Matthew was delighted to take the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, on a surprise visit to Mill Hill County High School to see how local children are being taught in the classroom. The two MPs, accompanied by the Head, Geoffrey Thompson, sat in on a French class and a Personal Health and Social Development class. The popular local school has previously been congratulated for the high number of its pupils who gain good qualification results and for the number who go on to university.

Matthew took the opportunity of the Education Secretary's visit to correct a recent comment about school places in Barnet.

Matthew said: "The Council has a £55m programme for new primary and secondary school places. This includes facilitating new schools, such as Etz Chaim Free School in Mill Hill, and expanding schools such as The Orion Primary School in Colindale. There will be 1300 new* places during this financial year which will bring the total to 7,852 in the last 5 years."

Michael Gove was clearly impressed by what he saw. He described the school as a fantastic learning facility and complimented Geoffrey Thompson on being 'his kind of headteacher'. 

* New refers to all places at a school ie. every place at a new school when the school is full