Parents are the unsung heroes of the pandemic. They’ve been more than just mum and dad – stepping in as teachers, sports coaches and round the clock children’s entertainers.
The herculean efforts made to juggle work, childcare and education must now be repaid by the government. Every child must have the support they need to build on the learning they did at home and to plug the gaps, not only in academic catch-up but in social development too.
Tutoring will help, but it’s not enough. The government’s catch-up proposals ignore the message that I’ve heard again and again from parents, young people and teachers, that wellbeing is the priority.
Young people, whose return to school has been like the hokey cokey, talk about their excitement at seeing their friends and teachers. Parents talk about opportunities for ‘kids to be kids’ as one dad put it, beyond just getting them back behind their desks.
Polling by Mumsnet and BritainThinks has found that 89% of mums thought lockdown took a big toll on the mental health of children and young people. 77% were more worried about children missing out on social skills as result of lockdown than they were about lost learning. Labour understands that parents want their children to grow into happy, confident adults with the skills they need to achieve their ambitions. That is exactly what we want for children too.
So I’m proud to have launched Labour’s Children’s Recovery Plan, which sets out ambitious proposals to deliver new opportunities for every child to learn, play and develop, recognising that young people’s learning and wellbeing go hand in hand.
Central to our plan is extending the school day to deliver new activities, from art and sport to cooking or coding, making enriching extracurricular activities the norm for every child. Delivering this rounded education will not only create opportunities for children and young people to socialise and spend time with friends, but also provides an opportunity to expand young people’s learning beyond the core curriculum, ensuring every young person is developing the skills that will set them up for life.
And for parents, our recovery plan would restore schools’ place at the heart of their communities, delivering this wraparound offer of childcare. We understand that, when the school bell rings at three o’clock, it means juggling work and pick-up, organising with friends to share childcare or paying for extra clubs and activities. Families are spending over £60 a week on five days of afterschool activities. These costs exclude thousands of young people from the additional activities that could help them to thrive.
Listening to parents and young people talking about their experiences over the last 18 months, no one could overestimate the importance of prioritising mental health. Young Minds reports that two thirds of young people believe the pandemic will have a negative impact on their mental health. We must offer our children better than this.
Labour’s plan would ensure there is a qualified mental health counsellor available in every school, to promote good mental health and ensure there is capacity to intervene early, giving every young person the support they need to prevent problems from escalating. This would also free up teachers’ capacity so they can focus on children’s learning and what happens in class.
As for learning, the government’s tutoring programme is wholly insufficient. Children have had an average of 115 days out of class. Less than an hour of tutoring a fortnight cannot make up for over half a year out of school. And the majority of children will not even get this support, which is set to reach just one in 16 children this year. Mums in Bolton who told me of their struggles as they took on the role of maths teachers will rightly expect better than this.
To build on lockdown learning and deliver extra help to children who need it, Labour is proposing expanding tutoring through schools, training up teachers and teaching assistants so our brilliant education professionals are equipped to help children thrive. We’ll also invest in on our youngest children, who have lost out on the chance to explore the world around them and meet new friends. Giving additional resources to early years providers, Labour would ensure no child is held back by what they have missed out on over the last year.
Parents have taken on more than their fair share during the pandemic. Now it’s time for politicians to step up and play our part. At its heart, Labour’s plan contains a promise to parents and young people: that we will match their enthusiasm, ambition and optimism for their own futures with the support they need to achieve their ambitions and their dreams.
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