Petition · past parliament

Vulnerable parents to be able to choose for their children not to attend school

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

Government to allow schools to accept shielding letters, or any other correspondence identifying parents as vulnerable, as a reason for children to work from home without threat of fines or losing their school space. This should not have to be a consultant level letter.
Schools are beginning to ask for ‘proof’, in the form of consultant letters, that parents are vulnerable following guidance from the dfe. Many consultants simply do not have the time to do this. The government shouldn’t be expecting consultants to have to do this when CEV parents already have proof through previous shielding letters and correspondence. These letters can be given in as evidence to employers to show that these parents should not work so surely schools can accept these also?

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

You might like to sign the following petitions:

Enable online learning for children who live with those who are vulnerable
Enable online learning for children who live with those who are vulnerable

Require schools to support home learning during Covid-19 outbreak
Require schools to support home learning during Covid-19 outbreak

Allow temporary homeschooling during the pandemic without losing school place
Allow temporary homeschooling during the pandemic without losing school place

Timeline

22 Nov 2020 Petition opened for signatures
1 Dec 2020 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21
Status Rejected
Rejected 1 Dec 2020

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.