You don’t have to look at your calendar to know we are into September,
you can feel it in the air when you leave home in the morning; the
slight freshness that accompanies the sunshine. When we have a few
bright September days this is my favourite month of the year, not
least because last week was our wedding anniversary.
With the summer holidays now behind us, the House of Commons returned
from its break last week, and we have been considering the serious
business of the deployment of our forces in Afghanistan, holding a
referendum on voting reform for British general elections and the
compensation owed to Equitable Life policy holders.
For thousands of students across the constituency and their teachers,
they have also been focused on the serious business of the return to
their studies, or starting a new school. The start of a new academic
year is a good time for me to visit local schools, and I am meeting
with a number of primary and secondary schools in September and
October.
Last Friday I went first to Pent Valley Technology College to meet with
Headteacher Mario Citro, and Chair of Governors Ian Parker. The school
has just enjoyed its fourth successive year of record exam results and
is continuing to expand its offering of vocational training designed
around work. Pent Valley school has also worked hard to engage with
the community in Folkestone, not least with the publication of its
local residents newsletter. It was great to hear about their future
plans and to meet some of the students.
Following Pent Valley I went to the Folkestone Academy to meet with
Principal Sean Heslop. I was interested to hear about the progress the
school has made since it opened three years ago. Sean gave me a tour
of the school and introduced me to a number of classes. We also
enjoyed lunch in the excellent school canteen. The students and staff
are fortunate to have state of the art facilities to work with and
results from the school have continued to improve.
As with other schools in the area, there is a strong focus on getting
the basics right and improving standards for maths and English. It
sounds obvious but reading standards in particular really matter to
the general quality of the education children receive. This is not
only a challenge in the classroom but at home as well. Some recent
reports have found that one of the most significant factors in how a
young child develops in its learing, is whether in the early years it
is read to at home.
Later in the day I was delighted to accept the invitation from Sarah
Seymour to open the new Playbox day nursery based at Harcourt Primary
School in Folkestone. The nursery takes children from the ages of two
to five. Playbox also run a pre-school from St George’s Church in
Audley Road in Folkestone, which recently received an outstanding
rating from Ofsted. I wish everyone at Playbox well for the future of
their new nursery.