As Shadow Schools Minister, Catherine addressed the Schools North East’s Academies in Newcastle on 25th January 2024, outlining Labour’s plans for education, including tackling persistent school absences. A copy of her speech is below. 

Thank you very much. 

It is wonderful to be here with you today in Gosforth Park. 

To talk about a subject we all share a passion for – 

ensuring the very best education for every child in the North East and the country – 

and to do so here in Newcastle North – a constituency I have represented in Parliament since 2010. 

I was born in Newcastle and went to school in the West End – at Sacred Heart. 

My state schools, and my education, gave me the confidence and the tools to

take on a leading role in a sixth form production of Guys and Dolls, 

compete in tennis and hockey tournaments, 

start a debating club, 

play the flute in the school orchestra,

go on to study history and politics at Edinburgh University, 

study to become an employment solicitor at Northumbria University,

and be elected to represent the area where I live, and that my children are growing up in, in Parliament. 

That’s the power of a great school and a great education, and I know it’s why we are all here today.

And why it is a pleasure to be here to speak to you about Labour’s vision for education.

I have been the Shadow Minister for Schools now for a few months.

I have always said one of my favourite things to do as a constituency MP is to visit schools. 

Sometimes I have to pinch myself that I now get to do it across the whole of England too.

The visits have changed, however.

The focus here in the constituency is on bringing Westminster to children.

Now my focus is on taking the opportunities and challenges of schools back to Westminster.

What we could improve in Government.

And that’s turning out to be an ever-growing list.

 Challenges

I know the scale of the challenges that schools are currently facing.

Teachers and school staff feeling exhausted and underappreciated,

faced with an outdated and ineffective inspection regime,

and teaching in school buildings that are too often falling apart.

Our children are some of the unhappiest in the world,

struggling with a narrow curriculum,

and learning in classrooms without friends who are a missing a day a fortnight.

Opportunities too few and far between for children on free school meals,

with attainment gaps widening,

and child poverty growing.

You would be forgiven for thinking that for the Conservative Government, education just isn’t a priority.

It hasn’t been for some time.

The commissioning of a Covid recovery plan that the-then Chancellor, now Prime Minister, decided there was no money to fund, somewhat gave the game away. 

Then came the out of the blue, back of an envelope, Advanced British Standard announcement, possibly to be delivered in ten years’ time.

The children and young people that experienced Covid, and now the cost of living crisis, will be long out of our education system by then.

It’s too little, too late.

There are real issues that children, families and schools are facing. 

And their last-minute ideas don’t come close to solving them. 

Under the fourteen years of decline that this Government have presided over, education doesn’t even have a seat at the table. 

Breaking down barriers to opportunity

It doesn’t have to be like this, and that’s why I’m here to set out Labour’s stall.

For the future that Keir Starmer, Bridget Phillipson and I would like to deliver for our children and schools.

And it’s quite simple.

Education is at the heart of our vision for Britain.

It’s one of our five key missions for Government.

Education will – once again – be a priority under the next Labour Government.

We promise our children that if you work hard, you’ll be able to get on in life, no matter your background.

In 2024, just like Labour did in 1997, we will work to make that a reality and ensure that education is at the centre of our national life once again.

And that will only happen with us working together.

With parents, carers, school staff, teachers, 

leaders, public services and the whole community, 

pulling in one direction to transform children’s lives.

 Partnerships in schools

I want to be clear from the outset that it will require a partnership approach.

Because none of the challenges currently faced can be addressed only by schools, by families, or by government.

That’s why we know we need to reset the relationship between government and the sector.

That’s also why, in Government, we would listen to and work with you, learning from best practice to improve standards across the board.

Working with all of you, I firmly believe we can deliver opportunity for all together – which is Labour’s mission in Government.

Persistent absence

One of the biggest challenges in our schools right now is persistent absence.

The Centre for Social Justice reported earlier this month that more than one in four parents think sending their children to school every day doesn’t matter.

Not just one in four adults.

One in four parents.

Something has been going so seriously wrong that so many parents don’t see the merit in their children being in the classroom.

Because across the autumn and spring terms last year, over one in five children were persistently absent.

More than double the number who were absent during the same term five years ago.

