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If we get it right when Sheffielders are young, then they start on their path through life with a much better foundation.

When we get it wrong there are severe consequences for them, those around them and – at worst, the whole city.

It is absolutely crucial for all of us but lockdown has made that support much harder.

There is no more important educational building than the Sheffield Inclusion Centre which looks after all those who are excluded from school. Photo: Brian Eyre.

In fact, it has made everything a lot more difficult when simple conversations and basic safeguarding can’t take place in the way they normally would.

Through all of this, there has been a team of teachers working flat out to help those youngsters who find themselves at the bottom of the education pile, usually through no fault of their own.

There is no more important educational building than the Sheffield Inclusion Centre which looks after all those who are excluded from school.

However, it is unrealistic to expect one small site in the middle of such a big city to be able to solve problems from all neighbourhoods.

That is why some of the detail you’ll have read in today’s feature is so exciting because simple changes have huge potential.

Instead of having just one place for excluded children, the team is reaching out to their neighbourhoods and taking education to them.

There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to learning and the more troubled a child, the more that is true.

We need an exclusion system that is flexible and seen only as a stepping stone back to mainstream school.

Every single teacher and school in this city must be on the same page to make that happen but they also need the backing of parents, businesses, politicians and all of us. Until then, Sheffield can’t reach its potential.

The fact that 52 per cent of pupils there are not white also highlights how much work we have ahead. It proves why campaigners say black lives matter and that every Sheffielder does not have the same start in life.

Educational achievements can’t be determined by skin colour and until we change that, we must all be prepared to keep discussing race inequality.

It won’t go away without a severe change in approach and we should have done that a very long time ago.

FROM THE EDITOR: Why we need a flexible exclusion system seen only as a stepping stone back to mainstream school