Sunday January 3,2010
By Hilary Douglas

PARENT power in the classroom is under threat from teachers who want to dominate school governors’ boards once again, experts warn.
Their aim is to ban pushy mother and father governors. Local government insiders claim if teachers get their way parents playing an active role in the day-to-day management of their children’s education could come to an end in the next year. In recent years, the balance of power has shifted to give parents more say, but many experts now feel that parental influence has gone …

In Manchester, a quarter of 10 and 11-year-olds are dangerously overweight. Parents face being banned from the school run as part of a controversial attempt to combat childhood obesity. Health chiefs hope introducing residents-only parking areas near schools will encourage pupils to walk or cycle instead. The plans were criticised as ‘absolute nonsense’ by parents’ groups, who claim the Government is at fault for the rise in overweight youngsters. They point to physical exercise classes being cut from the national curriculum and school playing fields being sold off. …

By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor
Published: 1:27PM GMT 04 Dec 2009

Police have warned that children playing with toy guns run the risk of being confronted by armed marksmen Senior officers in Essex said plastic guns are now so realistic that even a trained police marksman may not be able to tell it’s a toy, leading to potential confrontations between armed officers and children. But one parents’ group dismissed the warning as “nonsense” and said no officer could seriously consider the likes of a seven-year-old waving a plastic toy around …

Sunday November 22,2009
By Hilary Douglas
Ed Balls admits that the Schools Bill could mean ‘increased costs’ for teachers
Sweeping education reforms could leave schools facing legal action running into hundreds of millions of pounds, Ed Balls admitted last night.
The Schools Bill guarantees children the legal right to a good education – but teachers fear it will allow pushy parents to blame them if youngsters fail to achieve the standards they expect. A set of guarantees written into the bill includes the promise that every child will go to a …

On the 5th Nov 2009, Margaret Morrissey from ParentsOutloud was on the PM show with Ed Balls (Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families) and Eddie Mair on BBC Radio 4.
Please click on the video below to hear this part of the show.

Polly Curtis
The Guardian, Saturday 31 October 2009
Parents who cheat to get a place at the best state schools will face fines and court orders under hardline proposals to be set out by a major inquiry on Monday.
At the moment, parents who lie only risk forfeiting the school place. The inquiry, by the chief schools adjudicator, will say the penalty should be toughened up, a source with links to the review said. Sanctions could include a court summons, a fine or an order to undertake unpaid work. It follows an unsuccessful …

YES
I have worked with education secretaries since 1981 (Margaret Morrissey writes) and I have never previously come across someone with Ed Balls’s style. He is intent on doing things his way and, if he cannot get his own way, he holds a consultation with those people who agree with him in order to produce the result that he wants.
His attitude is: “I am an expert. I know best and I will consult other experts who do it my way.” Mr Balls has a culture of blame in which he says, …

In Today’s Papers
Ofsted has “lost the plot” by telling two police officers they broke the law by caring for each other’s children, it was claimed today. Margaret Morrissey, of the parents’ pressure group, ParentsOutloud, said: “If we have reached the point in our society when we cannot trust our very close friends to look after each other’s children, I think it is time to give up and go and live in another country.”

Mirror Jason Beattie 30/09/2009
Tax breaks on childcare will be scrapped to fund free nursery places for youngsters from hard-up families.Around 250,000 children from “low and modest income” homes will be lookedafter for 10 hours every week. The childcare vouchers scheme will be phased out to fund the places.At the moment parents can pay part of their salary straight to childminders or nurseries and not pay tax on the cash.Lower-rate taxpayers can save up to £962 a year and mums and dads paying the top rate up to £1,195 …

By Richard Garner, Education Editor Independent
Monday, 28 September 2009
Ofsted has “lost the plot” by telling two police officers they broke the law by caring for each other’s children, it was claimed today.
Margaret Morrissey, of the parents’ pressure group, ParentsOutloud, said: “If we have reached the point in our society when we cannot trust our very close friends to look after each other’s children, I think it is time to give up and go and live in another country.”
She was speaking after the children’s services watchdog said the police officers’ arrangement …