Letter from Westminster

4:26pm Tuesday 18th March 2008

IT was a great honour to meet soldiers from the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment in Redditch on Friday.

The soldiers, freshly returned from service in Afghanistan, were at the fishing tackle manufacturer, Shakespeare's.

The event marked the gift of fishing tackle from the Redditch firm for our soldiers to use on their tours overseas.

It turns out that fishing is a popular pastime for soldiers relaxing from active duty. Thanks to a great suggestion by Keith Gasby, a Redditch Fishing Coach, the generosity of Paul Casey, MD of the Shakespeare Fishing Company and me being able to put the two together I think we have made the lives of our service men a little better in the field.

Our service personnel are brave and courageous - they are asked to do extraordinary things for their Country and they do it well.

This scheme was one way of saying thanks to them and I hope Redditch will go further and welcome a march through the town shortly.

Also on Friday, I went back to the school where I last taught, Haybridge High School, to celebrate the opening of the latest stage of a transformation that started in 1997.

Teachers at the school have always worked hard and got good results but now they have the buildings to match the ambitions they have for their students.

Amongst the new builds since I left, a new sixth form centre, sports complex, new admin buildings and a new faculty centre.

Record results in our schools isn't just about the way the curriculum is taught, not just about having more teachers, supported by more classroom assistants, not just about hard working students and supportive parents - it's about modern classrooms and new equipment - teachers having the hardware they need to do their job properly!

That's what I see every time I visit a school.

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