Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
SCHOOL DAY CUT TO SAVE MONEY
Cash-strapped secondary reveals plan to send pupils home early
A cash-strapped city academy plans to cut the school day short in an effort to tackle its dwindling budget.
St Anselm’s in Old Dover Road has revealed proposals to send pupils home an hour earlier on one day a week as it looks to make muchneeded savings.
The news has been revealed in a letter sent home to parents in which the school claims it will “run out of money” if no action is taken.
Shortening the school day is just one of many options it is considering, with others likely resulting in staff redundancies.
Head teacher Mike Waters says the school needs to find savings of up to £480,000 a year.
The letter to parents reads: “This is an unsettling and difficult process for those colleagues affected and it is going to be a challenging time for the school.
“I would ask you to keep the school in your thoughts and prayers at this difficult time, in particular those colleagues who are affected by this process and who remain incredibly committed to the school and to your children.”
A cash-strapped city school is proposing cutting staff, classroom support and the length of the school week – or face running out of money.
St Anselm’s Catholic School has written to parents describing its bleak financial position, which requires governors to make savings of up to £480,000 a year.
As well as job losses, it is suggesting that one school day of the week, most likely Friday, will finish an hour earlier, at 2.30pm.
Parents learned of the academy’s plans yesterday (Wednesday) in a consultation letter from head teacher Mike Walters and the chairman of governors, Dr Mark Johnstone.
In it, they reveal the school is receiving the same funding today as it did five years ago, but that inflation, increased bills and employment costs are forcing it to review its budgets.
Parents are being told: “If we do nothing, we will simply run out of money. There is no easy solution to this and it will mean a reduction in the amount of classroom support that we are able to provide to some children on some occasions.”
But they say the school is “not in crisis” and the measures are not a “panicked or rushed” response to the situation. They also insist classroom time, the core curriculum, pupil resources and pastoral care will not be compromised.
The majority of the savings are expected to come from staff reductions, with support staff likely to be the most at risk.
The letter says: “This is an unsettling and difficult process for those colleagues affected, and it is going to be a challenging time for the school.
“I would ask you to keep the school in your thoughts and prayers at this difficult time, in particular those colleagues who are affected by this process and who remain incredibly committed to the school and to your children.” Governors and the head teacher are now consulting parents on a new school timetable, which would start in September this year.
They say there would be no changes to class sizes or number of teaching groups, and the lost school teaching hour would be made up by reducing extra-curricular activities.
Arrangements for pupils to remain in school on the shorter day, doing supervised homework, would be put in place, as well as with Stagecoach regarding buses for those who do leave early.
St Anselm’s has about 1,000 pupils and is a designated science college, rated good by Ofsted last year. Its consultation with parents on the proposed changes will end on March 7.
Mr Walters was approached by the Gazette yesterday but declined to comment while the consultation is ongoing.
‘I would ask you to keep the school in your thoughts and prayers at this difficult time’