One of the favourite things I get to do on my weekly constituency Fridays is visit our local schools.
I am always inspired by the inquisitiveness and sheer enthusiasm of the children I meet on these visits. It was no different last Friday when I paid a visit to Broadbottom Primary School to answer all their questions about what it is like to be an MP, why I came to Manchester and who my favourite poet is – WH Auden, by the way.
One particularly insightful question was: what are you going to do for schools? This is a fundamental question for the new Labour Government. I stood in July on a manifesto that put children and young people at its heart. Key to that is ensuring that we have enough trained teachers, pupils have enough of the right equipment, schools have enough money not just to fix the roof but provide a rich experience for all pupils.
A foundational step on this path is providing free breakfast clubs for all primary school children to ensure they can turn up to school on time and ready to learn. This policy will be kick started through a tripling of government investment in breakfast clubs as part of the Children’s Wellbeing & Schools Bill now making its way through Parliament. We know that providing a healthy school breakfast at the start of the school day can contribute to increased concentration as well as improved wellbeing and behaviour. At the same time, they are a valuable source of childcare for parents at the beginning of the day. Over half of parents say they have problems finding formal childcare that is flexible enough to fit their needs, while four in ten of mothers say they have had to work fewer hours than they would like because of childcare costs. The clubs are estimated to save parents £450 a year. Add on to this the £50 per child each year that parents will save when this Labour government limits the number of compulsory branded uniform items and these measures will also help families weather the current cost of living crisis.
Breakfast clubs will boost parents’ work choices and children’s life chances and begin to undo the years of neglect that our education sector has experienced under the Conservatives and the tragedy of wasted potential that has caused. Like the children I spoke to at Broadbottom primary and all the schools I visit across the constituency, I want all children to know that they could be doctors, solicitors, plumbers or electricians, or even MPs if they work hard.