Merry Christmas from School-Home Support
News article from December 25, 2021
A very merry Christmas from all of us at School-Home Support.
In a year that has challenged us all in different ways, we’re incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved to help vulnerable families get their children into school, ready to learn.
Here’s a rundown of a few of our highlights over the last year:
Thanks to our partnership with the Raspberry Pi Foundation, we were able to deliver almost 250 desktop kits to families living in digital poverty.
One parent said: “We were using our phones to try and get our five kids to access their lessons. The Raspberry Pi kits have made learning so much easier for me and my children as they’ve been able to access their home learning without having all the issues, like the phone not loading.” Learn more here.
On World Book Day we delivered thousands of books to schools across the country for their pupils and libraries.
One practitioner said: “The children and the teachers were so excited about receiving new books for the library – when six boxes arrived they could barely believe their eyes! It is great for our families to see how we value reading and that others think it is important too. The parents were able to see the books at the World Reading Day breakfast and start reading them with their children. The new books are now available for the children to take home and enjoy which is fabulous.” Learn more here.
Our Urgent Appeal with HELLO! Magazine raised over £25,000, in partnership with our Royal Patron Lady Sophie Windsor.
Lady Sophie said: “I’m so grateful to the readers of HELLO! who have supported Britain’s most vulnerable children through lockdown so generously and compassionately. HELLO! readers, such a kind and positive species, have realised a society that cares about its neediest children is the society they want to live in. They’ve invested their money, their heads and their hearts and I’m forever in their debt.” Learn more here.
Our Practitioners won the HELLO! Community Inspiration Award for their work with vulnerable children and families across the country.
The award shines a light on acts of kindness and community from people going the extra mile to help others. One of our practitioners said: “I’m so proud to be a part of School Home Support. We don’t do this work for recognition or credit, but it’s so rewarding for it to be celebrated. For many families, we have been an emergency service during the pandemic and we have been able to make such a difference in so many lives. We will carry on going the extra mile, and seeing the impact of our work in my home borough is so rewarding. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.” Learn more here.
We worked with the Centre for Social Justice to contribute to their Kids Can’t Catch Up If They Don’t Show Up report, which highlighted the success of School-Home Support’s Practitioner approach.
Chief Executive Jaine Stannard said: “This CSJ report reinforces the situation we are seeing on the frontline, how the gravity of school closures is impacting education. At School-Home Support we have seen an increased demand in need to support pupils to get back into school, we delivered 90% of the interventions last year in the first (Autumn) term back alone. Action is needed now as it is clear that such a level of demand will continue as many children and young people need intensive support to overcome the impact of the pandemic and the further barriers it has created before they can engage in their education.” Learn more here.
With the generous support of our corporate partners, we delivered Christmas presents to 700 children who otherwise would have gone without. Chief Executive Jaine Stannard said:
“2021 has been a difficult year for so many people and has drawn a focus on the inequalities in society. More children than ever face a Christmas without gifts. We are so grateful to our corporate partners for enabling us to ensure that 700 children don’t have to wake up on Christmas morning without a present.” Learn more here .
