On Friday 16 June we welcomed our local MP, John Howell to the College. Mr Howell, a member of the Conservative Party, has been the MP for Henley since 2008. In addition to giving the opportunity for some of our pupils to meet him, one of the main purposes of the visit was for us to talk more about our role in the community and the links we have with other schools and children's clubs.
Mr Howell first met with the Headmaster and they discussed the College's plans for a new Multi-Activity Centre and Boathouse, Sixth Form Centre and the need for improved played fields provision. Mr Davies also spoke about how the College has supplied a maths teacher to a secondary school for one day a week this year, and how next academic year we are supporting another secondary school and a primary school with PE teachers.
The Headmaster comments 'We are very grateful to John for giving up his valuable time to visit us, I really enjoyed hearing more about what he does as an MP, particularly his role as the Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Nigeria. We also discussed the important role that Shiplake Parish Council has in the community.'
Mr Howell also met with Mr Andy Dix, Assistant Head Community Outreach who adds: 'It was lovely to have the opportunity to meet John Howell to talk about our mutually-beneficial links with local primary and secondary schools, the economic impact we have in the local community and the variety of fundraising projects we undertake for charities. We spoke about our level of bursary provision and about how we are the home of various clubs and groups such as the Henley Music School, Vikings Rowing Club, Shiplake Stars Netball Club and the Henley Triathlon Club. He offered further advice and we discussed other ideas that may be welcomed by members of our wider community.'
Mr Howell then met with seven current pupils, giving him the opportunity to ask them about what it's like to be a pupil here at Shiplake, and in return they asked him questions about his role as an MP and heard how he spends four days a week in London attending the Houses of Parliament, participating in debates and voting on legislation and other matters.
Jamie Gibbs, Year 12, spoke of his meeting with Mr Howell:
'The meeting began with John giving an intriguing account of how he got into Politics, what he does for the constituency of Henley and the various paths he has taken to get to where he is today. John explained how busy life can get, to what seemed to me a very arduous week! He has to take several trips to London and Henley during a week whilst trying to keep the locals happy and responding to the 1000+ emails he receives over a period of seven days.
Mr Howell was then willing to answer any questions which is where I thought of hot topics on the news at the moment. My first question was: 'Do you not believe that stamp duty on the price of housing is too much, causing a large decrease in the amount of houses being bought and sold today?'. I know this because my father is in the property industry and explains to me that houses over £1 million are almost impossible to sell due to the large amount of tax that taunts anyone wanting to sell. I argued that actually reducing the tax would give the government in the long term more revenue because more people will sell and thus the combination of more houses being sold and at still competitive prices, more money would flow in. Fortunately, John agreed with what I said whilst arguing that something had to be done to bring the tax down.
My second question was based on HS2 (High Speed 2). I am very anti this train as I have been at several conferences on it but most importantly one with Boris Johnson who has said his bit against the HS2 and why it is ridiculous. Boris's main arguments were the ever-growing large costs and how it is only 15 minutes quicker than the current train. I asked John on what he thought of it and he argued the train route was too short. He believes it should not just go from London to Birmingham, but to go all the way up to Edinburgh. However, I did believe this is a large goal for the government in the far future.
We finished off with a picture outside in the bright sun before we said our thanks and goodbye. I really enjoyed the discussion I had with John and listening to the other questions Shiplake pupils asked.'
Following the visit Mr Howell commented: 'It was a great pleasure to visit the College again, to speak with students, and to learn about their Outreach Programme. The programme makes a very positive contribution to the local community. I was impressed by what they are doing and congratulate all involved. I wish them every success going forward.'
