To wonder which is true - school funding

[ThereWillBeAdequateFood]

Head teachers are warning out a school funding crisis. Stating they have having to increase class sizes and are struggling to pay for text books.

But apparently school funding has increased .

What is going on with school funding? Are schools expected to do loads more with slightly more money?

The syllabus changed last year in with the new marking scheme meaning new text books.
We were asked if we could buy a set for our child and then the local Lions group and a parent paid to replace them.
This is in a grammar school where people assume money is floating around

Hey, how about we solve this by stop voting Tory, eh? :D

Another thing that happened was school capital budgets being cut by 80% in 2011. So schools suddenly went from having, for example, £150,000 per year for maintenance, upgrading equipment, etc., to £22,000. Things like replacing worn carpeting, retiling bathrooms, replacing doors, etc., all still need to be done.

Schools can't refuse pay rises because of budgets. The must 'budget for success' and give everyone who meets the criteria a pay rise, even if it puts extreme pressure on the budget.

Where do you live OP that your fuel costs etc are not going up? Just wondered as you seem to keep asking what is going up?

Funding has increased but costs have also increased. It’s like getting a 5% pay rise but your living costs rising by 10%.

I’m on mat leave but usually a college teacher. We get told off if we use the photocopier too much.

Where do you live OP that your fuel costs etc are not going up

I’m pretty sure no one is suggesting schools are in financial difficulties purely due to fuel costs.

Is there anything wrong with someone who doesn’t work in education asking what costs are going up? I don’t know a lot about education, what’s wrong with me asking?

No but in addition to ALL the other things it is an example of the rising costs across the board, rising higher than the rate of funding, and therefore even maintaining is leaving schools financially worse off. It is basic budgeting!

I am struggling to see why all the questions unless it is to pad out your article!

I’m pretty sure no one is suggesting schools are in financial difficulties purely due to fuel costs.

Not fuel costs alone, no. But I am pretty sure that most people are aware of rising costs generally. Why would you not realise that schools aren't immune to this?

I understand that the impact of new GCSEs or the need for schools to deal with far more social issues might not be apparent to many people.

I think a lot of people would be shocked at what schools have to do. We had 2 members of staff per year group purely dedicated to pastoral care, attendance issues, liasing with outside agencies - that's 10 full time salaries to pay for, plus on costs. We also employed a part time counsellor to support pupils because provision by CAMHS was inadequate. Again, we had to fund this. The effects of social deprivation impact on schools and they end up having to bear the brunt of cuts to other services because they are the ones dealing with the children day to day.

I’ve haven’t read the replies but the answer is they are both true.

Costs have gone up, wages and pensions contributions have gone up (tiny amount), the cost of running schools electricity, gas and teaching materials have increased at the same time the number of children in eduction has increased.

Look up inflation. 20 years ago £100 on school supplies would go much further than today. That money is now been spread between more children.

I am struggling to see why all the questions unless it is to pad out your article

okbobe Check my name, I’m a regular mumsnetter, not a journalist.

I think a lot of people would be shocked at what schools have to do

weetabix Well that’s exactly why I asked the question. Thanks for replying regarding the extra pastoral care schools provide. Maybe it’s possible that as provision for youth services are being drastically cut by Local Authorities more and more is falling on schools shoulders.

I read an interesting article a few months ago that claimed when politicians say education funding has gone up, they are quoting statistics that include all sources of funding not just tax revenue for state schools
BBC News - Private school fees in minister's funding claims
www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-45738158 so now I don't trust their word very much

this one is interesting re inflation: www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/education-45678670

I would also add that schools sometimes suffer the ill effects of other public service cuts so taking on extra work to balance out things that used to be done by social services/school nurse/benefits system etc
For example running a breakfast club, employing extra staff for interventions to support students with home life difficulties etc

Exactly that. I've spoken to teachers who are dealing students at risk of sexual exploitation, domestic violence, families living in homeless shelters, students self harming, with mental health issues, eating disorders, no clean clothes, parents abusing drugs and alcohol, students not attending school due to caring for parents or younger siblings - all of these issues would previously been dealt with by outside agencies (if they occured at all) but now schools are having to deal with it, at least in as far as the day to day effects that it has within school. That takes resources to have staff available to talk and support the child, possibly the parents too, to attend safeguarding meetings or meetings with social services or the police, case conferences. I know of one local school that regularly buys shoes for some students because otherwise they have no suitable school shoes - even small things like this add up.

OP look at your own finances. What you pay for that has gone up over the last few years. Now apply that to a school. Except instead of just gas, electricity, water, maintenance, food, fuel, insurance etc you also add on expanding pupil numbers, teaching staff, admin staff, maintenance staff, textbooks, stationery, photocopying etc. Can you now see how although the ‘budget has gone up’, because everything else has, it’s a struggle to spread that budget around to cover everything. Therefore things have to be cut.

