How are your school budgets looking?

[letseatgrandma]

Schools around here are really going to struggle next year. Loads of TAs have been got rid of at the next primary to us and we are not replacing 4 who are leaving/retiring at the end of the year.

Our school has no money for pencils, paint, photocopying, books or glue. PPA is being covered by doubling up classes or bunging a TA in there and justletting the children do golden time. It's so depressing.

The cynic in me wonders if turning all the LEA schools into academies and only opening free schools is paving the way to change the working conditions and the 1265 hours and have teachers working 8-6 to solve all the childcare dilemmas. Tell me I'm being dramatic and this is unlikely!!

As if we were't all miserable enough as it is!?

[Mostlyjustaluker]

We have had four rounds of redundancies in 3 years. Apparently our books may just balance next year if we ignore the million+debt we have to pay off at some point.

[DrElizabethPlimpton]

It's grim. I'm a governor at a special needs school and it is horrific. We don't have any contingency at all, so if anything needs replacing/repairing, I don't know how it is going to happen. It makes me so cross. These children are the most vulnerable, and their education and care is being eroded.
A society should be judged on how it cares for its weakest members.

[Redlocks28]

I've just heard that my friend-who is an assistant head-is having to go back into the classroom in September due to budget cuts. She hasn't taught a class for nearly 5 years!

I think reducing the massive amount of non-teaching SMT in some school is actually a really good thing-there are far too many whose sole job is to observe teachers but seem to do very little of use themselves.

What I don't want to see is TAs being cut left, right and centre but lots of non-teaching SMT roles remaining.

[FuzzyWizard]

Ours is going to be very very tight next year. Staff who are leaving will potentially not be replaced and subject leaders are being warned to lower their expectations in terms of resources etc.

[Metaphors]

We're still feeling quite comfortable on the back of a big improvement in our Ofsted rating leading to an increase in numbers (now full for the first time in history) and trigger funding. Plus 40% FSM means we do well out of pupil premium.

It's all being spent on staff, LSA numbers reducing as their contracts come to an end and intervention groups and PPA cover being done by actual teachers We have 3 teachers plus the deputy head not class based (12 form junior school) Sounds fantastic and is while it lasts but it's not sustainable and I worry what will happen in 2 years' time.

[Philoslothy]

I am ?ot working at the moment but from what I hear, budgets are slashed, staff not being replaced, classes going bigger and support being decreased.

[leccybill]

Terrible.

Redundancies, TAs slashed, all technicians gone, all class sizes increasing to 30+, all on the very bones of PPA time. All CPD in-house.

Tea and coffee for teachers on parents evenings has just been cut. 12 hour day on our feet using our voices all day and they cant even spare us a weak brew brought round by volunteer sixth formers.

And now we can't even go on strike about it www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32702585

[WhenMarnieWasThere]

Terrible. We've spent a lot on staffing. We've lost money in the budget year on year. The ratios for staffing in foundation phase (Wales) has been changed.

TAs who are retiring or on maternity cover aren't being replaced.
Temporary teachers are not having contracts renewed.

Non teaching members of staff will cover absences/ppa more and some will go into jobshare classes that were covered by temporary staff.

No money for much else either.

[TheFallenMadonna]

Unfunded pension changes and pay rise are killing us. Bursar is in despair.

[Redlocks28]

Give it two years and schools will be full of NQTs who can never get beyond MPS1 or whatever it's called now and no support staff!

[noblegiraffe]

We are losing teachers who aren't being replaced (maths) so class sizes will be much bigger next year. I haven't heard that we are losing any TAs but we've got hardly any left after the last round of cuts anyway.

[MrsUltracrepidarian]

Friend is governor in a 'good' school in the London suburbs.
Absolutely dire. Staff - and definitely not parents who are still being conned inot persuaded to sent their DC to the school - not yet in the loop as to how bad it really is.
As others have said, non-teaching SLT having to be in the real world teach not such a bad thing - always used to be case before big data took over non-teaching SLT became the norm.

[yellowsun]

Dire here. 28k loss for new minimum wage. Now spending 90% of budget on wages...

[PandaMummyofOne]

Beyond grim. We're on cycle four of redundancies and it's the biggest one yet. We need to save over £4,000,000 this year. Not including the savings on top of this from the previous four years.

[roughtyping]

angels I'm in EDC and it's similar, although I suspect our HT protects us from a lot of it. Although she told us how much we spend on printing . All seconded teachers have to go back to their 'home' schools next term, support for learning is looking bleak.

[TheFallenMadonna]

There are no non teaching SLT in my school. Even the Head takes a class.

[DoctorDonnaNoble]

Not good basically. We also now get charged 3p per sheet of photocopying! Departmental budgets slashed and we're having to cut the contact time for year 12 by an hour for each subject. Down to 4 hours a week per subject. This was done to protect range of subjects. Not sure how long 'minority' subjects can continue.

[Redlocks28]

Although we've lost TAs, we haven't lost teachers yet. Is anyone here in primary where there have been cuts made so that there aren't enough teachers to have one per class?

[Redlocks28]

3p per sheet out of your own pocket??

[Bunbaker]

Worrying. I'm a governor on the finance committee. We had a round of redundancies last year and can't afford to lose any more staff.

None of the secondary schools in our LEA can balance their books this year. The school is oversubscribed, but as it is the best school in the LEA we get very little extra help from the local authority. These education cuts are so short sighted.

[Redlocks28]

What's McCrone? Is it PPA? In Scotland?

Does giving an extra week at Christmas to save on heating mean you're doing less than the contracted days in school? Do you have to do 195?

[Redlocks28]

Ah, I see. Thanks for explaining.

How are Scottish schools who have made the decision to finish early on Fridays saving money? Are teachers getting paid less?