Education is one of our most important public services and
is rightly seen as a priority. It is well established that schools in Cornwall
have been less well funded than schools in other parts of the country. This has
been the case for many years and is a direct result of the policy of previous
governments who prioritise the more densely populated urban areas of the
country and gave less money to rural areas such as Cornwall.
Recent changes to the formula used to allocate funding have
been a step in the right direction but there is still a great deal of work to
be done to close the gap. This is something I remain determined to address and
will always speak up for our local schools to attract more money.
More money has been put into education and schools. It is
untrue to say that funding has been cut. But it is the case that the additional
money the government has allocated to school funding has not kept pace with
rising costs, including increases in pensions contributions and things such as
the apprenticeship levy. As we have now begun the process of looking at the
comprehensive spending review, which will set the programme for government
spending for the coming years, I have made clear to the Chancellor of the
Exchequer and other Treasury ministers, that education must be one of the areas
which gets additional funding and that we must ensure that any extra funds are
fairly allocated to rural areas.
I am also aware that there is great pressure on school
places in mid-Cornwall – especially at primary schools. As our local population
continues to grow, I have been clear that building additional capacity for
school places must keep pace and that new school need to be built alongside any
new housing.
That is why it is so good that we are seeing new primary
schools being built to support the new housing going up in Newquay and the
housing planned for the Garden Village on the edge of St Austell.
Making sure we have our fair share of funding and the school
places we need is important. But the most important thing is that our local
schools are well run and that our children are taught by great teachers. Having
spent 19 years as a school governor I know that teachers are the most important
asset any school can have and in our constituency we have some great teachers, heads
and principles who are dedicated and talented and provide our children with
high quality education.
I had a timely reminder of this last week in Parliament when
two of our local teachers from Trenance Learning Academy in Newquay came to
Parliament. They were there as part of a scheme to promote reading. Trenance
Learning Academy was recognised last year for its excellent work in teaching
reading and was appointed one of only 32 English Hubs, across the country, as a
centre of excellence to promote best practice for teaching reading.
It was good to see teachers from one of our local schools
taking a role nationally in this way. As in so many areas, despite the
challenges we can face in Cornwall, we often ‘punch above our weight’ and
deliver great results. So whilst others will talk down our education in
Cornwall and seek to use it as a political football I choose to get on with
delivering new schools and more money and supporting our dedicated teachers in
every way I can.
