I had the pleasure of meeting Jane Cartwright, Head Teacher at Chenderit School, to discuss the challenges that schools have faced during the pandemic, and also to hear about their excellent response to it, and how things are at last getting back to normal. It is vital that the Government makes it a priority for all students and teachers to access the resources they need to ensure every student can catch up with the curriculum. I have no doubt that Jane and other head teachers across the country will keep working hard in support of their students.

Whilst touring around the school, I visited their excellent new maths block, and enjoyed the impressive artwork produced by students in the school.

Hearing feedback directly from students is so important, and we had an excellent Q & A session sitting in the Heseltine Gallery, with some strong views and clear reasoning behind students’ arguments! It was also great to see Lily and Ronan again, who did work experience with me during the summer.