MP Rosie Cooper last week visited Ormskirk St Anne's Primary School to meet with its Head, Pupil Council and Young School Leaders.

Philip Bates has been in post for one year now and invited Rosie to come for a tour of the school and meet some of the children taking an active part in the school’s business.

As part of the 'Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy', Rosie's been visiting schools and delivering saplings for children to plant in their school grounds, with the children choosing a Hazel tree, which will grow to between 12 and 25 metres tall in time.

Mr Bates introduced Rosie to the six ‘Young School Leaders’ who have been democratically appointed to ‘look at the bigger picture’ and develop their leadership skills. They will be tasked with presenting their findings in the spring Governors meeting and will assist in the summer by speaking to the new Reception parents for the children starting in September.

This is one of many new initiatives and improvements brought in by Mr Bates since his appointment, following a challenging period for the school; his appointment has brought a new confidence to the school, and this - coupled with a relentless focus on school improvement - is reflected in the progress St Anne’s has made.

Next, MP Rosie met with the Pupil Council led by the Chair, Erin who introduced her fellow pupils and spoke about their recent fundraising, including raising almost £50 from the pumpkin carving competition, with the proceeds going to school projects decided by the Pupil Council. Funds are being saved to go towards bike shelters and defibrillators in the sports hall.

Finally, the Head and YSLs took Rosie on a quick tour of the school showing some of the brand new classrooms that have been built, and the conversion of the old staffroom into a multi-purpose library and IT suite, fully equipped with 34 laptops and 4k smartboard.

Said Rosie: “It was a pleasure to meet the wonderful children at St Anne's who showed such enthusiasm in school matters and were proud to give me a tour of their buildings.

“I’m delighted they have chosen to take part in the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy scheme joining four other schools across West Lancashire.

“I was also pleased to meet with Mr Bates for the first time since his appointment and hear about the steady progress the team at St Anne's are making in both curriculum and extra-curricular, with the school very much ready and looking forward to building for the future.”

Added Head Mr Bates: “Thanks to Rosie Cooper MP for visiting our school, meeting our pupils and kindly donating to us one of the trees.

“Through the Pupil Council and the Young School Leaders the children express a huge interest in matters not just in their learning but their environment, and the wider community, which is why they were very excited to meet Rosie and just last weekend took part in the Remembrance Day commemoration in Ormskirk.

“Rosie was very encouraging and understanding of the work we are doing here and the progress being made, and we look forward to continuing this journey.”

And the Young School Leaders said: “We decided as a group that we wanted to leave a legacy at the school and we’re told that the tree Rosie gave us could grow to 25 metres tall over the next fifty years so we can come back to see it when we’re older.”