To ask Headteachers and SLTs is it really that bad?

[Paris2023]

Press since the start of term and now more recently has focussed on schools running out of money. Perhaps having to shorten days to cover outgoings. With more recent news of further austerity and I believe limited funding what do current HTs and members of SLTs think?

what is the solution if more money isn’t available? A lot of money is being swallowed by higher energy bills.

I’m not a headteacher but I am a governor and it’s very bad. We have eaten into reserves and are running out. We have already cut what I consider essential provision (TAs and bought in services for SEN) and hiring only ECTs when experienced teachers leave (which they are because they are stressed despite the HTs best efforts) . It’s deeply worrying. I’m not sure what else there is to cut.

Where have you been for the last few years? Schools are running on the goodwill of staff. Some schools will be better funded than others so it won’t be the same but it’s fucking shit.

I'm on the SLT at a primary school and it's truly that bad. We are looking redundancy. It's terrifying and depressing.

It's bad.

My school have £80K of reserves - by March 2024 we will be 10k in deficit - this is even with cutting everything we can. Staffing is cut to the bone as it is. All of my teaching staff are experienced and long serving - therefore expensive.

Staff 'payrises' (which aren't even in line with inflation) are not fully funded - this is going to be crippling for schools as is the rise in utility bills. I'm noticing prices for everything - exercise books...paper... in fact all stationery creeping up.

A friend who is a HT was in tears on Friday - she's advertising a full time post - desperately needs to appoint someone with experience as she has a young staff but can't afford anyone but an ECT which isn't what her school need at this time

You've asked what is the solution? I don't know - schools cost money to run. We can't generate an income so if we don't get 'given' the money in our budget we are screwed

Again not a HT or SLT, but I have worked in a secondary school finance team. I left before Covid but it was awful then. Before they were forced to become an academy they had plenty of reserves. They were almost gone. Looking at not replacing teachers as they left. They were a very fortunate school too - was a top performer with lots of parent support with monthly donations and the ability to hire certain parts of the school on a regular basis. It's dire. Neither the HT or bursar had changed for a substantial time so wasn't a change in management situation either.

@Believeitornot hmmm. I’ve not been anywhere but up until now it seems some schools have coped. Our school did make TA redundancies but that’s because they utilised the tutoring covid funding for extra TAs.

They have an expensive wraparound which brings in some income and an active PTA. However it’s getting tough but I don’t have much of an inside. What I will say is parents do contribute £30 a year per child to a fund and with it being a three form entry school this does add up.

It's shockingly crap that schools are as underfunded as they are by the gift but I don't see that changing any time soon given we are currently stuck with the Tories.

So, is there any way to generate an income? Could space be leased out during school holidays for events? Could computer rooms be used in evenings/weekends to deliver computer based testing in partnership with organisations like Pearson, prometric, Reed.. who deliver things like the driving theory tests. Could the hall be leased outside of hours for after school/sports providers?

By the time we paid the caretaker to open up and lock up, the cleaner to do extra cleaning and factored in utilities it wouldn't be worth it.
There are 4 schools in the town - only one leases space to a former pupil and only breaks even because a family member is the caretaker and doesn't charge to lock up and open.

Perhaps if you were in a city there would be enough demand - the kind of organisations you mention are not in our rural community

This was shared on another thread. amp.theguardian.com/education/2022/oct/22/exclusive-90-of-uk-schools-will-go-bust-next-year-heads-warn

The situation is dire. School staff have papered over the cracks for so long but now parents are becoming aware of the issues more and more as their children become affected through larger class sizes, fewer regular qualified staff teaching their children, reduced budget for resources, fewer extra curricular activities, less support for SEND, TA redundancies etc.
I wish the electorate could all go and listen to head teachers first hand and see with their own eyes just how precarious the situation is.

This is unprecedented? So redundancies and larger class sizes?!

The situation is awful.

Teachers, support staff and leadership teams have papered over the cracks for so so long. It's all unraveling before our eyes while parents are still somewhat in the dark.

Example from my school. UPN was 180, four years ago it went up to 240. We hired NO extra teachers.

It's awful. My school have restructured to save money, which means I am now doing the job of 3 people because we can't afford to replace roles when people leave. I ordered reams of lined paper on Friday, they were £4.25 each, last time I ordered some, in June, they were £2.50 - when you look at the costs of utilities and resources, we're broke, and that's before you factor in staff costs that are set to rise in the next month as pay awards are approved.

We have a swimming pool, even with hiring it out we are making a £250 loss a DAY on it! Unless something happens soon with funding for education, we, and our kids in a very deprived area, are screwed!

