Schools facing catastrophic winter

[noblegiraffe]

Schools are starting their Autumn term facing an unprecedented funding crisis. Headteachers are becoming increasingly frantic in their disbelief that the government has done fuck all about it, and appears to be planning to continue to do fuck all about it.

There are few issues contributing -

The energy crisis - school energy bills are not capped, unlike household ones. To give an idea of the scale of the issue, Ormiston Academies Trust which sponsors 43 schools will see its energy bills rise from £5.1 million to £14.3 million. Grant Shapps, transport minister, says that schools could consider switching to LED lightbulbs.

Teacher and support staff payrises - the government have recommended payrises for teachers and support staff, but crucially will not be giving schools extra money to fund them. If schools give staff the recommended pay rise, they will have to cut services to fund this (even before you consider the energy bills)

The cost of living crisis - schools are facing increased prices just as households are. Food for the canteen, stationery orders, everything is more expensive. Sam Freedman tweets "Very rough calculation is that energy bills plus teacher pay increase plus higher food costs are going to add around £5bn to school budgets nationally. Just under 10% of the total budget. And none of it was built into the funding model."

On top of that, covid still needs to be considered. Last Jan/Feb schools were in chaos due to staff absences (the government widely trumpeted their call for an army of volunteers to step in, which didn't appear). At the end of the summer term, all the education unions wrote to James Cleverly, temp Ed Sec asking for a covid plan that included increased funding to schools for supply teachers to cover staff absence. Given that we haven't actually got a functioning government at the moment, I'm pretty sure he hasn't replied. Signs are that we're facing a bad flu season too, vaccinating school staff should be a consideration. Some schools already pay for the flu jab for staff, most won't be eligible for a covid booster, no idea what the impact of that will be. Obviously there will be pressure to close windows to keep any heat in, which goes against covid guidance for ventilation.

Some academy trusts appear to have large reserves which will help them weather the storm, most very much don't. twitter.com/ajjolley/status/1564562763443277825?s=21&t=nmM2Q_vFCmo5GzILNNKhfg

School leaders are reporting that they will have to make support staff and/or teachers redundant or pause recruitment, restrict heating, cancel school trips and extra curricular activities. This will inevitably have an impact on children, and on the quality of education on offer.

I'm not sure what either Truss or Sunak have said about the crisis facing education, all I've heard is wittering about grammar schools. An intervention is needed urgently.

www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/energy-bills-cost-of-living-crisis-schools-face-catastrophic-winter

There used to be but the Government removed those regulations. There is now no minimum. It's advised for the min temp to be 16 degrees but it's not enforceable.

13 degrees if the work is rigorous physical effort.
And as you say they are only guidelines.

Do you mean as there was supposed to have been during Covid times?
Many schools didn't get any technology and those that did had many laptops etc., that were locked (no password sent) and schools were not allowed to download there own apps on them.

sorry should say 13

I think this country needs to stop throwing money at pensioners (other than those who are genuinely poor).

I do hope that if there are cold classrooms due to heating the schools relax their uniforms.

I think shirt tie and blazers aren't sensible anyway but to expect kids to work in classrooms in the midst of winter with no heating in a cotton short and polyester blazer is inhumane.

I know some schools that will not allow t shirts etc under the shirts. Yes - there are some schools that are that ridiculous.

It does not matter how much technology you throw at kids; kids mostly do a piss poor job of studying at home, unless they have a lot of help and structure from parents.

Jamie Oliver is tweeting a petition to widen free school meal access to another 800,000 children living in poverty twitter.com/jamieoliver/status/1564955345285423105?s=21&t=cGGbTgLncElWCwAil8G1dw

I had not realised these had been permanently removed.

I clicked on the link of the dinner lady talking. It’s heartbreaking.

I'm pleased this is being raised as I also haven't seen this topic being raised anywhere. I've got no solutions, and as our government have no blooming leader I'm hoping when they sort themselves out this will also be on their agenda. Dgd is in primary, and like last year we've bought her thermals and long sleeved polo's for going back but I know many can't afford to do this or haven't thought about it. I'm not sure about the warm food though. I feel for the schools, the teachers the parents and the pupils.

Tell me this is a terrible joke? Or that you're a bargain bucket troll?

You think that in a first world country it's ok to just not fund education?

WTAF is wrong with you? I'm rarely speechless but this brought me fucking close just in case this was any way genuine.

Unfortunately there is no magic money tree and thanks to lockdown, there is very little money left. Schools will therefore have to make their share of efficiency savings like everyone else.

DH is a headteacher of a free school and he is actually viewing the situation as an opportunity to become more efficient.

Support staff numbers are being significantly reduced and teachers will now be assisting in areas such as cleaning and catering. For example, lunches will now be heated up from frozen by teachers. Teachers will be expected to clean their classrooms at the end of the school day and the reception desk will be manned by teachers on a rota.

Schools will need to think innovatively and creatively. Why are school buildings heated to a particular temperature for example? In many cases, this could be reduced in a gradual manner to become more efficient.

This has to be a joke right?

For a start you need to have the right training and certificates in food hygiene standards to serve lunches to students that have been heated up or even cooked!

Teachers have directed time. They can walk out the door when school finishes and ignore the bins if full.

In the schools I work across we've been known to help out voluntarily but I can assure you what would happen if we were demanded to do the jobs of cleaners and lunch staff for free.

And that wouldn't just be in education. No one would do someone else's job and their own for no reward.

Unfortunately there is no magic money tree and thanks to lockdown, there is very little money left. Schools will therefore have to make their share of efficiency savings like everyone else.

The "magic money tree" argument is a straw man. There is money to invest in anything the government of the day decide is a priority. There was money to fund the development of a useless and failed track and trace app. There was money to siphon off in contracts with doners and friends and then forgive those contracts when they went unfulfilled. There was money to waste by not servicing the national debt, despite the Chancellor being directly instructed to. There is money: this Government doesn't believe in funding education. That's why they have deliberately left funding below 2010 levels on real terms despite promises to improve it.

For example, lunches will now be heated up from frozen by teachers. Teachers will be expected to clean their classrooms at the end of the school day and the reception desk will be manned by teachers on a rota.

So the suggestion here is to worsen the working conditions for a profession that is already struggling to recruit the number of people into it that the education sector requires. This is absolutely an example of taking advantage of the goodwill of teaching staff and is, frankly, disgusting.

Yeah they were posting that obvious shit through covid too.

I think it is fairly obvious that neither@LockAqua or their husband has ever worked in a school. It simply couldn't, shouldn't and wouldn't happen.

Of course they are. And I'm the Queen of Sheba.

Dude at least change some of the words.

This is obvious BS
0/10
Copied from another pupil. No marks given.

Deja vu.

Its almost as if posters don't know that teachers breaks are not paid for.

The scary thing is those views sound exactly like those of our potential next Ed.Sec, Kemi Badenoch.

I heard Badenoch was a school governor in a quite deprived school so should know that support staff aren't surplus.

I do hope that if there are cold classrooms due to heating the schools relax their uniforms.

Oh God, please! They will need warm jumpers, thick tights and thermals.

LockAqua used to post the same drivel on TES several years ago, clearly her DH has made little progress with his revolutionary ideas in the meantime!