Education – Page 11 – Saddleworth Liberal Democrats

21Jan 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Government must invest to demonstrate it values teachers

Responding to the Government’s evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body on teachers’ pay for 2020, Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Layla Moran MP said: “The evidence published today reveals a catalogue of problems in recruiting teachers, with targets missed time and again. Meantime, one in five teachers are now leaving the job within just two years while retention problems are clearly far worse in more deprived schools, making it even harder for those schools to improve. “Tory Ministers should be offering a more generous pay package to teachers to stem the tide. Instead, the 2.5% pay rise proposed for our most experienced teachers is well below average wage growth. Worse still, this Government are not offering schools the extra money needed to cover the increase in teachers’ starting salaries, meaning schools are being forced…

16Oct 2019 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Liberal Democrat idea to reduce air pollution around schools

Borough news

Councillor Howard Sykes MBE asks for special restrictions to be placed on vehicles waiting outside of schools. This is to reduce air pollution. Restrictions apply at peak times in other parts of the UK to reduce air pollution in problem areas. Councillor Sykes wants to trial this locally for Oldham Schools. This could successfully reduce traffic and encourage more families to walk and cycle to school. The Greater Manchester Clean Air plan is unclear when it comes to its school’s policy and the Liberal Democrats want Oldham to lead the way. In the current version of the Greater Manchester Clean Air plan, the only mention of schools is a couple of sentences saying Greater Manchester Combined Authority should find ways to help people use their cars less. There is no…

28Jan 2019 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Lib Dems: Culture in our schools system is toxic

Parliamentary news

Responding to the Department for Education’s Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy that was published this morning, Liberal Democrat Education spokesperson Layla Moran said: “Although any changes that improve the learning environment for children and working conditions for teachers are to be welcomed, we won’t see any fundamental changes in schools under this government. “For years teachers have faced real terms cuts, feeling undervalued and overworked whilst battling funding cuts and swelling class sizes. The problems that we see in our education system won’t go away until the government reverse these cuts and invest properly in the education of our future generations. “The culture that exists, of endless testing, Ofsted and league tables needs to be abolished – it’s toxic and we must instead focus on pupil and teacher well-being.”

02Sep 2018 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Labour is still letting down our school leavers

Borough news

Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group and Leader of the Opposition on Oldham Council, has praised the efforts of our Borough’s young people in achieving their GCSE’s this year, but he has also expressed his disappointment that once more they continue to be let down, and let down by the failings of the Labour Council, which is the Local Education Authority (LEA). Councillor Sykes said: “Congratulations to those students who have passed their GCSEs this year, and achieved or exceeded their academic goals. This achievement is down to your hard work and dedication. Let us hope that you go on to greater success in higher education and the world of work. But I am disappointed that the local results show that Oldham Council continues to let…

16Jul 2018 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Lib Dems call to address mental ill health in schools

Borough news, Campaigns

Liberal Democrat Councillor for Saddleworth North Garth Harkness proposed a motion to Oldham Council on Wednesday 11 July addressing issues around young people’s mental ill health, seconded by Shadow cabinet member for education and Shaw Councillor, Hazel Gloster Councillor Garth Harkness has been working with MIND to improve mental health understanding in Saddleworth along with financing mental health courses for residents in Saddleworth and young people of the Saddeworth youth committee to increase awareness, identify warning signs and promote self-resilience. Councillor Garth Harkness said: “I have been working on mental health in my own school around mental health strategy and policy. The problem is huge all staff need training, there needs to be mental health first aiders in schools with clear guidelines for staff and a designated mental health lead…

28Apr 2018 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Let no primary school child go hungry, say Liberal Democrats

Borough news, Campaigns

The Leader of the Opposition and of the Oldham Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has contrasted the recent attempt by the Conservative Government to curtail the entitlement to free school meals from children from the country’s poorest families to his own party’s policy. Councillor Sykes said: “The Conservatives seem to be on their own in wanting to change the rules to prevent children from households receiving Universal Credit from getting a free hot meal at school every day. This would hit Oldham especially hard as Oldham Borough has the single greatest number of Universal Credit recipients in the UK. Many of these will be parents with children and, as I highlighted in a question to the Council leader at our last full Council meeting (28 March), Oldham features…

16Mar 2018 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Oldham Liberal Democrats call for ban on new hot food takeaways near schools to help curb childhood obesity

Borough news, Campaigns

Crompton Liberal Democrat Councillor Diane Williamson will be proposing a motion to the next full meeting of Oldham Council (Wednesday 28 March) calling for Oldham Council to prohibit new hot food takeaways within 400 metres of schools and is appealing to the Borough’s schools to apply a ‘stay-on-site’ policy at lunchtimes and ban takeaway deliveries to school gates. In October 2017, the medical journal, The Lancet, reported that one in every ten young people, aged 5 to 19, in the UK was classed as obese. In Oldham, the situation is even worse. The Public Health England profile for the Borough, published July 2017, reported that one in five, 21.9%, of children at Year 6 were classed as obese. Commenting, Councillor Williamson said: “Childhood obesity has risen to epic proportions…

31May 2017 by Saddleworth Lib Dems

There would be more nurses, teachers and Police in Oldham area under Liberal Democrats

Parliamentary news

The Liberal Democrats plan for a brighter future, with pledges to reverse Conservative cuts and increase funding for the NHS, schools and police. The Liberal Democrats would put a penny on income tax for health and care would raise £18m for the NHS in Oldham enough to fund 107 more nurses and £7m for social care. An additional £36.37m of funding for schools in Oldham paid for in part by reversing Conservative cuts to corporation tax, would be enough to pay for 200 more teachers. Meanwhile an additional £15.6m funding for Greater Manchester Police would pay for 312 more officers, helping to cut crime and ensure a stronger police presence in the area. Other key policies in the Liberal Democrat manifesto include plans for a £100bn infrastructure fund to build more homes, improve road and rail links and install fibre-optic…

19May 2017 by Saddleworth Lib Dems

Tories lunch grab of children in Oldham

Parliamentary news

Conservative plans will take lunches away from 7,766 children in the Oldham borough 7,766 schoolchildren in the Oldham borough will lose out on free lunches, under plans announced in the Conservative manifesto. Free school lunches for pupils from reception to Year 2 were introduced by the Liberal Democrats in government, but Theresa May now plans to scrap them. The changes would cost families an average extra £480 a year for every child. The Liberal Democrats have called on Conservative candidates Kashif Ali and Christopher Glenny to make it clear whether or not they would vote for the plans. The Conservatives are also proposing to make older people pay for social care costs from the value of their own homes when they die. This means on average, families across Greater Manchester…

Tag: Education