While a focus on schools is important for young people in achieving long-term success, the government must be careful not to forget the other contributing factors. The schools white paper does not make any mention of children's wellbeing, extended services and parental involvement in learning. All these things have an important part to play in the development of children and are being looked at by the Graham Allen early intervention and Frank Field poverty and life chances reviews.
As highlighted in our Family Commission report — Starting a Family Revolution — parents have told us that they feel excluded from their child's education. We have also seen how parental involvement can help dramatically improve aspirations and achievements. The forthcoming bill needs to include a commitment to make parental involvement in learning a reality for every family. Our Family Commission recommendation is to use some of the resources allocated for the pupil premium to fund family outreach workers in schools who can support families to do this.
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