WHY WE STARTED​

 

We started our campaign to give parents a voice in the debate on education in the pandemic. Sept for Schools was set up in early June 2020, after the UK had been in lockdown for more than two months and schools had been closed to most children. Research reported in national media at that time showed that homeschooling and access to learning had been inconsistent across the country, with disadvantaged children faring particularly poorly.

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Research showed that the closure of schools was having a negative impact on children’s physical and mental health and wellbeing. We could see that parents had little or no voice in the national debate on these issues.

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WHAT WE DID

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We wrote to MPs asking them to support our campaign for a clear, funded and practical plan to be in place by 13th July to enable all children to safely return to school in September. One of our local MPs, Munira Wilson, took up our cause in Parliament, sponsoring Early Day Motion 621 on 17th June (link to EDM). This motion urged the government to work together with head teachers, parent bodies, unions and local authorities to urgently devise and publish a plan to safely resume education in September. Within a week, the motion had been read in the House of Commons and had cross-party support from Tory, Labour, Lib Dem and Green MPs including Robert Halfon MP and Aspana Begum MP, the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Education Select Committee.

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• On 19th June the Secretary of State for Education announced that provision would be made for all children, in all year groups, to be back at school in September.

• On 2nd July guidance was published for the full reopening of all schools.

• On 3rd July we asked parents, via our Social Media channels, what their experience had been of homeschooling.

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WHAT HAPPENED NEXT

 

We were inundated with hundreds of responses within the first 48n hours. We collated all of them into one document with suggestions on how to improve homeschooling and is featured on the BBC. We received over 2000 stories in total. These were all submitted to the Education Select Committee.

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We wrote to Gavin Williamson MP including a summary of all 3 submissions.

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We created a Survey  for parents to give feedback on their experience of their children's return to school.

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AND NOW?

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For September 2021, the government need to work collaboratively with the education sector and do whatever it takes to keep children in school.

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There needs to be an ambitious plan to help children recover from the impact of school closures and addresses the inequality gap, learning loss and rising mental health issues in young people.

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