You can download a template letter by clicking the button below. If you do write to your MP, it would be really helpful if you could let us know which MP you’ve written to, using this form.

Download


Dear << MP name>>

I am writing to you to raise awareness of an existing solution to help the increasing number of children missing school because of emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA), and to seek your support in making this more readily available. I am part of an organised campaign by parents writing
to our MPs to encourage the DfE to devise an efficient pathway to make online education available to those who cannot attend mainstream school.

Our children are no longer able to attend school in-person because their social, emotional and mental health needs are not met within the mainstream system. EBSA prevents them attending school for reasons connected to their neurodivergence and/or mental health difficulties, such as anxiety and depression – which all fall within the definition of special education needs in the SEND Code of Practice (1).

Thankfully, we have managed to find an alternative solution in the form of DfE accredited online schools, which have transformed our children’s experiences of education and their wellbeing, but accessing this provision was much more difficult than it needed to be.

We believe that online schooling provides a viable solution for many and that it could enable thousands more pupils to return to education, improving their long-term employment prospects and mental health. The recent National Audit Office report highlights the perilous state of SEND funding.
Using a DfE accredited online school in appropriate cases, at the point of need, could provide a more affordable and sustainable solution compared to specialist placements and assessments, also saving the long-term costs of thousands of children facing minimal educational and employment opportunities.

Our stories are the reality behind the government statistics (2) and headlines about school absence.

Our children are not lazy truants; we are not unsupportive, disengaged parents. For our children, attendance at mainstream school is an impossibility – it is a hostile place, unable to meet their SEND
needs or support their mental health (3) . Support, if offered at all, is often completely inadequate – there is an assumption that if a child cannot learn in school, they cannot learn at all.

Children are left at home with little or no access to work, or put in “student support” and “SEN hubs” where they do worksheets and receive no teaching – far from accessing the broad curriculum available to their peers. Yet our children are capable of and willing to learn. Learning online allows them to engage in full-time education again, working towards GCSEs and A-levels, enabling them to thrive, meet their full potential and be an asset to the future workforce.

My Personal Story
[summarise your/your child’s story here – how long was your child struggling in school? What do you think the reasons for that were? What effect has this had on your child? On you as parents? On your
family generally? What difference has online school made to their wellbeing and education?]

The case for online school
DfE accredited online schools present an effective solution that works for many such children, and it is available now. By using proven innovations in educational practice and technology to take their education to them while they cannot access mainstream school, online school restores their
wellbeing and future prospects.


However, the current pathway to online school is long and difficult. Current government guidance discourages remote education (except in very temporary circumstances), even when its own accreditation scheme has judged the provider to meet the requisite teaching and safeguarding standards. This makes head teachers reluctant to authorise or fund it, and discourages LAs from granting it under EHCPs or EOTAS packages.

Therefore, although demand for online schools is growing, it is still only an option for those who happen to have forward-thinking professionals on their side and/or the means to fund it themselves. This is manifestly unfair and puts many vulnerable children at an even greater disadvantage.

The good news is that the ingredients for making online education more widely available are already in place:

  • a government online education accreditation scheme (OEAS) to ensure teaching standards and safeguarding (4) ;
  • the demand and need for accredited online education provision, and the capability of providers to scale up;
  • the legal duty on Local Authorities to secure suitable, full-time education that meets the needs and capabilities of each child (5) ;
  • the economic case to ensure value for money, with the cost of online schooling (typically between £7,000 and £9,000 per annum) being comparable to that of a SEN student in mainstream school, as
    well as comparing favourably to the specialist alternatives (typically between £20,000 and £100,000). The costs to society of a young person lost to education should also be factored in, as this often leads to mental health difficulties (6) , poor employment prospects and even an increased
    likelihood of criminality;
  • a track record of GCSE and A-level results comparable to mainstream school; and
  • the personal stories like ours that illustrate how online school can work for many children locked out of education.

I support Voice for Learners’ call on the DfE to establish an efficient pathway that offers families a DfE accredited online school of their choice if their child’s needs can not be met in mainstream school. This would enable local authorities to meet their legal duty to provide a suitable education for the many children like mine.
I 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, with unmet social, emotional, and mental health needs, back into education.

I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this with you as my MP and I urge you to raise this matter in the House of Commons to ask what plans the DfE has to consider accredited online school as a proven solution for educating those unable to attend mainstream school for SEND and mental
health reasons.

More information about the campaign can be found at www.voiceforlearners.online.

Yours sincerely,
<< your name>>


REFERENCES