And all this while the Education Secretary claims that dealing with this problem is her number one priority.

A teacher recently described school to me currently as ‘joyless’. 

What a harrowing word.

To imagine a child’s most formative years, and a teacher’s most productive, as lacking in joy is nothing short of devastating. 

But the numbers speak for themselves. 

More teachers leaving the profession than joining it. 

More and more children missing from school. 

We need to have a long-term plan for this, not just sticking plasters.

We know that a sense of ‘joy’ doesn’t just come from having fun.

It’s something much more profound and fundamental. 

It comes from having a clear sense of purpose.

A sense of achievement – whether that be in maths or history, art or sport. 

It comes from the hand of friendship, and a sense of belonging to a community.

That’s why it’s so important that we rebuild trust between schools and families, so that going to school matters.

That a child’s absence doesn’t just affect their life chances, but those of the whole school community.

And we know that starts with rebuilding trust between Government and schools.

 Mental health

We can’t address persistent absence, without addressing the current crisis in mental health.

It is holding our children back, impacting on their ability to learn, as well as their health.

Yet the number of children waiting for support is continuously on the rise.

This epidemic is keeping them away from the classroom.

That’s why Labour would increase mental health support through funding dedicated counsellors in every secondary school and mental health hubs in every community.

Child poverty

We also recognise that the challenges that children face at home don’t stop at the school gates. And the extent of poverty in Britain today is appalling. 

The North East has seen the steepest rise in child poverty anywhere in the UK over the last seven years. 

Now almost 190,000 babies, children and young people in the North East live below the poverty line. 

Poverty that deeply impacts a child’s education and their life chances. 

And I know that there are dedicated people across our education system who go above and beyond every day for our children.

Those who don’t have books to read or pens to draw with,

Or sufficient food in their stomach to learn. 

Those who lack a secure home or face long waits for the support they need. 

Too often it is left to schools to plug these gaps. 

Of course, it is the Government’s role to break down those barriers, 

Yet it feels like their decisions are making those barriers higher and higher. 

Labour gets this. 

That’s why we will cut the cost of school uniforms. 

With new limits on the number of branded items, so uniforms make children smarter not families poorer.

It’s why we’ll deliver fully funded breakfast clubs in all of our primary schools. 

Working with you, to ensure that every child gets the start to their day and the start to their life that they all deserve.

It’s why the last Labour government was laser focused on tackling child poverty and it’s what the next Labour government would do again.

High and rising standards

Our priority will be delivering high and rising standards for every child, in every school.

That’s how we ensure every child is given the chance to thrive, to find joy in learning, and a sense of belonging in their school.

To access to the opportunities that flow from the best education available.

We want that for every child, in every community.

Changes to inspections

Inspection is important for identifying where school performance is strong and where there is still room to develop.

Single word judgments cannot properly capture the breadth of a child’s experience, or the life of a school.

That is why we will be working with leaders across the sector,

with parents and school communities,

to develop an alternative system of school report cards to replace headline Ofsted grades.

To truly capture a school’s journey,

driving high and rising standards in every school,

Empowering schools to know what they are doing well, and what they could do better,

and providing more information to parents so they can be confident about their child’s education.

School improvement

I know from the conversations I have had with teachers and school staff that you want to see better professional development and support.

So that’s what a Labour government would deliver.

Our plan for Regional School Improvement Teams would give schools an opportunity to share and learn from evidence-based practice,

bringing educators together to learn from each other’s expertise.

For teachers we’ll deliver an annual training entitlement, ensuring that you can access the ongoing professional development to enable you to help our children succeed.

And for school leaders, we would bring in a new mentoring framework to support them in the first years of their role.

The future of our school system depends on confident school leaders, who feel supported to deliver the best education for children. 

Who want to take on a challenge and feel supported to do so.

We need to ensure a system that recognises the challenges and advantages within each school community and is realistic about what that means for delivery in a school. 

We want to incentivise improvement, not discourage even stepping up.

Curriculum and assessment review

The Government often likes to talk about its PISA rankings, particularly those published in December.

Yet whilst the Government boasts that the performance of schools in England on maths and reading has declined slightly less than those in other countries, 

they ignore the alarming findings on the wellbeing of our young people.

