Children, Schools and Families Act 2010

A Bill to make provision about pupil and parent guarantees, home-school agreements, parental satisfaction surveys, children with disabilities or special educational needs, school and other education, governing bodies’ powers and school teachers’ qualifications; to make provision amending the Education Acts; to make provision about local safeguarding children boards and youth justice; and to make provision about publication of information relating to family proceedings.

The Bill as introduced aimed to provide guarantees for parents and pupils, setting out what they were entitled to expect from the school system. It also aimed to reform the curriculum and introduce a new licensing scheme for teachers.

Clauses on a number of key provisions were removed during the consideration of Lords Amendments, including:

• the Pupil and Parent Guarantee
• Home School Agreements
• reform of the primary curriculum
• introduction of compulsory Personal Social Health and Economic (PSHE) education – including the provision that all children receive at least one year of sex and relationship education
• the licence to practise for teachers
• registration and monitoring of home education
• the extended remit for School Improvement Partners
• school report cards
• strengthened powers for local authorities and the Secretary of State to intervene where schools are causing concern
• powers for the Secretary of State to intervene in failing Youth Offending Teams
• parental satisfaction surveys

The provisions that remain in the Bill include:

• requirements for school inspections to take into account the needs of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities and provisions for an additional right of appeal for parents of children with special educational needs statements
• a requirement for local authorities to provide full-time education for children and young people who, for various reasons, are in alternative provision
• greater powers for school governing bodies on how they use their budgets, and the power to set up new schools and academies
• new provisions on information sharing and the review of Local Safeguarding Children Boards’ performance
• new arrangements to allow greater media reporting of proceedings in Family Courts