MP for South West Herts Visits CDS

On 30^th April we were delighted to welcome Gagan Mohindra, Member of Parliament for South-West Hertfordshire, to Croxley Danes School. The development of Croxley Danes had been supported and followed with interest from its inception by his colleague, Richard Harrington, who had been MP for Watford until he stepped down in 2019. Mr Mohindra had been scheduled to visit the new school but unfortunately, with COVID restrictions, his visit had to be postponed until it could be made safely. In the meantime, ten members of the school's Journalist Club wrote him letters during lockdown, sharing their views on the government's response to the pandemic, the impact of restrictions on the lives of students, the experience of remote working, and their opinions on the government's plans for 'catch-up' classes in the summer holidays. Students were delighted to receive individual responses written by Mr Mohindra himself and they had the opportunity to ask follow-up questions face-to-face on the day of his visit. One remarkable fact that the students learned was that Mr Mohindra was dyslexic, only being diagnosed as an adult. He shared that writing had always been a challenge for him and he apologised for any mistakes students might find in his written work - though there were none!

It was a delight to welcome him to our school. Mrs Broadis, who runs the Journalism Club, remarked, "It was wonderful to see the students' writing have such purpose and meaning in this way. Gagan Mohindra had clearly spent a lot of time composing his responses to the students and it was great that there was this exchange of ideas both on paper and face-to-face." Yousuf, in Year 10, himself interested into going into public service, proposed a vote of thanks from the journalists before Mr Mohindra was shown around the school by Mr Thompson.