On Wednesday Parliament prorogued ahead of the State Opening of Parliament, which is scheduled for 13th May. The formal prorogation involves the use of Norman French, just a few hours after we had all heard the King's comments in the USA about speaking French, I allowed myself a wry smile. But languages have very much been on the agenda in Parliament this week, with an event hosted by Duolingo, following a challenge where MPs had been encouraged to improve their language skills. I have renewed my French studies with vigour.
There was also a meeting hosted by Tessa Dunlop, the Historian, who is campaigning for a Romanian GCSE to be included by the exam boards. She makes the fair point that Romanian is one of the most commonly spoken languages and there are a huge number of Romanian young people in the UK who may well benefit. I have been contacted by a number of Romanian's living here, who have pointed out the very real need in the UK for us to improve our languages, and I know it is not just a benefit when on holiday. I bitterly regret my decision not to continue French to A Level when I was 16, but I might yet get there.
At the start of the week the broadcaster Nick Ferrari hosted a round table for MPs with young people with SEND and their parents, specifically about the challenges they have all faced with school places, access to speech and language therapists, and the impact being out of school for long periods has had on them. Every MP will concur that the increase in demand for EHCPs, special school places, support outside of school has grown significantly over the last few years. It is a challenge for both the Government and Local Education Authorities and it is unclear whether the Government's proposed reforms will have the impact that Ministers assure us they will.
With Parliament prorogued I am very much looking forward to being back in the constituency full time for the next fortnight. Last week I was at Awbridge School for and Q&A session with Conifer Class and next week I am at Wellow Primary. I love school visits, and have to pay tribute to the quality of the questions at Awbridge, even if we did have a long discussion about cocker spaniels!