Schools to cut teachers, GCSE courses AGAIN in funding storm.

[noblegiraffe]

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss when it comes to school funding...

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-warn-of-staff-cuts-as-reeves-snubs-sector/

Reports that the National Insurance grant will fall short of need by up to 35% in some areas, that some secondary schools are being asked to make £750,000 in savings, that schools are having to dig into their reserves and consider cutting staff and GCSE subjects.

At the same time the govt has recommended a pay rise of 2.8% for teachers while the DfE themselves calculate that schools can only cover a rise of 1.3% (meaning cuts would need to be made to fund it) while experts say teachers need a pay rise of at least 3.7% to keep up with average earnings growth. The NEU are running an indicative ballot on potential teacher strike action while we wait for the recommendation of the independent pay review body.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/spring-statement-teacher-pay-rise-nfer

And pupil premium funding will only increase by 2.3% next year while school costs are projected to rise by 3.6% threatening reduced provision for disadvantaged children.

All depressingly familiar.

It's depressingly familiar. There was a report on bbc Scottish news the other day about the increase in the numbers of staff absence dur to stress and the response was that the government were committed to providing services to support them. Great. Provide the mental health services but don't do a thing about the conditions that are causing the stress in the first place. Ridiculous

Sorry. I did go off a tangent there! But it riled me right up! I don't want council funded therapy! I want a classroom assistant!

Scotland seems to be fucked because of their terrible behaviour policy....I really hope England pay attention and don't go down the same route there. We're going to have enough to do solving the SEND crisis by ourselves (https://schoolsweek.co.uk/secondary-special-schools-over-capacity-by-8000-pupils-dfe-data-suggests/ )
without having to fit in restorative conversations with kids who don't give a toss.

Interesting, I thought that Mumsnetters all sent their kids to state schools these days.

I've no idea what's left in schools to cut. I was reading today that 41% of state schools don't even offer GCSE Drama.

It is depressingly familiar. But somehow worse as towards the end of the last administration I kept hearing hope that more funding might happen (although i still maintain there wasnt much about that in the manefesto. The level of resignation in my recent round of finance meetings has been hard to be part of.

The schools I am at are increasing class sizes and reducing options (this neans redundancy), plus reducing support staff hours, delaying works. It's incredibly sad.

What can we do to help?
(parents of two, soon to be one, teen in standard comprehensives)
I am happy to badger local MP with emails.

I think teachers getting the 5.5% pay rise and the Labour headline pledge for 6500 new teachers (bobbins though that pledge was) made it at least sound like they recognised there is crisis and would try to tackle it.

And now they're telling schools they need to make more cuts?

I would normally say when emailing your MP to ask for your concerns to be forwarded to the DfE as you should then get a response from them, but this, I think is coming from the Treasury.

Is your MP Labour? I'd certainly be asking them how this underfunding of schools national insurance contributions and unfunded pay offer (by their own DfE figures) is compatible with their manifesto pledge to recruit 6500 extra teachers.

I've currently left teaching and when I went to collect my stuff I ended up leaving most of it because I figured it may as well be used by the children because there's no budget to get them anything new and I'd rather they were having fun with it than stacking it in a cupboard at home.

All teachers deserve one, especially with class sizes growing larger.

I left teachingbtoo after 20 years. I retired early and left boxes with enough mini white boards and pens for whole class, loads of scissors including left handed and the jigjag edged ones and loads of felt pens, post it notes and pritt sticks. I know school budgets only allow a small amount of money for ordering stationery.

I feel so sad for the kids that their experience is this shitshow. I know several kids who, at this key point in Y11, don't have a teacher and are having supply, some for more than one subject. How stressful is that for them??

And then there's all this fuss about the attendance crisis with kids not turning up to school in huge numbers. That might improve if they actually had proper lessons to go to in schools that weren't too hot, too cold, very dirty and in some cases literally falling down.

It breaks my heart too. I know what the offer was for infant schools around 12 years ago, when I started in schools. It was so much better than what the kids get now.

I've haven't been involved with secondaries for as long but they are expected to do so much with so little. Cutting subjects means some children won't have that one thing they are good at. It seems so unfair..

Yep Labour, although seemingly quite effective (perhaps because she's female who knows) the ousted Conservative was as useful as wet cardboard!

Will make myself a nuisance next week.

Thank you! It would be interesting to know what her response is!

It's fine, nothing to worry about
The VAT on Private School fees is going to fix it

I believe that the VAT on private school fees has been earmarked for things unrelated to those in my OP.

No amount of money can fix the teacher crisis though (unless you can match industry salaries, which lets face it won't happen in the public sector). The lack of GCSE'S at many schools isn't just budget restraints. My sons school isn't offering drama or computer science this year as they can't recruit the teachers or keep them when they do get them.
DD didn't have a computer science teacher for most of her course. She had to mainly self teach with help from us.

I've been working as a science technician for almost 8 years, every year our budget is cut for the same number of students.

Or will not be of any benefit to State Schools at all.
I actually hope thats not the case but Labour did claim it was going to improve State Education.

It's just a miserable disaster and fe is getting absolutely nothing at all

Well, those 6500 teachers would presumably further dilute the non existent funds available since the schools would still have to pay NICs for them (and the NIC increase was a later decision than the VAT increase).

Maybe they’ll all be SEN teachers. The schools are going to need them once labour is through.

But don’t worry everyone. There won’t be an increase in severe SEN in schools, because those who need EHCPs (currently rationed by councils) won’t be able to appeal the refusal. No piece of paper = no needs not being met…

Labour: apparently more right wing than the Tories.

True, FE is definitely the poor cousin.

And they've got the nerve to say it's not a return to austerity.

Yes my daughter's grammar school has had to entirely cut the subject German from school due to this. It was only mentioned a week before GCSE and A Level options were due so lots of issues got caused. They still offer French as usual and Latin is being changed from studying in Year 8 to also getting studied in Year 7 and Spanish is also getting brought down to lower years rather than just GCSE to make up for the loss but it is a shame

Isn’t the range of subjects part of the problem? I mean ‘not even Drama!’? Drama was let of English, not a subject in its own right.

DS’s school had issues with Economics and Languages teaching.

Surely we are better focusing on core subjects, some of which are more practical than others, or boards can offer more practical syllabuses as well?