Guest Post: "Education is about partnership – and we owe it to all our children to work together in their best interests" - Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson MP's back to school message for parents

[SophiaCMumsnet]

I love back to school week. Sending my children off to school on their first day back, I’m always sad (and maybe a little relieved!) to see them go, but I think forward with such excitement to what the new school year will bring for them. New friends, new experiences, new opportunities.

You all know that familiar mix of feelings as they walk through the school gates once again – nervous, excited, hopeful. If you’re anything like me though, overall, you just want them to do well and be happy.

As parents, we all want the best for our children, both in school and beyond. We want them to grow up happy and healthy, to get a good job, and to be able to buy a nice house.

I understand those aspirations – I share them for my own children and, as Education Secretary, for yours. That’s why this job is the greatest privilege of my life. I want to make sure each and every child gets the best start in life, to ensure that where you’re from doesn’t determine where you end up. By breaking the link between background and future success, we can break down barriers to opportunity and give all children the skills they need to thrive.

Education lies at the heart of this change we all want to see. And education means more than maths or English or science, as important as they are. An excellent, whole-childhood education journey builds a lifelong love of learning, nurtures a sense of belonging, and creates connections that last for years to come. A good education gives our children strong foundations and sets them up for work and for life.

High and rising standards in all of our schools is at the heart of our plan. My offer to you is this: I’ll support your children taking their first steps into learning. I’ll put 6,500 new expert teachers in classrooms across the country. I’ll introduce free breakfast clubs in all primary schools. I’ll improve professional careers advice and work experience. I’ll expand support for families by rolling out funded childcare. I’ll review the curriculum, making it richer and broader, setting all children up to thrive now and in the future. I’ll boost mental health support across our schools and reform provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

I’m ambitious for our children and for our country. But government can’t achieve all this in isolation. I want to work in partnership with you to deliver the very best life chances for our children. We all have responsibilities – you as parents, us as government, and schools do too. I want to reset these relationships, rebuild trust and work together for the benefit of all our children.

I need all parents to play their part too. Every child is different and you know your child best. I know that every child has different needs, but one thing that can have the biggest positive impact for children is making sure they go to school. When things are working well and children have the right support, ambition, opportunities, belonging, all come from being in school. However excellent our teachers, they can’t teach children who aren’t there. As I put in place measures to drive high and rising standards in schools, children who are absent won’t feel the benefit of them.

Attendance from day one really matters. Children who miss a day at the beginning of a new term are much more likely to be persistently absent for the rest of the school year. So my ask of you for this back to school week is simple, but crucial. If you make sure your children are where they belong - in school - schools are there by your side to support you in this, and so is government.

Education is about partnership – and we owe it to all our children to work together in their best interests. As a new September rolls round, let’s use this moment to fix our foundations, begin the work of rebuilding Britain. Happy back to school week!

Yes, the start of a new school year is always a fresh start but for some children it is now a time of unnecessary worry due to you and your erroneous policy of adding 20% VAT to independent school fees.

