Schools told to cut costs by reducing lunch portion sizes and taking money raised for charity

[noblegiraffe]

Consultants sent into schools to root out waste and save money have mostly been protected by the government’s refusal to release their reports. However some have been leaked.

Genuine suggestions to schools have included:

Saving money on supply teachers by herding 3 classes at a time into the dinner hall for supervision
Reducing portion sizes in the cafeteria
Taking 50% of money raised by pupils for charity
Cutting subjects at KS5
Replacing UPS teachers with NQTs

Added to the previous advice to save money on photocopying by not making colour copies, it seems clear that the government is focused on solving the school funding crisis by penny pinching and not considering the wider educational picture.

schoolsweek.co.uk/limit-pupils-lunch-portions-to-save-money-say-agnews-cost-cutting-advisers/

What consultants? Who are they?

Commissioned by Lord Agnew at the DfE.

All that's missing is a recommendation to serve gruel instead.

If they reduced the portion sizes much more they'd disappear! Not so much of a problem for our current reception children who seem to live on fresh air. But when the year 6s are getting the same size lunch as a 5 year old there really isn't much wriggle room.

After working in primaries I don't see how they can reduce portions.
As someone above mentioned , portions are the same at many for 5 and 11 year olds.

I totally agree about lunch portions. However...... We have just finished up for holidays and my two children between them brought "art" home that has probably caused the death of at least a billion trees.

That is depressing Noble, but it doesn't surprise me unfortunately with the current government.

That's so depressing.
Even though I teach a shortage subject, I know that I would find it difficult to get a job as a teacher elsewhere, at the pay I am meant to be on, in favour of NQTs who are £10k cheaper than me.

I think the suggestion to replace experienced teachers with NQTs as they are cheaper is the most worrying and short-sighted suggestion.

My school is hiring more and more NQTs. It’s increasing the workload of experienced teachers who need to mentor them. It’s also decreasing our ability to take on trainee teachers because they can’t be placed in classes with NQTs meaning we don’t have room on the timetable for them.

On top of that, it encourages schools to treat UPS teachers poorly to try to encourage them to leave. Teaching has a massive retention crisis as it is - getting schools to nudge out expensive teachers will only contribute towards this.

YYY to everything you just said about mentoring, recruitment and NQTs noble. It's a depressing world sometimes.

Hhhmm think I can see a link with Ofsted deciding to not look at data in schools. Obviously data will show that standards are slipping under these initiatives so better not to look at all and then no one will be any the wiser.

Look what I’ve just seen on TES. Older teachers bullied out of schools in favour of cheaper teachers. And rubber stamped by the DfE

www.tes.com/news/older-teachers-bullied-out-schools

My school does all of those things (it's two classes in one 'lesson' when staff are off).

If the Tories get in again there will be nothing left.

My child's school has got new teachers in almost every role. She has one teacher who was there before year ten including the hear teacher. DD in year 11.
Some of the teachers aren't qualified, at least two have no experience at all in schools and were in completely different roles.

My daughter since year 9 in on her 5th Math teacher.
4th English teacher.
3rd Physics teacher , biology teacher.
2nd Senco, history , BTEC teacher
2nd head

At least two have no teaching experience bar uni and one is having a really hard time with a class of 12.

It's a mess tbh and DDS grades have been hugely affected.

I could cry for some of the old teachers back.

*head.
My phone is rubbish sorry.

Already the case with nqts and recently QT in my local infant and juniors. One local 3 form entry school is all under 30 apart from senior management.

I'm a teacher so probably know more than most parents but I just don't understand why parents aren't furious with the government. They get angry with individual teachers ( in my experience ) and don't seem to realise it's not their fault.

In my department the Alevel teacher has been off for 3 weeks. They don't send a supply teacher as the class is so small they aparently should be able to work alone.

I'm next door and I pop through every now and again and they aren't doing much. I try to keep them on track but I've got my own lessons to get on with and can't teach 2 age groups at once.

The kids moan about the teacher not being in. I tried to explain to them that the problem lies well above the teacher but they don't get it. The poor woman is ill. She has sent cover work. There's just nobody there to teach it.

UPS teachers have been bullied and treated badly for years now. It's almost impossible to compete with NQT's. It's such a short-sighted policy. I seriously hate what this government has done to education.

McKinsey was it? Them of Gupta and Saudi fame?

A level subjects been cut has been going on for several years. My friend taught in a school that taught 3 languages to A Level. When she left last year it taught one subject to GCSE. There had to be 25 kids to run an A Level class. Music and drama had also gone, possibly through the entire school iirc.

Music and drama had also gone, possibly through the entire school iirc.

And presumably this wasn't the kind of school where parents wouldn't allow their DC to pick options not on the wonderful, not at all narrow, RG list of facilitating subjects?

@marchingfrogs Nope, a fairly standard, large rural catchment area comp, with a varied intake from barely literate to Oxbridge material. I got the impression from my friend that the majority of parents were supportive but not pushy 'RG facilitating subjects and nothing else matters' types. If they had been the languages department might still be healthy instead of barely alive...

The head (who sounds like a very strange kettle of fish), decided that languages and arts subjects were superfluous to the current and future students. I get that schools are having to make harder and harder decisions, but all of these went at least 3 years ago, so goodness knows what will go next in these ever more budgetless times....

Budgets have been tight for years, we cut support staff and curriculum options years ago too.

The idea that there’s loads of waste sloshing around in schools and that if we just gave every pupil one fewer chip at lunchtime we’d be laughing is just offensive.

In some cases it is entire 6th forms. Our nearest 6th form is in another county (not borough. County).
My DD travels 1hr 45 each way (bus train and bus) to do her chosen subjects.

Bloody hell, that’s terrible

The schoolsweek journalist was wondering on twitter why this funding story hasn’t been picked up on by the national press. Brexit seems to be drowning out everything?