Kearney and Clegg in Thame to back local schools

7.38.39pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 23rd Jun 2008

Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg rejoined Stephen Kearney in Henley today. Stephen and Nick visited Barley Hill Primary School in Thame for a briefing with the headteacher, then chatted and played with the children in the breakfast club.

In a recent key note speech in London, Party Leader Nick Clegg set out plans to give schools greater freedoms, allowing them to tailor education to the needs of their pupils. They include:

• Scrapping mandatory national tests for seven and 14 year olds, with the money saved put into early assessment at age five and a huge expansion of one-to-one reading and numeracy tuition.

• Abolishing the overly prescriptive national curriculum and replacing it with a shorter document, and allowing all schools the curriculum freedoms currently enjoyed by Academies.

• Taking the politics out of the day-to-day management of schools by establishing an independent Education Standards Authority and slashing the size of the central government department by half.

• Changing targets so that schools are incentivised to address the needs of all pupils, not just those 'borderline' pupils.

Many schools in rural areas, including South Oxfordshire, are losing out because of a Government funding formula that does not take proper account of their needs.

"Local schools are doing a great job of using their resources to provide an excellent education for local children. They have a lot to be proud of," said Lib Dem Campaigner Stephen Kearney.

"However the current Government formula does not take full account of the needs of schools in rural areas and I will be campaigning for a fair deal for our local schools."