The Chancellor and Education Secretary visit Wrotham School!

19 June 2025

It was an exciting morning at Wrotham School today – with a visit from Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and the Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson.

The Ministers and their teams from the Treasury and the Department for Education came to make a national announcement about new funding for a range of infrastructure projects across the country – including investment to rebuild hundreds of schools.

Wrotham School was chosen as the location for the announcement due to our own £49 million rebuilding project. These new buildings will be ready next year and will greatly benefit our pupils and staff.

The Ministers were given a tour of our construction site to see progress being made. They then met with a group of pupils from different year groups, who had the opportunity to put some questions directly to them. These included queries about the other schools the Ministers had visited, why they chose to come to Wrotham and what stage of education is their priority.

The Chancellor explained that her and her team are keen to visit different sorts of schools all around the country. The Education Secretary then explained how committed her and her colleagues are to ensuring all children, from all backgrounds, can access excellent education – and this includes making sure they have high quality buildings to learn in.

Headteacher Mike Cater was interviewed by both the BBC and a national newspaper, as well as featuring in footage for Department for Education’s social media channels. He spoke about the exciting building project and the importance of it, not just for the school, but for the wider community.

He said:

“We were delighted to welcome The Chancellor and the Education Secretary to Wrotham School today. It was an excellent opportunity for us to showcase the many benefits that our new building will bring to pupils, staff and our local community.

“While we already deliver excellent education, the new build will enhance this and enable us to broaden our curriculum – particularly in performing arts, with new dance studios and a theatre.

“This will be fantastic for pupils and staff, both now and in the future. It will provide much-needed new space, giving our young people the learning environment they need and deserve – as well as providing our wider community with some fantastic facilities.”

Four pupils were also interviewed by the BBC – Maisy, Cory, Olivia and Gideon. They were asked about their thoughts on the Ministers’ visit and the benefits that the new build will have for Wrotham pupils.

Maisy (Year 9) said: “I am really excited about the new dance studios as we’ve never been able to study dance here and now we will be able to. I thought the two Ministers seemed like really nice people and had good answers to all our questions!”

Cory (Year 10) added: “I thought it was really good and I was pleased to hear that the Government is getting more teachers and giving them pay rises!

Talking about the new build and attending the visit, Sheila Smith, Chair of Character Education Trust (of which Wrotham School is part), added:

“I’ve been involved in this project since the planning stages, so it is great to see it going up.

“Children deserve really good facilities to learn in – and this new build will provide specialist spaces that we just haven’t had before. Subjects like dance and drama increase confidence and help to build character – which is exactly what we stand for as a Trust.”

Staff and students were a credit to the school throughout the visit, showcasing the hard work that takes place every single day. Many thanks to everyone involved!

BBC Lunchtime News (more will follow this evening):

South East Today – Lunchtime News: 19/06/2025 – BBC iPlayer