1. Some children are starting this year worried about having to leave their school and friends due to their parents and/or school not being able to afford the increase.
2. Exam children in Y10-13 might not be able to find schools that teach their subjects, topics or even a school as many state schools are coming back as full. Do you care about their mental health? What about potential discrimination on subject choices etc?
3. Military families are thinking of having to quit the service- thanks for undermining our country’s security.
4. 6,500 teachers equates to 1 new teacher for every three schools. Not a great improvement.
5. You mention mental health being important- re-read the above and perhaps, unlike Facebook, you now can’t get posts deleted that don't agree with your vision.
6. Yes, all children deserve a good education. Parents of independent school children already pay tax towards state education that they don’t use so now, when a lot will need to, you’ve actually decreased funding for state school pupils whose mental health, and that of teachers, could get worse due to increased class sizes, fewer facilities and also independent school teachers, whose subjects don’t get taught in state, will be unemployed.
7. Children with SEND needs will struggle- some already left as state wasn’t meeting their needs so you’ve increased CME- children missing from education. Those with SEND in state will now have less funding.
8. The majority of independent schools are small - less than 350 pupils but can be a major employer in certain parts of the country. Caretakers, cooks and other ancillary staff now have their jobs at risk as small schools can only dress test tolerate a small reduction in numbers before their school becomes unviable.
9. Independent schools offer bursaries (money off for children who couldn’t afford the fees - sometime 100%) and they share facilities with often 30 state schools. Your policy means that schools will struggle to offer bursaries due to needing to make cuts. You are creating an elitist system that doesn’t exist. Just in your head apparently.
10. You talk about getting 6500 more teachers to train but that isn’t the issue- the issue is retention- many leave within 3 years for abroad or other professions due to stress of large class sizes- you’ve just made them larger.
11. Your SKY interview-having told everyone about how this money will improve the lives for state pupils you wouldn’t confirm that all the raised money would go towards state education. You stated mental health projects which hints at NHS for funds and not education.
12. Your policy hasn’t been costed accurately and is simply one of envy.

‘Wicked, Stupid and Cruel!’

LordForsyth has got the measure of this government’s shambolic education policies!

https://parliamentlive.tv/Download/Index/dc786666-e3a2-4784-993b-0d5be36fea28

Bridget. Your legacy will be a black hole in education for an entire generation of children - in the state sector and independent sectors alike. Imposing VAT on independent education will have significant negative consequences for ALL children – state and independently educated alike. This ill-considered policy will exacerbate the very issues it aims to address: it will penalise children already engaged in critical academic stages, increase pressure on limited resources and overcrowding in the state education, reduce access for lower-income families, reduce cross-sector educational initiatives, drive greater educational elitism, reduce social mobility, cause economic disruption in local communities, undermine community partnerships with schools and drive job losses of teachers and supporting staff. It will bring little, if any, financial gain to the state sector and is highly likely to cost the taxpayer considerably. The overall outcome will be neither fair nor equal for ANY child in the UK. You need to hang your head in shame.

Delusional! Lovely sentiments but that’s about it. Have the government not realised that the reason that the private school system largely continues to operate is because the state system can’t cope? If the state system was up to it, we’d all be there making the most of our fantastic state education that we’ve already paid for through our taxes! Why would you add more burden onto an already crumbling system? Yes, private school fees consistently go up but 20% in one go?! No. It’s madness to think that you won’t have a state school fall out! Hope you have a plan for that.

As a parent, I did everything for my children to succeed academically and menthally. I taught them maths from early age, surrounded them with books, take them to museums, volunteered at the sport clubs and events.
When local state school couldn’t help with my son’s speech problems, we moved him to independent school, and still pay for his education.
So, what do you mean by “the partnership” then? Stripping our family off more money, after all the taxes we pay? How does that help us, as a family, or our kids to succeed? Or our aspirations and efforts are of no value?

How is it in children’s best interests to have to move schools because their parents can’t afford the VAT slapped on their fees? That is very much the opposite and you are dodging the issue pretending it won’t happen which is shameful.

.

Fortunately, many parents never find themselves in the difficult position that leads so many others to turn to independent schools out of desperation. Whether it be lack of SEND support or in our case severe mental health breakdown, imagine your 9-year-old telling you they wanted to jump in front of a car rather than go to school. We got no help from the school. We were desperate. One week of being at her independent school she was smiling and with that smiling eventually came learning.

I would like to claim tax relief on the £7000 plus I leave in the state education system to support all learners, please - tax is tax and should be fair.

This deluded, ill conceived policy has not been thought through, is smothered in jealousy and with much bigger motives of dismantling UK education system to create more socialist society incapable of challenge.
It will do much more harm than good, short and long term, but most importantly there will be a swathe of kids who will be horribly affected that quite clearly come second.
Bonkers...

