Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006: national review progress report

Background

The Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006 (“the 2006 Act), gave parents greater rights to be informed and included in decision making in their children’s schools. This cemented Scotland’s place as a world leader in the field of parental involvement by clearly defining these rights and enshrining them in law.

In 2017, 10 years on from the inception of the 2006 Act, it was widely acknowledged in the sector that this solid foundation had led to significant developments in understanding, policy and practice in the field of parental involvement and the connected fields of parental engagement, family learning and learning at home.

In order to capture this progress, and provide a clear vision for the future of policy and practice development, the Scottish Government commissioned the National Parent Forum of Scotland (NPFS) to undertake a ‘National Review of the impact of the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006’.

This review, which was published in 2017, measured the impact of the 2006 Act, outlined some of the developments in policy and practice in the 10 years since the Act’s inception and made 38 recommendations to the Scottish Government, local authorities, national agencies and schools, detailing further work that NPFS believed were necessary to build on this progress and continue improvement.

Recommendation 21 of the ‘National Review’ was for the Scottish Government and the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES) to publish a joint interim progress report outlining the progress made against the 38 actions since the Review’s conclusion.