Tuesday, 21 February 2023

 James NEWBURY (Brighton) (14:27): (21) My constituency question is to the Premier, and I ask: when will the Premier personally intervene on the decision by many state schools, including in my community, to permanently cut school camps because of a lack of government funding? The start of the school year should be an exciting time for kids returning to school – a time to plan for a year of learning ahead, which should have included a school camp. As a Brighton parent recently described:

Children flourish during these school camps; its a time for team building, bonding, independence.

Yet many kids have started this year differently, learning that their camps have been cut. Students and families have been shocked by the news, with one saying:

The change, as has been advised to me by my son, as no advice has been given to us … from the school, is that teachers who go to a camp are paid extra for their out of hours work on camp.

Given what kids have gone through in recent years – and they have done it tough – the Premier needs to step in and make sure our schools are properly funded and kids can head back to camp.