Always a joy to visit pupils at our brilliant schools. On my visit to Burstow Primary School, the fab duo Sadie and Elsie kindly showed me around their new lunchtime equipment.
I am very fond of Jonathan Haidt’s book The Anxious Generation, where he talks about how outdoor play gives children freedom, confidence and challenges them to try new things. It was fantastic to see this in action right here in the constituency.
Headteacher Mr Tree also introduced me to Burstow’s Pupil Parliament. As is tradition, I pitted the students against each other in a PMQs-style debate – this time on the motion: “Should the school be painted green?”
While the Government made strong representations in favour, after the Leader of the Opposition quipped that animals might mistake the school for a tree, the Government U-turned and voted ‘NO’. It seems Burstow’s Pupil Parliament is more similar to the House of Commons than I had originally thought.
Joking aside, thank you very much to Mr Tree, Sadie, Elsie and all the pupils and teachers for making it such a welcoming visit.
