Education starts at home – Oasis invests in housing stability for families

In a recent op‑ed for Schools Week, our CEO John Barneby highlighted the urgent need to look beyond the school gates when tackling educational inequality.

John explained that while curriculum reform, assessment reviews and new legislation are important milestones, they overlook a critical blind spot: the impact of housing instability on children’s learning.

Across communities such as Sheffield and Scunthorpe, too many families are caught in cycles of short‑term lets and overcrowded flats. Teachers see the consequences daily, children arriving tired, unsettled, and unable to concentrate, with attendance and engagement faltering for reasons far beyond their control.

To address this, we are proud to share that Oasis has taken the bold step of purchasing 20 homes near our academies, supported by £2.1m from Social and Sustainable Capital and £420,000 from Oasis fundraising. These homes will provide vulnerable families with stable, affordable accommodation, the foundation on which education depends.

John commented: 

“You cannot build aspiration on instability. You cannot build confidence on constant dislocation. 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.”

This initiative reflects Oasis’s wider model of integrated community support, connecting schools with youth work, family services, mental health provision, food programmes and local partnerships. By working across sector boundaries, we can create the stability children need to flourish academically and personally.

John’s op‑ed is a powerful reminder that education reform cannot succeed in isolation. If we truly believe education is about children, then we must care for the whole child, their family, and their community. 

You can read the full piece by clicking on this link.