School Funding - impact on your school

[TrollMummy]

We have just been told by our HT that due to funding cuts the school will not be renewing the contracts of some TAs and that things like music and sport will be scaled back in the coming year. The school will be looking to parents to provide essentials like paper and stationary and things are only going to get worse according to the HT.

I wondered how this is impacting other schools. AIBU to think the cuts in school funding should be a big big issue in the election?

Maybe the school might stop spending on silly things. Wandering to the local forest area to play at forest schools. (Needing several TA support)
It's not necessary.

HEad yes it is necassary. Children gain a LOT from experiences like that.

Grammar schools is a great opportunity, and makes more space in the mainstream for the average joes

Why are kids at grammar schools entitled to great opportunities but the average Joe isn't?

Fuck Yesterday my sister didn't have her TA. She has a child in her class that the school have been forced to accept as he has been excluded from other schools and their school has capacity (because nursery is under subscribed). During a lesson he did wish to do as he was told so he spat at her, called her a bitch and ran out of the classroom. He is 8 years old. My sister then had to decide whether or not to go after him leaving her class alone or stay with her class and hope he didn't go straight out of a fire escape and onto the road. That is why she needs a TA.

That is an extreme example but the work load is unbelievable. Last year she had two visually impaired children in her class and everything had be adapted for them.

I disagree. And I am a teacher. Most parents will take their own children into the wooded area. I don't think it's the schools job. IT actually takes away fun things I used to do with my children as a treat.

Yes I agree with the theme park thing.
We were going to go as a big treat one holiday, but the school pipped us to it.

Our small primary school is to cut a class ( so losing a teacher and TA) so our mixed year groups will be bigger and even more mixed. The need for TA's is even greater in these situations. There is no money to replace technical teaching equipment that breaks down.

I disagree. And I am a teacher. Most parents will take their own children into the wooded area. I don't think it's the schools job. IT actually takes away fun things I used to do with my children as a treat.

Your children can do both surely, mine do. If we are going to stop doing fun things which parents might do with children then reading to them, taking them on trips, singing songs, baking, crafts, sports, any kind of learning through play had all better go.
Around a third of children we have to forest school don't own a pair of wellies or a decent coat, they are not tramping through the woods at weekends with their parents.

I disagree. And I am a teacher. Most parents will take their own children into the wooded area. I don't think it's the schools job. IT actually takes away fun things I used to do with my children as a treat.

Your children can do both surely, mine do. If we are going to stop doing fun things which parents might do with children then reading to them, taking them on trips, singing songs, baking, crafts, sports, any kind of learning through play had all better go.
Around a third of children we have to forest school don't own a pair of wellies or a decent coat, they are not tramping through the woods at weekends with their parents.

I caused a stir at our local elections. And pissed my conservative councillor off big time

Got introduced as X - conservative candidate.

I introduced myself as "you are. Teacher in special ed with disabled son - so NEVER voting conservative".

Think after half an hour he regretted asking me why

I also quoted the stats of 850mil spent on land at 19% of value whilst schools are needing 6.7bil repairs.

And why they have made a massive thing about the new Academy chain in my area and how it will prevent children travelling all around county for hours etc when the realism is the 3 units will only accept 12 children between them in 2019 and it will take 6 years from them t build up to 56 pupils in total over the 3 units.

I suggested the money would be better invested in providing support staff in school so those that weren't that 12 could also get their needs met. Pointing out in ds class alone there is 2 children with autism out of a year group of 210 and a school of 1050. I said by averages that would mean 14 children a year and 70 in total so why all the expectation of praise for providing 4 more places a year for pupils with asd in the area.

Trips should be funded by the parents, only let people off if they provide bank statements proving they can't afford to contribute

Yes. Of course the poor should produce evidence of their poverty, have someone decide just how deserving they may be, picking apart their expenditure

Grammar schools is a great opportunity, and makes more space in the mainstream for the average joes

Make way for inferior teaching then because myself and many, many of my colleagues won't go anywhere near these schools. I much prefer working with the average joes than the smug twats who think the world owes them qualifications cos their memory functions a bit better than the next person.

Jesus fucking wept.

Only let people off if they can provide bank statements proving they can't afford to contribute

There are plenty of parents at my sisters school that don't have bank accounts let alone up to date statements to prove their worth. Lots don't pay for breakfast club or after school club, just leave their kids early and pick them up late anyway. What a schools supposed to do? Leave these children out of Trips? They are their hey children who benefit most.

Their hey=the

notso mine don't want to as they have done it at school.
None of mine have enjoyed forest school.

So no new schools are allowed? Or they are allowed but no money is to be spent on them? It doesn't cost more to educate a child in a grammar school than any other type of school.

I object to money being spent on something that will benefit a few while others are told to just suck it up and tighten your belts. I have no objection to spending on new schools but this should be for the benefit of all. Why not put money into existing schools rather than cutting their funding? If primary schools are struggling then those bright kids from poorer backgrounds that in TMs vision will benefit from these Grammars are even less likely to succeed.

I'm sure there are quite a few people using this forum from the education sector.

