Schools and learning

School Profile and Prospectus

The governing body is required to produce a School Profile*. It may choose when to publish it as long as it does so once in every school year. The Profile replaces the former Governors' Annual Report to parents and the governing body is no longer obliged to hold a meeting for parents (although it could if it wished). You can access more information by clicking on the link to the right.

* The governing body of a nursery school (i.e. a school which caters only for pre-school children, as distinct from a primary/infant/first school which also has a nursery class) must still produce and publish an Annual Report.

The School Prospectus

The prospectus must be published during the school year preceding the admissions school year (i.e. those published during 2008/09 will be for admissions in 2009/10). Prospectuses should be published no later than six weeks before the final date by which parents are asked to apply for admission to the school, or to express a preference for a place.

Obligatory content includes:

• arrangements for the admission of pupils with disabilities;
• details of steps to prevent disabled pupils being treated less favourably than other pupils;
• details of existing facilities to assist access to the school by pupils with disabilities;
• the accessibility plan (required under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995) covering future policies for increasing access to the school by pupils with disabilities;
• information about the implementation of the governing body’s policy on pupils with special educational needs and any changes to the policy during the last year.

Schools can add whatever addiotional information they feel prospective (and current) parents would find helpful.

Source: Guide to the Law for School Governors, January 2008, chapter 25