We are a group of parents whose children do not fit within mainstream education because their neurodivergence or mental health difficulties are not supported in mainstream school. We are lucky to have been able to access DfE accredited online schooling and this has transformed our children’s experiences of education and their wellbeing. We believe this provision could benefit thousands more children who cannot attend mainstream school for similar reasons.

Current government guidance and local authority policies discourage the use of online education, putting unnecessary barriers in the way of accessing an effective solution for these children. This made accessing online education unnecessarily long and difficult, causing significant disruption to our children’s education, leaving them isolated and struggling with their mental health.

We believe that not only is education at an accredited online school safe and effective, it can also provide a viable route back into learning for children who have been locked out of education for too long. This opens up opportunities for the future like higher education, apprenticeships and jobs, as well as supporting their self-confidence and mental health.
Our children deserve the same access to education as everyone else.
We are calling on the Department for Education to establish an efficient pathway that allows families to opt for a DfE accredited online school if their child’s needs are not met in mainstream school.

We believe this could be implemented quickly by adapting relevant DfE guidance to recognise the legitimacy of accredited online education providers as a readily available solution to help get more
persistently absent children back to education.

How can I help?
We need the help of other families in similar situations to raise awareness of the existence of accredited online schools and the unnecessary barriers that prevent our children accessing them.

You can help our campaign by:
> Signing & sharing our petition asking the Department for Education for change
> Sharing your stories on our change.org petition page
> Writing to your MP using our template letter (and let us know which constituency you’re in using this form)
> Emailing us if you’d be happy to speak to the press about your personal story:
voiceforlearners@gmail.com
> Sharing your stories directly with the BBC here: Your Voice, Your BBC News: Tell us what issues matter to you – BBC News