Launch of my ‘Reading with Rob’ literacy campaign

Today I launched my ‘Reading with Rob’ literacy campaign in a bid to help improve the standard of literacy in the town.

Some 13 per cent of adults in Harlow have trouble with reading and writing.

Having launched the initiative at Kingsmoor Primary School, where I read the first chapter of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to a class of Year 4 children, I now hope to visit all primary schools in Harlow.

There is a big literacy problem in Harlow and I hope to do all I can to promote the love of books and reading through ‘Reading with Rob’.

My hope is that I will be able to go to schools and other groups all over Harlow to raise the level of interest in reading.

I grew up with books and feel that reading is the most important thing – even more important than maths. You cannot get by without being able to read.”

After reading the chapter to the youngsters I presented each pupil with a special ‘Reading with Rob’ sticker and promised to return to the Ployters Road school once the children had read the rest of the book.

Angie Winder, the school’s Year 4 teacher and literacy co-ordinator, said: “It was nice for the children to have the opportunity to meet Robert and to hear him read to them which hopefully will further raise the profile of reading among the pupils.”

VIDEO: ITV Anglia praise Burnt Mill School

ITV Anglia recently made a short documentary about one of our local schools - Burnt Mill - which has really turned around in recent years.

This is because Helena Mills the headteacher has helped to DOUBLE the number of pupils getting five good GCSEs (including Maths and English) - from 27% to 56%.

These results are truly outstanding. They are credit to Helena, and to all the teachers and staff at the school. You can see the full video HERE.

by Robert Halfon - Working Hard for Harlow.

Getting young people on the conveyer belt to jobs

 

Like many Harlow residents I have a passion for apprenticeships. I employed the first ever MP’s apprentice from Harlow – and now have a second; started an Apprentice School in Parliament; and have worked with the NUS to set up a special Apprentice Card, giving apprentices the same rights as university students.

The economy is still difficult in Harlow. But we have a good story to tell. The Conservative-led Government has helped to boost the number of Harlow apprentices by 78 per cent - in one year. This means that we now have 350 extra youngsters in jobs.

Across the country, the number of apprentices has risen to more than 450,000. An increase of more than 50 per cent on before.

Harlow is entrepreneurial, and hard-working. Youth unemployment here is lower than the East of England rate, and lower the national average – and it has been falling since 2009. This is a tribute to our schools, Harlow College (now officially the best in England), and many local employers such as Smiths Industries, AST technologies, and many more besides.

But we also have to face uncomfortable facts: across the country, youth unemployment is high. Since 2006, it has been at around 1 million. Clearly, the problem does not just start when young people reach 18 and are unable to find work – but starts much earlier.

For far too long, there has been a conveyor belt to the dole queue. In the last 10 years, half a million children left school unable to read or write. That is why the Coalition’s emphasis on pushing reading and numeracy in our schools is incredibly important. Burnt Mill school – for example – has seen a massive increase in its results on literacy and numeracy. In the last two years, its number of pupils getting five good GCSEs including Maths and English has risen from 27% to 56%: a huge leap forward. This has been achieved by opening a new IT library, stressing the importance of reading, and by supplying the children with Kindles (electronic books) – paid for by extra funding for the poorest pupils.

The new Youth Contract starting in April will also make a difference. It means that every young unemployed person in Harlow will be offered training and mentoring by special firms – if they want it.

Finally, I have been working day and night for the past 15 months with Anglia Ruskin University and Harlow College to bring a new high-tech apprentice school to Harlow. If successful, the school (known as a “University Technical College”) will offer hundreds of local young people the chance to do top-class technical training, and go straight into well-paid jobs. I am proud that we have managed to win serious support and backing from Princess Alexandra Hospital, Pearson, GSK, BUPA, and others for our bid.

We cannot be complacent about youth unemployment. But I do believe that new investment in apprenticeships; a focus on literacy and numeracy; and extra training and mentoring will make a huge difference – not just in Harlow but across the country as a whole.
You can also read this blog in the Harlow Star HERE.

