ANDREA JENKYNS
Andrea on Thank a Teacher Day

Today is Thank a Teacher Day, and I wanted to take this opportunity to pay tribute to teachers across Morley and Outwood, whose hard work means that more children are gaining the education they need to get on in life.

The day is an annual opportunity to celebrate the huge difference teachers make to their students’ lives and recognise how their hard work has improved standards in schools across the country.

45 more schools in Leeds, and 13 more across Wakefield are now rated good or outstanding than in 2010, whilst 1.9 million more children are attending good or outstanding schools nationally. Thanks to the dedication of our teachers, children’s reading and writing skills have improved, with 82 per cent of 6-year olds reading well now compared to only 58 per cent in 2012.

These higher standards in our schools will transform children’s chances in life, and are impossible without the work of teachers, teachers’ assistants and support staff who all play an important role in delivering a world-class education for every child.

This Conservative Government is committed to supporting teachers, having grown the workforce by 10,000 since 2010 and introduced a new Retention and Recruitment Strategy to attract more people into teaching and ensure their workloads are reasonable. The Strategy will make it easier to become a teacher, reward teachers financially for staying on and launch a new two-year package of training and support for teachers at the beginning of their career, backed by £130 million year.

Having worked in education I understand the challenges. I know that there can be no great schools without great teachers and I am consistently struck by the passion and dedication of teachers working in schools across Morley and Outwood – ensuring that all our children can fulfil their potential.