At the time of writing, it’s the beginning of September and the start of the new school term. 

As the year gets underway, I want to say well done to all local students on their exams this year. It was fantastic to see another round of such impressive results for our schools and one of the things I enjoy most as your MP each year is writing personally to congratulate pupils who have achieved exceptional results in their A-Levels and GCSEs. 

On the back of this, I was delighted to be invited to visit the Purcell School for Music in Bushey again, and see their students perform in a small concert. I was deeply impressed by the range of musical talent on display and we are fortunate to have a specialist music school like this in our area. 

Personally, I know I owe a debt of gratitude for the excellent state education I received at Parmiter’s. As readers will know from my previous columns here, improving schools and education is one of the main reasons I entered politics and has been one of my key focuses as your MP. 

For this reason I’m delighted that after continuous lobbying by me and my colleagues the Government is investing an extra £14 billion in schools across the country. This is very welcome news and I will be working hard to ensure Bushey and Hertsmere receives its fair share of this money.