The most important thing for parents in this area is for their children to do well in school. I was proud to visit the head, teachers and pupils at Sacred Heart School today to celebrate their 50th anniversary. I met with a group of year 9 pupils to congratulate them on their hard work and the school's excellent results.
The Government is strongly committed to secondary education. Since 1997 the Government has more than doubled the investment in education in Southwark from 115 million in 1998 to 242 million in 2008.
I am delighted that the GCSE results for Camberwell and Peckham have improved from 29% of pupils in 1998 receiving grades A-C to 55% in 2008. I am also proud that over the past 10 years there has been a 300% increase of young people from the local area going on to further and higher education.
Young people from Camberwell and Peckham are going to play an important part of the success of this country in the future.