Thousands sign petition to increase school funding
The Devon head's petition comes as a survey of school leaders has highlighted a number of issues
Last updated 9th Nov 2022
New research shows more than half of schools in England are looking at potentially "catastrophic" staff redundancies due to underfunding and rising costs.
The headteachers' union is warning a snapshot survey of more than 11,000 school leaders in the country shows two thirds of headteachers will have to make teaching assistants redundant or reduce their hours.
Steve Hitchcock, the headteacher at St Peter's C of E Primary School in Budleigh Salterton has started a petition to 'increase funding for schools to ensure that they do not enter deficit'
More than 1,000 people responded across the South West to the study by the National Association of Head Teachers.
The research found in our region:
⦁ 55% predicting deficit this year
⦁ Only 4% able to pay their bills without going into deficit next academic year
Also that the cuts predicted in the next academic year:
⦁ 68% teaching assistants or TA hours
⦁ 50% teachers or teaching hours
⦁ 44% additional targeted interventions for pupils who need extra support
⦁ 50% non-educational support and services (e.g. mental health)
⦁ 29% fewer children receiving tutoring through NTP
⦁ 49% reducing energy consumption
National Association of Head Teachers general secretary Paul Whiteman said educators were being hit by a “perfect storm of costs” as school leaders battled to balance budgets amid “eye-watering energy bills”, spiralling costs and underfunding.
Paul Gosling is another head in Devon and also President of the National Association of Head Teachers
“With no fat left to cut following a decade of austerity, many thousands of schools are now looking at falling into deficit unless they make swingeing cuts.
"Education is truly in a perilous state”
“The only things left to cut are things that will have a real immediate impact on children – and especially those who are already the most disadvantaged and vulnerable. This goes against everything school leaders strive for, and the anger and desperation I am hearing from my members is unprecedented.
“Schools are finding that they have no option but to make redundancies. A reduction in teaching assistants and teachers will be catastrophic, leading to larger class sizes and less support for children with the greatest needs. This cannot be allowed to happen.”
Survey results
The survey’s findings which were released on Tuesday, also had 54% of school leaders say they will go into deficit this year if they did not make further cuts.
Just 5% respondents said they will be able to pay their costs next academic year (23-24) without going into deficit – meaning more than nine in 10 schools won’t be able to balance their budgets without drastic action.
Close to half (47%) of schools said they would be forced to reduce non-educational support and services for children next year, while
Over four in ten (44%) said they would have to reduce spending on additional targeted interventions for pupils requiring additional support.
A third (31%) said they will have to reduce the number of children receiving tutoring support through the National Tutoring Programme (NTP).
“Schools will no longer be able to afford those crucial services that are there to support pupils – things that children rely on not just for education but for their health and wellbeing. Things like in-school mental health services, counselling, and speech and language therapy,” Mr Whiteman said.
“Having refused to fund the proposed post-Covid recovery plan last year, this Government is effectively abandoning the most vulnerable children in society a second time by decimating the support schools can offer during a renewed time of crisis.”
NAHT’s survey was taken between September 21 and 14 October 14, receiving more than 11,000 responses from mostly primary school leaders in England.
What has the Department for Education said?
“We understand the challenges facing schools driven by high inflation. To support them at this time, we are providing schools with £53.8 billion this year in core funding, including a cash increase of £4 billion for this financial year. This is a 7% per pupil increase in cash terms across schools and high needs.
“All schools will benefit from the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, reducing how much they need to spend on their energy and giving them greater certainty over their budgets over the winter months. We are also providing schools with tools and information to help get the best value for money from their resources.”
They also pointed out:
• Schools are responsible for managing their own budgets
• Core school funding is increasing by £4bn this year compared to 2021-22. Core school funding is increasing by £4bn this year compared to 2021-22.
• Our Energy Bill Relief Scheme will provide a discount on wholesale gas and electricity prices for all non-domestic customers, including schools whose current gas and electricity prices have been significantly inflated in light of global energy prices.
• We know that every school’s circumstances are different, and where schools are in serious financial difficulty, they should contact their local authority or ESFA.
• All schools can access a range of School Resource Management (SRM) tools to help them get the best value from their resources to help them save on regular purchases and reduce non-teaching costs. This means schools can more effectively invest their resources into areas that improve educational outcomes for all pupils.