My axe to grind is multi-academy chains, I don't mean the little local collaboratives. I'm not going to point out the academies as it would be identifying me.

I worked for a very nice little school of 1,000 pupils, which got swallowed by an academy chain that has in excess of 60 schools. It is on the acquisition trail all the time. It cannot manage the schools it has. It is haemorrhaging money hand over fist - this is not so much due to funding but due to a lack of qualified financial staff to have the ability to say 'no' to HTs but more importantly the 'top slicing' of funding to pay for the board of directors. I saw it first hand. The sheer financial incompetence.

This is then followed by the mass forcing out of staff, both teaching and clerical. No redundancies, several sackings in trumped up technicalities, quiet words telling people to retire , resign or move on, several driven to depression and one suicide. It was an hideous environment. Any teacher with a few years experience ie 'expensive' was drummed out and replaced with SCITTS or NQTs or indeed in several subject areas, persons with no teaching qualifications leading on GCSE year groups.

They cheated on exam results. Sending teachers into live GCSEs to dictate answers , altering CAUs, opening packets a head of time and running early morning revision classes round the subjects covered, opening ISAs and staff sitting electronic exams. I've seen it all.

Incidentally - I live in a grammar area. I have no idea why people get their knickers in a twist - they take in 22-25% of pupils. That's hardly an 'elite' number. I put my children in schools that suited their needs. One went to grammar, one wouldn't have coped so although brighter than his grammar sibling, would not have dealt with the expectations. Therefore he went to a non selective school that subsequently got taken over by the same bloody academy

BTW - referring to children as 'smug twats' because they are academically bright - probably far brighter than you - shows what sort of a teacher you are. I hope you can manage to work on that chip on your shoulder. I doubt you'd be able to get a job in a grammar school, the parents and governors have certain expectations of pupils and staff alike.

A few points up the thread - compulsory/curriculum necessary school trips are paid for by the government; this what pupil fund is for. All the 'voluntary contribution' bollox is just a money spinner for the school. They have to look at all avenues of income.

One of my dc is at one of the hardest hit schools. It's because there are no SEN children there.

Did you mean SEN kids, playonwurtz?
Because schools with no SEN children are much better off in school funding terms. Schools have to pay the first £6000 of interventions for each student with SEN. They don't get extra money if they have more students with SEN. Schools with fewer students with SEN don't have money taken off them.

SEN pupils command a higher premium.

BTW - referring to children as 'smug twats' because they are academically bright - probably far brighter than you - shows what sort of a teacher you are. I hope you can manage to work on that chip on your shoulder. I doubt you'd be able to get a job in a grammar school, the parents and governors have certain expectations of pupils and staff alike

You have no idea of the people I work with or the experiences I have had. No chip. Just tired of 'average' children being put last. Nor have you any idea about my competencies. My results are well above national average and I am academically very bright by all the usual measurements.

"Every school has different challenges, of course, and ours have compounded some of our current financial issues. When you have over 60 young people with an EHCP (over 50% of all such students in the town) and you are told that the first 6k of support per young person is already in your budget (£366k) that causes some difficulties. This is compounded by the fact that our co-educators (LSAs) are highly experienced and skilled and we only get funded at the lowest band for such a role. We do not receive anywhere near the full cost of these staff but their work is invaluable to our most vulnerable students so I must find it somewhere.

I wonder what happens to the 6k, that is already in the budget, for schools that don’t have young people with that level of need? Any chance it can be taken off them and given to those of us that do? The feeling of injustice is compounded when you work out that over half of these young people are not attending their local secondary school with their friends from primary school. They actively choose Passmores for a variety of reasons (some really positive reasons) but too often it is because the nearby school somehow can’t meet their needs despite having the same level of funding. This is the point where the LA and the RSC both tell me there is nothing they can do about it and tell me to talk to the other one!"

headteachersroundtable.wordpress.com/2017/01/20/every-school-has-different-challenges-united-by-funding-pressures-vic-goddard-vicgoddard/

There is a financial disincentive for schools to be good for students with SEN.

There are loads of children who have sen who are in mainstream school. When I was in primary school in the 80's/90's a lot of these children would have been in special schools. There is a lot more paperwork now too.

Sorry, should have said that's why we need ta's, to give extra support to children who need it and to give the teachers time to do some paperwork.

Trips should be funded by the parents, only let people off if they provide bank statements proving they can't afford to contribute

Some parents don't agree with you that they should pay for trips even if they have the money. Schools can't refuse to take a child on the grounds that they haven't paid so in the past schools paid the extra to cover those children. No this won't happen so it will mean the whole trip being cancelled or the parents who are willing to pay paying for those that won't pay. This has already happened in my school with every parent agreeing to pay £1 more.

How will you feel about that?

A lot of things can be sucked up, fewer TAs will mean more work for teachers but most parent won't notice the difference, less music and art...kids are at school to learn to read and do maths, but when the buildings can't be repaired parents will start to notice.
The response from parents at my DCs school is to start paying into the school fund. The HT is refusing to actually ask parents to pay, though as he believes state education should be free.

I really don't think most people realise how bad things are.

And Corbin wants to give all primary pupils a free lunch....there are so many other things which are needed more IMO.