Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Like most MPs I end up back at school just before Christmas. In my case it’s the Walker School Whole College Christmas Assembly, where the entire school assembles in the Lightfoot Sports Centre for what must be one of the biggest and best carol concerts in the North East of England.
As the Bishop of Newcastle, myself, the Headmaster, the Governors, staff and students of the school belt out Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, we ask ourselves “Are we doing the best we can for today’s school students, tomorrow’s citizens?”
Just before Parliament rose for the Christmas Recess, the Rt Hon Ed Balls MP, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, announced a total budget of £1billion, allocated to the Government’s Children’s Plan
Labour’s Children’s Plan aims to make the UK the best place in the world for children and young people to grow up. It follows months of consultation with parents, teachers, professionals, as well as children and young people themselves.
5 principles underpin the plan:
- government does not bring up children – parents do – so government needs to do more to back parents and families;
- all children have the potential to succeed and should go as far as their talents can take them;
- children and young people need to enjoy their childhood as well as grow up prepared for adult life;
- services need to be shaped by and responsive to children, young people and families, not designed around professional boundaries;
- and it is always better to prevent failure than tackle a crisis later.
In 1997 the Labour Party said its priorities were “Education, education, education.” Tremendous advances have been made over the last ten years, and we haven’t stopped yet. A Christmas Carol service is as good a place as any to reflect on what we are doing and why.