Govt announces huge cut to schools funding, redundancies

[noblegiraffe]

Yesterday the government announced that there would be huge cuts to schools funding and this would mean larger class sizes, less support for SEND pupils and a smaller subject offering.

You might have missed this as it was framed as a generous pay rise for teachers.

This pay rise will be massively below inflation and therefore represent a large pay cut for experienced teachers, where ‘experienced’ means that they have been teaching for 5 years. The pay rise for new teachers is well below (due to inflation) what was promised in the 2019 Conservative manifesto as necessary to tackle the teacher recruitment crisis. schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-announces-5-pay-rise-for-most-teachers-in-2022-23/

However, poor as the pay offering is, the critical issue is that the government isn’t going to fund it. Schools would need to fund these pay rises from their existing budgets, which will mean that either teachers don’t get the pay rise (this happens) or there will be cuts and redundancies in schools, or both.

School funding itself will only rise by 1.9% which, as everyone is acutely aware, will not be enough to deal with the across-the-board price rises. schoolsweek.co.uk/school-per-pupil-funding-to-rise-by-only-1-9-per-cent-next-year/

Schools have already made redundancies, cuts to SEN provision and subject provision over the last 12 years of dire education funding. We are now cutting deep into the bone of educational provision.

So when the government talk about accepting in full the pay recommendation from the pay review body whose hands the Treasury tied, or about selfish unions and greedy teachers, in the end it’s going to be the kids who are losing out, when their class sizes increase, their SEN provision is reduced, they can’t take the subjects that they want, and their school can’t provide them with a qualified teacher.

But I haven’t said ‘they weren’t absolutely brilliant for education’, Giraffe - you did.

I think they were shocking for education. I think they were extremely damaging, and I can’t vote for them again if they are likely to go back to those days.

There were many irritating and pointless education initiatives introduced under the Labour government. However, education was genuinely a priority. The difference between SEND support available then and now is staggering.

Successive Conservative governments have seemed to be deliberately trying to run the education system into the ground. It baffles me as to why a government wants an uneducated population.

Marketisation.

I said what? You said that you couldn't agree that they were the land of milk and honey with endless money etc. I said no one said that they were.

I also said that other parties were available, so not insisting that you should vote Labour either. 🤷‍♀️

it's looking for a government that doesn't actively treat state education and the public sector workforce with utter contempt.

And this is what Truss is currently doing with a shocking repeated show of contempt for the comprehensive school that saw her gain an Oxford place.

It baffles me as to why a government wants an uneducated population.

I think it's more short-sighted than that. I think they just don't want to spend any money on public services.

Oh but Blair and Brown weren't absolutely brilliant for education therefore there really is an utter dilemma about whether to vote Tory or not

was what I was responding to. You did say it, insofar as you wrote it. I know you were trying to make a point with it, but since your point was something I didn’t say either, it is a bit pointless to keep endlessly going on about it.

So we agree Blair and Brown weren’t good. OK. I think they were worse than the current lot; you don’t. That’s pretty much the gist of it as far as I can see.

I think they were worse than the current lot; you don’t.

Really?? Gosh.

What are they doing well?

It's not funding, pay, SEN, listening to teachers, infrastructure. Certainly isn't Sec Of State leadership.So, I'm a bit flummoxed.

I missed recruitment and retention. Also not that.

Piggy - if I haven’t made it plain then I’m sorry! But I am not talking about what they are doing well - I’m holding up my first seven years teaching and saying they were far worse (for me - I’m obviously not speaking for all teachers.)

WWW however would be stricter behaviour policies, 100% exams reducing my workload a lot, and I prefer teaching the new Eng Lit syllabus; not so much Language.

Tell all those poor teachers working in Paul Dix-influenced schools that behaviour is better under the Tories.

I preferred coursework not the admin but the principle. So, I guess we will have to beg to differ. I also think behaviour is worse. Been at the same school for many years. Or behaviour has changed. Different kind of bad.

Do you think it's possible you have got better rather then education policy many?

Oh, PD is a twat, but on the flip side of that you have quite a lot of super strict academies now where kids are put in isolation for pretty minor uniform lapses or similar. I don’t necessarily agree with that either, but I do know that if I had to choose between PD and the latter I’d go for the strict academy. And in fairness, most aren’t quite that petty but a lot do have very strict rules. I realise that doesn’t always make them pleasant to work for - my own school isn’t always - but again, sorry to make the same point over and over but in my first teaching job the behaviour was horrendous and it frequently tipped over into physical violence, mostly against other students but sometimes staff as well, and nothing would happen.

Anyway, I’ve just unexpectedly got a positive pregnancy result! So am so happy I can’t argue any more - which is practically unheard of

I’d hope so! But I do also know that a lot of the sort of behaviour that was tolerated in my first schools wouldn’t be now, and the coursework / controlled assessment created a lot of work in marking and redoing and chasing kids for …

I don’t think everything is perfect now, far from it, and something I think we’d probably all agree on is that schools reflect society to a certain extent. I was actually teaching in Telford at the start of my career, and as you know that’s been in the spotlight recently for failing those poor girls so miserably. I don’t exactly think that can be pinpointed to a government; I think it’s just largely to do with society’s attitude that these were tough, tarty girls who could look after themselves. I think we’re far more comfortable now with challenging that sort of attitude. I know I’ve digressed there but I do ponder about it all from time to time, about how attitudes and viewpoints have changed during the course of my life.

Congratulations @manysummersago!

I don't think behaviour can be helped by the immense pressure on kids. I mean, like, 30 odd exams for GCSE?! It's nuts! Far too many children are given the message that because they didn't go to a grammar select, or an independent school, they're already on the scrap heap and there's no help in trying. So again, little incentive to aspire.

The morale of the faculty and students must surely be crumbling, as are the buildings around them.

And then people wonder why teachers are leaving in droves. Their work environment is shit. The public and political demeanour towards them hostile. They're practically booed and hissed at for daring to hint that possibly a reasonable wage, a bit of genuine appreciation for what they do, and decent working conditions could potentially, just mebbe, make the job a touch more attractive.

It's a job. I'm getting fucking fed up of extremely needed people like teachers and nurses being told it's a vocation, they knew how crap the pay and conditions were, when they signed up for it.

They didn't sign up to a nunnery. They signed up to a job.

Thanks!

I’ve done both, I think. I’ve worked in some shoddy looking schools - I think even when they are well kept, the 70s comp just looks awful. Round here is mostly very shiny, very new academies. Ours was built 2012, I think. The ‘2010’ design is a bit soulless and it’s a big fan of open plan areas, which I hate.

We’re not in a GS area, I can see it must be discouraging if you are.

I completely agree with the idea that teaching is a vocation being nonsense, though. I don’t think a brilliant, inspiring teacher has to be singly fixated on being a teacher in order to be effective in the classroom.

manysummersago

The dfe/government has put another nail in the coffin of behaviour in schools. With another drive to reduce exclusions and IX further,

Yet not producing funds to aid in the helping of these children.

I am gutted my 3 kids are in state schools.

Whole thing is a shambles and it’s the kids who miss out from peoples idiotic voting choices.

It is beyond the pale I am lost for words on this subject. What we have accepted for this generation of children is just so very sad.