Money, Money, Money

There can be few things more rewarding than giving money away, and this week I have had the privilege of giving away £5,000, in the form of five separate £1,000 cheques to each of the five schools in my division.

On being granted the money for allocation, at the end of last year, the choice of where to spend it was not a difficult one. As the former Chair of Somerset Schools’ Forum I am all too aware of the impact that reduced funding levels, over several years, has had on the ability of our local schools to deliver excellent teaching and learning with diminishing resources, and with a much higher level of responsibility.

Although I have no children of my own, sadly, as a long term governor of two Somerset Schools my involvement with young people has been significant. Through my own experience I am conscious of the effects that decisions about how we educate our children can have on their future development and achievement, and also the long-term repercussions that can result if we get it wrong. With the added complication of financial hardship, both within family units and at local government level, we also need to take into account the social issues facing us, with family breakdown now becoming the norm rather than the exception it was when I was growing up.

Anything that can be done to support schools in developing the knowledge and skills of our youngsters, particularly in a wider community context, can only be of benefit to us all. 

So, this week I have contributed my share of taxpayers’ money to a variety of schemes under the constraints of the Health & Wellbeing banner. Some of the money went towards the purchase of a greenhouse, so that pupils can grow their own vegetables. I can only hope that someone will show them how to cook them! Other schools in the Ilminster area have chosen to re-vamp their play areas, to explore new ideas for teamwork, with the aid of additional equipment, including the purchase of blindfolds to enable pupils to better understand disability, and also to extend the Forest Schools ‘out of classroom’ curriculum.

In Somerset we are fortunate in that we are largely a rural community, but many children do not have regular access to play space that they can take ownership of, or the opportunity to grow, and sell, their own produce. In running local healthy eating workshops some time ago I was delighted to be able to demonstrate that if children are involved in the preparation of what they eat they are much more likely to make sensible choices and are less fussy about what they consume. I still think we see too much of the nanny state syndrome, instead of providing the right environment for learning and achievement, and then allowing our children to make the choices, and mistakes, that will hep them to develop into fully functioning adults. As I get older I’m certainly keen to encourage this.  After all, it will be their contributions that go towards paying my pension, provided the age for entitlement doesn’t keep increasing!