School leaders and governing bodies continually make wise choices about how to spend the finite budgets allocated to them. In real terms, school budgets are being squeezed with drastic implications.
The varied needs of pupils and their communities, and the nature and location of school buildings all conspire to make it difficult to allocate funding in a way which is truly fair. Nevertheless, the method of distribution has been in urgent need of reform; NAHT have campaigned for and welcomed efforts to make the distribution of funding fairer. However, a combination of increasing costs to schools (particularly increases to pension and national insurance contributions by schools), the removal of the Education Maintenance Grant and reduction in funding to other services such as school nurses have resulted in school leaders having to make increasingly tough decisions about which staff, services, resources and building maintenance projects to prioritise and which may ultimately have to be axed.
School leaders are resourceful and already make wise choices to achieve efficiencies, including working together with other schools to achieve savings; but with staffing costs at around 80% of overall school expenditure, and the remainder consisting mostly of utility bills, essential services, with only the thinest end of the wedge being left for resources and building maintenance, it is proving increasingly challenging for schools to meet the government’s challenge for schools to “find efficiencies which will not impact on educational outcomes”. In February 2017, Andreas Schleicher of the OECD raised concerns about the real term reduction in funding and how this will impact on the quality of education in England (https://is.gd/UjIrmu).
On the basis of funding constraints, Cumbria’s school leaders are now reporting in increasing numbers that they are already compelled to take all or some of the following actions:
- reducing staff by not replacing them when they leave or contracts end;
- increasing the teaching commitment of heads, deputies and other school leaders;
- staff restructuring and redundancies;
- reducing the number of support staff such as midday supervisors;
- increasing class sizes;
- withdrawing pupils with SEN (Special Educational Needs) from several classes to work with a single teaching assistant instead of having them integrated within class;
- significantly reducing professional training opportunities for staff;
- discontinuing curriculum provision such as music or drama lessons;
- considering reducing the number of subjects offered, such as technical or vocational training;
- not renewing or replacing equipment such as IT/computers or book stock;
- no longer having access to a school nurse service;
- shelving plans for urgent building maintenance;
- relying more heavily on PTAs to raise money for essentials such as books, drama performances, etc.
Find out more about the School Funding in Crisis campaign.
NAHT Cumbria 