While the past 12 months have been tough for all of us, the demands
of this pandemic have also brought out the very best in a great
many people. And I’m particularly in awe of the way the parents,
carers and guardians of children have risen to the unique
challenges with which you have been faced. Whether you’ve been
welcoming a baby into the world without all the usual support
networks, finding new ways to entertain a restive five-year-old
when the soft play centre is shut and playdates...Request free trial
While the past 12 months have been tough for all of us, the demands
of this pandemic have also brought out the very best in a great
many people.
And I’m particularly in awe of the way the parents, carers and
guardians of children have risen to the unique challenges with
which you have been faced.
Whether you’ve been welcoming a baby into the world without all the
usual support networks, finding new ways to entertain a restive
five-year-old when the soft play centre is shut and playdates are
but a distant memory, or steering a teenager through the emotional
stresses and strains of these unprecedented times, you have been
dealt the trickiest of hands yet played it magnificently.
It’s especially true of the way millions of you have coped with the
pressures of home schooling while also doing your day jobs - and of
course meeting all the other demands that small people generate
from breakfast until bedtime.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of joining a virtual classroom session
with a year 6 class and while their teacher was doing a fantastic
job it was also obvious just how much effort the mums and dads at
home were putting in too.
We’re doing everything we can to support you. 876,000 laptops have
been sent to schools to make sure all kids can access online
teaching. We’ve already committed to getting free school meals out
to everyone who needs them for as long as children are at home. And
when all this is over we’re going to be putting hundreds of
millions of pounds into nationwide catch-up programmes so that
nobody gets left behind.
In the meantime, I want you to know that you are doing a great job.
You’re doing great for your own kids, and you’re doing great for
the whole country too. Because by staying at home you are playing a
vital role in getting this awful virus back under control. You are
buying time for our army of vaccinators to protect the vulnerable.
You are paving the way back to normality and you are, quite
literally, saving lives. And for that I cannot thank you enough.