I already contribute more than £7000 to support a system I don't use, and have little or no luxuries to give up as the best start I can give to my child (and one the state school cannot provide) is my biggest luxury.

You have already openly said you don’t really care about 7% of the children in the UK and that those opposed to your spiteful policy should ‘put up or shut up’.

Imagine if you spoke this way about any other small or marginalised group in the country. That they should put up or shut up in regard to a policy aimed at them? How do you think your comments about 7% of the children in this country are acceptable in any way? Bear in mind that many private schools are religious and due to small margins will be some of the first to close so this is an attack on marginalised groups already. The language used and disregard to all of the children in independent is appalling.

Let’s also consider the attack on the arts - sports, dance, academic - gifted children who will have the opportunity of progressing those talents in a space which is tailored around their specialism, which is entirely beneficial to the country, stripped from them. Levelling down is simply political grandstanding with the casualty of children’s lives and educations at the heart of it.

Independant bodies have costed this policy and deemed it potentially loss making - when will you make public your costed analysis of this policy? Have you considered the Laffer Curve effect?

Have you spoken with state schools to understand how they can manage an influx of SEN children who the independent sector cater for with such care and individual provision - my experience of this is that those challenges absolutely cannot be catered for in the state sector.

Your policy risks the arts, dance, SEN children, music, sport, military children, sciences - the list goes on and on. And for what - the budget for education is over £60B - how do you anticipate that £1.6B (although once costed this will likely be a loss) will help - its a drop in the ocean at the expense of children and the country as a whole.

Education is about partnership – and we owe it to all our children to work together in their best interests.

How do these 'guest posts' work? Will Bridget Phillipson be coming back to the thread at any point?

Since the message is partnership and working together, it would feel incredibly tin-eared to just write a single 'guest post' rather than being present in the conversation that threads are meant to be.

The post itself was largely a simple collection of soundbites about the wonderful things that the govt is doing. It would have been ok in a leaflet or some such but felt out of place in an interactive forum.

But even worse, the soundbites were accompanied by a lecture at recalcitrant parents who aren't doing their bit. I don't disagree with the substance of the lecture: attendance is vital and so is the active cooperation of parents in every other respect. But it is very alienating to be lectured about 'working in partnership' without any sense of the reciprocity that the OP is calling for. Feels a bit like being called into the office of a not-very-empathic headteacher

Perhaps I have got it wrong, and the replies from Bridget Phillipson will come later.

Shame on you Bridget! Your policy has caused tremendous pain and sleepless nights to so many parents and children. You are talking about improving kids’ mental health- at the moment all I can see is you and your labour party doing the best you can to make it even worse. Absolutely disgusting policy

I am passionate about education and value ALL education. You can’t possibly value education if you believe in taxing education. You have no place being an Education Secretary with attitudes like that. Absolutely indefensible.

Keir Starmer made a statement when he became prime minister he would not be moving his children to a different school near Downing Street as moving schools is so unsettling for children and it wouldn’t be fair on them. However it is apparently fair for my child to have to move as the VAT is just too much for us to afford.

Our child has been at private from reception. We wanted to send him to the local state school but it was clear they were not going to be able to cope with his additional needs, at that age he had quite a severe speech delay being at least 18 months behind. We put him into a small private prep school where his extra needs were met with a lot of 1:1 support, something he wouldn’t have qualified for at state school but he needed to make sure he achieved his full potential. His speech has improved but he does now have an NHS diagnosis of ADHD and is now in secondary school where we have kept him in private due to his need for small classes and the need for a better teacher pupil ratio. He is now thriving and we are so proud of him however this has come at a huge cost. We are not super wealthy we haven’t had holidays, have old cars we run into the ground, we live in a modest house which we have remortgaged to help pay for fees, we have begged money off family members to help with fees and I am trying not to think about how little we have put into our pensions, we will work until we die. It is all worth it to see him thrive and we have taken the burden off the government to educate our son with SEND.

