Campaigners Meet Education Chiefs

8.20.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 18th Jul 2008

Councillors, campaigners and a Norfolk MP will be discussing concerns raised with them by headteachers earlier this year at a meeting with officers of Norfolk County Council Childrens Services on Monday.

The headteachers' concerns were put forward in response to a survey conducted by the Liberal Democrats earlier this year. 166 Norfolk headteachers took part in the survey which revealed:

• More than six out of ten headteachers have concerns over Norfolk Children's Services

• One in three Heads describe the Special Educational Needs service in Norfolk as poor or very poor. Eight out of ten Headteachers experience delays over the preparation and completion of pupil statements, with three out of ten reporting frequent delays.

• Three out of ten headteachers say that their school's finances are not in good shape.

Those attending Monday's meeting include: Norman Lamb, MP for North Norfolk ;Simon Wright, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesman for Norwich South ;April Pond, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesman for Broadland; Cllr Paul Morse, Leader of the Liberal Democrat group at Norfolk County Council; Cllr Mervyn Scutter, Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson at Norfolk County Council

Simon Wright, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesman for Norwich South, published the results of the survey in April. Mr Wright said:

"I'm very pleased that Childrens Services are responding to our survey by meeting with us. Norfolk's headteachers raised some significant concerns which need investigation. An overwhelming majority of Norfolk heads reported delays over the preparation of statements for those children with special educational needs. Many children are simply not getting the support they need quickly enough. Schools also reported delays with the Schools Advisory Service."

"We aim at this meeting to get some answers on these concerns, and also to raise other current issues that are causing problems for schools such as the SATS testing fiasco."

"This has been a difficult year for many schools in Norfolk, but we must make sure that all children in the county have the best possible opportunity to succeed."