We are in one of the most active cycles of education reform in a decade.
The curriculum and assessment review is reshaping pupil entitlement. The children’s wellbeing and schools bill is progressing through Parliament. And a long-awaited white paper promises to tackle the broken SEND system.
These are significant milestones. But they also share a blind spot.
Policy gravitates towards curriculum, assessment and accountability because they are technical, familiar and measurable.
Yet children do not live in policy silos. They live in families, homes and communities that shape everything they bring into school.
For too many of the pupils we support across Oasis, those wider conditions – housing, stability, safety, wellbeing – make learning infinitely harder long before a lesson begins.
In Sheffield and Scunthorpe, we see decades of uneven investment have left deep marks on the communities we serve. Too many of our families are caught in the churn of short-term lets and overcrowded flats.
Our teachers see the impact with painful clarity. Children who want to do well but come into school tired, unsettled and unable to concentrate. Attendance and engagement falter for reasons far outside of their control.
Some will argue housing is not in our remit
This is the backdrop to a decision some may see as unconventional. Oasis has bought 20 homes within a mile of our academies to provide stable, affordable accommodation for vulnerable families.
Supported by £2.1 million from Social and Sustainable Capital and £420,000 from Oasis fundraising, the investment will give families the physiological stability on which education depends.
Some will argue that housing is not in our remit. But the evidence is undeniable.
Research from the children’s commissioner this year found that children who stay in the same location from reception to year 11 are 65 per cent more likely to achieve five GCSEs including English and maths. For those who move three times, the figure falls to 50 per cent. For those who move 10 times, it collapses to 11 per cent.
These figures confirm what our academy staff see daily. You cannot build aspiration on instability. You cannot build confidence on constant dislocation.
And bills, white papers or curriculum reform, however thoughtful, cannot compensate for the chaos created by insecure housing.
A child’s learning sits on top of everything else in their lives – their sleep, safety, relationships, their sense of belonging, and the predictability of their routines.
When those foundations are weak, learning becomes harder.
Education is strongest as part of a wider system
Our decision to buy homes is a natural extension of the Oasis model. A belief that education is strongest when it is part of a wider, coherent system of community support.
Across the country, Oasis operates community spaces and services that work alongside schools to connect youth work, family support, mental-health provision, food programmes, volunteering and local partnerships.
These hubs do not replace public services; they utilise the intrinsic relationships schools have with families to help them work in alignment.
A stable home restores continuity, dignity and the potential for children to imagine a future beyond their next move.
This is the lesson the national debate now needs to grasp. We
make education about schools. We improve regulation, we introduce policy and tools.
But something we forget is education is really about children, and if we believe this then we have to think – and care – about the whole child, their family and their community.
The problem is not everything a child needs can be delivered by schools alone. We are already at capacity.
However, if we are prepared to work across sector boundaries – to integrate our efforts and intentions with housing providers, investors, health services, youth workers, charities and community groups – then a holistic offer can exist and sustainable things like attendance can improve, anxiety can fall and achievement can grow.
If we want education reform to endure, we cannot confine our efforts to the school gates and hope the rest will follow.
And if our schools can play even a small part in creating that stability, then the future we are building will not only be academically ambitious. It will be human, rooted in place, and strong enough for every child, in every community, to flourish.
Your thoughts