Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to (a) promote and (b) support parental involvement in children’s education and academic attainment.

Parental involvement in their child’s education has always been important, and this has been further underlined during the COVID-19 outbreak. The Department realises this is a challenging time for parents, carers and children, and remote education has brought new demands for them and changed how they engage with schools. Parents played a crucial role in their child’s education whilst schools were closed for most pupils.

School attendance is now mandatory for all pupils and the usual rules on school attendance have applied again since 8 March 2021. This includes parents’ duty to secure their child’s regular attendance at school. It is vital that pupils attend school to minimise the longer-term impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on their education, wellbeing and wider development, and that is why education has been prioritised as we begin to relax restrictions.

Evidence tells us that the early years are crucial for a child’s development, and what happens at home plays a vital role. This is why the Department launched Hungry Little Minds, a campaign to encourage parents to engage in activities that support their child’s early education. The campaign aims to communicate that there are simple, everyday things parents can do to help their children’s language and literacy. The campaign is part of our wider work to support parents and families. We provided £5.3 million of grant funding in the 2020-21 financial year to voluntary and community sector organisations to support disadvantaged and vulnerable children in the early years, including support with the home education environment.