previous Conservative Government legislating in Scotland and is vital in giving families a choice in an increasingly centralised education system.
Let us not forget that John Swinney, when he was education minister, attempted to create the Named Person scheme, a policy which would have created government-appointed guardians of children under 16 who could exert state control over children's choices without parental consent or knowledge.
A policy designed to undermine the role of parents as chief arbiters of their child's development.
We can all agree, I am sure, that state-appointed guardians may have other priorities in the decision-making process other than those solely of individual children.
The Placing Request system is relatively successful in encouraging parental involvement in children's learning.
At hearings, I often hear parents speak very eloquently about the importance of a particular school in meeting the needs of their child and show good knowledge about what individual schools are able to provide, particularly schools which have had specific strengths highlighted by Education Scotland inspection reports.
This, in short, is how the system should work, that is, in favour of parents being informed about the performance of a local school and being able to make informed choices as a result.
Having spent a career in education in Glasgow and a lot of my time and effort as a headteacher in trying to actively encourage greater parental involvement, I am more than aware of the benefits of this.
Parents are first educators of their children and should form fruitful partnerships with teachers and school leadership.
Unfortunately, and of late, many parents feel underinformed and underutilised by schools.
Teachers are overworked, having increasingly bureaucratic tasks to perform and can often see the involvement of parents as an additional burden rather than an extra resource.
The huge errors in the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) (still being refined, decades after introduction) have resulted in much that is seriously wrong with the education of our children, not least of which is the poor attainment results of some of the poorest children in the city.
An additional and very serious consequence has been the under-utilisation of many parents, despite this being a declared focus of the CfE.
When Conservatives last had any say on Scottish education, we created the, now, much missed 5-14 curriculum (popular with educators and families), which included regular assessment of children to ascertain their attainment levels to prevent the very situation we find ourselves in today.
However, we also created school boards which encouraged significant and meaningful parental involvement in the day-to-day running of schools.
CfE has seen the school board replaced with parent councils which, while still a means of involving parents, do not have the muscle of their predecessor with many focussing on fundraising projects; necessary, but not at the centre of a school's development planning.
Could it be that this ever-centralising SNP Government with its Named Person policy philosophy would rather have parents and families on the outskirts of a child's education rather than at its centre?
I think so.
As I witnessed, over the summer, parents and carers care deeply about their child's education, if only the SNP and Labour could recognise that, harness the potential of these first educators and in doing so guarantee improvements in attainment across the board.
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