Enabling all children to thrive: Primary education in challenging times

This article considers the role research can play in changing the nature of the conversation about the purposes education serves in challenging times. From Covid and the cost-of-living crisis, poor housing, poor mental health and the downturns in secure employment, the pressures on communities are multiple. These have coincided with a rise in pupil absence, increasing numbers of children diagnosed with special educational needs (SEND) and financial pressures on local authorities that make these issues hard to address. Many schools feel a moral imperative to act in response and do so on their own initiative in whatever ways they can. This article considers why government is not systematically addressing the crisis in our communities and redefining the role education can play in enabling all children to thrive. It assesses what research can do to help create a more positive vision for education, better able to tackle the challenges we face at a difficult time.