Shadow Education Secretary Visits Hartlepool School

Bridget Phillipson on her visit to High Tunstall College of Science

Transcript

00:00 I'm here at Hightonstall College of Science with Bridget Philipson, the Shadow Secretary of State

00:04 for Education. Bridget, what's brought you here to Hightonstall today? I'd heard from Jonathan

00:09 about the brilliant work that the team here are doing on supporting children, particularly with

00:14 special educational needs and how they're making sure that every child gets the chance to thrive

00:19 and to achieve. It's been great to meet with the head, meet with the staff and lots of the young

00:24 people to talk about their hopes and dreams for the future. I want to make sure that a Labour

00:28 government supports every child in every town, including here in Hartlepool, to get on in life

00:34 and to achieve all they're capable of. Mark and his team here at Hightonstall do an incredible job,

00:39 just like all the staff right across Hartlepool and our schools, in really, really challenging

00:43 times and I'm delighted that Bridget Philipson's come here today to see that amazing work. For me,

00:49 what we need now is a government and a Secretary of State for Education who's going to back our

00:53 brilliant, brilliant teachers in Hartlepool to help our young people achieve and that's exactly

00:57 what they're going to get from Labour. What was really encouraging to hear from the young people

01:01 is that they get the opportunity to have a broad curriculum. There are lots of opportunities around

01:05 science, music, drama, sport and the brilliant community facilities that Hightonstall have got

01:11 that are open, you know, right throughout the day and on weekends too. But I did hear that there are

01:18 lots of challenges at the moment around the cost of living and also increasing concern around

01:22 students' mental well-being. That's why Labour has plans to make sure that all of our secondary

01:27 schools have got the support they need to provide extra help to our children and young people at

01:31 what is a really challenging time for lots of families.