The Welsh Government has announced the launch of a website portal that will give parents information on the schools their children attend, to enable them to manually compare different schools like-for-like. The website, mylocalschool.wales.gov.uk, contains hundreds of thousands of pieces of data providing an accessible, valuable information portal for parents and carers and those interested in school education statistics in Wales.
The website was introduced by Welsh Education Minister, Leighton Andrews. “We know that Welsh parents want to know how local schools are performing,” he said. “Data of this kind is becoming more readily available. The site gives parents a clearer picture of how schools across Wales are performing.”
Jonathan Bishop, an expert in Classroom 2.0 and school choice, says the website is a step in the right direction. “Parents are already using complex websites to compile customised package holidays, energy deals, telephone providers, and various insurances,” he said. “I hope this website takes off and will include more detail information such as on after-school clubs, so that parents will be able to better choose the best school for their child’s individual needs no differently from how their choose the best private sector supplier for their family.”
Bishop argues that the choice of school should be down to parents and schools alone, providing that they abide by the Equality Acts of 2006 and 2010 and the Human Rights Act of 1998. Chris Bradshaw, the Director of Education and Lifelong Learning at Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council agrees. “Admissions legislation allows for parents to express a preference for whatever school they choose, irrespective of whether they live in the catchment area or not,” he said. “If a school has not reached its published admissions limit in any particular year group, then it must accept all applications made for places, irrespective of where the children live.”
Leighton Andrews believes the website will increase school standards. “Improving openness and transparency of school statistics will also allow parents to have more informed discussions about raising standards in our schools,” he said. “We want to encourage parents to engage in the school improvement debate and so we are providing them with the information to do so.“