An introduction to the new Parents and Teachers for Excellence website

Welcome to the Parents and Teachers for Excellence website. We set up this campaign because we believe every child should receive an excellent education that they enjoy and that provides them with real opportunities for later life.

The reforms of the past decade have focused mainly on “structures” – that is to say, whether schools are free schools, academies or local authority maintained. This was important – the new freedoms and powers that have been given to Free Schools and Academies are raising standards by empowering the headteachers and teachers that run them.

But all of this has only taken schools to the start line. Academisation is not an end in itself. We believe the time has come to shift the focus back towards “practices” – what actually goes on within classrooms.

Parents & Teachers is a national movement that will be promoting vital new reforms to raise standards. We will be pushing five main ideas:

• Autonomy – what the best free schools and academies can teach the sector
• Knowledge – why the knowledge-based approach to learning (emphasising deep subject knowledge, and the idea that the more you know the easier it is to learn new things) is best
• Testing – why the best way to ensure children retain this knowledge is through regular, stretching assessment
• Culture – the benefits of a longer school day and why this time should be used to promote organised extra-curricular activities that give children access to a world they may not otherwise experience
• Discipline – children learn best in calm, orderly environments, and none of these other reforms work if the classroom is undisciplined

In order to help us do this we have brought together some of the country’s foremost thinkers and practitioners in education to create our Advisory Council – a mix of parents, teachers, Multi-Academy Trust heads and policy specialists. These people know the education landscape, and are on the front lines every day.

We are not a think tank or policy institute. We are a campaign, and we want to build a national movement of like-minded people who believe that this is the best way forward. If you agree with our principles and would like to hear more, please sign up and let people know about us in any way you can.