Teaching staff and subjects may be hit by cuts to school funding
CASH- STRAPPED headteachers are warning they are preparing to make major changes to the way their schools are run as a result of proposed government cutbacks.
Heads at the town’s secondary schools – Fallibroome, Tytherington, All Hallows and Macclesfield Academy – as well as Poynton High, face losing almost £500,000 a year, as reported by the Express earlier this month.
The move would make schools in Macclesfield the worst funded in England.
Heads say that the cuts could lead to larger class sizes, fewer teachers and fewer subjects available to pupils.
They also warn school trips could also become a thing of the past.
They have slammed the plans as unfair and claim that with ‘no slack’ left in budgets, schools will have to cut core provision.
But they have ruled out moving to a four-day week which is being considered by other schools in the region.
Francis Power, headteacher at Fallibroome Academy, which would lose £156,000 a year, said: “In recent years, the government have passed on huge costs to schools with no increase in income.
“We have responded to this challenge by making necessary changes while protecting the core elements of our provision.
“We have no slack left to absorb further reductions. If the proposed National Funding Formula goes ahead, it will certainly impact on the day-to-day experiences of our students.
“We are giving serious consideration to running our school with fewer teachers, bigger class sizes and with fewer subjects and a reduced enrichment programme.”
David Waugh, head at Poynton High, said he is considering sharing resources with schools, cutting training budgets, travel subsidies and axing capital improvement plans.
He said: “The funding challenge that we all speak of is not rhetoric or sensationalist, we are facing real terms and significant cuts to our budgets.
“We are being forced into considering every cost base and I have sympathy with those headteachers who are considering the four day week concept.
“It is not something that I am considering but I do have to balance my budget and therefore, unless something is done in either giving us a fairer financial settlement or decreasing our additional costs – or both – the nature of education in all schools will change significantly.”
Council chiefs and Macclesfield MP David Rutley have pledged to fight the plans.