Education and Skills Bill

As my noble friend Lord Elton has explained, the proposed new clauses would create a statutory right for pupils to participate in decisions that affect them by introducing a new duty on schools to have due regard to the views of pupils and for each school to have a school council or another form of collective mechanism. I know that CRAE, the Children’s Rights Alliance for England, has supported such a move to give children a voice. I agree with my noble friend’s remarks on the desirability of setting up such a mechanism. As I understand it, the introduction of a statutory basis for school councils in Wales in 2006 has been monitored by Estyn, the body responsible for school inspection in Wales. Estyn considers that the regulations have, "““enabled the participation agenda to make progress and gain support quickly in schools””." That fits neatly with the issue that we have all been raising in the Bill about how crucial it is to engage children at an early age to stop them becoming disaffected with education, which leads to such depressing truancy rates and total disengagement later on. Part of that engagement process will inevitably mean listening to young people’s views and taking them into account when making decisions that affect them. However, I sound a note of caution, just as the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, did. It may not be the best course of action to be too prescriptive. We think that it is best left up to schools, not central government, to decide on the best way to engage their students. But we sincerely hope that in sharing best practice, schools will see the relevance of thriving, dynamic school councils. The noble Baroness makes another valid point about educational institutions. I assume, and I am sure that the Minister will tell me if I am wrong, that this must be an area that Ofsted looks at. Presumably, it could recommend setting up a school council if it felt that the school was failing to consult with, or listen to, its pupils.