Belfast school to close doors early due to budget cuts

The school has sent letters to parents explaining the situation to them, with the school set to finish for pupils at 1pm on a Wednesday.

Principle Matthew Munro says it's nothing that other schools haven't been doing already.

"I spoke to one parent and they said 'oh yeah, they've been doing that at my niece's school,'" he said.

"Other parents I know will ask why their taxpayer money isn't being used to pay for this.

"Is there enough money coming into the government department? That's not a question I can answer.

"But there's a maximum number of hours teachers can teach, there's a maximum class size you can have, there's a minimum curriculum you can deliver and that means there's a minimum staff number you can run a school on and we are not being given enough money to do that."

However, he went on to say that the school had trialed the shorter day, where pupils would finish at 1pm.

"We have looked at this carefully to try and minimise the impact," he said.

"We did an experiment with the compressed day for a Year 8 parents evening and actually children and staff found it was a very focussed day.

"They didn't really feel they lost out that much on learning, as it's not a half day, it's a three quarters day."

Teaching unions have united in their call for action to be taken to ensure every child is given the opportunity for a good education.

“Until now, most of the major cuts have been felt by the most vulnerable. Have the decision makers – the politicians, the employers, the bean counters - no conscience? " said Avril Hall Callaghan, General Secretary of the Ulster Teachers’ Union.

“We have had to stand by and watch children with special needs lose their classroom assistants. We have had to watch as children struggle to stay in school because the funding isn’t there to have their needs properly assessed in the first place.

“We have had to watch as teachers lose out on continued professional development which will enable them to ensure our children are taught the most up to date skills to put them at the forefront of the job market when their turn comes.

“We have had to watch, helpless, as children crying out for help to cope with mental health issues slide ever deeper into that black hole because the mental health services supporting our schools are shrinking.

“We have had to watch class sizes get bigger as resources get tighter, text books get older, after school activities become fewer and opportunities for our children shrink faster.

“Going forward parents need have no doubt that their children will be affected. Those bearing the brunt of these cuts will no longer will be the vulnerable minority."

• breda academy
• belfast