Can I say what a complete privilege it is to be here with such a group of people who care so much about their community, who care so much about having a great school for their children.
Now there are some people who say that parents don’t get involved in wanting a better school, will never march for a better school, do we say they’re talking rubbish?
There are some people who say only the state knows best about education, only Ed Balls knows what’s right for education, do we say they’re talking rubbish?
You are an inspiration for what you’re doing, you are an inspiration in terms of an active community that’s not going to put up with the bureaucrats saying no and want it be the case that it’s the parents who say yes. The whole aim of my Government if we win this election will be to help people like you to realise your dream; a great school at the heart of your community with great standards, great discipline and great aspiration for all the children who want to go there. You’ve got the belief, I’ve got the faith in you and together we can make this happen.
Now I think what we want, what we all want as parents is the same thing. There is nothing more exciting than having children, nothing more fulfilling but there’s nothing more worrying than making sure you get a good school place for your children. We all want the same thing; we want a good school in the state sector, that’s what we pay our taxes for, that’s what we deserve.
And we all know what a good school looks like. It’s a smaller school where the head teacher knows your child’s name. It’s a school where there are good standards of discipline, a school where they teach the basics so we open children’s minds to all the best things that have been written and said. It’s a school where there’s really high aspiration, we don’t accept second best we say that everyone can go all the way. It’s a school where we have common sense and we recognise that you’ve got to stretch the brightest pupils, you’ve got to help those falling behind. We all know what a good school looks like and it’s that good school that you want.
How do we make it happen? Well there are just two simple steps. The first thing is we need a Government with the right values. A Government that stops wasting money on the bureaucracy and the quangos and the form filling and the instructions and puts that money straight in to good schools like yours, that’s what we need.
We need a Government, we need a Government that understands that for too long in our country we haven’t actually trusted the teachers and the head teachers to have good discipline standards and order in our schools. And I can tell you if you get a Conservative Government on May 6th the rules on discipline and school discipline will change from May 7th. I want to put the teachers back in charge in our classrooms, I want the head teachers, I want the head teachers to feel they are captain of their own ship. I want parents to back the teachers in providing a great school which is what you’re doing here.
But the second thing we need to do is to recognise as Michael said the idea that the bureaucrats and the politicians and the people in Westminster all know best is rubbish. We should be trusting local parents and we should be breaking open the state monopoly and saying if you want to set up a great new school, if you want to provide great state education come on in. What are we frightened of? It’s that diversity, that choice, that local excellence that you often get in the private sector I want it right here in the state sector in your school and in schools like this up and down our country.
So don’t stop believing what you’re capable of, you’ve shown today that the cynics are wrong, that the people who say parents just want someone else to do the job are wrong. That people who say communities don’t care they are wrong, you are demonstrating what I profoundly believe; we’re all in this together, we can all play a role to build the bigger society that we dream about and we can do it setting up great schools like you’re going to do right here.
So I promise you if we get elected I will help make your dreams come true; a new school, a good school, a school that’s there for your community because you’re prepared to put your effort in to it and your Government should get behind you and help you rather than stand in your way. So don’t stop believing, let’s make sure this happens, let’s give you the great school that you want with the great standards, the great discipline, the great aspiration. What we all want for our children you should have right here in Gomersal and I will help you make it happen. Thank you very much.