Summer school students were a credit to Bassetlaw

Taking part were 48 students from six schools across Bassetlaw.

The students had the opportunity to learn from top professionals, explore exemplar businesses and raise their aspirations.

The week started with a visit to EDF’s West Burton Power Station.

As a vital employer in Bassetlaw, the students got to tour the plant which is an important part of our community.

On Tuesday, we were hosted by John Bercow MP, the Speaker of the House of Commons, who spoke to the students about his role in Parliament.

Afterwards, we were hosted by the Indian High Commission for lunch and a talk about Indian culture.

We visited the headquarters of Facebook and Barclays on Wednesday before dinner on the South Bank.

On Thursday, we visited the headquarters of Pentland Group plc in North London who house world famous brands such as Kickers, Speedo and Berghaus.

The students learnt about the importance of the changing business environment and how to market quality products.

I’m extremely grateful for all those who helped educate and inspire these pupils.

We visited various institutions who are leaders in the field of law, politics, economics and marketing.

I was so impressed with the class of 2019, who were so enthusiastic, excited and motivated.

They were superb representatives of their schools and Bassetlaw.

I hope that they enjoyed and valued this experience as much as I did and took from it the pivotal message that they should always be ambitious and use every opportunity given to them.

This week in Parliament, Sir Ranulph Fiennes gave a talk about illegal trophy hunting.

This is a cause that I have campaigned against in my time in Parliament and it is brilliant to have such a high-profile figure to support it.

Animals should not be hunted for commercial purposes and I am glad people support this cause.