Your Child, Your Schools, Our Future : Building a 21st Century Schools System

The proposals in this White Paper, "Your Child, Your Schools, Our Future: Building a 21st Century Schools System (Cm. 7588)", aim to ensure that every child enjoys their childhood, does well at school, and turns 18 with the knowledge, skills and qualifications that will give them the best chance of success in adult life.

Pupils will go to schools that: have good behaviour, strong discipline, order and safety; teach in a way that meets their needs; have sport and cultural activities; and, promote their health and well-being. The White Paper puts forward a number of measures such as: every child will have a personal tutor; any child falling behind in Key Stage 2 will have an entitlement to 10 hours of one-to-one tuition; those behind at the start of secondary school will either have one-to-one or group catch-up tuition in Year 7; pupil and parent guarantees will be underpinned by legislation; schools will work in partnership with other schools and wider children's services to assist in tackling underperformance and extending best practice; the Academy programme will be extended; school accountability will focus on how well each child is progressing and developing, and take more account of the views of pupils and parents; and, a new School Report Card (SRC) for each school will provide a rounded assessment of school performance, and the SRC will be developed further with Ofsted.

The White Paper also sets out the roles and relationships for schools, local and central government, with a strengthening of parental voice as a driver for improvement.

The teaching and support staff and the governors in the schools are vital to the achievement of the aims. Measures will address teachers' professional development, leadership roles for heads across a partnership of schools, and training of support staff.