The visits to Woodside Academy, London South East Colleges’ Bexley Campus and Belmont Academy provided the recently elected MP with the opportunity to meet staff and students. He was given a tour of the sites, to see the facilities and the diverse provision on offer.
Mr Francis was also keen to discuss some of the challenges that leaders and staff are facing in education - including funding issues, increased complexity of pupils’ needs and the impact of wider social problems on educators, such as poverty and mental health issues.
Visit 1: Woodside Academy with SeeAbility
The MP’s first visit was to Woodside Academy on Monday 30 September, in collaboration with SeeAbility. This charity ensures people with learning disabilities can access sight tests and eye care. Mr Francis talked to staff from the charity to understand the unique challenges faced by children with special needs in terms of eye care – and observed several eye tests being carried out on pupils.
Headteacher Kathryn Freame provided the MP with a tour of the school and spoke in detail about the high-quality specialist provision offered at Woodside for children with SEND.
Visit 2: LSEC's Bexley Campus Visit
The following day (Tuesday October 2) Mr Francis visited London South East Colleges' (LSEC) Bexley Campus in Erith. He met with students and staff in several departments, including art, computing and the college’s SEND provision, Nido Volans. The MP was also interviewed by some L3 media students in the College’s broadcast studio ‘The Platform’. He was asked questions about why he chose to go into politics and any advice he had for young people wanting to pursue a similar path.
The MP then met with Group Principal and CEO, Dr Sam Parrett, and Executive Principal, Asfa Sohail. They spoke about the many successes at the college, as well as raising some of the challenges facing both LSEC and the wider education sector – including SEND, funding and teacher recruitment.
Visit 3: Meeting Belmont Academy’s newly elected Parliament
Mr Francis then spent the morning of Wednesday 2 October at Belmont Academy. He visited every year group and heard about the school’s inclusive approach to SEND, including its Visual Impairment and Medical Resource Provision. After touring the school with Headteacher Lucy Childs and Deputy Head Thomas Lynch, the MP met with the school's newly elected student parliament. The eight pupils, from Years 3-6, each put a question to Mr Francis and discussed issues that are important to them – which ranged from the SATs to road safety. The pupils also asked the MP why he became a Politician and how often he went to the Houses of Parliament (the answer to which was four days a week!).
Having engaged in detailed discussions with students and staff at each visit throughout the week, Mr Francis gained insight into the inclusive practices across the Education Group’s diverse provision.
CEO of London & South East Education Group, Dr Sam Parrett, added:
“We are extremely grateful to Daniel for making the time to visit two of our schools and one of our college campuses this week. His commitment to education in the region is clear and we look forward to working with him to achieve our many shared goals and ambitions for our communities.”
For more information about London South East Colleges visit: www.LSEC.ac.uk