Given that journalists don’t reveal their sources and all that stuff, I won’t put this particular pillar of the community on the spot. But we were discussing parents’ night at Hermitage Academy, apparently the subject of several complaints from some parents that it was structured in such a way as to give them too little time with individual members of staff.

As it happens the person with whom I was having this conversation is also a parent with a pupil at the same school. She reported no problems whatsoever in accessing the teachers for a reasonable time to chat over her son’s progress. Moreover, she said that she was really pleased with the level of detail they went into, indicating that her boy wasn’t just a number, but a child who was being carefully monitored to flag up areas which might need attention.

When I raised the complaints of some others, she offered the thought that there tended to be some of the more sharp elbowed parents who could generally be relied upon to find some faults, rather than build relationships. Now this is all anecdotal, and I have no special knowledge of how this huge secondary school goes about scheduling parents’ interviews.

But I am familiar with the general syndrome of those who shout the loudest being assured of the most attention. And I can report that in my occasional dealings with this school they’ve always seemed to promote an ethos which embraced children who struggle a bit academically as well as those who are blessed with an ability to breeze through exams.

A European report comparing national standards last week seemed to suggest however that some of our brightest children are not being sufficiently challenged, and if that’s true both nationally and locally it’s obviously a cause for concern. But an education, particularly a 21st century education, is about more than grades. Ask any employer – particularly in the growing high tech industries – and they’ll tell you what they most look for is not so much pieces of parchment however impressive as free thinking, well rounded individuals.

Which is not to give a free pass to non revisers come exam time, just to recognise that in any age where half the population goes on to higher education the stand out candidates need to offer something different on top of decent grades. I would guess one of the routes to getting that mix right is for parents and teachers to be batting on the same team.