In the last couple of weeks I have visited another two schools in my constituency: Northampton Academy and the Arbours Primary Academy.
At Northampton Academy I spoke to a class of Sixth Form politics students who are learning about the British political system. Their teacher asked me to speak to the students about Parliament and my role as an MP. My role as Deputy Leader of the House of Commons gives me a deeper understanding of the legislative process. Encouraging young people to take an interest in politics is something I very much like to do, and I was pleased to note the enthusiasm of the students at Northampton Academy.
The following week I visited The Arbours Primary School to speak to pupils and staff during one of their assemblies. I spoke about my role as Member of Parliament for Northampton North and answered the many and varied excellent questions the young pupils had for me.
It was a pleasure to meet conscientious pupils and dedicated staff at both schools.
Education is vitally important to our children and the Government is constantly seeking to improve pupils’ experience in schools and to ensure that our schools produce pupils ready for today’s world. I am pleased to note that there are now 1.9 million more pupils in schools rated ‘Good’ and ‘Outstanding’ than there were in 2010, and recent statistics show that reading standards have increased dramatically since 2010.