To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what estimate he has made of the average number of meetings per pupil per year that schools hold with parents or guardians to discuss children's performance; (164522)

The Education (Pupil Information) (England) Regulations 2005 specify that head teachers are responsible for ensuring they send a written report to parents on their children once during the school year, or to the pupil where they are aged 18 or over.

Many schools are already reporting on a termly basis to parents about their child's progress.

The Department has just undertaken a survey on parental involvement in children's education. Report writing and analysis are under way. I anticipate the report will be published in spring 2008, and will indicate what proportion of parents have talked about how well their child is doing with teachers at regular events such as parents' evenings, parents meetings or review days arranged by the school.

Many schools use technology such as email as part of wider school strategies for parental engagement or behaviour. The ‘Harnessing Technology in Schools Survey’ (National Centre for Social Research/Becta, July 2007) found that

“although paper messages remained the predominant mode of communication with parents...70 per cent. of primary schools and 86 per cent. of secondary schools used emails to communicate with parents”.