As new MPs take up their roles, I would like to urge people not to forget the children and young people of the area.

Education cuts have become increasingly damaging across the country; they are already affecting our children and grandchildren.

There is a website where everyone can look up any school in the country and find out the effects of the funding plans - www.schoolcuts. org.uk.

The message for parents – and students – is that heads and governors are facing record costs and rising pupil numbers.

The new funding formula is not really the issue - it is the size of the cake that is the problem, not how it is divided.

We are already seeing an unprecedented number of redundancies and restructures across the county. Whether it is through teachers retiring early, support staff reducing their hours or subjects no longer being offered, children will feel the effects of cuts in their classrooms in September.

ATL, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, is asking all parents, grandparents and students themselves to email their MP and to ask them to commit to resisting further cuts – 93 per cent of schools will have per-pupil funding cuts by 2022.

We think that there should be full and fair funding for all schools and all students – of whatever ability and wherever they live.

We also ask for enough teachers and support staff, properly trained and properly paid, and enough school places where they are needed to avoid long and stressful journeys, especially for younger pupils in rural areas.

Finally, we are asking for local communities to demand a full and relevant curriculum that meets the needs of all their young people, particularly in the post-16 and FE areas, and not just the increasingly narrow academic curriculum that too many schools are being limited to. There are increasing mental health issues for both staff and students.

Education is too important to be forgotten now the voting’s done. For the sake of our children and grandchildren, may I urge everyone to take five minutes to look at the website www.schoolcuts.org.uk and see how their local schools will be affected.

Clare Kellett, Branch Secretary, ATL Somerset.