Chris Visits Local School with Floella Benjamin OBE

7.05.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 1st May 2009

On Thursday local Lib Dem campaigner Chris Nicholson and Floella Benjamin, (TV presenter, Chancellor of the University of Exeter and long-time advocate for children's causes) visited King's Avenue School.

Ten and eleven-year old pupils in Year 6 posed questions to the pair, and Chris and Floella talked to staff members about the challenges facing inner-city schools. King's Avenue School caters to many children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The issues raised by Year 6 included knife crime, housing, public transport and the need for youth centres.

Floella Benjamin is a member of the Liberal Democrats and has long been campaigning on children's issues. As a Vice President of Barnardo's, she is committed to fighting on behalf of all children, especially disadvantaged children.

Both Floella and Chris are passionate about the importance of good education for all. Chris himself is a parent of seven. Floella spoke about the gift of education as a tool to empower young people and about why she joined the Liberal Democrats. She said that

the Liberal Democrats engage with people and have the ideas to bring about the changes Britain needs.

"It was important for me to find out the everyday challenges facing teachers and pupils in Lambeth," says Chris. "I feel more strongly than ever that we need to cut class sizes and introduce funding targeted at children from poor backgrounds who, whilst bright, fall behind because they do not have the privileges that richer families can provide."

Liberal Democrat policies on education include cutting infant class sizes to 15, boosting one-to-one tuition and introducing a Pupil Premium that would close the performance gap between children from rich and poor families.