In terms of leasing things out, the school I work for has an astroturf pitch which is leased out to junior football teams etc in the evenings. The sports hall is also used for sporting events already. I think a lot of schools already do this!

Any adult who comes into the school building whilst students are still present (bearing in mind we run after school clubs/revision etc) has to be escorted at all times unless they have a DBS check, so the times and facilities we can rent out are limited. There are often students on site until about 5pm, using the library and other facilities for revision, so letting people use facilities within the main school building is tricky.

If we wanted to rent out classrooms etc to make extra money during the week, it would mean potentially kicking students out of the building earlier- at a time when many of them are struggling!

The energy hikes schools are facing are absolutely massive- I have seen several heads and academy CEOs talking about costs increasing to 3-4x the previous winter.

The unfunded payrises are also a real issue. Academies could, theoretically, not give these to staff, but in reality, that will lead to staff leaving for other schools, and of course, a loss of goodwill among staff.

Every member of teaching staff is teaching a full timetable, some part time staff have had their hours cut. SLT and middle leadership are teaching more, which means they don't have time to carry out their other duties. TAs who leave aren't replaced- we have the bare minimum needed to cover ECHPs.

I genuinely don't know what the next step is, in terms of cutting costs. Do we lose members of staff like the librarian?

Last year, in a previous school, I was a union rep, and I was told the school had spent the majority of its reserves on agency supply staff (who were needed due to covid and general staff shortages). The school had also paid money to a local building firm to do essential work, and the firm then went bust, leaving the school in a very difficult position.

Not HT or SMT but hiring out school Sports Hall after school and weekends. PTA have fund raising committee and put on car boot sales, car washes, Quiz Night, School Disco, Book swops, and second hand uniform sales etc. Perhaps an event every other month. Wrap around child care with breakfast club and after school club. Selling hot toast at break time for 30p a slice. I think schools have to be inventive. Government are paying subsidy on heating this winter. I am not suggesting parents/grandparents can replace T/A's but if had DBS check could do some tasks like listening to the better readers, tidying up sports equipment after PE, washing up paint pots etc. Then T/A's are freed up to concentrate on more specialised duties. I know many Grandparents, recently retired, who say they would volunteer but for only 1 morning a week.

Our local primary has been invited to a MAT they’re the last school in the area not in a MAT. They would be the only Primary school in the MAT.

Will this larger entity save money? Pool resources?

I do also think energy bills are getting to the point where hiring out individual rooms in the main school building (which would then have to be lit, heated, etc) would actually make a loss. Remember, schools aren't covered by the price cap, and although some help has been promised this winter, it won't cover the full bill increase.

We had a large surplus and were in a good position. We've been told how much our school/trust will now be in deficit, and yes it is a similar number to what has been reported elsewhere. We've been told there will be no redundancies, or reduced hours but there will also be no non-essential spending. We are looking at outside funding for various things.

Wraparound childcare would incur staffing costs though as you can't expect people to staff it for free

The MAT will take any reserves your school has, take x% of their budget for centralised resources and then not be allowed to post a deficit budget.

It used to be centralised services were provided by LAs- which was more efficient. I am not sure multiple MATs covering the same area can now be considered efficient.

It really depends on the MAT as to whether the school will feel better or worse off, but my experience in two different schools was that it made the schools feel worse off in the long run, even if the MAT was initially able to secure funding for individual projects.

These measures will directly negatively impact the children. I think 90% of schools saying they will go bust next year is unprecedented. State schools weren’t in a great place before Covid due to sustained inadequate funding but they are certainly in an even worse place now especially when extortionate energy bills are added on and a pay rise the government refuse to fund. People should be questioning the government and holding them to account. Children deserve so much better.

A fundraiser every other month isn't going to fill the budget hole ffs. Such a naive post.

FWIW, I think most schools won't make redundancies in terms of teaching staff unless they e.g. stop running a course or maybe close their sixth form as it's no longer viable.

What will happen is that staff may leave, and be replaced by either someone on fewer hours, or someone cheaper e.g. an ECT replacing someone on UPS. Support staff will not be replaced and some may be made redundant. This will have a knock on impact on teacher workloads, and/or make communicating with the school more difficult.

It may be that some teaching staff who leave aren't replaced, if the school can get around it by making class sizes bigger etc.

In primary, I think the biggest cost saving will be TAs, and you may find some classes are covered by TAs on a regular basis, rather than using supply, or qualified teachers to e.g. cover PPA. And again, recruiting cheaper staff, rather than more experienced.

My school no longer has class TA's, only 1:1s.
Our budget is already spent for this year (or earmarked to be spent) and that's without utilities cost rising. It is dire.