downsmail.co.uk


School is best place for our children now


THE start of September means it’s back to school time.


For some teachers and pupils, this will be


the rst time they’ve stepped foot in a classroom since March. The rst few days of the new school year are always strange, but particularly so this year.


I know some parents are anxious about sending their children back to school. As someone with three kids going back, I completely understand those concerns. But the Chief Medical Officers of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales have all stressed that it is safe for children to return to schools. They point out there is now more risk to children from seasonal u than from Coronavirus.


In their joint statement, the Chief Medical


Officers also say that “school improves health, learning, socialisation and opportunities throughout the life course including employment”. Something which will sound like common sense to most of us. Schools are being asked to try and limit the contact between children and staff. There can be no “one size ts all” policy here. It’s likely that for younger children, the emphasis will be teaching in separate groups or “bubbles”, and for older children it will be on social distancing.


The guidance from the Department for Education trusts school leaders to understand the needs of their schools. This is absolutely


By Helen Whately MP for


Faversham and Mid-Kent


the right approach. We have hugely dedicated and professional teachers here in Kent and we should trust their judgement. I know KCC has been working hard to make it safe for kids to travel to school, so there will be extra buses with social distancing in place. In the last few weeks of the summer term, schools cautiously welcomed back some of their pupils – but only a few re-opened for all pupils because of concerns about coronavirus. Now things have changed. The prevalence of the virus is right down, and our NHS Test and Trace system is up and running . Back to school is going to be different but more important than ever. Education is too important for any more of it to be missed, and though huge efforts have been made to keep schooling going during lockdown, it’s not the same as being in the classroom.


Good luck to all our teachers and pupils as you start the new term.


Still time to make changes


ALREADY this has been the toughest year of most of our lives. Covid-19 has changed the lives of almost ev-


eryone. Alongside the deaths, isolation and un- employment, there were some positives such as the freshness of the air and resurgence of nature. Some of us hoped for a recovery from lock-


down that could bring a positive “new normal”. A recovery that, for example, eliminated the ap- palling air pollution in Upper Stone Street, the 12th most polluted street in the country. Many of us felt this could be an opportunity


for change. The ability to work from home, negating the need to travel, has been revolu- tionary for some. But wider than that was the re- alisation of what is essential in life. Maidstone’s esential workers, NHS staff, su- permarket staff, bin men, farm workers, delivery drivers and many others, have shown their worth, worth that most have never seen in their pay packets. Essential supplies, care and support for those who were shielding, essential services for the rest. There was, and still is, a real opportunity to make momentous changes, but it requires po- litical will and trust in the country’s leaders.


By Stuart Jeffrey Green Party spokesman


Firstly, a change of priority. A need to recog-


nise and invest in the jobs that are essential. No longer should these be low-paid jobs, they should be at the heart of our future. Secondly, support for those who need to find


new work, those staying at home to keep safe and those starting new careers. A universal basic income is being provided in other countries and gives a level of security that would see us all through these difficult times and into the future. Thirdly, tackling the problems that have exac-


erbated the viurs such as air pollution, poor hous- ing, inequalities and excess consumption. Finally, building strong communities and con- necting with the world around us. Communities came together, we looked out for our neighbours and clapped key workers loudly and proudly. There is still time for change. Stay safe.


Opinion


EW Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has good reason to remember Mid Kent MP Helen Whately. Back in 2010, she fought the normally reliable Lib Dem Kingston and Surbiton seat, denting his majority in the process. So impressed, or rather terried, was he by the formidable campaign waged by Mrs Whately, who was ve months pregnant at the time, a Lib Dem activist from the time tells me Sir Ed was on “red alert” of a potential catastrophe. It didn’t happen but in 2015 it did, when Tory James Berry snuck in, only to be snatched back again by Sir Ed two years later.


N I


WILL not embarrass the local gure who, enduring a stomach bug, used lengthy periods locked in the smallest room in the house to good purpose by boning up on Polish land reforms (1919) and East German history. Thankfully, when I call again he has just taken delivery of a takeaway pizza.


LIKE to settle in of an evening reading the newsletter of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. Among the many interesting articles relating to our prickly friends is the apparently “heated” debate over whether to use ash or a torch when photographing the creatures at night.


I


HO could not sympathise with Peter Francis, Maidstone editor of Kent Cricket Supporters' magazine? The pandemic, he said, introduced him to many new words “but when it comes to Tiktok, TenCent, Gen Z, AI, PPE and the rest I pour myself another G&T”.


W


West Ham professional footballer turned dance music DJ, who is hawking something or other. Maidstone chums of the 50-year-old remember him fondly as plain, old Dave Fisher.


I


ONSERVATIVE councillor and former British Airways pilot Val Springett has paid the strangest compliment to her Liberal Democrat oppo Clive English, estimable chairman of the planning committee. Referring to Cllr English’s unparalleled command of the council rule book, she says: “Clive could f**t his way out of a strong box.”


C


ASK news. Culpepper likes to wear a face covering bearing the family crest, but I understand the Liberal Democrat borough councillor and newt lover, Tony Harwood, fashions a green tasselled scarf around his lustrous brown locks on visits to the shops.


M Chin chin! 47


AM always delighted to hear from my old chum Dave D’Mello, the former


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