Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Head: Cash is so short I had to cut half a day of lessons
Kids lose out in funding crisis Charity fears abuse cases will rise
A HEAD teacher who has cut lessons for an afternoon a week to avoid staff losses fears she could be forced to reduce the timetable further.
Sarah Hewitt-clarkson said Government cuts mean pupils are no longer with their teachers on Wednesday afternoons.
By taking this drastic measure, A CHARITY has warned that cuts in early help services for vulnerable children will have “devastating consequences”.
Budgets for social workers who step in to prevent neglect and abuse have dropped by £743million in five years, all teachers can be together to do legally binding preparation, planning and assessment.
It means no need to have other teachers on cover for that period, saving on staffing costs.
But children are missing out on PE, music and religious education they would otherwise be having. Parents also need to while spending on children’s centres across England has fallen by £450million.
Imran Hussain, of Action for Children, said the “crippling cuts” meant children were being left to “fend for themselves” until problems “spiral out of control”. collect them an hour earlier. It comes after the Mirror revealed several hundred schools are only opening for 4.5 days a week.
Ms Hewitt-clarkson, of Anderton Park Primary in Birmingham, said: “We are slowly sinking. It is constant tweaking and shaving… to see if it works.
“I am constantly worrying about what I will have to do next year if there are further cuts. I have been shaving off bits of the timetable for the last five years.”
She has already had to let staff go, cut back on sports coaching and stopped the school orchestra in order to balance her books.
A mum, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: “It puts a burden on a child’s education.
“It’s not fair on the kids.”