I would like to wish our young people well as they start the new school year. Children and teenagers have had to face some difficult challenges following the pandemic, and some are still catching up. I’m pleased that the new Government is committed to improving education, creating opportunities for every child, and giving every young person in our country the best possible start.
The first steps to this are in early years education as the barriers to opportunity can appear early in a child’s life. We will create 3,000 nurseries in primary schools to better connect early years with our wider education system and we have committed in our manifesto to delivering an extension of the government funded childcare hours that families are entitled to.
In order to ensure that all children have the best start in life, this Government is working on an ambitious child poverty strategy overseen by a new Ministerial Taskforce to drive cross-government action on this important issue. We have also laid out a series of significant actions in our manifesto to support children and families, including: free breakfast clubs in every primary school, cutting school uniform costs, placing Young Futures hubs in every community, and delivering our Child Health Action Plan. I also support the introduction of the new Children’s Wellbeing Bill, which will put children and their wellbeing at the centre of the education and children’s social care systems.
I would like to pay tribute to the work of teachers and teaching staff and to thank them for the vital work they do to transform the life chances of young people within our community. I fully endorse the new Education Secretary’s stated commitment to reset the Government’s relationship with the education workforce, and I am pleased that school teachers and leaders will receive a fully funded 5.5% pay uplift from September 2024.
I also welcome the Government’s pledge to recruit 6,500 new teachers in key subjects, paid for by ending tax breaks for private schools, and to modernise the school curriculum. The DfE have recently launched the Curriculum and Assessment Review, which will build on the hard work and expertise of teachers to deliver a new national curriculum which is rich and broad, inclusive and innovative, and will set up all our children to thrive, whether that be in higher education, apprenticeships or in the world of work.
We want to see high and rising standards across all our schools and for all our children, and accountability is a vital and non-negotiable part of this process. However, it is clear that Ofsted must change. The tragic death of local headteacher Ruth Perry in January 2023 initiated a much-needed national conversation about the role of the Inspectorate and about school leaders’ and teachers’ wellbeing. I commend the important work that has been done by Ruth’s sister, local campaigners, as well as others across the country who have called for Ofsted reform, and I fully support the announcement that this Government will be scrapping the use of reductive single headline grades for schools with immediate effect.
Education has the power to transform lives, and I am pleased that this Government is already taking actions to bring change to this nation by breaking down barriers to opportunity.
Matt Rodda is the Labour MP for Reading Central
