Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006

In 2006, the Scottish Government passed a new law , the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act to get parents more involved in their children’s learning. The Act placed responsibility on local authorities to improve parental involvement in three ways -  learning at home, home/school partnerships and parental representation.

Learning at Home

The Act recognises the vital role that parents play in children’s learning and development and aims to encourage parents to develop their children’s learning at home and in the community. Parents at St Winning’s Primary have recently got more involved in making their children’s homework fun.

Home/School Partnership

The Act reflects the shared role and responsibility that schools, parents and carers have in working together to educate children. Across Scotland, parents have been building closer links with schools over the last few years. Meldrum Science Week is a good recent example of parents and schools working together in a Primary School, while Denny High School has a good example of how parents and schools developed a culture of working together at Secondary level.

Parental representation

The Act replaced the old School Boards with new Parent Councils, designed to be less formal and more friendly to encourage more and different parents to get involved in the life of their school. You can find examples of the work done in Ideas for Parent Councils.