THIS week, Buckingham MP Greg Smith writes exclusively to Bucks Free Press readers:

I write this month’s column, in the second week of September 2020, on the train on Wednesday morning heading into Westminster.

It is great to see, after so many months of virtually having the train to myself, people back on board – heading into the office and pupils heading to school.

Indeed nothing will have a greater effect on the life chances of our children than getting back to learning, back to playing and back to being kids again.

Thanks to an enormous amount of hard work over the summer months by our teachers and school staff, it has been wonderful to see the school run back in full swing each morning, with children returning to the classroom – many for the first time since March.

In terms of schooling, I know some parents had concerns about sending their children back to school.

The international Covid pandemic has frightened everyone.

But all four of the UK’s chief medical officers backed the full return of pupils to school, highlighting that as the risk of contracting coronavirus in school is very small, I really believe that it is far more damaging for a child’s development, health and wellbeing to be away from school any longer.

Indeed, this really isn’t just about learning (massively important as that is) but protecting all our children from a mental health crisis, for they have already suffered so much from being unable to play, socialise and interact with other children for so long.

All our local schools have put additional safeguards in place to ensure both teachers and staff are kept as safe as possible.

These measures include primary children staying in groups to reduce the risk of spreading the virus, strict hygiene and cleaning protocols being put in place, and PPE is being distributed to every school, along with a small number of home testing kits for anyone who develops symptoms and is not able to get tested easily.

So with a huge thank you to our teachers and educational professionals, let’s celebrate schools being back – and wish all children well in their learning and development this academic year.