Harlow Community Update

Last week I visited a number of Harlow Community groups and local businesses, as I often do. Here's a brief update:

MP Advice Surgery
On Friday 6th January I held one of my regular MP advice surgeries, helping Harlow residents with problems and worries that that they have. Please call my constituency office to book an appointment for the next available place on 01279 311 451.

Harlow Foodbank
I visited Harlow foodbank again to see Kelloggs donating £500 and cereal boxes. Kelloggs have a fantastic relationship with foodbank and their support is greatly appreciated.

I tabled a motion thanking Kelloggs. You can read it here.

Longwood School
This was my first visit to Longwood since the two schools merged. It was fantastic to meet the Staff and Pupils. But it was even better to hear that with a 82% attainment rate in Literacy and Numeracy, Longwood is now in the top 25% of schools in Essex.

I am holding a Surgery at Longwood between 8:30 and 9:30 on the 3rd Febuary. If any one has a question or a problem I might be able to help with, I urge you to come and talk to me.

Please read my previous Community update here.

by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com

The failure in education has hurt the poor the most

I mentioned in a previous blog, a report in The Independent showing that a majority of pupils in 700 primary schools cannot read or write.  One in eight primary schools have failed to make progress in teaching the basics of literacy.  Half a million pupils in the past decade left school unable to read.

But the last Labour Government's educational neglect is much deeper than this.  Figures published today show that students 'middle class areas' are ten times more likely to get key GCSE grades than those from poorer areas.  In 1997, more than half of pupils took GSCE's in core subjects (including English and Maths), that figure fell to twenty two percent by 2010.  In Knowsley for example, just 3% of children take get good grades in core GSCE subjects.

The evidence is clear.   The UK has slipped badly in OECD Education rankings.  According to The Guardian:

".... the UK's reputation as one of the world's best for education is at risk, and has tumbled several places since 2006.

The UK is ranked 25th for reading, 28th for maths and 16th for science. In 2006, when 57 countries were included in the study, it was placed 17th, 24th and 14th respectively. Poland has stretched ahead of the UK in maths, while Norway is now ranked higher in reading and maths.

Andreas Shleicher, head of the Pisa programme, said the picture for the UK was "stagnant at best".

"Many other countries have seen quite significant improvement," he added."

Labour's failure in education is a huge indictment on their time in office:  Despite billions of taxpayers money spent,  too many children left school unable to read, unable to count, without even decent GSCEs.

You can read more HERE.

by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com

The Failure to teach pupils to read is criminal

One of the most inspiring educational community visits I have done recently was to go to Burnt Mill School for the opening of the new Library. I met some wonderful pupils who were passionate about books and were reading voraciously. The Head has also brought large numbers of Kindles which encourage the children even further - by bringing reading into the modern age. Large numbers of students are also reading The Times every day.

This emphasis on literacy has already had an effect. Burnt Mill has had greatly improved results for English and Maths.

Sadly, this experience is not replicated across all our schools. Yesterday, The Independent newspaper, reported that a majority of pupils - in 700 primary schools - cannot read or write. One in eight primary schools have failed to make progress in teaching the basics in literacy.

The statistics tell a horrific story: Half a million children left primary school in the last decade unable to read. Illiteracy levels across the country - including amongst adults is astonishingly high. Last week I Chaired a seminar in Parliament, with the Youth charity, Catch 22 and was told that 40% of prisoners are illiterate.

The failure to teach basic standards of literacy is criminal: If we are to succeed as a nation, literacy has to be the number one priority. I welcome Education Secretary's Michael Gove's efforts to bring back traditional methods of teaching literacy. But what is also needed is a combined effort from teachers and politicians alike.

P.S. It can be done. The newly independent Kurdish Region in Iraq cut illiteracy by a third in less than ten years.

