Education 2010 (Croydon Liberal Democrats)

Croydon Liberal Democrats <yourviews@croydonlibdems.org.uk>

Croydon Liberal Democrat Manifesto 2010

Education

Schools: © D Sharon Pruitt

We pledge:

To fight for a fair start for every Croydon child
To work for more school places for Croydon's children, and, under a Liberal Democrat government, to provide proper funding and freedom
from micro-regulation for all state-funded schools
To protect the Sure Start Childrens' Centres, which support families in deprived areas by bringing together early education, childcare, heath and family support
To provide £23 million of Pupil Premium funding for Croydon's schools, based on the numbers of children from deprived homes at each school
To work with all of Croydon's schools to ensure that childrens' differing abilities and circumstances are recognised; this would include
adequate provision for children who have special or additional needs
To assess the quality of school meals in Croydon and promote high nutritional standards
To ensure that all children are given enough school time for sports

Croydon doesn't have enough school places; too many children have to go outside the borough and spend more time travelling, and Croydon children are much less likely to get a place in the local school of their choice. Meanwhile, Labour and the Tories in Croydon have been closing down existing local schools and replacing them with Academies that do not have to take local children - so there are even fewer places for local children.

The Labour and Conservative parties want to carry on strangling council-run schools, through underfunding and through imposing constant extra regulations and micro-management from Whitehall, whilst, at the same time, giving massive extra funding and freedom from Whitehall control to Academies.

The Tories want to cut back the Sure Start Childrens' Centres scheme, which provides vital support for deprived communities.

The Liberal Democrats recognise that good quality food and regular exercise improves childrens' health, fitness, levels of concentration and standards of behaviour.