Stark warning after staff and nursery axed
School in budget crisis is ‘down to the bare bones’
ABIRMINGHAM head teacher has revealed her school is “down to the bare bones” as she struggles to balance the books.
Pupils have already gathered this year for a farewell to four staff – including teachers who had given decades to little Gunter Primary School in Pype Hayes.
Head teacher Lucy Riley said it was the most difficult moment she had endured over the years of funding challenges.
“Some of them had not just taught the current children, but their parents, too,” said Mrs Riley.
“It was very emotional, very upsetting, that moment of saying goodbye.
“Telling them that their jobs were at risk of redundancy in the first place was extremely hard. They had done nothing wrong, they had given decades of their lives to our children.”
The posts were axed when the school took the hard decision to close its nursery class last term, explained Mrs Riley.
Gunter Primary, a one-form entry, 210 pupil school, is one of many across the region that displayed protest banners urging the Government to find additional funding now for education.
Campaigners say four out of five schools in Birmingham alone face funding reductions this year, despite pledges of more money. Around 25 schools in the city have introduced half day closing on Fridays as part of their attempts to balance the books. Gunter Primary was one of the first, yet, despite those job losses, the axing of nursery provision and half day closing, it still faces a £200,000 budget deficit this year.
Mrs Riley said: “We are down to the bare bones. We have closed our nursery and went to a 4.5-day week nearly two years ago, but it’s still not enough. Staffing costs, with additional costs from pensions, apprenticeship levy and other on-costs, are astronomical.
“We are in a deprived area and have to put in extra specialist provision to counter the difficulties some of our families face.
“A lot of our children require support from learning mentors; our family support worker helps meet the emotional and practical needs of our children and their families.
“Because of cuts to other services, parents often have nowhere else to turn – so they turn to us. We are happy to help, we need families to thrive for children to thrive, but it comes at a cost that is not taken into account.”
Kate Taylor, from Save Our Schools West Midlands – a parent led campaign pressing for more investment in schools – said there is too little money in schools now to cover basic provision and the extra funding promised by the Government was not enough.
A spokesman from the Department for Education said: “This government has announced the biggest funding boost for schools in a decade which will give every school more money for every child.
“This means that every school in the country can see per pupil funding rise in line with inflation next year. To suggest otherwise is simply misleading.”