Schools Funding Crisis: Schools beg parents for cash, teachers lose their jobs, subjects are cut from the curriculum, class sizes increase

[noblegiraffe]

...and the DfE go on TV to bang on about grammar schools that the vast majority of kids don't and won't go to.

Charlie Stayt rightly ripped Justine Greening apart over this on BBC Breakfast this morning.
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/bbc-interviewer-skewers-tory-minister-10217231

Unbelievable how blinkered the DfE are to the concerns of the vast numbers of parents who simply want their children to have a good well-rounded education, taught by qualified and experienced teachers and how this is systematically being destroyed by poor policy decisions and a lack of money in the system.

schoolsweek.co.uk/ive-cut-teaching-to-the-bare-bones-heads-tell-mps-of-agonising-cuts/

www.itv.com/news/2017-03-10/warning-over-schools-axing-courses-amid-funding-crisis/

www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/cash-strapped-schools-beg-parents-10192677

Don't be fooled by any distractions over the national funding formula, this is hitting all schools, who will be seeing a huge increase in costs over the coming few years.

[cricketballs]

I saw that interview - He really did go for it! My kids tend to realise that some one from DfE is on the TV by the amount of swearing I am doing.

She also got hauled over the coals on radio 4 straight after (but that was all on the grammar school speech)

[Theworldisfullofidiots]

If Brexit doesn't kill the Tories this probably will

[Lizzylou]

I was cheering for Charlie this morning.
I just cannot believe the idiocy of it all. It defies any logic.

[noblegiraffe]

I would love for this mess to kill the Tories, but there's no viable alternative waiting to take over

But what do they hope to achieve from letting schools fall apart, teachers quit, the curriculum narrowed, pupils inevitably getting a worse education?

[HPFA]

But what do they hope to achieve from letting schools fall apart, teachers quit, the curriculum narrowed, pupils inevitably getting a worse education?

Look at Lincs where in the worst secondary moderns only 40% of High Achieving pupils get 5 GCSEs. Even in supposedly terrible Knowsley they do better than that. Yet the Council in Lincs says its schools are great. The government wants us all fighting each other to get our kids into the grammars rather than worrying about education in general.

But much as I love arguing on Mumsnet, has everyone who is angry about this policy written to their MP? Will they support their schools and teachers if the profession through its Unions decides to fight this? Have you looked to see if there is a Fair Funding group set up anywhere nearby?If we parents really don't want a return to secondary moderns we are going to have to fight hard.

[noblegiraffe]

You'd laugh if I told you who my MP is. Writing to them is on my list of things to do this Easter though.

Pretty disappointed in the union inaction over the funding crisis though. Maybe we'll see something happen when the NUT merge with the ATL. I'll consider switching unions if they do take action.

[Peregrina]

I know who HPFA's MP is, and I can tell you that writing to her will have zero effect. If she responds at all, it will be a statement of the party line.

[HPFA]

If she responds at all, it will be a statement of the party line.

She did and it was. But I think it's a case of - if you don't write to your MP you know it will have no effect. If you do, there's always a chance.

[noblegiraffe]

Not so much interest in this thread...

My school is making teachers redundant, cutting art, music and drama teaching, support staff aren't being replaced when they leave and class sizes are increasing. Subjects are being cut at A-level, we can't afford textbooks, the photocopying budget is looking dicey and morale is low.

The DfE suggests that we turn the thermostat down by 1 degree to make savings.

[bigmack]

Well done Charlie Stayt. Excellent TV.

[HPFA]

Well done Charlie Stayt. Excellent TV.

Yes, although sad that it's now news for a journalist to actually do their job properly.

Noble I think there was a funding thread earlier so perhaps everyone had their say on that?

[Ta1kinPeace]

The trouble is that there is no effective opposition in Parliament to hold the Government to account.

The Grammars debacle should have been an open goal, but Corbyn was too busy potting up vegetables.

The impact of the rise in the living wage on the public sector is simple maths but McDonnell does not "get" it so has not held the Government to account

and far, far too many MPs have never lived outside the bubble where £67,000 for an MP is the basic salary

The Greens are pretty silent on education
The Lib Dems are still being kicked for Student Loans
The SNP made an utter balls up of their PFI schools project

I have ideas for how to get out of most things.
This is one where I'm struggling.

[noblegiraffe]

Noble I think there was a funding thread earlier so perhaps everyone had their say on that?

