Here's the latest Argus column by Torfaen MP Nick Thomas-Symonds:

IT IS always good to see children starting a new year at school, or even a new stage of their education altogether, but it’s particularly significant this year after the disruption caused by the coronavirus crisis.

So, as schools start back, I’d like to wish our pupils and students all the best.

This year hasn’t been easy, so I hope a return to school is a positive thing for our young people, helping them learn and mix with their friends.

Thank you to the teachers and school staff who have worked so hard to get schools back ready for a safe return.

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As a local parent myself, I have seen the dedication of school staff helping pupils through an uncertain time, so I’d like to thank them personally for all they’ve done.

During the summer, it is always good to take the time to catch up with people who work hard in our community.

With many of the usual public events unfortunately cancelled, this has often been done remotely this year, but our community spirit in Torfaen has only grown stronger during the pandemic.

It was a pleasure to see Pastor John of Noddfa Church in Abersychan receive a thoroughly-deserved award from the High Sheriff of Gwent for services to the community.

Along with volunteers, John has helped the Church run a food bank during lockdown, building on the incredible work they’ve done to support local people over the past six years.

Thank you to all those in local churches and community groups who give up their time to help others.

I was also able to pay a visit to Plas-y-Garn Care Home this August, to deliver masks and visors made by workers at Ford in Bridgend and donated by our local Unite the Union branch to the home.

The visit – albeit in the car park for safety reasons - also gave me a chance to say thank you to the care workers for all they’ve done during the pandemic.

In another event impacted by the Covid-19 restrictions, I attended the commemoration service for the 75th anniversary of VJ Day and the end of the Second World War in the Far East.

For safety reasons, the event was not attended by the public as it would usually be, but thank you to the Royal British Legion for helping organise the tribute, and to Torfaen Council and Pontypool Community Council for sending representatives.

The moving words of the Kohima Epitaph are “When You Go Home, Tell Them of Us and Say, For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today.”

Those seemed fitting words as we remembered the sacrifice of previous generations, who gave so much for a better future.