Following the unfortunate news this week of His Majesty The King’s cancer diagnosis, I know that I speak on behalf of all across Grantham, Stamford, Bourne, and the surrounding villages when I say that our thoughts and best wishes are with His Majesty and the Royal Family as he begins his treatment.
Cancer tragically touches all our lives, either directly or through the experience of our friends and loved ones. I am sure many will appreciate His Majesty’s decision to share his diagnosis in order to bring about greater awareness and empathy on this issue.
Medical professionals emphasise the vital importance of coming forward if you are concerned about symptoms, which can save lives. That is why the Government is investing to facilitate faster cancer diagnosis, and new Community Diagnostic Centres such as the one we have in Grantham are also adding to our firepower in this fight.
We are always looking for new ways to support those working in our public services, and I wanted to also draw attention to several recently launched initiatives to support the training of teachers and childcare professionals.
Through their care and dedication, those employed in these professions have an enormous impact on our children’s formative years. Indeed, many of us will remember from our own childhood a particular person who believed in us, invested in us, and inspired us to get to where we are today.
Few careers could be more consequential, and we want as many as are willing to make a difference in this way to be provided with a pathway and a framework of support to do so.
I was therefore delighted to see the Government announce a new teaching apprenticeship as part of national apprenticeship week. This will transform recruitment by providing an alternative route to qualified teacher status with only 40 percent of time spent studying, the ability to earn while you learn, and all tuition fees paid in full.
Meanwhile, the Department for Education has announced a new framework to support trainee teachers to develop their knowledge and skills, which follows £196 million being spent this academic year on scholarships, bursaries, and salary grants to help aspiring teachers see their training through.
Early Years can be just as important to our children’s development and, in recognition of this, the Government is significantly expanding access to free childcare to eligible parents of children aged 9 months to school-age.
The roll-out starts this Spring, and 100,000 have already registered, which is why a new national recruitment campaign has been launched alongside £1,000 cash sign-on bonuses. I would encourage anyone interested to search ‘Early Years Careers’ online to find out more.
From my visits to schools and nurseries across the constituency, I know for certain that anyone who is looking to get involved would be joining some incredible staff. In the last year alone our local schools have ranked among the nation’s best, our children’s literacy has been rated among the world’s best, and our school standards have risen up international rankings.
All of this and more is testament to the strong foundations laid by those in childcare, and the tireless endeavour of our tremendous teachers. It is a great privilege of my job to be able to go back to school and take inspiration from seeing them in action.
