I can also then challenge the school and say, `Look, I’ve met my part of the bargain You’ve promised me my child was going to achieve this. Where’s your part of the bargain?’”Mr D’Cruz expects the parents to discuss the contracts with their children, and explain what is expected of them.In the autumn term all the children will be expected to sign a more child- friendly agreement There are six short sentences for them to agree to. He is determined to make the agreement work.He says: “I would be very willing to sign an agreement if my child was going to school because it would show my commitment to the school. Keith D’Cruz, the headteacher, believes that parents who refuse to sign, should be asked to go to another school.

It is the most important factor in making the school calm – teachers and children speak to each other with respect.Sections of the Ofsted report that praise the school for this are blown up to A3 and displayed in corridors.Parents are expected to toe the line. It helps you do well, ready for the SATs.”The behaviour policy is the existing agreement’s backbone, and of the new one which will be in place from the autumn term. She says: “As a parent, it gives you guidelines, it sets the boundaries. You know what your children are allowed and not allowed to do.” Theo Gonzales, 10, says: “You learn more if you come on time. As a direct result, it has an excellent reputation in the local community. The school is over- subscribed and parents believe in the school and the agreement – all of them have signed.Nuala Sullivan’s four children have all been to St Bernadette – eight- year-old Christopher and 10-year-old Mark are still there. More than a quarter of the children live in over-crowded houses and flats; a third of the children in the school have special educational needs; and well over a third qualify for free school meals.
Challenging children go to this school, and the school offers a much needed structure to their lives, and sets firm parameters of acceptable behaviour It has high expectations of the children.

THIS PART of Clapham is not an easy area in which to teach. Among things expected from pupils are school uniform, homework and punctuality Above average SATs results are credited to the agreement. St Bernadette Grant Maintained Roman Catholic Junior School in Clapham, south west London, introduced a home-school agreement in 1991. Also good restaurants, and a new Virgin multiplex cinema going up.Cheap to live in? Student flats run by the academy cost pounds 57-pounds 66 a week; room in privately rented house starts at pounds 50 a week.Buzzphrase: Viva Carmen! (After the Academy’s sell-out production of the opera, which was attended by Scotland’s First Minister, Donald Dewar.)Lucy HodgesNext week: the College of St Mark and St John. Has also secured a research development grant from the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council and has appointed a head of research.Financial health: In the black.Nightlife: There’s no social life on site The “Traders” pub is the staff/ student hang-out Hot pub and club scene in Glasgow. But last year it received a big grant to set up a National Centre for Research in the Performing Arts. It has superb acoustics and was shortlisted for the Building of the Year award.Easy to get into? You need to have three Highers or two A-levels, plus get through a tough audition.Glittering alumni: Actors Bill Paterson, Hannah Gordon, Ian Richardson, John Hannah, Tom Conti, Phyllis Logan, Daniela Nardini, Gregor Fisher; singers Anthony Michaels Moore, Peter Auty and Margaret Marshall; pianists Yevgeny Morozov and David McGrory; and trumpeter Angela Whelan.Transport links: Easy by plane, train or car – and the main bus station is nearby.Who’s the boss? Sir Philip Ledger, who was knighted in the recent Birthday Honours – a conductor and accompanist and the longest-serving conservatoire principal in the United Kingdom.Teaching: Rated excellent for music and highly satisfactory for drama.Research: Did not enter the 1996 research assessment exercise.