ABSTRACT
Norman Tomlinson writing about parental power and the National Curriculum reflected that 'parents now may be asked to adopt the role of inquisitor and monitor of teachers and schools and to use the new complaints procedures all in exercise of consumer sovereignty'. The National Curriculum is certainly not the whole curriculum. The major national 'voluntaries' like MENCAP and the Spastics Society have always played an educational advisory role for parents with young children with special needs. The Education Reform Act (ERA) restores this balance, with statements having clear curriculum relevance and with any modifications or exemptions to be clearly specified. Access to the National Curriculum, with a full understanding of Attainment Targets, Programmes of Study and arrangements for assessment and testing, will probably not be seen by most parents in terms of 'it's not a doggy, it's a cow'. That arrangement for the whole curriculum ensures that cross-curricular links are made — and those parents understand what they are.
