PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
Education of children living in homes where someone is clinically extremely vulnerable during the covid-19 outbreak (30 December 2020)

That this House recognises Government guidance states, Children who live with someone who is clinically extremely vulnerable, but who are not clinically extremely vulnerable themselves, should still attend school; notes that hon. Members cannot underestimate the profound psychological impact that it would have on a child to go to school, come home with covid-19 and infect a family member and for that family member to then die; further notes that for a child to feel that the death of a family member was their fault would be traumatic in the extreme; regrets that the Government does not hold information centrally on the number of school pupils who live in a household with someone who is clinically extremely vulnerable; notes that the Association of Directors of Children’s Services estimates that the number of children withdrawn from school for elective home education increased by 38 per cent in England in 2020 and that feedback from responding local authorities to their research indicated that covid-19 health concerns were a primary reason for parents or carers choosing to formally home educate their child in 2020; calls on the Government to bring forward guidance to ensure that children who live in a household where someone is clinically extremely vulnerable are able to learn from home during the covid-19 pandemic if that is what their parents or carers think is best; and further calls on the Government to provide the necessary financial support to schools so that head teachers can facilitate that home learning without having to worry about resource implications.

Sponsored by:
Margaret Greenwood (Labour)