P.P.S. The picture shows me at the Burnt Mill School event

Harlow Writers Group

Off to a brilliant event on Saturday afternoon.  Harlow Writers Group (who have previously won an award for being amongst the best writers in the country), had their special annual meet at the Civic Centre, in which members read their own writings and poems.  This was my third year attending and I was asked as MP to make some short opening remarks.  I said the writers group was not just important to the writers themselves, but to Harlow as a whole, particularly as the town faces problems with illiteracy - and the lack of a proper book shop.  Harlow Writers Group helps to promote the culture of books, writing and reading everywhere.  

The standard was exceptional, and I reproduce below some of the readings:

No More Baked Beans by Adrienne Tinn

Each evening comes the call to tea,

“Baked beans on toast tonight!”

Those orange blobs on burnt brown bread -

I hate the bloody sight!

The opener carves up the tin.

They splat as out they drop.

That simmering, the sickly smell,

The bubble and the pop.

The knife that tussles with the toast,

The fork that grips each lump,

The sauce that slithers down my chin

Gives me the blooming hump.

At school they call me Rumbletum.

I know the reason why!

They hold their nose as I walk past

And look up to the sky.

It’s not my fault. I hate the stuff.

For choice I’d eat no more.

But every day it waits for me

As I come through the door.

I had a dream the other night.

My mum stood, pan in hand,

“I’ve two tins here for you my love.

Now aint that really grand?”

I grimaced and I turned my back,

“Dear mum, you cannot stay!”

Pulled down my jeans, erupted loud

And blew her clean away.

                                      

The Show must Go on by Rosemary Porter 

The show must go on

“Next of Kin have been informed”

Another stage is cleared

No curtain call

The tragedy continues off stage.

How long must mothers watch

The measured steps of Helmand comrades

Bravely shouldering brothers

Draped in Union Flags

Listening with weary ears

Glistening eyes and smothered sobs

To the Last Post.

19, 29, 39, too young to die!

More songs to sing

More tears to shed

More jokes to tell

More first nights

More curtain calls.

National anthem

Cenotaph backdrop

Stage in darkness.

Mothers, fathers, lovers walk away

Taliban bombs ringing in their ears.

Another audience will take their place

Afghanistan’s tragic show must to on.

Journey of the Druid by Rosemary Porter

I come from Tara on the hill

A journey fraught with fear

The High King priests and fellow druids

Believe the end is near

There is unrest and fissured faith

In the gods we thought supreme

They tell us there’s a new man god

Whose beacon they have seen

Philosophers and soothsayers

A new kingdom foretell

Druids Celts and bold Cu Chullain

Redeemed from death and hell

Mega Lithos structures crumble

Like the sands on the sea shore

I pilgrimage with heavy heart

Can the gods not offer more

The rough ways of the Esker Riada

The toghers of the blackest bog

Sap my faith my hope my life

I forage through the densest fog

A restless godless people search

For a human deity

Facing west with a darkened heart

Yearning to be free

A river great impedes my way

A light shines clear and bright

A holy man with arms outstretched

Welcomes me this night

His name is Kiaraun his message clear

The Christ has risen for us all

For druids priests for alien people

Paid the price for Adams fall

I stayed and prayed in this holy place

Clonmacnoise welcomed me

I paid my dues to my fathers go.
I believe in a trinity.                                                                        

by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com

Harlow's finest Writers

After my post a few days ago, about no bookshop in Harlow, I was glad to go to the Harlow Writers' Workshop celebration this afternoon, after a long day of campaigning. Having gone last year, hearing short pieces of writing and poetry from Harlow's finest writers, I was really looking forward to today's event. It was a fine occasion and the originality of the authors was quite astounding.

The standard of the authors is so high that the Harlow Writer's Workshop has won an award for the Best Group Anthology in the country. I have to say it was a lovely way to spend an afternoon and to forget about politics for a few hours. Another example of why Harlow is such an excellent place for good culture - even if it doesn't yet have a bookshop

by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com