The guidance makes it clear that:

Governing bodies should not include any terms or conditions which would be unlawful or unreasonable in the strict legal sense, such as requiring parents to make a financial contribution to the school, or refusing to waive any requirement on school uniform in cases where the parent and child cannot comply for religious reasons.

Governing bodies, in consultation with parents, should consider sensitively and carefully what to include in it. They should avoid anything either side would find unreasonable and unacceptable.

The agreement should also avoid putting very specific requirements on one side while making vague promises which are diffiuclt to monitor on the other.

Examples of provisions which might be found unreasonable are:

• requiring parents to attend meetings very frequently, or at inconvenient times



• reference to 'voluntary' contributions for school resources



• reference to a particular religious denomination in a school where many parents and pupils do not practise that religion.

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