Visit to Ipswich Academy
Great to visit Ipswich Academy yesterday and speak with headteacher Abbie Thorrington about how the school has been progressing over the last few months.
As I’ve said before, Ipswich Academy is a standout success making a big difference in the lives of students here in Ipswich. I was glad to be able to hear about how we can support them in developing their vision for opening up educational opportunities to those who need them most.
Inspiring Suffolk
Over the summer, lots of kids around Ipswich are attending holiday camps like Inspire Suffolk on Lindbergh Road. Inspire Suffolk’s Summer Holiday Programme has been running sport and creative activities for 250 children over the holiday for 3 years now. Today I joined in and practiced some goalkeeping in the football activity session, as well as getting involved with creating paper-plate art.
These activity sessions for 250 pupils aged 4-12 are funding by the Suffolk Holiday Activity and Food initiative, designed to ensure kids have access to activity and lunches. It’s great to see physical activity being encouraged during the holidays. We know how important it is for children to get active, and this holiday programme is a wonderful way to promote fitness and activity.
Thank you to Terry Baxter, the CEO of Inspire Suffolk, for showing me the work being done at Inspire Suffolk today.
Meeting with National Farmers’ Union
Today I met Caroline from the NFU. Ipswich is the County Town for rural Suffolk, so we had lots to discuss from apprenticeships to the cost of fertiliser and reducing fly-tipping.
I was keen to emphasise the importance of agricultural apprenticeships. Skills, training and apprenticeships is something I am always trying to promote to ensure the best opportunities for Ipswich people. When it comes to agricultural apprenticeships, it seems that more certainty is required in the way they are run. Level 2 apprenticeships are currently available for a certain period of time, however there is nothing to replace them and this is creating some uncertainty. Many young people from Ipswich travel to rural areas of Suffolk to work in agriculture, and a number of Ipswich-based students take courses at Suffolk Rural college, which is linked to Suffolk New College, so this is an issue which affects both rural Suffolk and our County Town.
Another key issue we discussed was the increasing cost of fertiliser. Suffolk farms import fertiliser via Port of Ipswich, and fertiliser prices have shot up. This is impacting not only local farms growing British produce here in Suffolk, but also having an effect on the Port of Ipswich trade.
I had the chance to raise the issue of fly-tipping, which is prevalent around rural Suffolk. This is an issue which constituents have raised with me as something they have noticed when out and about across the county. I wanted to discuss this with Caroline and see what can be done to reduce the issue together.
Thank you to Caroline for an interesting and productive meeting.
Northgate Sport Centre Summer Camp
This morning I visited the Northgate Sport Centre Summer Camp to hear more about the IBC Summer Holiday iCard activities for local Ipswich pupils. I met with the Sports and Leisure Service Manager at Ipswich Borough Council, Bella, who showed me around the camp. They have 50-60 users on a daily basis with the iCard Summer Holiday camp being offered for free to any eligible children between 5-16 years old who live between postcodes IP1-IP4.
This is a fun way for Ipswich pupils to fill their summer holidays with sporting activities such as football, gymnastics, basketball and trampolining. I was pleased to see that archery was also being offered with adjustments made for children with disabilities. Bella explained how they are working with charities to deliver sport activities, including some meant specially to support children with disabilities.
I continue to be incredibly supportive of any way to incorporate sports to all pupils, including those with special educational needs. This iCard programme incorporates both socialising with friends, with sporting activities and healthy exercise and whilst there it was clear to see how much pupils were enjoying the variety of activities.
Willow Park Montessori Nursery
I was contacted by constituents affected by the closure of Willow Park Montessori Nursery, which will be shutting its doors at the beginning of September due to staff recruitment issues and funding. Having written to the Minister for Children and Families about these challenges, I wanted to visit the nursery personally.
Willow Park Montessori Nursery has been providing vital care and education to their children, and it is critical that the funding is made available to the early years sector. The nursery has 22 members of staff, however struggled to recruit. I have also visited other early years providers recently who have raised the same issue.
Early years teaching is an incredibly valuable career and one which contributes greatly to society. To be able to recruit the right talent for these roles, we not only need to appreciate the real value of early years teaching and staff, but also reflect this in salaries too. Understandably if other jobs are paid more highly, early years staff are likely to leave. We need to make sure sufficient early years funding is available for nurseries to give their staff the right wages and ensure they can recruit the best from their field. It is important to make early years careers attractive, and salaries need to be higher for jobs of such significant societal value. Early years staff are fundamental to shaping the minds of young people, and evidently there is increasing awareness and recognition of the importance of earlier years but funding for things like salaries needs to follow.
No one goes into working in early years to make money. They go into it due to their passion for young people. However the salaries shouldn’t be so low they make careers in early years prohibitive.
Successful nurseries like this one should be given the funding and the tools required to give children the best opportunities possible. It is a real shame to see the loss of this nursery and early years staff moving out of the field. The nursery has been here for 20 years, and in that time has had a very positive impact on hundreds of children.
I think the Education Committee should be doing a review of the Early Years sector and this is something I will suggest in September.
