This week, former Skills Minister, The Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP, Chair of Parliament’s Education Committee, will accompany Telford’s MP and member of the Education Committee, Lucy Allan to meet with educators in Telford.
Both MPs will be visiting Wrockwardine Wood Infants School and Telford College.
The visit to Wrockwardine Wood will include a tour and discussion of the Computing work which is currently underway and led by Richard Smith of AmazingICT.
The reception students will show their visitors how they are using technology including programmable toys such as Cubetto and Beebots. Richard Smith, helps the students to learn about the latest technology and instructs them on Esafety.
At Telford College, the MPs will meet automotive and engineering students and administrative apprentices to learn more about the opportunities which Telford College has to offer.
The Education Committee in Parliament launched an inquiry into the quality of apprenticeships and skills training earlier this year. Part of the inquiry is to examine whether employers, learners and tax payers are getting value for the time and money invested in training, and whether more needs to be done to detect poor-quality provision.
The MPs will take away what they learn from the visit to feed into future Committee sessions.
Speaking ahead of the visit Richard Smith said:
“We are determined to get more students to understand coding so that they can excel in a digital world. Too often they play online games created by other people rather than design their own.”
Denise Garner, Headteacher said:
“We do not know yet the jobs our children will be expected to do in the future but we do know that technology is likely to play an integral part. Ensuring we are ahead of the game and have the expertise in school to deliver high quality computing lessons is one of our core purposes. Our aim is to improve our children’s life chances for the future and to keep our children and parents up to date with digital dangers.”
Telford MP, Lucy Allan said:
“I am delighted to welcome the Chair of the Education Committee to Telford to show him first hand the amazing work that our teachers and educators do in Telford.
“It is so important for the future that young people are given the opportunity to learn key skills to reach their full potential. In Telford we are doing just that.”
Robert Halfon MP said:
"I am delighted to be visiting Wrockwardine Wood Infants School and Telford College with Telford MP, Lucy Allan. Lucy is a brilliant and hardworking member of the Education Select Committee and was keen for me to see some of the best examples of education both at primary and FE level.
“Coming from another New Town, Harlow, I am sure I'll be able to learn a lot from Telford to ensure that all our young people are able to climb the education and skills ladder of opportunity."
Paul Hinkins, Chair of Telford College said:
“The visit to Telford College is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the close work we do with local, regional and national employers and the investment we make in our apprentices with their skills development.
“We are a growing forward thinking college, town and local economy and we need to ensure the right people with the right skills are available to meet our employers’ needs both present and future.”