Swindon Advertiser Weekly Article - 13th March

This week has seen my proudest moment so far of being the MP for North Swindon. On Monday, it was confirmed that we had secured the funding for not one, but two brand new secondary schools here in Swindon - the first time two bids from the same town have been approved together. 

For my fellow North Swindon residents, this means that the proposed Great Western Academy will be built in the Northern Sector, and will aim to open for 2017 in order to meet the growing demand for secondary school places.

This decision is the culmination of years of hard work by myself, New College, Swindon Borough Council, local councillors, and of course the local residents across the Northern Sector who supported our campaign. 

It was back in 2013 when I originally persuaded New College to step forward and put in a bid to run  a secondary school in the Northern Sector. As one of the fastest growing towns in the Country, we have been very successful in providing additional primary school provision to match the development of new homes. But it became clear that the growing number of families in the Northern Sector would soon require more secondary school places as well. 

That’s why we saw the problem on the horizon and acted swiftly to build a strong bid and apply for Government funding. I have worked tirelessly alongside New College principle Graham Taylor, both in Swindon and in Parliament to make absolutely certain that the bid was successful. Having personally lobbied the Secretary of State for Education to emphasise the importance of the Great Western Academy, it was a huge sense of relief to hear the fantastic news. 

And now the real work starts as New College prepares to work alongside the Borough Council and the local community to find a suitable site and ensure that a fantastic syllabus is created in order to drive up standards. 

The Great Western Academy will appoint the best leaders and teachers in order to inspire young people, and will revolve around a thorough curriculum specialising in Maths, Business and IT, alongside the traditional subjects. Importantly, New College will work alongside the local community every step of the way, in order to give parents the ultimate say in what is best for their children. 

Again, I’d like to thank all of those who supported our campaign for a new secondary school for North Swindon. Without the support of local residents, this bid would have fallen at the first hurdle. Now we can start to create a truly world-class learning environment that Swindon and the local community deserves. 

As for me, I couldn’t be prouder of this great achievement for North Swindon.