Dreadful assumptions June Stevenson鈥檚 article was a useful reminder that schools and parents are not as divided as sensationalised headlines about 鈥樷�� make out. (鈥楧readful parents鈥�: What do teachers really think?, 30 September) Such headlines do highlight a problem though: our false association of 鈥榖ad parents鈥� with 鈥榖ad people鈥�. Modern economic realities mean that few people have the knowledge and time required to do the vital job of raising children. And like anyone doing their job under too much pressure, parents are less likely to acknowledge they need support and more likely to become defensive at the idea that they do. But the truth is that no one has parenting skills magically bestowed upon them. As a society, we assume they will be passed on from generation to generation, and we are constantly surprised when they aren鈥檛. In the meantime, the problem grows and schools are increasingly picking up the pieces. Success is patchy, because children鈥檚 personalities have largely been formed by the time they start. The government is right to focus on the early years, but its success will also be patchy if it鈥檚 not willing to have a difficult conversation with and about parents. Providing support for them won鈥檛 be enough. We also have to ensure they are open to receiving it. Karl Janos, Headteacher, West Midlands RISE in standards Recent reporting in Schools Week has raised concerns about the transparency and integrity of advisory work within the government鈥檚 RISE programme. (RISE advisers call on their own to support schools, 3 October) It鈥檚 not for me to pass judgment; the most important feedback will come from schools and leaders who experience the support firsthand. Their voices will ultimately reveal whether RISE advice is credible, fair and genuinely focused on improvement. What I can say for certain is that trust is not an optional extra in school improvement. It is the invisible infrastructure that allows them to open themselves to scrutiny, challenge and learning. Advisory work thrives only when grounded in integrity and ethical conduct. Ethical advisers act as exemplars, shaping a culture of professionalism that strengthens schools and the wider system. Key principles include: consistency and credibility through evidence-informed guidance; professional confidence via confidentiality, impartiality and transparency; reflective practice for sustainable impact; collaboration and shared learning; and building capacity for self-improvement. Frameworks such as the International Quality Standard for Education Advisers (IQSEA) provide guidance to ensure ethical consistency and professional credibility for advisory work. Perhaps ministers should recommend them to their improvement teams. Les Walton, Chair, Association of Education Advisers More than words Professors Coe and Kime are right: the new Ofsted toolkit offers a welcome shift in language around CPD. But language alone won鈥檛 deliver the change our profession deserves. (Goodbye CPD: Ofsted is ushering in a new era of growth, 1 October) Talk of 鈥減rofessional growth and expertise鈥� does signal a move away from a tick-box CPD culture we鈥檝e long outgrown. But fear, compliance and inspection pressure are not the conditions in which growth flourishes. Across our trust-wide CPD Leaders Forum, we鈥檝e explored what it takes to build genuine professional learning rooted in context-specific, strategic implementation. What we鈥檝e learned is that professional learning thrives when schools learn with and from one another. Growth comes from sustained, locally-owned improvement, not uniform programmes or quick fixes. could become a catalyst for such cultures, but only if it shifts accountability towards capacity-building: leaders showing how they create time and trust for staff to think together, inquire and improve – not simply how they evidence that 鈥淐PD is in place鈥�. Growth can鈥檛 be 鈥榠nspected in鈥�. It has to be cultivated, actively, collectively, day by day, through trust, curiosity and generosity. That鈥檚 the real era of growth our system needs. Sam Gibbs, Director of education, Greater Manchester Education Trust