Last week, I was absolutely delighted to be asked to take up a new frontbench role for the Liberal Democrats as our Schools Spokesperson.

Education is the best investment we can make in our children, and that means ensuring every child leaves school with the life skills, confidence, and resilience they need to be happy, healthy, and successful, whatever path they choose.

And that includes all children, especially those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) who have been so badly let down by a broken system. Having met dozens of families affected by this, and sat on the Education Select Committee since my election, I am keenly aware of just how broken our SEND system is.

In September, after completing a lengthy inquiry that included seven oral evidence sessions and over 850 pieces of written evidence, the Committee published its long-awaited report on the state of SEND services.

The findings were damning. Every part of the system, whether it is the lack of education psychologists, or an absence of teacher SEND training, is at breaking point.

The Liberal Democrats welcomed the Government finally recognising the scale of the crisis when they promised to enact reforms this autumn and I look forward to fully scrutinising their proposals.

But there is much more to schools than the SEND crisis.

There are several big announcements on the horizon with the curriculum review, school accountability reforms and the schools white paper, all due out. So I’m pleased that our party has boosted its education and families team with this extra role so we can give all government proposals the scrutiny they need.

I also want to use this position to highlight the role education plays in showing children how much they are worth and the potential they have – not just academically but in a holistic sense too – as well as highlighting the work we can do to protect them from online harms.

Shortly after my election, I was proud to co-sponsor the Safer Phones Bill, which, if passed, would have banned smartphones from schools. While the bill got heavily watered down, its introduction did spark a debate about the safety of smartphones and social media for children and young people. That debate gets louder and louder and I believe we must act in the best interests of our children’s safety and mental health.

Mounting evidence is showing the negative effects exposure to an unsafe online world is having on children. Parents, teachers, and even young people themselves, are crying out for action.

That is why the Liberal Democrats have called on the government to bring UK data law into line with many other European countries, by raising the minimum age a user must be before an internet company can collect, process, and store their data without parental consent to 16.

This is only a snapshot of what the role will cover. There is so much more to unpack, but for now, I want to say how much I am looking forward to working with, and listening to, school leaders, teachers, parents, and pupils here in South Devon and across the country to make education is the gift that truly lasts a lifetime.