Maybe it’s possible that as provision for youth services are being drastically cut by Local Authorities more and more is falling on schools shoulders.

This could not be more patronising. If course it is possible and of course it is happening.

The Government claims that school budgets haven’t been cut and that education funding is higher than ever before. But that is simply not true. £2.8bn has been cut in real terms from school budgets since 2015.

This has meant;

1. Fewer adults in the classroom providing essential teaching support
2. Larger class sizes and less individual attention for students (having 30 in a class is considered a small class)
3. Less per pupil funding per year

The Institute for Fiscal Studies says that the amount of per pupil spending in England's schools has fallen by 8% since 2010 (as your graph shows, OP). However, the Government says that funding will be at its "highest ever level", reaching £43.5bn by 2020.

The main reason why it does not make sense is because the Government is using an arbitrary figure that sounds good but does not represent the actual number of pupils in education now and in 2020.

So as an example of this, in the LEA where I work all of the IT and things like specialist teachers for languages etc were provided by the council but due to council cuts they aren't anymore. So although the school finding has increased a teensy bit the school now has to fork out more for things that used to be provided. That is one of the myriad of current problems!

OP look at your own finances. What you pay for that has gone up over the last few years

Yes I’m sure running a high school is exactly like running a home. I didn’t actually start this thread saying I don’t believe the headteachers, quite the opposite. Most of the examples you give expanding pupil numbers, teaching staff, admin staff, maintenance staff, textbooks, stationery, photocopying etc aren’t new costs. Those costs existed 20-30 years ago.

Weetabix has very kindly pointed out the increase in pastoral services required due to reductions in other local services.
Other posters have pointed out that the GCSE syllabus has chanced frequently recently requiring more frequent text book purchases.

As I said I don’t work in education I was just wondering what extra costs were being incurred to mean schools were struggling so much. Thanks to all those posters who have replied.

This site is useful for seeing how the cuts affect individual schools.

schoolcuts.org.uk/schools/

The mismanagement of funds by academy chains is also a really important reason. A day of "inspirational speakers" was provided for us at our last inset, for 1200 staff. They paid for lunches, coach transport, and something like 20 different workshop leaders. All completely pointless, taking us away from our jobs, marking and lesson planning - and cost upwards of £40,000
Meanwhile, 3 of my colleagues have just been made redundant, a team of 6 support staff have just had their hours reduced and 4 teachers are sharing one pritt stick, and hiding staplers in ceiling tiles so no one nicks them, because there is no money to replace them.

there's a flurry of articles today about it, for example

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-47482587

news.sky.com/story/school-funding-7-000-head-teachers-unite-to-warn-parents-of-crisis-11658412

I am concerned about the claims of dilapidated buildings.

Labour spent a huge amount on rebuilding schools, and they shouid not be crumbling again so soon. Or was that programme, much vaunted at the time, somewhat less that it seemed? Or just not well done? Either way, a shame, because that one small part of the issue really shouid not be happening again yet.

The demographic bulge is, I think, a main factor in the smoke and mirrors

Because when you are educating more pupils, costs rise just to stand still, and even with low inflation, many of the costs (which have of course been around in similar form for ages) have risen just to stand still.

The mismanagement of funds by academy chains is also a really important reason

Thanks toomany I had no idea academies did that. Really doesn’t sound like the best use of funding.

As well as the schools budgets it is a consequence of other cuts to local services. Local authority, police, voluntary sector budgets etc have been slashed massively. I don’t work in education or have kids of school age yet but it doesn’t take much thinking to realise schools will be having to deal with greater social needs and consequences of benefits cuts.

I'm a school governor just come from a budget meeting at school.

The national funding formula is a fudge. We're getting less money than last year as funding is diverted from schools in our area to help fund high needs (Special education needs etc) as that is massively underfunded as well.

As our funding goes down costs go up.

Whilst the basic fund has gone up in theory slightly per pupil (but this year is actually a reduction), the block funding has gone down by £50k. Deprevation funding has been reduced, so has English as an additionsl language funding, so has low prior attainment funding etc...

Our schools are more complex and more children are in mainstream education, which is good. And for every child with that has an EHCP etc we have to pay the first £6k of that. Bearing in mind the basic entitlement in my area Is £2.7 k.

So no funding isn't better. It's all smoke and mirrors.

And this is in the context or reduction in social care provision, mental health services, access to speech therapists etc etc. And schools are expected to pick up the pieces.

I didn’t actually start this thread saying I don’t believe the headteachers, quite the opposite. Most of the examples you give expanding pupil numbers, teaching staff, admin staff, maintenance staff, textbooks, stationery, photocopying etc aren’t new costs. Those costs existed 20-30 years ago.

Those costs were a hell of a lot cheaper 20-30 years ago, with fewer school children to buy for.