I am a firm believer in the power of education to transform lives and to change places. I recognise that I have been incredibly lucky with my education experience. Growing up in East Yorkshire, I was lucky to go to a good local state school with proper resources and amazing teachers who nurtured my potential and encouraged me to aim high. I was then incredibly lucky to go on and study at a fantastic university. I don’t believe outcomes and experiences in education should come down to luck.
We know that education is a key determinant to life success and to an area’s economic growth. Across the UK, we have what is often referred to as a "postcode lottery" in education. This means that a child's access to a good education varies dramatically depending on where they live, with school funding, teacher availability, classroom sizes differing significantly between regions. I know that pupils in Yorkshire have equal potential and talents as children in London and the South East. I believe that they deserve to be awarded the same opportunities and chances to succeed.
In the constituency, I regularly visit our amazing local schools. It’s a key part of my role to engage with students and teachers to ensure that I can best represent their views and experiences.
Down in Westminster, I’ve made education a top focus of mine. I’ve consistently spoken up about key school issues, I made my maiden speech in Parliament on education issues, with a focus on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). If you ask any local parent who has tried to navigate the system that exists to support children with special educational needs, they will tell you this: it’s broken. Despite the hard work and good intentions of individual teachers and practitioners, the system is stretched to the limit and local children are suffering.
During my time as MP, I’ve assisted over 400 families with individual education casework matters. Each individual case fuels my determination to fight for better SEND provision. I have been clear that we need wholesale reform of the system, to build a system that is truly child centred and inclusive. Since the Labour government took office I’ve been engaging with the Education Secretary to ensure that families in Selby and Kippax are at the heart of the government’s upcoming plans to reform the system.
Our government has rightly placed a focus on boosting support for our young people. The last Labour government enacted transformative reforms to tackle the scourge of child poverty and this government has committed to do the same. We’ve already made progress on this - increasing access to free school meals, rolling out breakfast clubs in every local primary school, and supporting with school uniform costs and childcare.