The EHCP exception rule is ridiculous as our child has never been in state school so there was never any point in putting us and him through the incredibly stressful process to try and get one as it would have been no use to us and both his prep school and now his secondary school have supported him brilliantly. It isn’t just my son my son has many friends in exactly the same situation with a ADHD and/or autistic diagnosis. For these children change is so difficult so a school change could completely ruin their life chances. Please can you consider making all children with SEN’s exempt from this horribly cruel policy.

"I have little sympathy for those that are crying due to private VAT increases. If it's that important to you, give up some of your other luxuries."
Does it not occur to you that many parents with children in private education already forgo all the luxuries that they can to fund their child's education? The VAT increase won't harm the richest of the rich, but it will affect tens of thousands of working class families battling to give their children the very best possible opportunities that they possibly can - as you rightly say; that is our job as parents.

Bridget this is utter nonsense.

“…ensure that where you’re from doesn’t determine where you end up.”

How does this statement work for families like mine?

My mum was a nurse and my dad a driver. I was the first person in my family to get a degree. My husband is now 52. He is still the ONLY person in his family to have been to university.

We’ve worked hard and have 3 children in independent school. We both have second jobs. Our cars are 14 years old. No - our parents are not able to ‘help.’ No trappings of middle class matter to me, except education as we know this is what has given us many more opportunities in life.

Our kids will have to leave their school as we can’t find another £700 a month behind the sofa. Instead of us saving the gvt £22.5k a year, we will be costing them that much. On top of us increasing pension contributions and reducing our working hours for a more balanced quality of life the cost to the gvt will be even higher.

We managed to break the mould we were born into and your policy is sending our children exactly back where they came from.

How is this policy aspirational for our family? It wasn’t really worth all the short maternity periods, long days, weekend working was it?

Typical Labour - race to the bottom for all.

@SophiaCMumsnet Is dear Bridget really able to drop this kind of BS on Mumsnet without having to come back and give a response?
So many angry people.
What’s the point?

I agree-if she’s not going to read this, reply or answer any questions, then it’s just a pointless declaration, really, isn’t it?

Glad to hear we are still in this together.

You’re not ambitious for my child though because he doesn’t matter to you. My son has Autism, ADHD, Dysgraphia, Dyspraxia, poor working memory and low processing speed. He is easily overwhelmed. We had NO choice but to put him into private education so he stands some chance of doing well. We make sacrifices, don’t have a new car or a big house but I am ok with that.

So why do Labour think it is ok to add VAT to private schools which only serves to squeeze out the most vulnerable students not the elite or rich!

But children with an EHCP are exempt, have you ever tried to get an EHCP? They are as rare as hens teeth and beside all that he wouldn’t get one because the school we pay for are catering to his needs. So what am I to do? Take him out of his school and move him to our local state school? Well I can’t do that as there are no places available for a start but do I have to watch him fail and fall apart (mentally and academically) to then apply for an EHCP?

Absolutely! It’s both ignorant and judgmental to claim that parents of independent school students haven’t sacrificed luxuries. I agree some are wealthy. However, many are not. They have even given up essentials, and some have liquidated their pension pots to give their children the best start in life—long before the harsh taxes come into play.

As a teacher who has worked many years in state ed, I now work in an indie. It’s a small one that will definitely feel the impact of the VAT.

Should my small school close will I be one of the 6500 teachers you are going to recruit to the state sector? Not on your life!!!

Most of my colleagues have worked for years in state as well and have made the move to indie for a range of reasons. Ultimately, we did it because of funding issues, behaviour problems, authoritarian “leaders” and lack of independence.

I don’t see them in a rush to join MATs.

So I wonder just where these 6500 teachers are coming from and how you are going accommodate the migrants from indie schools into the state sector.

