Schools told to cut costs by reducing lunch portion sizes and taking money raised for charity

In my post I did not at any point say about getting rid of UPS teachers, what I said was replace. If there is any movement in UPS teachers leaving the school then the SLT should be considering what is the most appropriate replacement. That, if the school has lots of experienced teachers, could be an NQT, with a commensurate lower salary. That does not also imply that the school should be entirely composed of NQT staff as that would be ridiculous.
What I have suggested is simply good business sense and does not mean SLT will be bullying senior teachers to leave in good schools. Unfortunately just like in business there will be examples where the SLT do not behaviour in an acceptable manner but the interesting thing is that they were all teachers to start with!

to replace UPS teachers with NQTs is a perfectly reasonable suggestion if the current teacher cohort are nearly all on the UPS scale

What would you suggest happens to all the UPS teachers then? You can't make them redundant in favour of cheaper teachers as that is illegal with good reason. So what tends to happen is that SLT make their lives miserable in the hope they will leave.

Why should good teachers who work hard and produce good resulty be made to leave in favour of unproven newly qualified staff? What should happen to this pool of experienced teachers? Should they go and get a job in Tesco because nobody wants to pay for their experience?

Admission You're not a teacher are you? Getting rid of skilled & experienced staff to replace them with NQTs for financial reasons is not "a perfectly reasonable suggestion"!

Would you have surgery in a hospital staffed entirely by new docs & nurses, or would you want some experienced staff there too?

Want your car maintained by just the trainees, or do you wanted a skilled mechanic to check your brakes before you drive off?

It is being covered in the Guardian. Focus currently on a protest march organised by a primary in Cambridge.
www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiD8pmTqK3hAhWIHxQKHaXRBB4QzPwBegQIARAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fcommentisfree%2F2019%2Fmar%2F29%2Fmarch-uk-school-funding-cuts&psig=AOvVaw3DXYD4DQKGKY_gkmafuz4r&ust=1554153784343051 sorry for long link!

Think that this is a story that is being made a lot bigger than it should be. The "experts" are going into these schools and making suggestions as to how savings might be made and you do need to understand the background to the comments. So to replace UPS teachers with NQTs is a perfectly reasonable suggestion if the current teacher cohort are nearly all on the UPS scale. Not only are you talking about significant financial savings but by bringing in NQTs you are bringing in enthusiasm, new ways of thinking and in many case really good teachers.
Some of the other suggestions do on first reading feel just wrong, like taking 50% of charity money raised but again you need to know the background to it.

There is also a defensive situation here, in that the schools and especially the head teachers will not want to be told how money can be saved as they are usually things that the school feel they want to retain. However there is a need now for realism and some of the sacred cows need to be properly reconsidered not just assumed to be necessary. Those are always going to be around staffing as most schools have made the cuts they can in the other areas of spend other than staffing.

In some cases it is entire 6th forms. Our nearest 6th form is in another county (not borough. County).
My DD travels 1hr 45 each way (bus train and bus) to do her chosen subjects.

@marchingfrogs Nope, a fairly standard, large rural catchment area comp, with a varied intake from barely literate to Oxbridge material. I got the impression from my friend that the majority of parents were supportive but not pushy 'RG facilitating subjects and nothing else matters' types. If they had been the languages department might still be healthy instead of barely alive...

The head (who sounds like a very strange kettle of fish), decided that languages and arts subjects were superfluous to the current and future students. I get that schools are having to make harder and harder decisions, but all of these went at least 3 years ago, so goodness knows what will go next in these ever more budgetless times....

Music and drama had also gone, possibly through the entire school iirc.

And presumably this wasn't the kind of school where parents wouldn't allow their DC to pick options not on the wonderful, not at all narrow, RG list of facilitating subjects?

A level subjects been cut has been going on for several years. My friend taught in a school that taught 3 languages to A Level. When she left last year it taught one subject to GCSE. There had to be 25 kids to run an A Level class. Music and drama had also gone, possibly through the entire school iirc.

McKinsey was it? Them of Gupta and Saudi fame?

UPS teachers have been bullied and treated badly for years now. It's almost impossible to compete with NQT's. It's such a short-sighted policy. I seriously hate what this government has done to education.

I'm a teacher so probably know more than most parents but I just don't understand why parents aren't furious with the government. They get angry with individual teachers ( in my experience ) and don't seem to realise it's not their fault.

In my department the Alevel teacher has been off for 3 weeks. They don't send a supply teacher as the class is so small they aparently should be able to work alone.

I'm next door and I pop through every now and again and they aren't doing much. I try to keep them on track but I've got my own lessons to get on with and can't teach 2 age groups at once.

The kids moan about the teacher not being in. I tried to explain to them that the problem lies well above the teacher but they don't get it. The poor woman is ill. She has sent cover work. There's just nobody there to teach it.

Already the case with nqts and recently QT in my local infant and juniors. One local 3 form entry school is all under 30 apart from senior management.

*head.
My phone is rubbish sorry.

My child's school has got new teachers in almost every role. She has one teacher who was there before year ten including the hear teacher. DD in year 11.
Some of the teachers aren't qualified, at least two have no experience at all in schools and were in completely different roles.

My daughter since year 9 in on her 5th Math teacher.
4th English teacher.
3rd Physics teacher , biology teacher.
2nd Senco, history , BTEC teacher
2nd head

At least two have no teaching experience bar uni and one is having a really hard time with a class of 12.

It's a mess tbh and DDS grades have been hugely affected.

I could cry for some of the old teachers back.

My school does all of those things (it's two classes in one 'lesson' when staff are off).

If the Tories get in again there will be nothing left.

Hhhmm think I can see a link with Ofsted deciding to not look at data in schools. Obviously data will show that standards are slipping under these initiatives so better not to look at all and then no one will be any the wiser.

YYY to everything you just said about mentoring, recruitment and NQTs noble. It's a depressing world sometimes.

That's so depressing.
Even though I teach a shortage subject, I know that I would find it difficult to get a job as a teacher elsewhere, at the pay I am meant to be on, in favour of NQTs who are £10k cheaper than me.

That is depressing Noble, but it doesn't surprise me unfortunately with the current government.