Scott Mann, MP for North Cornwall, has spent the Parliamentary Conference Recess visiting numerous schools throughout the constituency to pledge support for individual projects and campaigns, to give his support in securing fairer pupil funding, and to give reassurance that free school meals would remain in place for infant school children.
Conducting visits to St Eval Pre-school, St Teath Primary, Werrington Primary, Launceston College and Delabole’s ACORN Alternative Provision Academy, Scott spoke with staff as well as pupils of all ages about being an MP and how he would support them.
On Thursday 24th September, Scott Mann visited St Eval Pre-School to discuss its plans for expansion. While there he interacted and played with some of the children before being shown the potential site for a new classroom to cater for the growing number of children. He also met with the Head teacher of neighbouring Trevisker Community Primary School.
Scott Mann said:
“I thoroughly enjoyed going along to St Eval Pre-school to meet the staff and children there, and it was lovely to sit down with the children and take part in a bit of play time.
“It is evident that a new classroom is needed as the number of children there increases. I support the school’s efforts in doing this and I look forward to seeing it happen.”
Rachel Richards, Pre-school Manager, said:
“It was lovely to meet with Scott, and we are very excited he is prepared to help and support our objective for a new classroom.
“A new build is very much needed so we can welcome more and more children as our community grows in size.”
The next day Scott met with pupils and staff from Delabole’s ACORN Academy at Lanhydrock for an outdoor activity session. The academy has been rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted, which offers intervention placements to 11 to 16 year olds who have been, or are, at risk of permanent exclusion from school for behavioural reasons.
Scott Mann said:
“I was delighted to meet with pupils and staff from the North Cornwall APA in order to see and hear the excellent work taking place. It was a pleasure to meet with the pupils who had a great day out at Lanhydrock.”
Rob Gasson, CEO of Acorn Academy Cornwall, said:
“Scott Mann MP’s visit to North Cornwall APA reflects the excellent work being undertaken by all our leadership teams and our pupils.
“Aiming to reach Ofsted Outstanding, we work closely with secondary schools across the county to ensure the educational needs of the most vulnerable people are being met and that an ethos of respect is being promoted.”
On two other visits, Scott visited Werrington Primary School in Launceston on Tuesday 29th September, and St Teath Primary School on 23rd September, to talk with staff about introducing traffic calming measures outside the schools and fairer funding.
The speed of traffic has concerned parents and teachers at Werrington Primary, with a car recently crashing into the school wall because a driver was speeding around the corner. Subsequent speed checks by police have found a high number of cars speeding past the school.
Scott Mann said:
“It was great to meet with children and staff at Werrington Primary. We held a Q&A session and the children asked lots of interesting questions which was great fun.
“The high speeds that cars are travelling past the school is posing a great risk, and I received a stack of letters from the children about this issue.
“I’ve also been made aware of similar issues at St Teath Primary School, and I will be contacting Cornwall Council about both these issues to see if traffic calming measures or lower speed limits can be implemented to ensure the safety of children, parents, staff and fellow road users.”
Louise Hussey, Assistant Head teacher at The Federation of North Petherwin and Werrington School, said:
“After carrying out a speed watch and having a car crash outside the school, the children had written to Scott to ask for help in finding a solution.
“For the children, having their local MP visit in response to the letters they had written was really exciting and demonstrated the importance of literacy and working hard to be good at writing.”
After his visit to St Teath Primary School, Scott travelled to Launceston College to meet with A-Level students who wanted to ask him about the life as an MP, politics, and his vision for North Cornwall.
Scott said:
“The issues the students raised were all important and it's great to see young people so engaged in politics. I was also very impressed by the intelligent questions being asked and I hope they all do well in the coming months of education and exams.”
Summing up his trip around North Cornwall schools, Scott said it’s important, as the area’s MP, to stay in touch with the concerns and issues that affect schools:
He said: “One issue that arises many times when I talk to Head teachers is that around pupil funding. Although this Government is committed to making school funding fairer, it remains the case that a school in one part of the country can receive over 50 per cent more funding than an identical school in another part of the country.
“Many schools are under pressure with regards to pupil numbers and eligibility criteria for school allocations. Also, many school are facing the challenge of trying to expand and are going through the process of acquiring land or submitting planning applications.
“I have been very impressed with the ambitions of the head teachers and their desire to give every child from Cornwall an amazing start in life. I look forward to working with them over the next few years.”
Commenting on the Government’s Universal Infant Free School Meals policy, Scott said:
“David Cameron has said he is committed to free school meals in England. The Conservative election manifesto said they would remain in place, and David Cameron is sticking to this promise.
“Introducing free school meals has helped ensure children receive a healthy and balanced diet, and has also taken a financial burden off of parents’ shoulders.”