Life satisfaction scores of UK students have fallen through the floor over the last few years.

The UK now has the second lowest average life satisfaction of 15-year-olds in the OECD.

We know the challenge of delivering a narrow curriculum for schools.

We see the opportunities for music, art, sport or drama often pinched.

Opportunities for discussion and debate few and far between. 

The things that keep children – and teachers – inspired, too often squeezed.

I know I couldn’t have achieved as I did at school without the sport I played. 

It got me up in the morning and kept me late in school.

We hear time and time again that the current curriculum is narrowing our children’s experiences and opportunities.

That’s why a Labour Government will make it a priority to consult on the curriculum, and look at how we make it richer and broader, 

whilst delivering an even stronger foundation in reading, writing and maths.

Equipping the next generation not just with knowledge, 

but with the latest digital, speaking and listening skills to thrive into the future.

We will also look at assessment, and how we test the wide range of skills and abilities our children will need to succeed.

Tinkering around the edges, such as a ten year plan for what is now widespread referred to as ‘Advanced BS’ will not do.

Rather than just landing something from Whitehall, 

this will be a carefully considered, expert-led review into the Curriculum,

listening to those on the frontline,

undertaken in collaboration with the sector,

allowing time for schools, teachers, parents and students to contribute and to plan ahead.

Breakfast clubs

We have also been clear about our commitment to introduce free breakfast clubs in every primary school in England.

To help ensure that every morning begins with children in on time and ready to learn.

As it’s as much about the club as it is about the breakfast.

Government is about priorities, and we will choose to fund this rather than some of the current tax breaks for the super-rich who benefit from having non domiciled status.

As well as giving every child a healthy breakfast, it will also provide opportunities to play and socialise, 

supporting their emotional wellbeing and making life easier, 

and putting money back into the pockets of working parents.

Breakfast clubs are proven to improve learning and development, behaviour and attendance.

They will help to deliver Labour’s plans for excellence in all of our schools.

 Workforce

I also want to talk about the workforce in our schools, as I know this is also a priority for you.

I’m going to be blunt when I say that teachers, school leaders and support staff have been let down badly by the current Government.

We have a staffing crisis in our schools, with turnover higher than before the pandemic,

And with no real plan to deal with the conditions – leading to more teachers leaving the profession than joining it. 

The message is loud and clear: teachers feel overworked, overstretched and undervalued.

Teaching should be a profession which is respected and valued as the skilled job that it is with career long support in place to develop at every level.

It’s obvious that having the best teachers in our schools will deliver the best life chances for our young people.

That’s why we will address this issue head on.

By ending the tax exemptions that private schools enjoy, with that money, we will recruit over 6,500 new teachers to fill the gaps across the profession.

And as well as giving teachers the chance to reflect and learn from best practice, 

we will also review bursaries and incentive payments to ensure that the money is being spent where it is most effective. 

We need to attract the best and hold onto the best. 

Teaching should be a profession that people want to join and want to stay in. 

This is mission critical.

Support staff

And it extends to our school support staff too, who play such a crucial role in school communities.

But too many are leaving our schools to work in supermarkets,

Where pay and conditions are often better.

Their hearts still lie in school, wanting to help the next generation be the best they can be.

Labour will reintroduce a School Support Staff Negotiating Body, to ensure a proper voice for the staff who power our schools, 

bringing consistency to terms and conditions, 

with representatives across the sector – from trade unions, local government employers, schools and academies.

 Conclusion

I hope the message you take away from today is Labour’s commitment to bringing education back to the centre of our national life again.

It’s what Labour did in 1997 – I’m sure you all remember “education, education, education”. 

It’s what Labour Governments do.

It’s what our country demands of us in 2024.

It’s what children, families and our school communities deserve.

 The theme of this conference has been about the role that you – as leaders in your schools – can play in our education system.

We know that you are ambitious for your children and your schools.

You deserve a Government that meets that ambition.

Not just for some of our children, and some of our schools, but for all of our children in every school.

Keir, Bridget and I want to work with you to match that ambition – especially here in the North East.

I hope when the General Election finally comes that we get that opportunity to reset the relationship between Government and schools so we can get on with the job of delivering that change together.

Thank you.