NEW Buckinghamshire schools' chief Marion Clayton has promised to carry on the work of her predecessor Mike Appleyard in improving schools in High Wycombe.

She intends to meet the town's Labour county councillors next week to talk about her plans.

"I don't want anything my predecessor did to be let slip," Cllr Clayton told the Free Press.

On Thursday, when the new Buckinghamshire County Council met for the first time, Labour group leader Trevor Fowler seized his chance to get in a plea for High Wycombe schools.

"A tremendous amount of work has been done and I want an assurance that the new portfolio holder will be giving this as much attention as the former one," he said.

This week Cllr Clayton said: "I hope I can assure Trevor that I won't be letting it slip. I know problems have to be tackled."

All five members of the Labour group on the county council represent High Wycombe divisions and are worried the schools' focus will shift away from the town, under a new Tory cabinet member who represents Wendover and takes on the job with no track record.

Cllr Fowler said: "We cannot help but be concerned over the prospects."

He said Hatters Lane Upper School in High Wycombe (which becomes Highcrest Community School next term) had been given money under the Government's Fresh Start scheme, but would need long term help to succeed.

"Highcrest should be on her list of priorities," he said.

Labour councillor Clare Martens said Hatters Lane could not succeed unless the primary schools serving it were helped.

She said they were in the two most deprived wards in the county, Marsh and Micklefield, and Keep Hill and Hicks Farm, where there was a tradition of unemployment, single parents, under-achievement and ethnic minority families. In many schools 40 per cent of the children had special needs.

Children started school unable to communicate properly, to hold a pencil or to do up their shoes and teachers had to work hard just to catch up, she said.

"Cllr Appleyard was very committed to education. He got to understand the difficulties. Mrs Clayton must get an understanding and keep up the momentum, " she said.

Cllr Appleyard set up the Wycombe Commission to examine all the schools in east Wycombe in the light of the poor record at Hatters Lane and falling pupil numbers.

The commission recommended closing three schools and creating four combined schools.