Following breakdowns in relationships between schools and parents, Victoria Hatton suggests policy and legal changes from government that could rebuild cohesion It鈥檚 time we acknowledged the elephant in the room, a problem that has become too big to ignore. The social contract between schools and parents has broken down. Since the pandemic, complaints from parents have risen exponentially. As two-thirds of respondents told our school leaders survey two years ago, many of these are classed as 鈥渧exatious鈥�. This is not only increasing the administrative burden on schools and trusts, it鈥檚 wedging a further divide between schools and parents. The situation is not irreparable, however, and the first small steps have already been taken towards forging a more positive home-school relationship. Complaints guidance for parents and schools New Department for Education-backed guidance for parents offers schools an opportunity to reopen the conversation with parents about how to give effective feedback or raise concerns or complaints appropriately. Further guidance for schools from Parentkind also gives leaders the chance to reconsider their own approach to complaints management, including their complaints policy and programme of dispute resolution training for staff. However, many gaps remain in addressing the issue. With the schools white paper on the near horizon, there is a real opportunity for the government to give legislative 鈥渢eeth鈥� to enforce the home-school expectations it aims to set out. Rebuilding the social contract The first priority should be to reintroduce a mandatory 鈥渉ome-school agreement鈥�, which clearly delineates the roles and responsibilities of both parents and schools. Such a document would outline what parents can expect from the school in terms of education quality, communication and handling of complaints, as well as what the school expects from parents regarding support, engagement and communication. Previous legislation should be reinstated and enhanced to stipulate that a child will not be registered at a school until all parents known to the school have signed the agreement. Improve landscape of school complaints management The government should align the legislative, regulatory and best practice frameworks for maintained schools and academies. This should include clear, unified guidelines on which aspects of 鈥渟taff conduct complaints鈥� fall outside the school complaints process. Government should also ensure the governor review stage focuses solely on how the complaint was handled at earlier stages, not reinvestigating the complaint itself. Comprehensive guidance is required to prevent duplication across stakeholders such as the DfE, Ofsted, local authorities, Teaching Regulation Agency, MPs and even the police. Alongside this, enhanced regulatory measures should introduce a foundational rule that no external agency may review a matter unless the school鈥檚 internal complaints procedure has been exhausted. Developing a centralised portal as the sole entry point for parents to submit complaints that may require the attention of external agencies would support this policy, while identity verification would discourage anonymous complaints and ensure accountability. DfE must back schools The complaints issue has been punctuated by a rise in 鈥渧exatious鈥� complaints and unreasonable behaviour from parents. Common behaviours cited in our survey include personal attacks on staff, lengthy and overly complex emails, raising multiple complaints about the same issue and insistence on unrealistic outcomes. The DfE must therefore give explicit backing to schools via enhanced guidance on what constitutes a vexatious complaint via clear definitions and examples. Perhaps most importantly, the legislative 鈥渢eeth鈥� should come in the form of a last-resort mechanism that allows school leaders to remove a pupil from the school roll where there has been an irretrievable breakdown in the home-school relationship. This would require a robust framework including mandatory mediation, documented warnings and a fair review process, ensuring all parties are treated justly and the pupil鈥檚 welfare is fully considered. Final thoughts While the challenges are pervasive, there is a significant opportunity for the government to implement transformative solutions that can repair the weakened social contract between schools and parents. The Parentkind guidance is a welcome start to this discussion, but the schools white paper must provide the building blocks to a new era for the home-school relationship via new frameworks, guidance and regulations.