Andrew has backed plans for guaranteed catch-up support and one-to-one tuition for children falling behind in the 3Rs and stronger discipline through tough home-school agreements. The measures are part of the Labour government’s Children, Schools and Families Bill, which Andrew voted to support last night but was opposed by Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs.

A series of new ‘guarantees’ to pupils and parents include:

o        catch-up support in the 3Rs for pupils falling behind in English and maths, including one-to-one tuition;

o        online information for parents on their child’s behaviour, progress and attainment;

o        the right to learn triple sciences at GCSE;

o        and the opportunity for every primary pupil to learn a musical instrument .

Andrew said:

“Schools in Denton and Reddish have been transformed over the last twelve years. Exam results are up, there are more teachers and teaching assistants and school buildings have been revamped.

“But we now need to go even further with a new ‘3Rs guarantee’ of catch-up support, including one-to-one tuition, for children in primary school and in the first year of secondary school who are falling behind in English and maths.

“Parents also tell me they want their children to learn in an orderly school where discipline is tough and the bad behaviour of a few, which disrupts the learning of the rest of the class, is not tolerated. So I support plans for tougher home-school agreements, with all pupils and parents accepting the school’s rules when they apply for a school place – and clear consequences if they are broken.

“That’s why this week I’ve supported the government’s Schools Bill, which passed through Parliament despite David Cameron’s Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats voting against it.

“We can only keep school standards rising and support the aspirations of all young people in our area by continuing to invest in our schools. And while Labour has guaranteed real terms rises in funding for schools for the next three years, the Tories would make immediate cuts to local schools if they win the election this year.

“That’s because they have decided to prioritise an inheritance tax cut, which would give £200,000 to the 3,000 richest estates, instead of frontline services like schools and families which thousands of families in our area rely on. This will mean fewer teachers, fewer teaching assistants and bigger class sizes, which is the last thing I want to happen to our local schools.”