Prosecution of parents taking their children on holiday during term time as well as pupils being sent home for dress code violations have provoked wider debate around the boundary between parental authority and school rules. Are parents right to complain that education authorities interfere too much in private, family life? But how can teachers maintain discipline if parents undermine their authority by complaining about rules they don’t like?
The speakers are Maisie Rowe, landscape architect; Karen Wilkinson, founder and director of the Parents Union; Neil Davenport, sociology and politics teacher. The chair is Jane Sandeman, convenor IoI Parents Forum, contributor to ‘Standing up to Supernanny.’