I imagine the government are wondering the same…

Well done Labour 👏 you've really surpassed yourself on your envy, socialism and ability to bring everyone down to the lowest! You did it much quicker than I expected.

A right to education is a basic human right, and we will be the ONLY country in the world to tax this - shameful!

You and your colleagues seem to think that all private school parents are rich and can afford anything! Wrong! My husband and I earn less than 50k between us, local private schol is around 17k, our local state school was not right for our son for many reasons so even on less than average wages we decided to put him in a private school! Pretty much my ENTIRE wage goes on school fees. Luckily we are very good with our money and frugal so we just manage. By putting it up illegally with tax you are really damaging parents and children's mental health and well being! Not to mention more burden on the state schools as pupils in private leave, and some really have left already. My son went back to school this week and 3 of his good friends in his year have moved into State because of it You! You should be ashamed of yourselves - but you won't be!!

Admittedly parents of Eton, Winchester, the very wealthy etc probably won't worry about a 20% rise. So you will be making Private Schools even more elitist with only the super wealthy will be able to afford it!

You seem to be under the impression that Private Schols sit on millions of pounds. In reality these schools, as charities, cannot "make" money they're governed by Charities Commission so cannot sit on money ! It's shocking that you don't know basic facts like that. It's well known locally that our local private schools are financially not in a good way because they can't just keep money and 75% of most schools cost are wages!!

A good friend of mine works in another local private school, under their charitable status, just a few of the things they do are :-

1. Lend out field to at least 3 local schools for games/sports day;
2. Lend out the pool/gym to local state schools weekly;
3. Lend minibuses out to the community;
4. Bursaries and grants to refugees/beareved families

They'll now charge those state schools for these services!

VAT is a service for the user, shop doesn't charge "some" of the vat it passed on all. So how utterly stupid for you to say schools won't pass it on!

And don't get me started on the hypocrisy in the Labour Gvt - remind my why your glorious leader stayed at his sixth form and didn't have his education disrupted! The FT states that 15% of your MP's were educated privately, although personally David Lammy's school fees ought to be refunded 🤣🤣 What about your MP's who privately educated their own children, and remember Diane Abbot saying that as a black woman she privately educates her children "because she cares more"!

Thank god I've never voted for you!

Yours truly appalled at what this Gvt will do to education on 5 yrs!!

I took my son out of state secondary school because his state school couldn’t guarantee his safety, they also did not address his SEN issues. My son was threatened with being shanked and the same bully had bullied him through primary. The bully had strangled him, bruised his face on a metal cage and caused years of psychological damage, yet the state school were powerless to remove the bully. I am not the only parent with this problem, sadly, neither will I be the last. Your envy politics is ruining children’s lives. Independent schools give ordinary people options, options which ordinary people make HUGE sacrifices for. Let’s not pretend this is about making money, anyone with a basic grasp of maths can see this policy will ultimately cost the government more than it will make as hard working parents are forced financially to move their kids back to state schools, each one not saving you, but costing you over £7,000 per year! Your jealously and envy politics are shameful. My son left his primary with 0 SATs, he left secondary with an un-scorable CAT test, he had learning difficulties which both schools failed to address. But the IS addressed the SEN issues within days, DAYS! My son passed all his GCSEs - a feat that should have been unachievable. But given an environment that is nurturing, quiet, small, supportive and fair, he passed ALL his GCSEs. Why do you want to dumb down a nation? Why do you want to de-skill the UK? Why do you want children to NOT achieve their full potential? Why do you want to take away choice from hard working parents? Why are you pushing to make IS even more elite? This smacks of communism. Shame on you.

This is more or less exactly what happened a few years ago when Sandi Toksvig did a guest post about the Women’s Equality Party.

Loads of us had pressing questions, I think HQ might eventually have come on the thread & said not to bother, & the only way we eventually got a response was by going onto Twitter & virtually dragging the women who were running it at the time over here to give us some answers.