Dads 'need school reassurance'

By Sean Coughlan BBC News, education reporter

Ed Balls says fathers can feel intimidated in schools

What makes Ed Balls frightened? The leather-backed bearpit of the Commons? The treacherous waters of party politics?

No, it's being the only bloke in a primary school.

The Children's Secretary was promoting a Parent Know How roadshow, intended to raise awareness of the support available to parents. But he admitted that dads could feel left out.

"I've been to a Friday morning music assembly and been the only dad. Once you're there it's fine, but when you walk in it feels a bit intimidating to be honest," says Mr Balls,

"The best thing in local schools would be to get dads in groups, strength in numbers. if you can get one dad to take another one along, they could both go together."

'Only man'

Speaking later, Mr Balls said that he "was probably the only man" in the building when he went to help out at his children's school.

"I spent a year doing reading for a Year 4 class, because the school was encouraging dads to get involved.

"The first time you do it it's intimidating, I totally understand why dads in particular find it strange. So it's right for schools to be proactive in drawing dads in."

When fathers got involved it made a major positive difference, said Mr Balls. For example, he said, sports specialist colleges, which are particularly good at involving dads, had the most improved results at GCSE.

Parenting is now in the glare of public interest. Is there something wrong with the nation's family life? Why do we have such little control over the young? Are children penned in by their parents' fears?

This latest initiative, launched at a London television studio, taps into these concerns about modern parenting - offering sources of information, such as websites and helplines where parents can talk to each other and get advice.

No helplines

It was important for parents to be able to get information in a way that fitted in with their lives, including rapidly-updated news by phone or internet, he said.

"Parents think if I can be updated on my football team's scores, why shouldn't I be able to get that kind of information from schools."

Although Children's Minister Kevin Brennan, sitting beside Mr Balls in front of a giant version of the department's rainbow logo, cast a little dad reality on blokes asking for advice.

"If we honestly asked ourselves a question, if you had a problem would you ring a helpline? And for a lot of men, it's something that we wouldn't do."

However Mr Brennan was ready to put his departmental boss straight about another family matter.

Is it ever right to take children out of school during term time?

Mr Balls said that schools needed to be "flexible and sensible about this", when it only involved a couple of occasional days. Not exactly the tough line that we've come to expect.

Pressed on his own practice in this area, Mr Balls declined to be drawn.

But Mr Brennan is the man in charge of the perennially depressing truancy figures - and despite the sun shining outside he made it clear that he didn't approve of any family getaways during school hours. "Every lesson counts," said Mr Brennan.

Bear necessities

Nevertheless Mr Balls, thinking about how to re-shape the machinery of government to fit a re-shaped society, was able to show why he's a cabinet heavyweight.

Under pressure to make a decisive choice he named names. The Tiger Who Came to Tea and We're Going on a Bear Hunt. These were the best children's books. He offered to recite the best bits.

Maybe it's a sign of a party with ideological divisions, trying to find its identity, but Mr Brennan dismissed this out of hand.

"I'm sorry, but Winnie the Pooh is the greatest children's book of all time. It's got everything, the whole philosophy of life. All life's lessons are there."

Undaunted, Mr Balls retaliated. "Can't go under it, can't go over it."

Was it a quote from the Bear Hunt? Or an insight into life at the heart of government.

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