PARENTS can check up on their children using a new “Big Mother” computer system.

Wantage Primary School, in Newbury Street, is taking part in the first phase of Oxfordshire County Council’s new scheme — where parents can check attendance and progress reports using a computer programme.

It will be rolled out to all 294 county schools this time next year, with the scheme being introduced to 30 facilities a term.

Year Five and Six pupils have access to the system and can complete homework and get help from teachers online. Their parents can check their attendance rates and see what they are learning.

The project — called the Oxfordshire Learning Platform — only allows parents to view information on their own children and is password-protected.

Headteacher Phil Hibbs said he hoped the system, run by Oxfordshire-based software company RM, would be rolled out to all pupils in the school next year.

He said: “We want to improve administration so it’s more effective and we want to improve our communication with our community.

“There are some parent groups that find access to information difficult – for example, split families, as information that we give has to be duplicated in hard copy form.”

Rebecca Walden, of Garston Lane, has three children at the school. She said: “I think this idea is fantastic.

I think there has got to be a modern approach to linking in with parents about their kids in the school about their education.

“I particularly like the idea that I can contact the school with my concerns at a time convenient for me, as for a working mum 3pm is not always the best time. And I like the fact it reduces paperwork in school which is something of concern to parents.

“As I have three children in the school, I always receive letters in duplicate.”

County Hall spokesman Samantha Warner said the funding for the computer programme Kaleidos came from the Government and schools would pay nothing for the first three years.

wantage@oxfordmail.co.uk