The temperature has certainly been rising, hasn't it? Both inside and out of parliament!

It has been 2 Secretary of States for Education since we last wrote to you (that's only 3 weeks by the way). Perhaps James Cleverly will have greater longevity - and support for marginalised families.

The government may be in chaos, but Maddie and I are not. Here's a brief flavour of what we have been up to:

- Contacting peers in the House of Lords to show support for amendments to The Schools Bill that will protect vulnerable and marginalised families. It has been heartening to receive supportive responses from Lord Blunkett and Baronesses Frognal, and McIntosh among others. We'll keep going with this activity while the Bill remains in the Lords at its report stage in July.

- Did you see Maddie and Harleigh in the press recently? As SEND and marginalised families we can often feel invisible and overlooked. It was heartening to see this coverage and Maddie and Harleigh's experiences in the mainstream news.

- We have been delighted to support not-for-profit organisations, Not Fine In School and Square Peg in calling for amendments to the Schools Bill. In our opinion, the addition of their "3 Asks" would add protection to The Schools Bill, particularly, in our view, the addition of an Attendance Code of Practice. This would have assisted families such as mine and Maddie's by giving Local Authorities a clearer definition of support - and in what circumstances fines or prosecution are not appropriate. We think an Attendance Code of Practice MUST be implemented to stop harm being caused by the latest Attendance Guidance.

So we've been busy...But what next? 

Maddie and I are making preparations for our presentation to No 10 of our petition in September. It would be great to see some of you there and we'll share the date when confirmed.

In the meantime can you continue to share our petition across your networks and write to your MP to ask for support/call for an Attendance Code of Practice? The greater the visibility the more chance we have of turning The Schools Bill around - and bringing positive change. Reaching 150,000 supporters is just so close...

We can do this if we work together.

Maddie and Susan x