David Laws MP Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in Southend (Southend Liberal Democrats)

Southend Liberal Democrats <info@southendlibdems.co.uk>

David Laws MP Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in Southend

June 16, 2009 9:00 AM

David Laws MP Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families came to Southend on Monday 15th June hosting a meeting with headteachers at the Blenheim CDC.

He was delighted to discuss with them their views on the current state of Education, particularly in Southend, before attending a public meeting to meet local residents, invited teachers and party members to talk about Liberal Democrat education policy nationally and other issues which may be raised.

Peter Welch, David Laws and Graham Longley In his meeting with the group of Headteachers, together with Southends two LibDem Parliamentary Candidates - Peter Welch (SW) and Cllr Graham Longley (RSE) the Heads, as one, expressed their concerns, specifically with the difficulties caused by the local Council over the settlement of the "single status" issue which had left them, in many cases, with a shortage of funds in their budgets to keep their schools going and had led to them having to make some staff redundant.

They felt that they were struggling to keep the levels of support in the classroom that they had previously maintained and felt that overall standards in the long run would be affected. They also discussed a range of topics with David who listened to them asked searching questions and commented on their positions.

Talking later to the assemble audience David explained Liberal Democrat policy and the proposed introduction of the Pupil Premium which would help break the link between social background and educational achievement by providing extra money to pupils from the most challenging backgrounds.

He further explained that Liberal Democrats would create a general diploma which would use GCSE's & A-levels as building blocks enabling pupils to mix quality vocational training and academic learning.