Parents must not abdicate role to schools, says Ofsted chief
Parents should not expect schools alone to provide solutions to problems like knife crime and obesity, the Ofsted HMCI has said.
Amanda Spielman, who presented Ofsted’s annual report on Tuesday, said that schools cannot be a “panacea” to all “societal ills”.
Health professionals, parents and safeguarding partners should ‘all play a role in protecting, educating and preparing children for adult life.’
Ms Spielman believes that expectations on schools to address obesity, child neglect and gang-related violence risks distracting them from their core purpose and results in a failure to solve such problems.
“Our education and care services don’t exist in isolation from the local areas they serve,” Ms Spielman said.
“They are and should be a central part of our communities. But being part of a community means being very clear what your responsibilities are, and what issues, however worthy, can only be tackled beyond the school, college or nursery gates.”
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