Inadequate School Funding
National concern about inadequate school funding has increased this year with the news of even more externally enforced costs added to already tight budgets. Recent reports from organisations ranging from the Headteacher’s ‘Worth Less?’ group to the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Education Policy Institute all confirm that funding for the nation’s schools is inadequate. The number of schools setting deficit budgets has increased, as has the number of schools setting in-year deficits and therefore spending their reserves, yet the message coming from central government is that all schools need to do is find ways to save money to balance the books. This is simply not true.
The UK Statistics Authority, a Government department, has reprimanded the DfE for their misleading use of statistics concerning school funding when they included the money spent by parents on private education and the money invested in university student loans in their claim that ‘more money than ever before is being invested in education’. Unfortunately, misleading information continues to be included in press releases confusing many observers and making anyone who does not have first-hand knowledge of the situation wonder what is actually true. Many schools will not be comfortable sharing financial information, which is why we are writing to you today.
St Anne’s is an outstanding, oversubscribed school with waiting lists to join all year groups. We have been confirmed as the highest performing school in the city and the 2nd highest performing school in the Southampton, Hampshire and Portsmouth area. We have repeatedly been congratulated on our excellent financial management having worked with the government’s new School Resources Management Adviser scheme and professional auditors. So, we are confident in sharing with you all that our students, staff and the entire St Anne’s family have achieved all of this despite rapidly reducing funding and spiralling externally enforced costs.
The following bullet points will illustrate the stark reality of the situation with specific examples taken from our audited accounts – facts that really cannot be argued with. You will see that there really isn’t anything left to cut or economise or restructure. We are expected to respond to budget constraints like a business, but we are an essential service preparing the adults of the future who will be leading and shaping our world. Therefore, we have a baseline of essential need: safe, secure and maintained buildings; high quality, well trained staff; enough of these staff to deliver a broad and balanced curriculum; enough resources and equipment to support the delivery of the broad and balanced curriculum in classrooms fit for purpose to accommodate an effective teacher/pupil ratio.
Unfortunately, the DfE’s response to Headteachers explaining the seriousness of the funding situation is to tell Heads that they must do more with less. Schools have responded over the past 5 years by ensuring good value for money in all areas of expenditure, but there comes a point when no more savings can be made without compromising the baseline of essential need. We have cut staff, increased the number on roll and not replaced essential resources. We have definitely upheld our end of the agreement yet we have had around £2M less to spend on the children in our care than we should have had over the past 5 years, and the future of school funding looks even worse.
We hope that the truth of the crisis in school funding will finally be heard and acted upon by sharing our experience with you. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you need any further clarification.
Governors and Leaders of St Anne’s Catholic School and Sixth Form College
INADEQUATE FUNDING:
HIGHER COSTS:
REFUSED FUNDING BIDS:
ADDITIONAL FUNDING RECENTLY ANNOUNCED
SUMMARY
At St Anne’s we invest in the future.
All we are asking for is adequate and fair funding for our children.
Links to Key Documents and Recent Media Coverage for your information
Media Coverage – most recent first
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/education-47507587/schools-minister-nick-gibb-mp-challenged-over-funding-by-bbc-s-charlie-stayt
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/education/2019/03/schools-are-fourth-emergency-service-meet-rebel-headmaster-fighting
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/education/2019/03/department-education-doublespeak-exposes-how-out-touch-our-schools-it
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0003j3h/sunday-politics-south-17032019 From 8mins 30 sec
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/11/headteachers-crisis-school-funding-staff
https://www.tes.com/news/exclusive-schools-have-very-strong-claim-spending-review
https://www.tes.com/news/school-funding-national-emergency-mps-say
https://oldprimaryhead.com/2019/03/10/the-school-delusion/
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/mar/10/primary-school-headteacher-fury-funding-cuts
https://www.tes.com/news/hinds-shunned-us-over-school-funding-concerns-say-heads
https://www.tes.com/news/exclusive-most-schools-cant-afford-essential-furniture-and-computers
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-46826990
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-45706603
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-44456241
Key Documents
https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/13306
The Financial Sustainability of Schools - National Audit Office Summary
https://epi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Schools-funding-pressures_EPI.pdf
https://epi.org.uk/publications-and-research/school-funding-pressures/