Apprenticeships in Ipswich
I have been working with Chris Pont, chairman of IJYI, on skills and apprenticeships in tech and the opportunities we can offer students. We are working together to make it easier for small and medium sized enterprises, those with payroll under 2 million who aren’t part of the apprenticeship levy scheme, to hire apprentices.
Chris is running a degree apprenticeship scheme in computer engineering for young people to gain digital skills. The world of tech is fast-moving and constantly growing, so it is more important than ever that we give students the right skills to keep up with the changing needs of the job market. Chris was also in Parliament earlier this year to give evidence to the Education Select Committee on tech and skills education.
Starting in September, students will spend one day a week at Suffolk University and the rest at IJYI, as part of the 3-year degree apprenticeship. With 2/3 to start with, there are then plans to scale up. BT currently have 50 students on the scheme, with the intention of giving young people the skills they need to stay on in the industry. This degree apprenticeship is exactly the kind of thing we should be promoting, as it enhances skills training in our local people as well as contributing to the local economy. My view is that we need a lot more skills training and apprenticeships but this will only happen if it’s easier for small and medium sized businesses to hire. It can’t just be big businesses, and we need to offer the right support for small businesses.
I’m working with Chris to see how we can expand these opportunities, as well as make sure that students in the local area have access to careers advice and know exactly what is on offer for their futures.
Huge thank you to Chris and the team at IJYI for putting so much energy and commitment into getting this scheme up and running.
Inspire Suffolk Prince’s Trust Qualifications
A great chance to speak to the team at Inspire Suffolk and the young people involved in their youth program. This project focuses on developing young people’s skills to prepare them for the world of work. As well as paving the way for success and future employment, this program brings young people together to talk about other topics like their mental health. For example, today they raised reliance on public transport – especially when this is unreliable and expensive, and how this can impact employment prospects.
Making sure that local people are able to take full advantage of high-paid job opportunities means making sure our people have the right skills. This project prepares young people for their futures, giving them the tools they need as successful and independent adults thriving in employment.
A great discussion here today with the young people at Inspire Suffolk, the future of Ipswich looks bright!
Thank you to Terry Baxter and Jay Wallace-Lagan from Inspire Suffolk Prince’s Trust Qualifications.
Jubilee Card Competition
After 14 schools entered over 1000 cards for my Jubilee Card Competition I had the very difficult task of picking out a winner. With so many entries this surpassed my Christmas Card competition last year. It’s great to see so many students wanting to wish the Queen a happy Platinum Jubilee.
This was obviously a really hard decision to make as we have so many fantastic artists in Ipswich. We had cards of all styles with some bright colours and different ideas for designs. With much deliberation I am pleased to announce that Freya-Nicole, a Year 6 pupil at Ranelagh Primary school has won the competition.
I was pleased to present Freya-Nicole with her own personal version of the card that will be sent to her majesty on behalf of myself and all the people of Ipswich. With so many great entries, many students who entered will be getting certificates to congratulate them on their great efforts.
Whilst at Ranelagh Primary, I met many of the pupils who also sang a song for the Queen on this special occasion. I’m proud to see pupils in Ipswich feel so strongly about our Queen. Well done to all the pupils who entered!
It’s clear that Ipswich is gearing up for the Jubilee Celebrations next week to celebrate this incredible milestone!
Opportunities in Further Education for students with SEND
Today in the Chamber I asked the Minister for Skills about what the Department for Education is doing to improve opportunities in Further Education for students with SEND.
Thank you to Minister Burghart, Minister for Skills, for visiting Suffolk New College with me. When I revisited on Friday, I spoke to Trudi the inclusive learning lead about the importance of support for SEND students in post-16 education.
Our Further Education colleges prepare students for the work-place and for life.
At Suffolk New College on Friday I also met Sam, who initially struggled with self-confidence but is now leading a whole team at the college’s Chef’s White’s restaurant. This is a tribute to the fantastic work Suffolk New College is doing in their inclusion team, building confidence, independence, and practical skills in their students.
Supporting SEND students at Further Education level has a huge knock-on impact on confidence, life-skills and employability. That’s why I called the Minister to look at funding, Ofsted inspections, and the requirement for an inclusion team at every Further Education college.
Meeting Regional Schools Commissioner for the East of England
A meeting today with Johnathan Duff, the Regional Schools Commissioner for the East of England.
Johnathan has been newly appointed as part of the Government’s regional approach to education. He will be focusing on raising expectations, putting the best school leaders where they are most needed, and building schools into multi-academy trust frameworks.
Ipswich has been designated as a priority education investment area, and Johnathan anticipates Ipswich will benefit from targeted support where required. The teacher premium, to pay teachers more in the priority areas, is also something Ipswich will benefit from.
Since the pandemic disrupted Ofsted inspections, a huge programme of school inspections is underway to catch up on lost time. Hopefully we will see the new Ofsted framework making the much-needed move from focus on outcomes to an emphasis on positive difference made.
I was also pleased to hear that Johnathan will be getting an advisor on the board with special education experience. We share a vision of an education system which means no child is left behind. Johnathan and I will be working together to make sure Ipswich education keeps moving in the right direction.