That doesn't affect the grammar threads!

[HPFA]

That doesn't affect the grammar threads!

We are inexhaustible! But also, people probably aren't going to come on here and say "schools should have less money" so subject probably doesn't develop a heated argument.

[noblegiraffe]

It doesn't provoke argument, but it should provoke outrage, especially on a parenting site where many posters have children at school so will be directly affected by this mess.

In the meantime, let's remember there is money available to spend on education, the government is just incompetent and wasting millions on schools that never open or open then close almost instantly. I wonder how many of the over 100 new Free Schools announced a couple of days ago will actually open in the end.

www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/tens-of-millions-wasted-on-free-schools-that-have-now-closed-a7685256.html

[theredjellybean]

Hi all...i have a child doing a levels at a grammar school that will be so hard hit by funding cuts they will be £700/per pupil below WHAT THE DOE itself says is the minimum amount needed per pupil to run an school.
They have already cut subjects, lost teachers, etc etc...

I am incencsed that the grammar school arguement is taking attention away from the real issue that is the appalling balls up of funding..i mean that for all schools not just my daughter's outstanding grammar ( we are very lucky and she is bright ) .

I wrote to my MP and i wrote to JG and i had meeting with my MP...
The more noise people can make the better

[PeterHouseMD]

The interview is well worth watching:

[HPFA]

I am incencsed that the grammar school arguement is taking attention away from the real issue that is the appalling balls up of funding

I would really love it if grammar school Heads were to speak out and say at the moment there are bigger priorities than their own expansion. I know the prospect of a Labour government is a long way off at the moment but quite apart from it being the right thing to do, it may one day be useful politically to have shown they were concerned with the welfare of the whole system.

[DoctorDonnaNoble]

The grammar heads are speaking out. No one seems to be listening.
I suspect our problem is that we all suck it up. We all work harder for less take home pay and do our best to minimise the damage while TM talks of new grammars failing to realise the ones already in existence are struggling to provide the 'grammar experience' for the same reason other schools struggle. Funding.
FFS there's a rumour that the girls grammar I went to which has already cut Tech A Level us considering cutting Music at KS4 and 5!

[HPFA]

Doctor There's a madness taking hold of politicians I fear. No longer even pretending to do things that are rational.

[GreenGinger2]

So are you arguing against all new free schools,any new school being built at all?

I'm confused as a shed load of new schools have just been given approval but not one is a grammar. Plenty are church,some Sen,the maj in the SE and very few in the NE where plenty are needed.

Why no fury over the above,why the focus on grammars if it a funding issue?

[DoctorDonnaNoble]

Indeed not! Our (school's MP) is visiting soon. We intend to be polite but honest.
My MP is a Brexit poster girl (one of the lead campaigners), thinks we should bring back the death penalty, won't rule out fox hunting and doesn't understand her own party's educational policies. I write often.

[noblegiraffe]

So are you arguing against all new free schools,any new school being built at all?

We need new school places but the government has taken the power to open new schools away from local authorities and so any new school to be opened has to be a free school and needs a body to open it.

This is why they are in such a mess, strong-arming private schools and universities, pandering to the Catholic Church, in an effort to get someone, anyone to open free schools. FFS they let Tottenham Hotspurs open a Free School with predictable results: failure and an appalling waste of taxpayers' money. www.theguardian.com/education/2017/jan/10/spurs-school-costs-taxpayer

What is needed is for the government to build some schools, stop opening them in office blocks and football stadiums, get some experts in from successful comprehensives in a variety of areas, come up with a basic working model of how to run them, then let Local Authorities set them up.

All this fannying around with letting anyone who fancies a go at setting up a school having millions of pounds to give it a try is a costly mess.

[Anon1234567890]

Schools need more money, the NHS needs more money, mental health, police, roads, pretty much every area of public life says they need more money.
Where should this money realistically come from and why should schools get it before the NHS or anywhere else?
Should we just borrow half a trillion and let our children pay for it, or raise taxes, which everyone agrees with but no one ever votes for.

[noblegiraffe]

Well we could have saved quite a bit of money not opening all those free schools that never opened or closed instantly. We could save huge sums of money not constantly reforming the curriculum then patching up the fall-out. We could save millions abandoning the grammar school proposals.

It's a simple lie to say that there's no money. There is, it's being spent badly by an incompetent government.